That was the affirmation of Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien when explaining further about the management of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products at the question and answer session on the afternoon of November 11.
Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien - Photo: GIA HAN
Minister Nguyen Hong Dien shared the concerns of delegates about e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. Tobacco is a conditional business, clearly regulated in the Law on Tobacco Harm Prevention and Decree 67/2013 of the Government, but new generation cigarettes have not been defined in related documents, causing a legal gap for a long time.
Since the beginning of its term, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has never proposed piloting the circulation of electronic cigarettes.
Mr. Dien said that since the end of the previous term, due to the lack of management tools, e-cigarettes have infiltrated and developed strongly in the market. Therefore, at that time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed and was allowed by the previous Government to pilot the management of this new generation of cigarettes.
However, when consulting with ministries and sectors, many ministries agreed with the above proposal, but some ministries, especially the Ministry of Health, objected, saying that this is a product that is harmful to health. Therefore, from the beginning of his term until now, Mr. Dien said that the ministry has agreed with the Ministry of Health's view that this is a product that is harmful to health and should be banned.
“We persistently propose to soon issue a legal framework to ban this product, but the Ministry of Industry and Trade, including me personally, has never proposed to continue piloting this project. Delegate Hoang Anh - Gia Lai remembers a bit long ago but it is not true to the nature and situation, we do not propose like that” - Mr. Dien said.
According to the minister, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has always refused to grant business licenses and registration notices to e-commerce websites related to e-cigarette trading. The Ministry also directed market management to strengthen inspections and handle hundreds of cases, collecting fines for the state budget for this type of product trading.
To overcome this situation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade agreed to submit to the Government a strict and clear policy on the management of new generation cigarettes to overcome the legal gap. The policy can amend relevant regulations or issue new laws so that all levels of industry can thoroughly handle the problem.
While there is no law, the Ministry of Industry and Trade continues to direct market management to coordinate with competent authorities to strengthen inspection and strictly handle those who trade, store, and transport e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. Strictly implement the Prime Minister's direction on strengthening the management of new generation cigarettes.
Proposal to strictly control, especially smuggled cigarettes
The current violations are mainly due to smuggled cigarettes, so strict management is needed from the border gates. The Ministry will coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to increase communication, consider including the harmful effects of cigarettes and new generation cigarettes in school curricula, and strengthen management by local authorities...
Previously, at the question-and-answer session, delegate Le Hoang Anh (Gia Lai) raised the issue with Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan, saying that according to the Department of Investigation Police for Drug Prevention and Control, Ministry of Public Security, the situation of drug-soaked e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and new-generation cigarettes has increased sharply and is difficult to detect.
Therefore, the Drug Crime Investigation Department, Ministry of Public Security agrees to ban the production, distribution and advertising of these types of cigarettes. However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade wants to pilot for better management. Many voters reflect that many interest groups of the tobacco industry are increasingly lobbying to maintain the pilot of these tobacco products.
"According to the minister, have these groups successfully lobbied in Vietnam? What is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health to advise that the Government has not yet had a clear stance on this issue?" - delegate Hoang Anh said.
Responding to this issue, Minister Dao Hong Lan gave a brief answer, continuing to affirm the Ministry of Health's clear and consistent stance of proposing a ban on e-cigarettes.
Strengthening e-commerce management
Regarding the management of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and e-commerce, Minister Dien said that according to regulations, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is assigned responsibility for the chemical industry in the production of pharmaceutical ingredients and the management of e-commerce. Therefore, the ministry has coordinated with relevant forces to strengthen inspection and prevention of the transportation of imported goods, the production and trading of counterfeit and poor-quality goods, and intellectual property violations, promptly prevent the epidemic situation to buy unreasonable goods, check the listing of prices and unreasonable price increases. For advertisements that violate regulations on the e-commerce environment, the ministry has required floor owners to take responsibility when doing business and proactively detect violations. The ministry has requested floor owners to remove violations, inspect, supervise and punish the origin of functional foods and cosmetics. Mr. Dien proposed that the National Assembly soon consider and pass the Law on E-commerce, the Law on Pharmacy and the Law on Chemicals to have a better management basis in the business of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and e-commerce.Tuoitre.vn
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bo-truong-nguyen-hong-dien-bo-cong-thuong-chua-bao-gio-de-xuat-thi-diem-luu-hanh-thuoc-la-dien-tu-20241111171550872.htm
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