Vietnam to Impose Higher Tax on Tobacco

Vietnam to Impose Higher Tax on Tobacco

The Ministry of Health (MoH) is planning to submit to the Government the amended draft regarding higher tax imposition on tobacco from now until 2010.

This is one of the ministry’s activities under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which will officially come into effect in Vietnam from today, 90 days after the country's ratification.

The ministry also plans to complete the regulations on comprehensively banning all forms of advertising, trade promotion, and sponsorship of tobacco companies.

In addition, it will continue to perfect and enforce regulations to ban smoking at public sites and draft sanctions for violators.

Vietnam is one of the countries having the highest rate of smokers in the world. Up to 49.2 per cent of the Vietnamese population are smokers, of whom, 38 per cent are addicted.

Some 10 per cent of the nation's population or eight million residents die early from cigarette-related diseases, of which 5 per cent are young people. Cigarettes claim some 30,000 - 40,000 lives annually.

The country's yearly spending on cigarettes is forecast at VND8.2 trillion (US$52.23 million) which is enough to feed 15 million people a year.

Attending the WHO's FCTC, Vietnam is doing its utmost to lower the current proportion of smokers to 20 per cent by 2010.

VietNamNet