National Assembly delegates from Nghe An earnestly request to soon amend the law to control and limit the use of electronic cigarettes.

On the morning of May 23, at the National Assembly House, under the chairmanship of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, the National Assembly listened to reports on thrift practice and waste prevention in 2022; discussed the draft Law and Ordinance Development Program for 2024, and adjusted the Law and Ordinance Development Program for 2023. Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh chaired the meeting.

Panorama of the working session on the morning of May 23 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Quang Vinh

Speaking at the discussion, delegate Thai Thi An Chung - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Deputy Head of the Delegation of National Assembly Deputies of Nghe An province commented: In the past time, the establishment and implementation of the Law and Ordinance Development Program has thoroughly grasped the tasks and solutions set out in Conclusion 19 of the Politburo and closely followed Plan 81 of the National Assembly Standing Committee.

The Government and the National Assembly Standing Committee have strengthened their direction of legislative activities, focusing on quality and efficiency. The Nationalities Council and the National Assembly Committees have proactively accessed draft documents early, right from the proposal stage, actively surveyed practices, and organized many seminars and discussions to consult with experts and scientists.

Member of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Law Committee Hoang Thanh Tung presented the Report on the proposed Law and Ordinance Development Program for 2024, and adjustments to the Law and Ordinance Development Program for 2023. Photo: Quang Khanh

At the local level, the delegations of National Assembly deputies have proactively surveyed and collected opinions from subjects affected by the draft Law; listened to the opinions of agencies, units and localities to have more practical basis when participating in giving comments on the draft Law. The opinions of National Assembly deputies, delegations of National Assembly deputies and agencies of the National Assembly have all been directed by the Government and the National Assembly Standing Committee to be studied, absorbed and explained seriously, fully and thoroughly.

National Assembly delegates from Nghe An at the working session on the morning of May 23 at Dien Hong Hall, National Assembly House. Photo: Quang Vinh

After studying the Report of the National Assembly Standing Committee on the proposed Law and Ordinance Building Program for 2024 and adjusting the Law and Ordinance Building Program for 2023, delegate Thai Thi An Chung basically agreed.

Regarding the adjustment of the law and ordinance building program in 2023, the delegate of Nghe An Delegation agreed with the addition of submitting to the National Assembly for comments at the 5th Session and approving at the 6th Session the draft Law on Forces Participating in Protecting Security and Order at the Grassroots Level, to clearly define the legal status of the security and order protection forces at the grassroots level; at the same time, arranging and deploying this force in a unified, synchronous, and streamlined direction to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of operations.

Delegate Thai Thi An Chung also proposed that the National Assembly consider including in the 2023 Law and Ordinance Development Program the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2012 Law on Prevention of Tobacco Harms to control and restrict the use of e-cigarettes and new-generation cigarettes.

Delegate Thai Thi An Chung - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Deputy Head of the Delegation of National Assembly Deputies of Nghe An province spoke at the discussion on the proposed Law and Ordinance Development Program for 2024 and adjustments to the Law and Ordinance Development Program for 2023. Photo: Quang Khanh

“Currently, the use of electronic cigarettes by students is an alarming problem. Electronic cigarettes are easily bought and sold; many students have suffered psychosis, hallucinations or respiratory failure, and even nearly died from smoking electronic cigarettes. This is a situation that teachers, parents and voters are extremely concerned about,” the delegate stated.

Through research and analysis, scientists have confirmed that electronic cigarettes are very harmful to health and the potential to cause harm to public health is just as dangerous as regular cigarettes. For school-age children, because their bodies are still developing, the potential to cause harm is even greater than that of adults.

The 2012 Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms strictly prohibits people under 18 years of age from using, buying, and selling tobacco; strictly prohibits selling or supplying tobacco to people under 18 years of age; and strictly prohibits using people under 18 years of age to buy or sell tobacco.

However, according to delegate Thai Thi An Chung, the authorities cannot handle this behavior with regard to electronic cigarettes, because Clause 1, Article 2 of the Law stipulates: Tobacco is a product made entirely or partly from tobacco ingredients, processed in the form of cigarettes, cigars, shredded tobacco, pipe tobacco and other forms.

“Therefore, I earnestly recommend that the National Assembly study and have a suitable form to soon add electronic cigarettes and new generation cigarettes to the subjects regulated by the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms,” said the delegate of Nghe An Delegation.

National Assembly deputies at the working session on the morning of May 23. Photo: Quang Vinh

Regarding the 2024 law and ordinance building program, delegate Thai Thi An Chung agreed with the proposal of the National Assembly Standing Committee to include the Gender Transition Law project in the Program.

Article 37 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates: Gender reassignment is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law. However, since the Civil Code came into effect, there has been no draft law regulating gender reassignment.

“I have studied the documents related to the proposal to develop the Law on Gender Transition prepared by National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Anh Tri, the report on the review of the proposal to develop the Law by the Law Committee and strongly agree with the need to quickly develop this Law to affirm, respect and ensure the human rights and civil rights of transgender people,” said delegate Thai Thi An Chung.

According to the delegate, the proposal for the Law has been carefully and meticulously prepared and the Government has committed to "closely coordinate and assign relevant ministries to support the National Assembly in developing and completing the draft Law". Therefore, Ms. Thai Thi An Chung suggested that the National Assembly should consider the Gender Transition Law at the 7th Session and pass it at the 8th Session as proposed by National Assembly delegate Nguyen Anh Tri.

Regarding the implementation of laws and ordinances issued by the National Assembly, according to delegate Thai Thi An Chung: Since the beginning of the term, the process of building laws and ordinances has been implemented in a methodical and elaborate manner, from the stage of program creation to drafting, reviewing, considering, commenting, discussing, accepting, revising and passing. The laws and ordinances issued by the National Assembly have gradually overcome the situation of "framework laws and pipe laws".

However, for many objective reasons, there are still many provisions of the law that the Government or other competent agencies such as the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuracy, ministries and branches are responsible for detailing or guiding implementation.

“Therefore, I request that the agencies assigned with responsibilities need to speed up the issuance of detailed regulations and guidance on the implementation of laws and ordinances. On the other hand, in the process of implementing laws and ordinances, there are still some difficulties and problems due to the lack of consensus in the perception and application of the law. Therefore, I respectfully request that the National Assembly Standing Committee strengthen the work of explaining the law to facilitate the organization of implementation and ensure consistency in the application of the law.