Legalizing the permitted time to buy and sell alcohol

Accordingly, the National Assembly asked for delegates' opinions via the electronic system on three contents of the draft Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Beer.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Quang, Director of the Legal Department (Ministry of Health) said that after the discussion session on May 23 of the National Assembly on this Law project, based on the opinions in the hall and the written comments of the delegates, the drafting committee and the examining agency, the Committee on Social Affairs, discussed and agreed on a group of contents to send to the National Assembly Standing Committee for comments, before sending them to the delegates to vote on the options.

Accordingly, in the 3 groups of contents, the plan to limit the time of selling alcohol and beer for on-site consumption was consulted to be included back in Article 5 of the draft law on "Prohibited acts".

Specifically, delegates can choose the option of "adding regulations on the time banning the sale of alcohol and beer for on-site consumption from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next morning" or "not regulating the time limit for the sale of alcohol and beer for on-site consumption".

Time frame for advertising alcohol and beer on radio and televisionThe provisions stated in Point c, Clause 3, Article 12 of the draft law will also be consulted by the National Assembly.

Two options to choose from include: "Regulating the time frame for advertising alcohol and beer on radio and television from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. every day; immediately before, during and after programs for children"; or "regulating the time frame for advertising alcohol and beer on radio and television from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. every day; immediately before, during and after programs for children".

The National Assembly will also consult with delegates.regulations on drinking alcohol by drivers(stated in Clause 8, Article 5).

Delegates will choose one of two options: "prohibiting driving a vehicle with blood or breath alcohol concentration exceeding the level prescribed by traffic safety laws" or "prohibiting driving a vehicle with blood or breath alcohol concentration".

In all three of the above comments, in addition to the two options, there is also a "other opinion" section for delegates to express their opinions.

The draft Law on Prevention of Harmful Effects of Alcohol was first presented to the National Assembly at the end of 2018 session, expected to be passed on June 14. However, during the discussion, there were many different opinions on the content of the draft Law. Many delegates proposed to bring back to the draft Law strong sanctions such as regulations on hourly sales of alcohol and beer; ban on selling alcohol and beer on the Internet...

Delegate Quang Thi Van (Dien Bien Phu City Medical Center) said that it is necessary to regulate the time to ban the sale of alcohol and beer from 10pm to 7am the next day, because this is the time when people rest and regenerate their labor, and it is necessary to ban it to avoid disrupting security and order.

Initially, when drafting the draft, the Ministry of Health proposed three options for selling alcohol by the hour.

Option 1: Alcohol and beer can only be sold between 11am and 2pm and 5pm and 10pm every day; except in the case of sales at international airports and areas and streets specializing in food, entertainment, and tourism businesses.

Option 2: Alcohol and beer can only be sold from 6am to 10pm every day, except in international airports and streets specializing in food, entertainment, and tourism businesses.

Option 3: The period during which alcohol and beer sales are not allowed will be implemented according to the Government's prescribed roadmap.

However, all three of these options are no longer in the latest draft Law.