Ban on selling alcohol in karaoke bars

Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien proposed this at the 6th plenary session of the Committee on Social Affairs in Ho Chi Minh City on April 28.

This is one of the issues discussed in the draft Law on Prevention of Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Beer.

Accordingly, the draft proposes solutions such as banning the sale of alcohol at karaoke bars, not selling alcohol to people under 18, people who are showing signs of intoxication, and pregnant women. At the same time, it prohibits officials, civil servants, and employees from consuming alcohol during work hours, breaks, and between shifts.

“This will help limit the rate of people using alcohol, especially young people, officials, civil servants, employees, and workers who drink alcohol during work hours, limiting drunkenness. At the same time, it will also limit people's access to alcohol products,” said Minister Tien.

Illustration photo.

Assessing the limitations of this proposal, Ms. Tien said that businesses would not benefit from these solutions. However, with specific policies on alcohol and beer control, the State will create a stable legal environment for businesses to develop.

“The current law on alcohol prevention and control mainly regulates the production and trading of alcohol, but does not mention much about preventing its harmful effects. Therefore, it is necessary to change people’s alcohol consumption habits,” Ms. Tien affirmed.

At the meeting, Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien proposed strengthening the management of craft alcohol from production, circulation to consumption.

The Minister of Health also proposed establishing a Fund to improve community health from mandatory contributions from users and businesses producing and importing alcohol and beer.

According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), the economic costs of alcohol and beer account for 1.3 - 12% of national GDP. In particular, indirect costs to deal with the consequences are often higher than direct costs.

Minister Tien gave an example of Vietnam in 2012, if the cost of alcohol and beer was 1.3% of GDP, it would cause a loss of up to 60,000 billion VND. During that time, the contribution to the state budget of the alcohol, beer and beverage production industry in our country was only 19,000 billion VND.

It is expected that the Law on Prevention of Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Beer will be submitted to the National Assembly for comments at the session at the end of 2018.

According to TTO