Increase tax on alcohol

Basically agreeing with the necessity of the Law on Prevention of Alcohol Harm submitted by the Government to the National Assembly on the morning of November 9, the Committee on Social Affairs emphasized the need to institutionalize the Party's consistent viewpoint and direction "prevention is better than cure".

With the goal of protecting public health, the law is enacted to respond to the current situation of alcohol and beer use at a high level, with a tendency to increase rapidly, at an alarmingly harmful level in Vietnam, Committee Chairwoman Nguyen Thuy Anh presented.

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The examining agency believes that the content of the draft law basically ensures constitutionality, legality, consistency with the legal system and compatibility with relevant international treaties to which Vietnam is a member (and will soon be a member).

However, there are still many concerns about the feasibility of the draft law. The Committee recommends that the Government study and revise the advocacy and encouragement provisions into mandatory provisions, the review report stated.

Regarding specific issues, the first concern of the auditing agency is the policy in preventing the harmful effects of alcohol and beer.

Article 3 of the draft law stipulates the Policy on preventing and combating the harmful effects of alcohol and beer:

1. Synchronously implement measures to prevent and combat the harmful effects of alcohol and beer; prioritize measures to reduce alcohol and beer consumption; strictly manage the supply of alcohol and beer; reduce the production of artisanal alcohol without a business license.

2. Increase special consumption tax according to the roadmap to reduce alcohol and beer consumption.

3. Ensure financial resources for the prevention and control of harmful effects of alcohol and drugs.a.

Ms. Thuy Anh said that the Committee agrees with the regulation in Clause 2 "increasing special consumption tax according to the roadmap to reduce alcohol and beer consumption" to create legal technical barriers in accessing alcohol and beer, especially for young people.

The inspection agency believes that this is a necessary solution given that Vietnam is one of the countries with the cheapest prices for alcohol and beer in the world (on average, the price of a liter of beer is equal to the price of 1/2 liter of milk) and is among the countries where people can easily buy and use alcohol and beer.

The proposal from the auditing agency is that the Government study and specify the principles of the tax increase roadmap to ensure transparency.

Faced with the trend of younger alcohol and beer users and the risks of disease burden and social consequences, the Review Committee also proposed that the Government add "priority to implementing measures to prevent and combat the harmful effects of alcohol and beer on young people and minors" and add specific regulations directly targeting young people to be consistent with the purpose and viewpoint of law-making to prevent and minimize social consequences caused by alcohol and beer.

Regarding prohibited acts, Clause 4, Article 5 of the draft law prohibits forcing people under 18 years old to use alcohol.

The Committee recommends that the Government study and express this clause in the direction of prohibiting "forcing others to use alcohol and beer; allowing people under 18 years old to use alcohol and beer", "using people under 18 years old in the production and trading of alcohol and beer" to ensure more comprehensiveness and coverage.

Regarding the control of alcohol and beer advertising, Ms. Thuy Anh said there are currently two different opinions.

The first type of opinion agrees with the provisions of the draft law, which stipulates strict control over alcohol and beer advertising to limit the accessibility and availability of alcohol and beer.

The second type of opinion is that the draft law's strict control over alcohol and beer advertising will affect the state budget revenue from advertising activities and affect the right to access information about alcohol and beer.

The review committee agreed with the first type of opinion and found that, comparing the impact on state budget revenue from alcohol and beer advertising activities with the costs that the state budget and people have to spend on treating diseases and handling social issues related to alcohol and beer, it is necessary to regulate the control of alcohol and beer advertising.

Regarding the conditions for alcohol trading, the new draft law only states the principles for regulating the conditions for alcohol production, but assigns the Government to regulate the business conditions, procedures, and issuance of alcohol trading licenses, which is not appropriate according to the reviewing agency. The Committee recommends that the Government specify and make transparent the conditions for alcohol trading in the draft law and stipulate the principles for the procedures and issuance of alcohol trading and distribution licenses.

The draft law stipulates "mobilizing households, organizations and individuals who produce handmade alcohol for non-commercial purposes to stop producing alcohol".

The review agency believes that this regulation is only "advocacy" and not normative for organizations and individuals producing handmade alcohol. In the condition that the demand for production and use of homemade alcohol in the community is still very popular, the practical regulatory significance of the regulation is very limited.

Therefore, it is recommended that the Government consider regulating that individuals and organizations producing craft alcohol for non-commercial purposes must ensure food safety and register their alcohol production with the People's Committee at the commune level. At the same time, it is necessary to study and specify the provisions of the draft law on solutions to support families, organizations and individuals producing craft alcohol to make career changes.