Vietnam Bans Vapes, Protecting State-Owned Tobacco Business

Vietnam will adopt a comprehensive vape ban next year, prohibiting the production, trade, import, storage, transportation, and use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs).

The Vietnamese National Assembly passed the law Nov. 30 with a 95 percent majority, according to Vietnamnet Global. Vietnam has been attempting to ban vapes since at least 2020. 

According to the Vietnamese Health Ministry, vaping is a health danger, especially for youth. Officials claim e-cigarettes cause cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and acute lung injury, and also affect mental health, according to VN Express. 

The state-owned tobacco company controls the market

Meanwhile, the country—which has a population of 100 million—has an adult smoking rate of 24.4 percent, according to surveys compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO). Over 45 percent of Vietnamese men smoked at the time of the most recent (2020) national survey.

The largest supplier of cigarettes in Vietnam is the Vietnam National Tobacco Corporation (Vinataba), which holds a market share of over 60 percent, according to Vietdata. Vinataba is owned by the government, which can count on continued tobacco income after banning low-risk alternatives. 

The government had already banned all vape imports except by Vinataba, but increased competition from black market imports and illicit domestic production reduced the benefits of selling vapes for the government-owned cigarette manufacturer. So vapes had to go.

Bloomberg and the WHO rule Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia has harsh anti-vaping laws. Of the 11 countries that make up the region, only Indonesia and the Philippines do not have vape bans. 

Brunei, East Timor, Malaysia and Myanmar prohibit the sale of vapes. In Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, and Thailand, both sale and possession/use are banned, with serious penalties possible for offenders. Soon Vietnam will join that group.

Not coincidentally, the WHO and tobacco control groups aligned with and funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg have outsized influence on the Vietnamese government. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed delight with the vape ban. “Congratulations, Vietnam,” he tweeted, “on making this bold decision to protect your citizens, especially the young ones, from vaping and heated tobacco products.”

The Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use lists Vietnam as one of its 10 “priority countries,” which means Vietnam receives more Bloomberg grants than most countries to fund dishonest public campaigns and support restrictions, taxes and bans.

Of Bloomberg’s 10 priority countries, five have so far passed vape product sales or use bans.