Directive No. 12/2007/CT-TTg on Strengthening Activities to Prevent and Control the Harmful Effects of Tobacco

DIRECTIVE

On strengthening activities to prevent and control the harmful effects of tobacco

Counter the harms of tobacco

On August 14, 2000, the Government issued Resolution No. 12/2000/NQ-CP on the "National Policy for Preventing and Controlling the Harmful Effects of Tobacco from 2000 to 2010." After six years of implementing this resolution, we have initially achieved some encouraging results. The community has become more aware and better understands the harmful effects of tobacco and water pipe (hereinafter referred to collectively as tobacco) on health. An increasing number of people are voluntarily giving up the habit of smoking tobacco. However, compared to the set goals, the results of preventing and controlling the harmful effects of tobacco still have many limitations. Vietnam remains the country with the highest rate of tobacco smokers in the world. According to the World Health Organization's forecast, if timely measures are not taken, approximately 10% of Vietnam's population will die prematurely due to diseases related to tobacco use. Recent national health surveys show that the rate of male tobacco smoking is on the rise; the rate of children exposed passively to tobacco smoke is still very high; the behavior of smoking in public places is still common.

The reasons for the above shortcomings are that the work of communication and health education on preventing and controlling the harmful effects of tobacco has not been carried out regularly, sufficiently strongly, and convincingly enough. The public has not fully recognized the harmful effects of tobacco. The inter-sectoral coordination in the work of preventing and controlling the harmful effects of tobacco has not been synchronized and has not mobilized many social resources to participate in this work. The situation of advertising, promoting, marketing, and sponsoring by some tobacco companies still exists under various forms. The price of tobacco products has not yet had a limiting effect on smokers using tobacco products. The health warnings on tobacco packaging are still vague and do not create a strong impression on consumers, thus limiting their warning effect on tobacco addicts and preventing new smokers, especially children.

To strengthen activities to prevent and control the harmful effects of tobacco, implement Vietnam's commitment to the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and strive to achieve the goals set forth in the National Policy for Preventing and Controlling the Harmful Effects of Tobacco by 2010, the Prime Minister issues the following directive:

I. STRENGTHENING MEASURES TO PREVENT AND CONTROL THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF TOBACCOCOUNTER THE HARMS OF TOBACCO

1.Communicating and educating about health in preventing and controlling the harmful effects of tobacco:

a) Vigorously carry out communication and health education on preventing and controlling the harmful effects of tobacco through mass media, in government agencies, offices, and communities to raise awareness and change the behavior of the public to prevent and control the harmful effects of tobacco. Promote and mobilize state officials, civil servants, employees, and members of people's organizations to be exemplary non-smokers;

b) Promote and mobilize the public to limit and eventually stop using and offering tobacco at weddings, funerals, festivals, and family gatherings and among friends.

2.Strictly enforce the prohibition on smoking in workplaces and indoor public places:

a) Strictly prohibit smoking in classrooms, kindergartens, healthcare facilities, production areas, and indoor workplaces; areas with high fire and explosion risks, and on public transportation vehicles. At places where smoking is prohibited, signs with the words or symbols "No Smoking" must be hung;

b) In indoor public places (libraries, cinemas, theaters, cultural houses, sports venues with roofs, exhibition centers, waiting rooms of railway stations, bus terminals, airports, ports), and indoor entertainment venues such as restaurants, bars, karaoke lounges, hotels, and nightclubs, designated areas for smokers should be arranged;

c) Consider violations of regulations on preventing and controlling the harmful effects of tobacco as violations of internal rules and regulations of agencies, units, and public places.

3.Implement the Framework Convention (FCTC) provisions on printing health warnings on each pack of tobacco gradually:

a) Starting from March 17, 2008, print the health warning message in contrasting colors with the text "Smoking can cause lung cancer" covering about 30% of the surface area of each tobacco pack; starting from January 1, 2010, print the health warning message covering about 50% of the surface area of each tobacco pack;

b) Other hygiene and safety regulations for tobacco products shall be implemented according to current regulations.

4.Strengthen activities to control the business of tobacco products:

a) Strictly prohibit selling tobacco products in government agencies, workplaces, schools, hospitals, public transportation vehicles, and other places where smoking is prohibited as stipulated in point a, Clause 2, Section I of this Directive;

b) Closely monitor wholesale sales and agency wholesale sales of tobacco products through regular inspections and audits of traders, moving towards controlling retail sales of tobacco products based on specified business locations, scope, scale, time of operation, and number of traders participating in the sale of tobacco products in accordance with local economic and social development plans as guided by the Ministry of Commerce;

c) Enhance and effectively coordinate between anti-smuggling forces to firmly combat the sale of smuggled tobacco, counterfeit tobacco, tobacco with fake labels, and substandard tobacco;

d) Prohibit the sale of tobacco through vending machines, online, and over the phone;

đ) Thoroughly destroy smuggled tobacco, counterfeit tobacco, tobacco with fake labels, and substandard tobacco.

5.Strengthen the implementation of regulations prohibiting advertising, promoting, marketing, and sponsoring related to the production and sale of tobacco:

a) Strictly implement regulations prohibiting advertising, promoting, and marketing of tobacco or using tobacco as promotional items for other goods and services in any form;

b) Prohibit all forms of direct or indirect sponsorship by tobacco product manufacturers and sellers aimed at advertising tobacco products.

c) Prohibit organizations, units, and individuals from receiving sponsorship to organize cultural, artistic, sports, entertainment, educational, health care, scientific conferences, and other social activities that are linked with advertising tobacco products.

6.Strengthen tax and price measures for tobacco products to limit their use: develop a roadmap for increasing taxes appropriately to raise prices on tobacco products to reduce public access and use of tobacco products.

II. IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

1. Ministry of Health:

a) Serve as the lead agency, coordinating with relevant ministries, sectors, and political-social organizations in directing the implementation of the Tobacco Control Program; annually organize National Smoke-Free Week; conduct health education campaigns on preventing and controlling the harms of tobacco; encourage research topics on the harms of tobacco and smoking cessation methods to implement within the community; regularly inspect, audit, evaluate, and report annually to the Prime Minister on the results of tobacco harm prevention and control work;

b) Lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to stipulate and monitor the implementation of printing health warning messages on the main face of each cigarette pack; establish national technical standards for cigarette safety and hygiene;

c) Coordinate with inspection agencies of relevant ministries and sectors and related units to inspect, investigate, and strictly handle violations of Article 16 of Decree No. 45/2005/NĐ-CP dated April 6, 2005, concerning administrative penalties in the field of health;

d) Lead the drafting of the content of the Draft Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms, to be submitted to the Government for consideration and then to the National Assembly for inclusion in the legislative program and ordinances of the National Assembly in 2008;

đ) Integrate tobacco harm prevention and control communication activities into health care programs and other social programs such as reproductive health care; HIV/AIDS prevention; healthy village construction.

2. Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism:

a) Direct mass media and grassroots information agencies to intensify information and education campaigns on preventing and controlling the harms of tobacco to change smoking behavior; take measures to minimize the use of smoking images in or on artistic works to the greatest extent possible;

b) Direct competent agencies under the Ministry to strictly control tobacco advertising and severely punish according to the law organizations and individuals who violate regulations.

3. Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs:

a) Incorporate knowledge and skills for preventing and controlling the harms of tobacco into extracurricular education programs for students at universities, colleges, vocational schools, and secondary schools suitable for different target groups;

b) Intensify tobacco harm prevention and control work in educational institutions; build smoke-free educational facilities; launch and maintain regular anti-smoking competitions in educational institutions.

4. Ministry of Trade:

a) Strictly control wholesale or agency wholesale business of tobacco products according to current regulations; severely handle violations of promotional, marketing, and trading regulations for tobacco products;

b) Coordinate with relevant agencies to propose effective measures and organize the implementation of anti-smuggling efforts for counterfeit, fake-labeled, and substandard cigarettes; strictly handle violations according to the law; develop and direct the implementation of plans to destroy smuggled, counterfeit, fake-labeled, and substandard cigarettes; allocate annual budget funds for this work.

5. Ministry of Industry:

a) Direct and strictly manage the tobacco manufacturing industry according to planning and plans from planting tobacco plants, processing raw materials, production, and consumption of tobacco products; promote production to improve domestic tobacco raw material productivity and quality, moving towards reducing imports;

b) Lead and coordinate with relevant agencies in organizing the restructuring of cigarette manufacturing enterprises in accordance with planning; strengthen management of investment, importation, and use of tobacco production equipment, cigarette paper, tobacco raw materials, and products according to current regulations.

6. The Ministry of Finance:

a) Balance and ensure financial support for tobacco harm prevention and control activities in the annual state budget estimates of ministries, sectors, and localities according to prescribed regulations and current budget decentralization;

b) Evaluate the impact of special consumption tax policies on tobacco product consumption and government revenue. Continue to study and propose a roadmap for increasing taxes to limit the use of tobacco products;

c) Issue a circular guiding the pilot mechanism for raising funds to support anti-smuggling and anti-counterfeit tobacco efforts.

7. The Ministry of Planning and Investment:

a) Coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and relevant agencies in managing tobacco industry investment according to government regulations; proactively propose measures to deal with joint ventures and cooperatives producing with foreign countries that violate tobacco harm prevention and control laws;

b) Coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and relevant ministries and sectors to implement management of tobacco investment and production according to current regulations.

8. Population, Family and Children Committee: Strengthen education and publicity on preventing and controlling the harms of tobacco to children and pregnant women. Mobilize families, schools, and society to prevent children from buying, selling, and using tobacco.

9. Vietnam Television, Voice of Vietnam Radio, and Vietnam News Agency:

a) Coordinate with media agencies to increase broadcasting time and publication of information on preventing and controlling the harms of tobacco, popularizing laws on preventing and controlling the harms of tobacco and smoking cessation methods;

b) Establish sections and topics on preventing and combating the harms of tobacco. Minimize the publication of works depicting scenes of smoking.

10. Ministries and sectors shall coordinate with the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, the Vietnam Farmers' Association, the Vietnam Women's Union, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, and the Vietnam Veterans Association to develop and issue guidance documents on preventing and combating the harms of tobacco; create favorable conditions for social organizations to participate in activities aimed at preventing and combating the harms of tobacco.

11. People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities:

a) Direct the Health Department to take the lead and coordinate across sectors to intensify activities to prevent and combat the harms of tobacco; inspect and strictly handle violations of the provisions set forth in Article 16 of Decree No. 45-2005/NĐ-CP dated April 6, 2005 of the Government on administrative penalties in the field of health within their localities;

b) Direct local communication agencies to intensify communication and education activities regarding the prevention and combating of the harms of tobacco to change smoking behavior; regularly disseminate and educate the public about laws on preventing and combating the harms of tobacco and measures for quitting tobacco addiction;

c) Intensify the socialization of activities to prevent and combat the harms of tobacco, incorporate the content of these activities into resolutions, internal regulations, and rules of agencies, units, and local community agreements.

This Directive shall take effect fifteen days from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

Based on this Directive, ministries, sectors, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall develop plans and allocate funds for the activities to prevent and combat the harms of tobacco at their respective agencies and units in accordance with current laws.

Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government agencies, and Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities are responsible for implementing this Directive, and shall submit periodic annual reports on the results of activities to prevent and combat the harms of tobacco at their agencies and localities to the Ministry of Health for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister.