Vietnam: Proposed ban on sidewalk alcohol sales withdrawn by Ministry of Industry and Trade

Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade has withdrawn its proposed ban on sidewalk alcohol sales following widespread criticism, Thanh Nien News reported on October 2.

Pham Chi Dung, director of the ministry’s light industry department, said they shelved the proposal following several discussions on the draft decree on producing and trading alcohol products.

“It is illegal to occupy sidewalks for trading in many places and beer is just one of many products being sold in this manner,” he said, echoing a criticism raised during internal reviews of the proposal.

“Other controversial proposals were also eliminated, including banning the sale of alcohol to pregnant and breastfeeding women and people who exhibit “signs of being drunk and/or diseased due to alcohol abuse.”

Instead, the ministry called for a new rule mandating warning labels on beer, he said.

Dung said the ministry would also continue to seek a law barring the sale of alcohol to people under 18 years old.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s proposed ban had drawn virulent criticism for being ill-conceived and unfeasible.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam produced 2.02 billion litres of beer so far this year, a 6.5 percent increase over last year. The country ranked third in Asia in beer consumption after China and India in a 2011 survey by the Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings.

03 October, 2014