On February 24, 2020, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree No. 24/2020/ND-CP providing guidance on the Law on Prevention and Control of Harms of Alcohol and Beer 2019.
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Organizations and individuals selling alcohol and beer through e-commerce; organizations and individuals providing e-commerce services to other merchants, organizations, and individuals selling alcohol and beer must take measures to prevent individuals under 18 years old from accessing, searching for information, and purchasing alcohol and beer, ensuring the following requirements:
- There must be an application requiring visitors to declare their name and age before accessing and searching for information; declare information about the purchaser’s name, residential address, and payment information through accounts, bank cards, or other non-cash payment methods when they execute transactions to purchase alcohol and beer.
- Product information on alcohol and beer on the e-commerce websites of organizations and individuals selling alcohol and beer must not be linked or advertised to user accounts under 18 years old; on pages, channels, or other information mediums on the network environment dedicated to individuals under 18 years old or mostly used by individuals under 18 years old.
- Organizations and individuals selling alcohol and beer are responsible for verifying the age of the recipient when there is doubt about their age, ensuring that the recipient must be 18 years or older when delivering the goods.
- No later than June 30, 2020, organizations and individuals selling alcohol and beer through e-commerce that were in operation before the effective date of Decree 24 are responsible for implementing the regulations in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of Article 6 of this Decree.
In addition, for advertising alcohol and beer on electronic newspapers, electronic information pages, social networks, electronic means, terminal devices, and other telecommunications devices, there must be a technology blocking system and software to control the age of visitors to prevent individuals under 18 years old from accessing, searching for information on alcohol and beer, ensuring the following requirements:
- No advertisements are displayed before the visitor searches for information and declares their age.
- Advertisements must not be linked or promoted to user accounts under 18 years old; on pages, channels, or other information mediums on the network environment dedicated to individuals under 18 years old or mostly used by individuals under 18 years old.
- In cases where alcohol and beer advertisements were made before the effective date of Decree 24 and do not meet the requirements specified in points (a) and (b) of this clause, they can continue until the advertisement contract expires and cannot be renewed.
For more details, refer to Decree 24/2020/ND-CP, effective from February 24, 2020.
Le Hai
