Recently, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 98/2020/ND-CP and Decree 117/2020/ND-CP. Both of these Decrees stipulate the penalty levels for acts of selling or providing tobacco to persons under 18 years of age.
Article table of contents
How much is the fine for selling or supplying cigarettes to persons under 18 years old? (Illustrative photo)
Specifically, according to the provisions of Article 26 of Decree 117/2020/ND-CP (effective from November 15, 2020), the fines for the act of selling or supplying cigarettes to persons under 18 years old are as follows:
“Article 26. Violations of regulations on selling and supplying cigarettes
1. A fine of from 1,000,000 VND to 3,000,000 VND shall be imposed for the act of not having a notice board that states no sale of cigarettes to persons under 18 years old at the points of sale of wholesale agents and retail agents of cigarettes.
2. A fine of from 3,000,000 VND to 5,000,000 VND shall be imposed for one of the following acts:
b) Selling or supplying cigarettes to persons under 18 years old;”
In addition, Article 23 of Decree 98/2020/ND-CP (effective from October 15, 2020) also stipulates the fine levels for the act of selling or supplying cigarettes to persons under 18 years old as follows:
“Article 23. Violations concerning the sale of cigarette products
1. A fine of from 500,000 VND to 1,000,000 VND shall be imposed for the act of not having a notice board that states no sale of cigarettes to persons under 18 years old at the points of sale in accordance with regulations.
2. A fine of from 1,000,000 VND to 2,000,000 VND shall be imposed for one of the following violations:
a) Selling cigarettes to persons under 18 years old;
b) Employing persons under 18 years old to sell cigarettes.”
Thus, based on the above regulations, it can be seen that both Decree 98/2020/ND-CP and Decree 117/2020/ND-CP stipulate the fines for the act of selling or supplying cigarettes to persons under 18 years old. These are two different fine levels for the same violation. Simultaneously, the act of not having a notice board that states no sale of cigarettes to persons under 18 years old is also stipulated with two different fine levels. So, in this case, how much is the fine for selling or supplying cigarettes to persons under 18 years old?
Clause 3, Article 156 of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents 2015 has clearly stipulated in cases where legal documents issued by the same agency have different regulations on the same issue, the provisions of the legal document issued later shall apply.
“Article 156. Application of legal documents
…
3. In cases where legal documents issued by the same agency have different regulations on the same issue, the provisions of the legal document issued later shall apply.”
Decree 98/2020/ND-CP was issued on August 26, 2020, and Decree 117/2020/ND-CP was issued on September 28, 2020. Therefore, Decree 117/2020/ND-CP issued by the Government of Vietnam later than Decree 98/2020/ND-CP, the penalty for the act of selling or supplying cigarettes to persons under 18 years old will be applied according to Decree 117/2020/ND-CP.
Therefore, from November 15, the act of selling or supplying cigarettes to persons under 18 years old will be fined from 3,000,000 VND to 5,000,000 VND and a fine from 1,000,000 VND to 3,000,000 VND shall be imposed for the act of not having a notice board that states no sale of cigarettes to persons under 18 years old at the points of sale of wholesale agents and retail agents of cigarettes. Note that the fine level for the above acts only applies to individuals who violate, while organizations with the same violations will be fined at double the fine level for individuals.
Ty Na
