Following “widespread criticism,” the Ministry of Industry and Trade has withdrawn its plan to ban sidewalk alcohol sales.

The draft decree had said that more regulation of alcoholic beverages was required to cultivate a healthier society:

“…[A] society can only hope to establish a healthy relationship with drinking when it does a good job of regulating the production, trade and consumption of alcohol.”

According to market survey company Eurowatch, Vietnamese beer consumption stands at 32 liters per capita, “...making the country the top consumer in Southeast Asia, third in Asia (after China and Japan) and 28th in the world.”

The World Health Organization’s representative to Vietnam, Takeshi Kasai, said that “consumption of alcoholic drinks is common among more than 70 percent of Vietnamese men, of which one of every four people drinks at harmful levels.”

“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,” wroteThanh Nien.

In addition, proposals to ban the sale of alcohol to pregnant and breastfeeding women and people who exhibit “signs of being drunk and/or diseased due to alcohol abuse,” were put on the chopping block and replaced with a plan to add warning labels on beer.

An anonymous ministry official had previously stated that implementation of an alcohol ban would be nearly impossible to enforce in Vietnam:

“…It would be difficult to ban alcohol sale on the sidewalk because street food has become a major part of the consumer culture,”he said. “Such a ban may be possible in some countries, but not in Vietnam."

However, the ministry plans to move forward on a law banning alcohol sales to those under 18 years of age.

[Photo via Anton Muhajir]