Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has banned 6-methylnicotine, a synthetic nicotine analogue found in unapproved vapes and oral pouches. Effective October 1, 2026, the regulator will list the compound as a Schedule 9 prohibited substance, outlawing its sale, supply, and commercial possession nationwide.
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Vietnam’s Ministry of Health is finalizing draft amendments to the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harm, scheduled for submission at the 16th National Assembly’s second session. Central to the draft is a complete ban on displaying tobacco products at retail points of sale. While designed to curb youth smoking, international outcomes show that restricting legal display without strong market enforcement often fuels black-market trade.
Australia’s Experience: Retail Restrictions and the Rise of Smuggled Tobacco
Australia maintains some of the strictest anti-tobacco frameworks globally, pairing retail display prohibitions and plain packaging with high excise taxes. While these measures aimed to reduce smoking prevalence, they also created a price disparity that accelerated the growth of illegal tobacco networks.
Unlicensed shops selling smuggled cigarettes now operate openly across Australian urban centers, frequently reopening quickly after law enforcement inspections. The competition for illicit market share has triggered arson attacks, extortion, and violence between organized crime syndicates. By September 2026, surrounding commercial properties in affected areas faced escalating insurance premiums or outright coverage denials due to fire risks linked to nearby illicit tobacco storefronts.
Australian law enforcement agencies now recognize that policing retail shelves alone fails if authorities cannot disrupt illicit supply chains, border smuggling routes, and criminal financial transactions. When legal goods face severe retail friction while illicit products remain accessible, consumer demand moves underground rather than disappearing.
Policy Design: The New Zealand Alternative
New Zealand adopted a structured approach to reduce tobacco visibility without completely severing transactional clarity. Under its legal framework, tobacco products must not be visible from outside retail premises or within public areas inside the store.
Instead of treating all product data as prohibited advertising, New Zealand regulations permitted standardized, text-only notices indicating product availability, names, and prices. This clear boundary between promotional marketing and basic transaction details gave retailers a viable compliance path while maintaining visibility restrictions.
Implications for Vietnam’s Retail Sector
Implementing a retail display ban in Vietnam involves unique operational hurdles due to the country’s fragmented retail network. Data presented at an August 2026 Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) workshop highlighted that Vietnam has more than 5 million household businesses. A survey conducted in April 2026 revealed that 81.5% of these small businesses anticipated lower revenues, with 33% considering downsizing.
For small-scale vendors, sudden regulatory mandates create compliance expenses that can threaten business viability. If legal retail points face tight controls while unregulated street vendors sell contraband, the commercial advantage shifts directly to illicit operators.
Three Pillars for Effective Implementation
To avoid the unintended market distortions seen in Australia, regulatory experts point to three technical necessities for Vietnam’s draft legislation:
- Targeted Regulatory Scope:Â Focus restrictions on retail areas with direct public and youth exposure to eliminate implementation ambiguities.
- Information vs. Promotion:Â Distinguish between commercial advertising and essential transactional data, such as standardized price lists and product names.
- Transition Timelines and Supply Enforcement:Â Provide a phased adjustment period for small retailers while improving supply chain controls, digital tax stamps, electronic invoicing, and border anti-smuggling operations.
Organized criminal syndicates have become the primary suppliers of tobacco and nicotine in Australia. An investigation published by French daily Le Monde revealed that severe excise taxation has backfired, fueling an underground economy run by outlaw biker gangs and international smuggling networks across Sydney and other major metropolitan areas.
Read moreOne Nation leader Pauline Hanson has proposed a 75% cut to Australia’s tobacco excise to dismantle a booming illicit market controlled by organized crime. The policy, which includes a three-year indexation freeze, aims to align legal cigarette prices with cheap black-market alternatives to eliminate criminal profit margins.
Read moreThe Australian Border Force and 15 federal and state agencies raided more than 100 service stations across Australia on Tuesday. Code-named Operation SHORTHAND, the coordinated sweep targeted the sale of illegal tobacco and vapes, disrupting supply networks linked to organized crime syndicates.
Read moreAustralia’s strict tobacco control policies have triggered severe unintended consequences, driving the majority of the nation’s nicotine supply into the hands of illicit syndicates. High cigarette taxes and a prescription-only model for vaping have created a black market that now accounts for up to 80% of the country’s nicotine supply, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates.
Read moreThe Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has implemented a strict ban on the importation, compounding, and retail sale of nicotine pouches, effective July 24, 2026. This regulatory action aims to halt the rising trend of nicotine addiction among young people, driven by unregulated online sales and social media marketing.
Read moreThe Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) has warned that Australia’s falling smoking rates hide a rapidly expanding black market. This shift occurred as federal policies pushed consumers toward illegal suppliers instead of regulated harm-reduction alternatives.
Read moreAustralia’s daily smoking rate has dropped to its lowest point on record, according to data from the 2025 National Drug Strategy Household Survey. The survey, which gathered responses from over 17,500 participants aged 14 and older, shows that daily smoking in this demographic fell to 5.6% in 2025, down from 8.3% in the 2022–23 period.
Read moreThe Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) has declared that nicotine prohibition in Australia and Thailand is actively fueling massive illicit markets. Rather than eliminating demand, strict bans have handed market control to organized crime, leaving consumers with fewer protections and fewer legal alternatives to smoking.
In Australia, where strict vaping restrictions are in place, authorities have seized over 20 million illegal vapes since January 2024. Alan Gorley of ALIVE Advocacy Australia criticized the policy, stating it has “expanded the illicit market, enriched criminal networks, and left consumers with fewer protections than before.”
Similarly, Thailand’s 11-year-old vape ban has yielded identical results. Asa Saligupta from ENDs Cigarette Smoke Thailand noted that the ban did not stop vaping, but instead made products unregulated, impossible to quality-control, and highly profitable for illegal sellers.
CAPHRA Executive Coordinator Nancy Loucas warned that prohibition weakens consumer safety across the Asia-Pacific region. The coalition argues that public health is better served through strict age limits, product standards, and regulated legal access rather than ideological bans.
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