1. What is alcohol content?

Pursuant to Clause 4, Article 2 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Alcohol and Beer Harm 2019, regulations on alcohol content are as follows:

“Alcohol content is a measure of the alcohol content of wine and beer as a percentage of volume. Alcohol content is calculated by the number of milliliters of pure ethanol in 100ml of solution at 20  ^o C.”

2. Measures to reduce the harmful effects of alcohol and beer

Prevention of traffic accidents related to alcohol is stipulated in Article 21 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Alcohol Harm 2019, which stipulates:

1. Drivers must not drink alcohol before and while driving.
2. Heads of transport establishments and owners of means of transport are responsible for proactively implementing measures to prevent, detect and stop drivers from drinking alcohol before and while participating in traffic.
3. The competent authority or person is responsible for checking the alcohol concentration in the blood and breath of drivers participating in traffic or causing traffic accidents.
4. The Ministry of Transport is responsible for developing content and organizing training on preventing the harmful effects of alcohol and beer in training programs for granting degrees, certificates, and licenses to drive vehicles under its management.

Prevention, intervention and reduction of harmful effects of drinking alcohol and beer on health as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 22 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Beer 2019 on:

1. Measures to prevent, intervene and reduce the harmful effects of alcohol consumption on health include:

1. Consulting on prevention and control of harmful effects of alcohol and beer for people coming to medical facilities for examination and treatment;
2. Screening and early detection of risk factors for the health of people who drink alcohol; people with diseases and dysfunctions due to drinking alcohol; people addicted to alcohol;
3. Harm reduction intervention for people with health risk factors, pregnant women with syndrome or risk of fetal alcohol poisoning; prevention and control of alcohol and beer addiction and relapse;
4. Diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of people with alcohol-related diseases and disorders.

Advice on preventing and combating the harmful effects of alcohol and beer is stipulated in Article 23 of the Law on Prevention and Combating the Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Beer 2019:

1. Advice on preventing and combating the harmful effects of alcohol and beer includes the following contents:

1. Information, knowledge, and laws on preventing and combating the harmful effects of alcohol and beer;
2. Measures to reduce the harmful effects of alcohol; skills to refuse drinking alcohol; skills to recognize, respond to, and handle drunk people and alcoholics;

2. Counseling on prevention of harmful effects of alcohol and beer focuses on the following subjects:

1. People who regularly drink alcohol and beer;
2. Alcoholics;
3. Family members who regularly drink alcohol, beer, or are addicted to alcohol;
4. Children, students, young people, pregnant women;
5. People affected by the harmful effects of alcohol.

3. The People's Committee at the commune level shall preside over and coordinate with the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the same level and member organizations of the Front to guide and facilitate consulting activities on prevention and control of the harmful effects of alcohol and beer in the locality.
4. The State creates conditions and encourages organizations and individuals to provide consultation on preventing and combating the harmful effects of alcohol and beer for community members.
5. Agencies, organizations and individuals shall perform consulting activities specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article in accordance with their assigned functions and tasks.

Measures to prevent the harmful effects of alcohol in the community are stipulated in Article 24 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcohol 2019:

1. Propaganda and mobilization of families, members of organizations and communities to participate in propaganda and implementation of legal regulations on prevention and control of harmful effects of alcohol and beer.
2. Integrate activities to prevent and combat the harmful effects of alcohol into cultural, artistic, sports movements and activities, building cultural life and other activities in the community.
3. Promote and encourage regulations in village covenants and conventions to limit or not consume alcohol at weddings, funerals, and festivals in residential areas.
4. Encourage individuals and organizations not to use alcohol and beer products of unknown origin and origin that have not been inspected for food safety.
5. Detect and report drunken and alcoholic people to warn, prevent and handle behaviors that affect social order and safety.

3. Regulations on alcohol concentration penalties.

Regulations on handling violations of the law on prevention and control of harmful effects of alcohol and beer as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 28 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Beer 2019:

Organizations and individuals who violate the law on prevention and control of harmful effects of alcohol and beer shall, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, be subject to disciplinary action, administrative sanctions or criminal prosecution. If causing damage, they must compensate according to the provisions of law.

In addition, Clause 1, Article 28 of the Law on Prevention of Alcohol Harm 2019, Decree 168/2024/ND-CP stipulates the penalty for drinking alcohol while participating in traffic. Specifically:

Regulations on penalties and deduction of driving license points for drivers of cars, four-wheeled motorized passenger vehicles, four-wheeled motorized cargo vehicles and similar vehicles violating road traffic rules (Article 6 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP):

• According to Point c, Clause 6, Article 6 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, a driver on the road whose blood or breath has a concentration of less than 50 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or less than 0.25 milligrams/1 liter of breath will be fined from VND 6,000,000 to VND 8,000,000. In addition, according to Point b, Clause 16 of this Article, the violator will have 04 driving licenses deducted.
• According to Point a, Clause 9, Article 6 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, drivers on the road with a blood or breath alcohol concentration exceeding 50 milligrams to 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeding 0.25 milligrams to 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath will be fined from VND 18,000,000 to VND 20,000,000. In addition, according to Point d, Clause 16 of this Article, violators will also have their driving license deducted 10 points.
• According to Point a, Clause 11, Article 6 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, drivers on the road with a blood or breath alcohol concentration exceeding 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeding 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath will be fined from VND 18,000,000 to VND 20,000,000. In addition, according to the provisions of Point c, Clause 11 of this Article, violators will also have their driving license revoked for 22 to 24 months.

Regulations on penalties and deduction of driving license points for drivers of motorbikes, mopeds, and vehicles similar to motorbikes and mopeds who violate road traffic rules (Article 7 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP):

• According to Point a, Clause 6, Article 7 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, a driver on the road with a blood or breath alcohol concentration that does not exceed 50 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or does not exceed 0.25 milligrams/1 liter of breath will be fined from VND 2,000,000 to VND 3,000,000. In addition, according to the provisions of Point b, Clause 13 of this Article, the violator will also have 04 points deducted from his/her driving license.
• According to Point b, Clause 8, Article 7 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, drivers on the road with a blood or breath alcohol concentration exceeding 50 milligrams to 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeding 0.25 milligrams to 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath will be fined from VND 6,000,000 to VND 8,000,000. In addition, according to the provisions of Point d, Clause 13 of this Article, violators will also have their driving license deducted 10 points.
• According to Point d, Clause 9, Article 7 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, a driver whose blood or breath alcohol concentration exceeds 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeds 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath will be fined from VND 8,000,000 to VND 10,000,000. In addition, according to Point c, Clause 12 of this Article, the offender will also have his/her driving license revoked for 22 to 24 months.

Regulations on penalties for drivers of specialized motorbikes violating road traffic rules (Article 8 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP):

• According to Point c, Clause 6, Article 8 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, drivers on the road with alcohol concentration in their blood or breath that does not exceed 50 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or does not exceed 0.25 milligrams/1 liter of breath will be fined from VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000.
• According to Point a, Clause 7, Article 8 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, drivers on the road with blood or breath alcohol concentration exceeding 50 milligrams to 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeding 0.25 milligrams to 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath will be fined from VND 6,000,000 to VND 8,000,000.
• According to Point a, Clause 9, Article 8 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, drivers on the road with a blood or breath alcohol concentration exceeding 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeding 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath will be fined from VND 18,000,000 to VND 20,000,000.

Regulations on penalties for drivers of bicycles, motorbikes, and other rudimentary vehicles violating road traffic rules (Article 9 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP):

• According to Point p, Clause 1, Article 9 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, drivers on the road with alcohol concentration in their blood or breath but not exceeding 50 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or not exceeding 0.25 milligrams/1 liter of breath will be fined from 100,000 VND to 200,000 VND.
• According to Point d, Clause 3, Article 9 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, drivers on the road with blood or breath alcohol concentration exceeding 50 milligrams to 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeding 0.25 milligrams to 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath will be fined from 300,000 VND to 400,000 VND.
• According to Point b, Clause 4, Article 9 of Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, drivers on the road with a blood or breath alcohol concentration exceeding 80 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood or exceeding 0.4 milligrams/1 liter of breath will be fined from 400,000 VND to 800,000 VND.

Thus, through the provisions of the Law on Prevention and Control of Alcohol Harm 2019 and Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, the regulations and complete legal framework for sanctioning violations of alcohol concentration regulations have been clearly stated. Such specific regulations help deter and raise people's awareness when participating in traffic, minimizing traffic accidents caused by alcohol. Therefore, all people need to comply with legal regulations to contribute to a society without accidents caused by alcohol.

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