Proposal to ban the trading of N2O laughing gas

On the morning of August 3, authorized by the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance Ngo Van Tuan presented to the National Assembly a draft Law amending and supplementing Article 6 (on industries and occupations banned from business investment) and Appendix IV (list of industries and occupations subject to conditional business investment) of the Investment Law.

According to the draft law, N2O gas used for human inhalation will be banned from business, except for medical services, testing, food technology and scientific research.

In the report, the Government said that based on the report of the Ministry of Public Security, in recent times the abuse of N2O gas for entertainment has caused many serious harm to health, especially the nervous system, blood and fertility. The buying, selling and use of funny balls is very complicated, users are at risk of becoming dependent and leading to drug use.

The current Investment Law stipulates 11 industries and occupations that are banned from business investment, including narcotics, electronic cigarettes, and heated cigarettes. Among them, there are regulations controlling the business and use of N2O laughing gas in a number of fields such as healthcare, industry, food… However, the Government believes that these measures are still not effective enough to prevent the abuse of N2O gas.

Examining this content, Mr. Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Economic and Financial Committee, said he agreed with the policy of increasing control and preventing the abuse of N2O gas for entertainment. This is to protect public health and ensure social order and safety.

However, the inspection agency requested the Government to continue to review and clearly define the excluded cases, and unify the names with terminology in specialized laws. This is to not affect production, business activities and other legal uses.

Related to the business field, a license is required, in the draft law, the Government proposes to cut 58 conditional business investment industries and occupations from March 1, 2027. This number increases by 2 areas compared to Resolution No. 66.17/2026, effective until the end of February 2027.

The two industries and professions proposed to reduce business licenses are “trading and selling goods and activities directly related to buying and selling goods of foreign service providers in Vietnam” and “oil and gas activities”.

Mr. Phan Van Mai said that the Economic and Finance Committee agreed on the need to strongly shift from pre-audit to post-audit, creating an open and transparent investment and business environment.

However, according to this agency, some opinions suggest continuing to review and carefully evaluate the reduction plan, especially for industries and occupations directly related to national defense, security, order, social safety, and public health. These industries include the business of clean water (domestic water), gas, drones, minerals, seaport exploitation, vehicle signaling equipment with priority rights…

The National Assembly plans to discuss this draft law in groups this afternoon and discuss it in the hall on the afternoon of August 5. After that, the National Assembly considered and passed the draft law on August 24.