MOT
STRENGTHENING THE TASK OF
CONSUMER PROTECTION IN VIETNAM
Dr. Dinh Thi My Loan
Director General, Competition Administration Department
MINISTRY OF TRADE
PRESENTATION CONTENTS
MOT
1. The necessity of consumer protection work
2. Laws on protection of consumers’ rights
3. State Management of Protection of Consumers' Rights
4. State Management function of the Ministry of Trade in
consumer protection
5. Roles of Departments of Trade/Departments of Trade and
Tourism
6. Roles of ministries/industries and organizations in
consumer protection.
1. The necessity of consumer
protection work
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• Roles of consumers:
- Consumers greatly affect businesses’operation.
- Consumer protection aims at both ensuring
social equity and guaranteeing a fair business
environment.
1. The necessity of consumer
protection work (cont’d)
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Vietnam’s situation:
- Unfair competition acts (improper multilevel marketing;
misleading advertisement…)
- Counterfeit and low-quality goods
- Violation of Intellectual Property Law
- The issues of price, quality and safety of goods and
services.
1. The necessity of consumer
protection work (cont’d)
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- Numerous enterprises are still no respect of their
responsibilities to consumers.
- The mass of consumers are not fully aware of their
rights and responsibilities and that do not execute
them.
2. Laws on protection of
consumers’ rights
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• Ordinance No.13/1999/PLUBTVQH10 on
protection of consumers’ rights
- Promulgated on April 27, 1999;
- Governing the rights and responsibilities of consumers;
organizations and individuals producing and trading goods
and services; State management of protection of consumers'
rights; Resolving complaints and denunciations and dealing
with breaches…
2. Laws on protection of
consumers’ rights (cont’d)
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• Decree No.69/2001/NĐ-CP Making detailed
provisions for implementation of the Ordinance on
Protection of Consumers' Rights
- Promulgated on October 2, 2001;
- Making detailed provisions for State Management of Protection
of Consumers' Rights in which detail responsibilities are
assigned to Ministries/industries and localities;
- Regulating Organizations Protecting Consumers' Rights;
- Resolving Complaints and Denunciations and Dealing with
Breaches.
2. Laws on protection of
consumers’ rights (cont’d)
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• Law on Competition
- Promulgated on December 14, 2004;
- Governing competition restriction acts and
unfair competition acts;
2. Laws on protection of
consumers’ rights (cont’d)
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• Other legal documents:
- Civil Code
- Criminal Code
- Commercial Law
- Law on protection of people’s health
- Law on protection of environment
- Ordinance on quality of goods
- Ordinance on measurement
3. State Management of Protection
of Consumers' Rights
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 Under Ordinance No.13/1999/PL-UBTVQH10 on
protection of consumers’ rights
 Promulgation and organization of implementation of legal
documents;
 Construction and organization of implementation of
policies on protection of consumers’ rights; on rational and
economical consumption;
 Guidance and co-ordination of activities on protection of
consumers’ rights of Ministries, ministerial-level bodies,
government agencies, people’s Council and people’s
Committee at all local levels.
3. State Management of Protection
of Consumers' Rights (cont’d)
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 Training and developing officials;
 Advocacy, education and popularization of laws and
regulations;
 International cooperation;
 Check and inspection of implementation of the laws on
protection of consumers' rights;
Resolving Complaints and Denunciations and
Dealing with Breaches.
4. State Management function of the Ministry of
Trade in consumer protection
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 Previously State Management function was
entrusted to the The Ministry of Science,
Technology and Environment in which The
General Department of Standards, Weights,
Measurements and Quality should assist the
Minister of Science, Technology and Environment
in the direct implementation of State management
of protection of consumers' rights.
4. State Management function of the Ministry of
Trade in consumer protection (cont’d)
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 Under Decree No. 29/2004/NĐ-CP regulating
functions, duties, powers and organizational
structure of the Ministry of Trade:
- The Ministry of Trade shall be responsible to the
Government for unified State management of
protection of consumers' rights under laws and
regulations…
4. State Management function of the Ministry
of Trade in consumer protection (cont’d)
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 On September 29, 2004, The Ministry of Science,
Technology and Environment officially handed over
the responsibility for State Management in
consumer protection to the Ministry of Trade
4. State Management function of the Ministry of
Trade in consumer protection (cont’d)
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• Under Decree No. 06/2006/NĐ-CP
• Competition Administration Department.
4. State Management function of the Ministry of
Trade in consumer protection (cont’d)
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• Several activities of Competition
Administration Department to implement
this task:
- Guiding Departments of Trade/Departments of
Trade and Tourism in taking up and
implementation of this task
- Supplying information and advocacy of laws on
protection of consumers’ rights via
4. State Management function of the Ministry of
Trade in consumer protection (cont’d)
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Several activities of Competition Administration
Department to implement this task (cont’d):
- Enhancing international cooperation:
• CUTS International;
• Cooperation with ASEAN members
• FTC/DOJ of other nations
5. Roles of Departments of Trade/
Departments of Trade and Tourism
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- Under Circular No.08/2005/TTLT/BTM/BNV,
Departments of Trade/Departments of Trade and
Tourism is responsible for:
 Guidance and organization of implementation of
regulations on consumer protection in their localities;
 Advocacy, education and popularization to consumers
of laws and their rights;
 Organization and assist consumers to self-protect of
their rights.
5. Roles of Departments of
Trade/Departments of Trade and Tourism
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 Check and inspection of the comply of laws on
protection of consumers’ rights
 Co-ordination with related agencies in
Resolving Complaints and Denunciations from
consumers;
 Support and close cooperation with local
Association of Consumer Protection.
6. Roles of ministries/industries and organizations
in consumer protection (cont’d)
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Under Decree No.69/2001/NĐ-CP, ministries,
ministerial equivalent bodies and Government
bodies shall be responsible, depending on their
respective functions, duties and powers, to coordinate in the implementation of the following
duties:
- To draft and submit to the Government for
promulgation, or to promulgate within their own
authority, legal instruments relating to protection of
consumers' rights for the branches and sectors they
manage.
6. Roles of ministries/industries and organizations
in consumer protection (cont’d)
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- To guide, check and inspect implementation of
the laws on protection of consumers' rights within the
branches and sectors they manage.
- To resolve complaints and denunciations, and to
deal with breaches of the laws on protection of
consumers' rights.
- To organize education in respect of, and
dissemination of information on, the laws on protection
of consumers' right.
6. Roles of ministries/industries and
organizations in consumer protection (cont’d)
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• Organizations protecting consumers' rights:
- Be permitted to register their operation at people's
committees at all local levels
- Be representative organizations in order to protect
consumers' rights
- Be permitted to receive complaints from consumers
- Be possible to represent consumers to hand in
complaints to authorized bodies for resolving
6. Roles of ministries/industries and organizations
in consumer protection (cont’d)
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• Protection of consumers' rights is common
responsibility of the society
• The task of protection of consumers' rights relates to
many different industries/sectors and that it is needed to
co-ordinate among Competition Administration
Department (Ministry of Trade), Departments of
Trade/Departments of Trade and Tourism, other
ministries/industries, media agencies and Organizations
protecting consumers' rights
MOT
THANK YOU