Viewpoints of issuing law of consumer protection in vietnam

VIEWPOINTS OF ISSUING LAW OF CONSUMER PROTECTION IN VIETNAM VIEWPOINTS OF ISSUING LAW OF CONSUMER PROTECTION IN VIETNAM

VIEWPOINTS OF ISSUING LAW OF CONSUMER PROTECTION IN

VIETNAM

Nguyen Trong Diep 1 , Dinh Tran Ngoc Huy 2*

1 School of Law, Vietnam National University, Hanoi;

2* Banking University HCMC, Ho Chi Minh city Vietnam - International University of Japan, Japan;

*Corresponding Author Dinh Tran Ngoc Huy, e-mail: dtnhuy2010@gmail.com;

Received February 2021; Accepted March 2022; Published April 2022;

DOI:https://doi.org/10.31407/ijees12.303

ABSTRACT

By observations and qualitative analysis with synthesis and inductive methods, study results shows that the State encourages organizations and individuals in society to join the State in consumer protection In addition, the law aims to use the power of the market to eliminate businesses that infringe on consumers' interests, thereby, in addition

to protecting the interests of consumers, it also aims to protect genuine businesses Beside, social organizations participating in the protection of consumer rights have made great efforts to deploy activities, gradually asserting their role as a bridge between consumers and state management agencies, as well as business community

Keywords: protection of consumer, Law, consumer rights

INTRODUCTION

Before 2010, there was a system of socio-professional organizations in Vietnam that performed the tasks of standards, measurement, quality and protection of consumers' interests (according to the provisions of the Ordinance

on Protection of consumer protection in 1999)

In the period 2011 - 2018, the implementation of the Law on Consumer Protection has resulted in an increase in the number of social organizations involved in consumer protection (consumer protection associations) increased significantly, from 44 associations across the country in 2012 to 57 associations in 2018[See Table 1 in Appendix 1: List of tables] In some provinces and cities, the association network has been developed down to the district and commune level Some local associations have registered as members of the Vietnam Consumer Protection Association, forming a unified organization, working together for the purpose of consumer protection The above-mentioned growth in number and network is due to the close attention and coordination from the Central Government, especially the active and proactive activities of localities in the establishment of the Campaign Committee to established associations

Especially, at the end of 2018, the Vietnam Consumer Protection Association (Vicopro) was established on the basis

of restructuring the Vietnam Standards and Consumer Protection Association (Vinastas) The establishment of the Vietnam Consumer Protection Association has a nationwide scope and is a social organization not only creating an important milestone but also an opportunity to perfect the model and name of the Associations to protect consumers

in provinces and cities, thereby improving the efficiency of enforcement of the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights as well as implementing unified activities among associations nationwide to protect consumer rights

Figure 1 Number of consumer protection associations by year

(Source: author synthesis)

In the period 2011-2020, the protection of consumer rights has achieved some outstanding results as follows:

Firstly, a relatively complete system of legal documents has been built Besides the most important document, the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights, the Government and ministries and branches have developed a series of Decrees, Decisions, Circulars, Programs, Schemes to regulate fix related issues

Secondly, the propagation and dissemination of the law has been carried out more and more diversely, contributing

to significantly raising the awareness of actors in society about protecting consumers' interests

METHODOLOGY

As usual in this paper, Authors mainly use experience, observations and qualitative analysis with synthesis and inductive methods

Main findings

The legal system to protect consumers' interests can be divided into two groups: the group of legal documents directly regulating and the group of indirect documents regulating the protection of consumer rights

Directly regulated legal documents

Before the promulgation of the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights, the direct governing legal document consisted of two documents: the Ordinance on Protection of Consumer Rights in 1999 and Decree No April 24,

2008 detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Protection of Consumer Rights (replacing Decree No 69/2001/ND-CP) This system of two documents stipulates principled issues in consumer rights protection activities

in Vietnam such as: the concept of consumer; consumer rights and responsibilities; responsibilities of organizations and individuals trading in goods and services; State management of consumer protection; settle complaints, denunciations and handle violations

In 2008, on the basis of a summary assessment of 10 years of implementation of the Ordinance on Protection of Consumer Rights, the Ministry of Trade (now the Ministry of Industry and Trade) proposed the Government to submit to the National Assembly for permission to develop a Law on Protection of Consumer Rights consumer benefit replacing the previous Ordinance In 2010, after 2 years of drafting, the Law on Consumer Protection was approved by the 12th National Assembly, 8th session on November 17, 2010

After the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights took effect, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued or submitted

to competent authorities for promulgation 04 Decrees, 04 Decisions of the Prime Minister, 01 Circular of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and goods a series of other legal documents (Plans, Ministerial Decisions…) to implement relevant regulations

Indirectly regulated legal documents

Indirectly regulating legal documents are legal documents in other fields, regulating or affecting subjects or business-consumption processes of subjects under the regulation of the Law Protect the interests of consumers The period before 2010, can be mentioned documents such as: Civil Code 2005, Criminal Code 1999, Competition Law 2004, Commercial Law 2005, Law on Technical Standards and Regulations 2006, Law on Quality quantity of products and goods in 2007, the Law on Intellectual Property, the Ordinance on Food Safety and Hygiene, These documents have introduced the legal regulations for the purpose of protecting the interests of consumers in certain fields For example, the Civil Code 2005 has introduced a series of legal regulations to protect the interests of buyers (consumers) such as responsibility to ensure the quality of goods and services, warranty obligations, etc ; The Law

on Quality of Products and Goods 2007 stipulates the rights of consumers to the quality of goods and products, the rights of consumer protection organizations, etc

In the period after 2010, a number of documents in a number of fields were also amended and supplemented with many regulations affecting the implementation of the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights such as: Civil Code

2015 regulations on compensation for damage caused by acts of violating consumer rights (Article 608), regulations

on consumer contracts (Article 683)…; The Civil Procedure Code 2015 provides for creating conditions for consumers or social organizations to initiate lawsuits about the obligation of proof (Article 91), the right to sue (Article 187)…; Competition Law 2018 with the completion of regulations on procedures for handling cases, adjustment of unfair competition acts ; Product quality law; Law on food safety and hygiene…

On the codification of the legal system to protect the interests of consumers

Implementing Decision No 843/QD-TTg dated April 6, 2014 of the Prime Minister, over the past time, the Ministry

of Industry and Trade has coordinated with the Ministry of Justice and relevant agencies and organizations to implement the implementation the codification of the title Protecting the interests of consumers (Title No 1 of Subject No 34)

The results of the legal dictionary have developed the title of legal documents related to the field of consumer protection.[ See details in Appendix 3 Results of the legal dictionary Title of the protection of human rights consumption ]

The development of science and technology

In the early years of the 21st century, the world has witnessed a series of changes of the century as the foundation for technological development in general and industrial revolution 4.0 in particular, in which, the development of Internet information network, telecommunications network with 4G, 5G technology, cloud data technology and artificial intelligence… have changed the business methods and consumption habits of mankind In the last few years, a technology-based business model has emerged, connecting transaction participants with each other and performing value-creating interactions anytime, anywhere This model has even become an “economy”, making an important contribution to the development of the national economy These business models have developed and spread very quickly, however, in reality, there have been a number of problems with consumer protection, for example, on how to display, provide provide information to consumers, on how prices are calculated; about the responsibilities of the parties in the service performance; about information security…

The process of international economic integration in Vietnam

In order to shorten the process of industrialization of the country and in line with the inevitable integration trend of the times, since 1996 (the Eighth Party Congress), there has been the policy of "proactively and actively integrating

" In fact, Vietnam has participated in the process of economic globalization and regionalization extensively From participating in the Asean economic community; implementing the tariff reduction roadmap according to CEPT commitments in the late 1990s with ASEAN countries, to the end of bilateral negotiations with many countries in the early 2000s to join the WTO, officially becoming a WTO member in January 2007 Over the next 10 years, actively and proactively negotiated and signed a series of new generation bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements - FTAs; strategic partnership agreements, comprehensive partners with many countries; especially the negotiation and signing of a free trade agreement with the EU; The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for

Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) with 10 countries in the Pacific region, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) between ASEAN and 5 partners that already have FTAs with ASEAN are China, Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and most recently the EVFTA Agreement between Vietnam and the EU (27 members) Among the documents and agreements that Vietnam participates in, many in Some of them contain regulations and agreements related to consumer protection activities

Laws protecting the interests of consumers around the world

About the development and promulgation of regulations on consumer protection of countries around the world

Consumer protection legislation is a collection of legal documents or regulations governing various aspects and issues related to business-consumption activities, with a focus on regulating the interaction between consumers and consumers cooperation between consumers and business organizations and individuals

Currently, the regulation of consumer protection is regulated differently by countries Specifically, there are currently about 50 countries where a number of consumer rights protection issues are directly or indirectly enshrined

in the Constitution More than 100 countries (eg Japan, Korea, EU, USA, Canada, France, Hong Kong, India, Russia, Norway, China, Taiwan, UK ) have developed a Common Law (named as Consumer Law, Consumer Protection Law ) or a number of different Laws to protect the interests of consumers In the ASEAN region, all 10 member countries have their own laws, directly regulating the field of consumer protection In most of the remaining countries, consumer protection issues will be scattered in specialized legal documents on food, advertising, information, construction, etc

The trend of perfecting the Law on Consumer Protection in the world

Regarding the content of regulation, the Consumer Law or the Consumer Protection Law of the previous countries often focused on issues such as consumer rights, information protection and information provision to the public consumers, product liability issues, unfair trade practices, dispute resolution mechanisms, the participation of social organizations

However, today, along with the socio-economic development, especially the development of e-commerce and the influence of the industrial revolution 4.0 (even now some countries are still starting to 5.0), the world's consumer protection legislation is currently being perfected in the direction of meeting rapidly evolving requirements in each country as well as worldwide In addition to "traditional" content, a series of new issues have been added, such as: consumer protection in e-commerce, business models based on sharing platforms, and other issues cross-border dispute settlement, bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms

The guidelines and lines of the Party and the State's policies on protecting consumers' interests

The period before the promulgation of the Law (2010)

Before the Sixth Congress (1986) of the Party, the concepts of "consumption" and "consumer" had not been mentioned because in the period of centrally planned economy with subsidies, most goods and services were supplied by the government state-owned enterprises or collective economic sectors (cooperatives) produce and trade and must strictly comply with the quality criteria prescribed by the State Consumers do not have to worry or wonder when buying and using products, goods and services This continues to be reflected in the Strategy for Socio-Economic Stabilization and Development until 2000 (Congress VII) such as: “Commercial establishments, especially state-owned ones, perform well their representative functions represent consumers to place orders for manufacturers.”

In the period from the VII Congress (1991) to the IX Congress (2005) of the Party, the concept of "consumption" was only mentioned mainly with the nature of encouraging the production of consumer goods to serve the needs of the people people often have the nature of "consuming in reasonable quantities" (saving) or limiting public spending In addition, the concept of "consumer" as the subject of economic and commercial activities has not been formally and solemnly set forth in Party documents

Until the X Congress (2006 - 2010), for the first time, the Party's documents mentioned the protection of rights and interests of consumers Specifically:

- Regarding the direction of synchronously developing all kinds of markets and continuing to perfect the socialist-oriented market economy institution, the Xth Congress clearly stated: "Developing the market for goods and

services in the direction of accelerating trade and investment liberalization in accordance with our country's bilateral and multilateral commitments and international practices; create a new development step, fast and comprehensive service market; promote competition, control monopoly, protect consumer interests; …” (source: Report of the IX Central Committee of the Party on directions and tasks for socio-economic development)

- Next, at the 6th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (term X) on continuing to perfect the institution of a socialist-oriented market economy, the Central Committee clearly stated the policy on perfecting the institution to ensure synchronization of market factors and synchronous development of all types of markets “Diversify markets for goods and services in the direction of civilization and modernity, focusing on developing the service market Develop infrastructure for these markets Implement trade and investment liberalization in line with international commitments Develop modern market transaction methods, especially with agricultural commodities and agricultural inputs to stabilize prices and reduce risks for producers and consumers

In order to implement the Party's guidelines and policies, the National Assembly issued Resolution No 27/2008/NQ-QH12 dated November 15, 2008 on the 2009 Law and Ordinance Development Program, including the formulation of the Law on Law and Ordinance in 2009 Protect the interests of consumers On the basis of the Resolution of the National Assembly, the Government has decided to assign the Ministry of Industry and Trade: “Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant agencies and localities in, formulating and reporting to the Government

to submit to the National Assembly a draft Law on Protection consumers." (source: Resolution No 01/NQ-CP of the Government dated January 9, 2009 on the main solutions to direct and administer the implementation of the socio-economic development plan and the annual state budget estimate) 2009)

Pursuant to the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents, in the period 2009-2010, the Ministry of Industry and Trade coordinated with relevant units to develop and submit to competent authorities for consideration the draft Law on Protection protect consumer interests

On November 17, 2010, the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights (Law No 59/2010/QH12) was approved by the 12th National Assembly, 8th session The law took effect on July 1, 2011

The period after the promulgation of the Law (from 2011 to present)

During this period, protecting consumers' interests is an issue that always attracts the attention of Party and State leaders

Resolution No 11-NQ/TW dated June 3, 2017 of the Fifth Conference of the 12th Party Central Committee on perfecting the socialist-oriented market economy institution requires:

“Consistently implement the market price mechanism; ensure the correctness, completeness and publicity and transparency of the price-forming factors of essential public goods and services Do not integrate social policies in the prices of goods and services Switch from allocation mechanism to ordering mechanism; from support for service providers to direct support for beneficiaries Completing the law on fees and charges in the direction of switching to applying service prices in line with the market mechanism To step up perfecting institutions to protect consumers' interests, to properly and fully promote the role of consumers and associations to protect consumers' interests

Next, Resolution No 23-NQ/TW dated March 22, 2018 on orientations for formulating national industrial development policies to 2030, with a vision to 2045 also requires:

“Reorganization of the market for industrial products Accelerate the implementation of the market price mechanism according to the roadmap for essential goods (such as petrol, coal, electricity, water, ) Develop and implement a system of technical regulations and standards in the appropriate industry to protect domestic producers and consumers Guide and take appropriate support measures for industrial enterprises to effectively participate in signed free trade agreements Actively remove barriers, combat monopolistic practices and unfair competition Develop modern commercial business types and methods; formulating and implementing the National Trade Promotion Program for industrial products”

In particular, on January 22, 2019, the Secretariat issued Directive No 30-CT/TW on strengthening the Party's leadership and the State's management responsibility for the protection of people's interests consumption This is a document of special importance when one of the highest levels of leadership of the Party and State has issued a specialized document on consumer protection with many very deep requirements

Viewpoints on formulation, promulgation and some basic contents of the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights and guiding documents

Perspectives on elaboration and promulgation of the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights

The development of the Consumer Protection Law is based on the following guiding and oriented points of view:

• Firstly, ensure the balance in civil transactions between consumers and business organizations and individuals

• Contract is a freedom of agreement However, if the parties are allowed to have unlimited freedom, the contract will become a means for the stronger party to overwhelm the weaker party and cause damage to the interests of the weak party as well as the common interests of society

• Transactions between consumers and business organizations and individuals are also performed on the basis of free agreement However, consumers are always the party that lacks information, especially information and knowledge related to product specifications In addition, ordinary consumers rarely have the opportunity to negotiate and negotiate in relation to business organizations and individuals Therefore, the law needs to have specific provisions to ensure the balance in these relations, thereby contributing to stabilizing social order and protecting the common interests of society

Second, socialize the work of consumer protection

• According to this orientation, the State encourages organizations and individuals in society to join the State

in consumer protection work In addition, the law aims to use the power of the market to eliminate businesses that infringe on consumers' interests, thereby, in addition to protecting the interests of consumers, it also aims to protect genuine businesses

• Third, protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and at the same time ensure the legitimate rights and interests of business organizations and individuals

• The provisions of the Law aim to enhance the responsibility of businesses towards consumers while ensuring the legitimate rights and interests of these subjects The law does not show a bias towards consumer protection, but limits the legal rights of businesses, avoids creating loopholes for some individuals to take advantage of consumers' interests to cause damage to enterprise

CONCLUSIONS

Basically, the promulgation of the Law on Consumer Protection has contributed to creating a number of outstanding results as follows:

• Initially, a system of state management agencies has been established from the central to local levels and a system of social organizations across the country;

• The basic principles of consumer protection have been recognized;

• The basic rights of consumers as well as the responsibilities of organizations and individuals trading in goods and services have been recognized;

• Recognized the role and prescribed mechanisms to support the operation of social organizations participating in the protection of consumers' interests;

• There are quite general and sufficient regulations on responsibilities, organizational system of state management agencies in the work of protecting consumer interests;

• Create a premise to recognize March 15 every year as Vietnam Consumer Rights Day;

• Create a basis for promulgating the Program to develop consumer rights protection activities in the

2016-2020 period

Based on such a background, the enforcement of consumer rights protection laws has contributed to raising society's awareness of consumer protection; contribute to improving, limiting and preventing a number of acts and fields that are at risk of infringing on consumers' interests; calling and mobilizing the participation of many actors, including domestic and foreign, thereby, significantly contributing to improving the effectiveness of consumer protection in Vietnam

Acknowledgement Thank you, editors, friends to assist this publishing

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