Chuyển nhượng dự án xây dựng nhà ở thương mại theo pháp luật việt nam từ thực tiễn thành phố hồ chí minh tt tiếng anh

ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF VIETNAM GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES KHẢM LA TRUONG ANH RESPONSIBILITIES OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS IN PROTECTING THE RIGHTS AND INTERESTS OF CONSUMERS UNDER VIETNAM’S LAW Major: Economic Law Major Code : 9.38.01.07 SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS IN LAW PGS HANOI, 2020 The Work completed at: GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Academic Supervisor: ASSOC PROF.DR BUI NGUYEN KHANH 1st Peer-reviewer: ASSOC PROF.DR Tang Van Nghia 2nd Peer-reviewer: ASSOC PROF.DR Le Thi Hoai Thu 3rd Peer-reviewer : PROF.DR Đinh Thị My Loan The Thesis is defended before the Doctoral Examination Board at the Academy level at Graduate Academy of Social Sciences At… , ……(day)………(month), 2020 The Thesis is kept at: - The National Library of Vietnam - Library of the Graduate Academy of Social Sciences LIST OF PUBLICATION RELATED TO THE THESIS La Truong Anh (2018), “Social orgnizations protecting consumers in Vietnam”, Journal of Social Sciences Manpower, No.10/2018 La Truong Anh (2018), “The role of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers”, Journal of Democracy and Law, No.11.2018 INTRODUCTION Necessity of the Thesis Currently, deriving from the needs and social significance of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers, inadequacies in the development and application of laws on the responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the interests of consumers in Vietnam, research gaps are existing Therefore, with the desire to research, analyze and understand more deeply the responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers, the author chose the topic “Responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers under Vietnam’s law” as the title of doctoral thesis so as to respond to the current requirements of theoretical, legal and practical basis in Vietnam at present Objectives of the Thesis The objectives of the thesis are to clarify theoretical issues about responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers; analyze and assess the current status of the law and practice of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in Vietnam at present; thereby, propose orientation and solutions to improve the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers Research Objects and Scope of the Thesis The object of the thesis is the legal provisions on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests At the same time, the author studies the practice of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers under current laws of Vietnam Scope of content research: Responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers are of broad issue, with many different contents There are also many social organizations responsible for protecting the rights and rights of consumers with different scope of responsibilities However, within this thesis, the author forces on the Vietnam Consumers Protection Association as the social organization protecting consumers' rights and interests Scope of research space and time: Based on applicable practices, the thesis summarizes and evaluates the responsibilities of the Vietnam Consumers Protection Association since 2010 (when the Law on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights was introduced) to date Methodology of the Thesis The thesis is conducted on the basis of dialectical materialism and historical materialism methodology of the Marxism- Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Ideology, the views of the Party and laws of the State on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers The thesis uses the following research methods: - Analysis method - Synthesis method - Comparative law method - Statistic and observation method New contributions of the Thesis So far, there have been many domestic and international studies on social organizations protecting consumers' rights and interests, however, these studies are mainly general research In particular, independent research works, surveys on the responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the interests of consumers in Vietnam are not available, on the other hand, the regulations on responsibilities of organizations social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers were included in the Law on the Protection of Consumers’ rights without solid grounds Therefore, this is the first time to have a comprehensive, specific research with detailed basis, practical activities on the responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers The thesis presents the theoretical basis of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interest of consumers This is a scientific basis to propose orientation and solutions to improve the law and the effectiveness of law enforcement on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers The thesis also studies the participation of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights in some countries in the world This is the basis and lesson for the development of legislation on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interest of consumers in Vietnam at present In addition, the thesis also provides a comprehensive study of the current situation of legal adjustment and the practice of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in accordance with the current law of Vietnam, including: consumer education, representing consumers in lodging consumer complaints, representing consumers in filing civil cases, social criticism and assessment; goods inspection and product testing; organizing boycott campaigns; developing networks of consumer protection associations; providing state agencies with information about violations of organizations and individuals trading goods and services On this basis, the thesis identifies: (i) the advantages and limitations of the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests in Vietnam in recent years; (ii) inadequacies in the process of applying the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interest The thesis offers opinions, requirements and recommendations to improve the efficiency of law enforcement on the responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in Vietnam at present Theoretical and practical significance of the Thesis - Theoretically, The thesis has built and provided a scientific basis in terms of theory, practice and legal aspect on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in Vietnam at present Through multi-dimensional identification of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’s rights and interests; basing on assessment of the status of the law, and provision of opinions, requirements and solutions to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in Vietnam Nam in the future - Practically, the reseach findings will be a useful reference for lawmaking and policy-making bodies in the development and improvement of law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests In addition, the thesis can be used as reference for research and teaching in law schools Structure of the Thesis Apart from the Introduction, Conclusion, Bibliography, the Thesis is composed of 04 chapters Chapter LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BASIS OF RESEARCH 1.1 Literature review Based on the domestic and foreign studies related to the thesis topic, some contents have been solved and need to be further clarified in the thesis Firstly, in terms of theory: The aforementioned works have given general awareness about responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in accordance with Vietnam’s law: The concept, the need for legalizing tresponsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests Accordingly, responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests such as ensuring the rights of consumers in the use of goods and services of manufacturers is particularly meaningful for everyone in society, because "the consumer is all of us" - the weaker group Consumers are at disadvantageous because of “asymmetric information" in consumer relations In other words, they are the ones who encounter barriers preventing them from fulfilling their legitimate rights and interests, especially, difficulties in accessing and judging the quality of goods and services Thus, from theoretical aspect, the thesis inherits theoretical issues related to responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers In addition, the thesis further clarifies the need for adjustment of the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers Secondly, in terms of practice: Studies point out shortcomings and limitations in the process of implementing the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests Previous studies generally assess the status of the responsibilities and role of consumer protection associations without an in-depth study of social organizations The thesis will look at this perspective more thorough However, because the legal framework on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests has been incomprehensive, incomplete, nor criteria for assessing the current situation of responsibilitis of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests under the current laws of Vietnam have not been clearly stated Therefore, based on regulatory structure of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in Vietnam, the adjustment of the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in Vietnam, the thesis evaluates the status of law and practice of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in Vietnam in accordance with the given issue groups Thirdly, in terms of recommendations: Most of the studies focus on the need to find solutions to improve laws: Consumer Protection Association, the Law on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights, consumer protection mechanism Thus, these works have solved the issue of perfecting the law to some extent However, viewpoints, needs and solutions to improve the law and effectiveness of law enforcement on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers have not been clearly clarified This is the task that the thesis must complete Although the number of studies related to the thesis topic is diverse, at present, there is no systemic and comprehensive study on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers under Vietnam’s law Thereby, the thesis proposes recommendations and solutions to improve the effectiveness of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers under the law of Vietnam, especially in the process of socio-economic development, international integration and the requirement of implementing the 2013 Constitution 1.2 An assessment of literature review By reviewing the aforementioned studies, in addition to the achievements in theory, practice and recommendations to improve responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers, the thesis finds out several issues have not been mentioned or fully solved as follows: Firstly, from theoretical perspective: (1) The need to legalize responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers has not been fully and convincingly argued (2) Regarding the concept of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers, social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers, the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting rights and interest of consumers, most of the studies have yet introduced these concepts In fact, there are few works on the concept of consumer protection organizations and regulations on responsibilities of individuals of professional associations in protecting consumers' rights and interests individuals (Vien The Giang, Discussion paper at the Workshop on Socio-political organizations, socio-professional organizations, social organizations, communities and human rights) Secondly, from practical perspective: Because there has not been a clear identification of the legal concept of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests, there has not been any research providing criteria to assess the status of the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumer rights and interests, nor comprehensive and specific assessment of the current situation of the law on responsibilities of social organizations In addition, the current status of implementation of the law on responsibility of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests has been studied by a number of domestic works such as research on the status of the role of Consumer Protection Association in protecting consumers’ rights and interests, but it has not yet highlighted issues such as the status of the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers' rights and interest; the status of organization and operation of social organizations in protecting consumer’s rights and interests; the situation of human resources organizing the implementation of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights under the current Vietnam’s law These gaps have led to the lack of practical basis for proposing solutions to improve the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in Vietnam in the coming time Thirdly, in terms of solutions and recommendations: 1) The results of literature review related to the topic of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers show that there is a lack of adequate analysis and argument about the views and requirements for improving the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in Vietnam at present Especially, in the context of implementing the 2013 Constitution and the Party's major guidelines on building a socialist rule-of-law state, developing a socialist-oriented market economy, promoting democracy, ensuring human rights, and integrating deeply into the international community (2) Relating to the aforementioned problem is the lack of a generally accepted opinion system on the necessary legal institution model and basic legal policy framework on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers' rights and interests in Vietnam at present This is the basis for developing and promulgating legislation on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in Vietnam in the coming time (3) In addition, previous studies have not developed specific solutions for each of the components of the law on responsibilities of social organizations in Vietnam at present 1.3 Issues to further studied in the Thesis Firstly, the thesis introduces new changes in the theoretical awareness of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers, the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in Vietnam By studying the theoretical grounds of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers, the concept of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers in the world and in Vietnam, the author builds up the concept of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers, the law on responsibilities of and are representative to protect consumer’s rights and interests according to the provisions of law - The content of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers Firstly, consumer education Second, data collection and product inspection Third, filing complaints on behalf of consumers Fourthly, filing sue on behalf of consumers Fifth, campaigning to boycott goods that does not guarantee quality Sixthly, developing networks of consumer protection associations Seventh, critical and social assessment Eighth, providing state management agencies for protection of the interests of consumers with information on violations of organizations or individuals trading goods and/or services 2.2 Theoretical issues of law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers 2.2.1 Necessity of legal adjustment of responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests Currently, the process of developing the knowledge economy, the increasing impact of the technological revolution (revolution of information technology, communication, new materials technology, biotechnology, etc.), globalization and the development e-commerce have led to further specialization in terms of quality, the distance between manufacturers and consumers is increasingly far apart, the growing difference between manufacturers and consumers in terms of knowledge about products, increasing difference in terms of the economic scale between traders and consumers These make great difference between manufacturers and consumers in the actual position In this context, if consumers not have the support tools, it is highly likely that consumers will be abused by manufacturers and distributors If only relying on its self-protection ability, consumers will be difficult to prevent and overcome the risks in participating in dealing with manufacturers, distributors of goods and services as well as in 10 using such goods or services This has been proven by not only in industrialized countries but also in Vietnam That is why, the presence of states and state intervention by law is necessary to make the relationship between manufacturers and distributors with consumers become healthier and fairer As society grows, the field of consumer protection law will become more and more necessary 2.2.2 Principles of the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests Activities of consumer protection organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests must adhere to the following basic principles: - All activities of consumers protection organizations must aim to support or represent consumers to protect legal rights and interests in accordance with the law - Activities of consumers protections organizations are non-profit - Other principles provided by laws relating to activities of social organizations 2.2.3 Assessment criteria Firstly, the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers is not contrary to the Constitution; Secondly, focusing on assessing the impact of the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers' rights and interests to consumers; Thirdly, the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumer’s rights and interests must ensure the validity; Fourthly, the law on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers rights and interests must ensure openness and transparency 2.3 Social organizations protecting consumers’ rights and interests in some countries and implications for Vietnam 2.3.1 International experience So far, most countries in the world have considered protecting consumers as one of the important activities to ensure the sustainable development of the 11 economy, and regulate responsibilities of organization in protecting consumers Consumer protection organizations in some countries: - the United States - Malaysia - China - Singapore - India - France 2.3.2 Implications for Vietnam Firstly, most countries in the world have a legal framework to protect consumers' rights and interests with clear, specific and feasible adjustments Secondly, among the measures to improve the implementation effectiveness of consumer protection laws, many countries attach great importance to measures to enhance propaganda and legal education, raise the awareness of organizations individuals manufacturing and trading in goods and services in complying with the law Thirdly, the use of legal tools to protect legitimate rights and interests has become a self-consciousness of consumers in many countries around the world Fourthly, many countries around the world attach great importance to improve quality inspection activities of goods and services Fifthly, the sanctioning level for violations of the law of some developed countries is quite high and with deterrent effect Chapter CURRENT SITUATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS IN PROTECTING THE RIGHTS AND INTERESTS OF CONSUMERS UNDER VIETNAM’S LAW 3.1 Current situation of legal provisions on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests under Vietnam’s law 3.1.1 Development history 12 3.1.1.1 Before the enactment of the 2010 Law on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights 3.1.1.1 Afer the enactment of the 2010 Law on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights 3.1.2 Legal provisions on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers in Vietnam Legally, the role of consumer protection associations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests has been recognized and regulated by the Government's Decree No 69/2001/ND-CP dated October 2, 2001 detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Protection of Consumer Rights of 1999 was later re-recorded in the Government's Decree No 55/2008/ ND-CP dated April 24, 2008 detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Consumer Protection 1999 (replacing Decree No 69/2001/ND-CP) According to Article 28 of the Law on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights of 2010, social organizations protect the rights and interest of consumers through following activities: “a) Instructing and assisting, counseling consumers upon request; b) Taking legal action on behalf of consumers or taking legal action by virtue of the public interests; c) Providing state management agencies for protection of the interests of consumers with information on violations of organizations or individuals trading goods and/or services; d) Independent doing survey, trial; announcing the results of survey and trial on the quality of goods and/or services done by them; providing information and/or warning to consumers about goods and/or services and bearing liabilities by laws for the information and/or warning, and requiring competent state agencies to handle violations of the legislation on protection of consumers’ interests; e) Participating in making laws, guidelines, policies, directions, plans and measures for protecting the interests of consumers; f) Performing the tasks assigned by state agencies as prescribed in Article 29 of this Law; 13 g) Participating in the propagation, dissemination, legal education and knowledge on consumption.” It can be said that the provisions on social organizations suing the case to protect consumers' rights and interests for the public benefit is one of the breakthrough provisions of the 2010 Law on the Protection Consumers’ Rights The provisions on social organizations’ right to initiate a lawsuit to protect public interests have resolved practical problems for violations that affect a large number of consumers such as soy sauce containing carcinogens 3MCPD, the case of milk contaminated with melamine…Because under the current law, Vietnam has no regulations on class action Article 162 of the Civil Procedure Code 2004 (amended in 2011), the right to initiate a lawsuit to protect rights and interests of others, public interests, state interests only states that “Agencies and organizations shall, within the scope of their respective tasks and powers, have the right to institute civil cases to request courts to protect the public interests and/or the State’s interests in the domains under their respective charge.” However, to be able to sue, social organizations participating in consumer protection must meet certain requirements, including: “1 Being legally established according to the provisions of law Having a guideline and purpose of operation for the interests of consumers or for the public interests related to consumers' interests Having operated for at least three (03) years from the establishment date to the date the social organization exercising its right to sue Having operation scope of provincial level or higher " In addition to ensuring the rights and interests of consumers who are involved in the case, avoiding abuses of the right to sue, the Law also requires social organizations participating in lawsuits to protect consumers' rights and interests to bear expenses incurred during the course of lawsuit The Law on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights also provides that social organizations that protect consumers’ interests are supported funds and other conditions by the State prescribed by laws when performing the tasks assigned by state agencies: 14 - Participating in the propagation, dissemination, legal education and knowledge - Instructing and training and raising awareness of consumers - Assisting, counseling consumers - Independent doing survey, trial, research the reflect the need of consumers The Minister of Industry and Trade and the President of the Provincial People's Committee have competence in assigning tasks to social organizations involved in the protection of consumers' rights and interests It can be said that the provisions of the Law on the Protection of Consumers’ rights as well as the implementing documents have become an important legal basis for the existence and development of social organizations protecting consumers’ rights and interests In recent years, the organizations protecting consumers’ rights and interests are well-known such as Vietnam Standard and Consumers Association (transaction name: Vinastas) and many Consumer Protection Associations in localities (provinces and cities directly under the Central Government) 3.2 Practical performance of social organizations in protecting the rights and interests of consumers under Vietnam’s law at present 3.2.1 Consumer education Consumer education is a process of teaching, training and learning to enhance knowledge and skills of consumers Educating consumers relates to knowledge transfer and skill development of consumers, consumer rights, consumer laws, standards and product quality With the significance of consumer education, social organizations perform their role through the following activities: - Firstly, propagandizing and disseminating to consumers about their rights and responsibilities The global consumer movement explained the common consumer rights that were recorded in the 1985 United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection, including: the right to satisfaction of basic needs; the right to safety, the right to information, the right to choose, the right to be heard or the right to be represented 15 - Secondly, social organizations educate about consumption style, consumer skills such as healthy, reasonable consumption, green consumption, consumption without depleting resources or affecting the environment - Thirdly, giving warnings to consumers about violations of laws on consumer protection of organizations and individuals trading goods and services 3.2.2 Representing consumers to file complaints for consumers’ rights and interests The right of consumers to complain and to proper complaint-handling is one of the basic rights of consumers specified in the 1985 United Nations Guideline on Consumer Protection In Vietnam, consumers’ rights to complaint is recorded in many legal documents but notably documents such as the 2010 Law on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights, Decree 99/2011/ND-CP guiding the implementation of the Law on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights In order to exercise the right to complaint, consumers may make complaints either directly or through social organizations Social organizations are also responsible for instructing, supporting or representing consumers to bring complaints to the competent authorities as prescribed by law Currently, VINASTAS and local consumer protection associations are the organizations that primarily perform the role of handling complaints of consumers in Vietnam In practice, consumer complaint offices have been set up to assist consumers in making complaints and protect their legitimate rights and interests The first complaint office of the Consumer Protection Association of Ho Chi Minh City was established in 1993 In 1994, the consumer complaint office of VINASTAS was established in Hanoi Many complaint offices were set up and operated under the management of consumer protection associations If these offices are well deployed, they will be a bridge between consumers and state management agencies 3.2.3 Representing consumers in filing civil lawsuits for consumers’ rights and interests 16 Social organizations also have the right to initiate a lawsuit if authorized by consumers or initiate a lawsuit by itself for public interests In practice, most consumers still not grasp the rights that the law gives them, along with limited legal knowledge In many cases, the value of disputes by consumers is usually not large, so they are reluctant to sue, however, the damages to society in these violations are often very large Therefore, to empower social organizations to file the request of the consumers or for public interests is necessary, in accordance with the actual situation at present 3.2.4 Social criticism and assessment In Vietnam, social organizations play a social critical and assessment role through the following activities: - Firstly, providing opinions on laws, regulations of the state and authorities at all levels related to the rights and interests of consumers, with the aim of facilitating consumer protection, balancing the interests of businesses with the interests of consumers, contributing to building a fair, democratic and civilized society - Secondly, social criticism of commercial activities in order to detect and fight against unethical tactics and actions in trade such as supplying bad quality goods and services to consumers, manufacturing and trading or selling counterfeit consumer goods, incomplete or false information in order to deceive consumers, or performing other commercial frauds in order to make profits on the disadvantages of consumers Criticizing commercial acts that need to concrete evidence, policy data, individual identification and clear address Performing these tasks requires the coordination of social organizations and a large number of consumers 3.2.5 Goods inspection and product testing Goods inspection and product testing are extremely important activities in protecting consumers' rights and interests in Vietnam However, apparently, these activities in Vietnam have not been popularized The Consumer Protection Association has not carried out these activities frequently Only when there is a violation, if the consequences happen, the Association will inspect of products so as to determine violations business supplying products 17 The problem is due to the lack of facilities, tools and equipment to inspect the product quality, limited budget and funding 3.2.6 Campaigning to boycott product that does not guarantee quality This activity is rarely carried out in Vietnam Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has announced the testing results at Mumuso Vietnam Import - Export Company Limited, accordingly, 99% of imported products are from China and no products imported from Korea as its advertisement The advertising content at the entrance of a business place: “Mumuso; price from only 22,000; KOREA ”; using the word KOREA on product package may deceive customers that the store is Korean related 3.2.7 Developing networks of consumer protection associations Currently, the organization of consumer protection associations in Vietnam is divided into levels At the central level, (VINASTAS) operates nationwide (so called the Central Association) In provinces and cities directly under the Central Government, if possible, a provincial Consumer Protection Association (also called a local association) should be established In addition, some localities, such as Kien Giang, have established some consumer protection associations at the commune level If provincial consumer protection associations voluntarily submit an application to join VINASTAS, they will become a member of VINASTAS The member associations operate independently according to their own rules, comply with the regulations of the Central Association and are subject to the professional guidance of the Central Association As of July 2013, there are 54 consumer protection associations throughout the country (including Central Association and 53 local associations in provinces) In general, the system of Consumer Protection Associations in Vietnam has developed rapidly and almost every province has a local consumer protection association 3.2.8 Providing state management agencies for protection of consumers’ rights and interests with information on violations of organizations or individuals trading goods and services - In the relation with state management agencies 18 - The relation among consumer protection associations - In the relation with other international and domestic organizations 3.3 An assessment of current situation of consumer protection activities of social organizations in Vietnam 3.3.1 Achievements 3.3.1.1 In representing consumers to file complaint for consumers’ rights and interests In practice, the number of consumer complaints has constantly increased in recent years, the nature of the complaints is also more complicated But the good news is that the effectiveness of complaint handling tends to be higher and the capacity of social organizations to resolve complaints, especially the Consumer Protection Association, is increasingly promoting and bringing great significance in protecting consumers' rights A positive force in handling of consumers' complaints is the Consumer Protection Organization With its advantages, many consumer protection organizations have participated in the process of resolving consumer complaints effectively VINASTAS and many local consumer protection associations have established consumer complaints offices, especially complaint offices in Kien Giang, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Dong Nai The main settlement methods are negotiation and conciliation, the Consumer Protection Association annually receives and resolves thousands of consumer complaints across the country As can be seen from the above figures, the increasing number of complaints proves that consumers are becoming more and more aware of their right to complain about goods and services The capability of organizations to resolve complaints has been known and trusted by consumers 3.3.1.2 In consumer education Consumer education and awareness raising activities of consumers about the provisions of legal documents to protect themselves Social organizations in recent years have used the mass media such as television, radio, newspapers, leaflets in the form of newspaper writing, participating in online forums, answering interviews, the Government Web 19 Portal, News Agency, etc to provide necessary information on legal provisions related to standards, quality of goods, consumer protection laws, and knowledge about food hygiene and safety, about market prices for consumers Therefore, the propagation and dissemination of the law has achieved certain effects, reaching every consumer at all times and places Consumers have a better understanding of their rights and responsibilities as well as their roles and positions in society, thereby they are aware and able to protect themselves in all situations Social organizations also participate and directly organize many seminars and conferences on consumer protection In particular, consumer protection organizations have conducted training for local associations (about 4-5 workshops per year on average) such as exchanging experiences on consumer protection activities, organizing and operating consumer complaints offices, developing consumer protection organizations in the locality In order for consumers to have better access to information, VINASTAS has established a number of journals, special categories on consumer issues and other press such as Consumer Magazine, printing and distributing thousands of leaflets, guidebooks, books, at fairs, populated areas, supermarkets, large commercial centers, schools Through this activity, organizations and individuals trading goods and services can grasp consumer issues in general and consumer protection laws in particular 3.3.1.3 In social criticism and assessment activity Consultation, social criticism and assessment are one of the operational functions regularly carried out by social organizations Especially in the period of market economy, the 2010 Law on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights came to effect, social criticism and assessment have been paid more attention by social organizations VINASTAS has also cooperated with the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations and other industry associations to conduct surveys of heavy metal and microbiological criteria in shampoos; survey the situation of consumption and safety indicators of bimetallic wires CCA; surveys of beta20 agonist chemical group in pig and chicken feed; survey of hygienic conditions for producing bottled drinking water; survey and examination of the chemical residues of beta-agonist group in pork in Ho Chi Minh City 3.3.1.4 In filing civil lawsuits for consumers’ rights and interests Social organizations participating in consumer protection are entitled to file a lawsuit for consumers’ rights and interests or public interests when meeting the following requirements: Being legally established according to the provisions of law Having a guideline and purpose of operation for the interests of consumers or for the public interests related to consumers' interests Having operated for at least three (03) years from the establishment date to the date the social organization exercising its right to sue Having operation scope of provincial level or higher Thus, the law entitles social organizations with the right to initiate lawsuits to protect consumers’ rights and interests when their rights and interests are infringed, contributing to the improvement of the effective of consumer protection in practice 3.3.2 Limitations in consumer protection activities of social organizations in Vietnam at present 3.3.2.1 Activities of social organizations are formalistic and infrequent 3.3.2.2 Close relationship among organizations has not been established 3.3.2.3 Social organizations have not fully performed their role in protecting consumers’ rights and interests 3.3.3 Causes of limitations in consumer protections activities of social organizations in Vietnam at present The above mentioned limitations stem from the following causes: 3.3.3.1 Limited human resources 3.3.3.2 Insufficient attention from the state agencies 3.3.3.3 Inadequate awareness of responsibilities 3.3.3.4 Inadequacies of legal provisions 21 consumers about corporate Chapter SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE LAW AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ON RESPONSIBILITIES OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS IN PROTECTING THE RIGHTS AND INTERESTS OF CONSUMERS UNDER VIETNAM’S LAW AT PRESENT 4.1 Orientation to improve the law and law enforcement on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests Capacity building of social institutions that enforce consumer protection law should be based on the following requirements: Firstly, it is necessary to correctly and accurately determine the capacity of consumer protection enforcement institutions Secondly, strengthening the capacity of consumer protection enforcement institutions must have comprehensive roadmaps and strategies for protecting consumer rights Thirdly, the capacity building of law enforcement institutions in protecting consumers’ rights and interests must ensure the effective coordination among institutions so that consumers' rights and interests are guaranteed in practice Fourthly, strengthening the capacity of consumer protection law enforcement institutions must stem from the determination of law enforcement to protect consumers of these institutions in protecting consumers 4.2 Solutions to improve law enforcement on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests 4.2.1 Solutions to improve the law on responsibilities of social organizations inn protecting consumers’ rights and interests in Vietnam at present - Firstly, conducting a review of legal regulations on protecting consumers' rights and interests, eliminating duplicated regulations and supplementing new provisions if necessary, completing the legal framework for the organization and operation of consumer protection associations in the direction of forming a unified system from central to local levels 22 - Secondly, overcoming the situation of the broad provisions, lack of specificity - Thirdly, overcoming contradictions and inconsistencies among the provisions of different legal documents - Fourthly, it is necessary to stipulate that consumer protection organizations are of specific social organization and expand the scope of activities associated with the tasks assigned by the State to social organizations At the same time, clearly defining the coordination mechanism among agencies protecting consumers' rights and interests 4.2.2 Solutions to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement on responsibilities of social organizations in protecting consumers’ rights and interests 4.2.2.1 Raising public awareness about the status and role of social organizations in protecting consumers 4.2.2.2 Improving the operation so as to enhance the performance of consumer protection associations 4.2.2.3 The State creates a mechanism to support and coordinate with social organizations, particularly the Consumer Protection Association in guaranteeing consumers’ rights and interests At the same time, promoting the effective coordination among state management agencies, domestic and international organizations and consumer protection associations CONCLUSION Protecting consumers' rights and interests is of great significance, contributing to the sustainable development of society Therefore, protecting consumers' rights and interests always attracts great attentions from many countries and international organizations In Vietnam, protecting consumers’ rights and interests is defined as a responsibility of the whole society Although consumer protection organizations have had very active activities, they still need to overcome the difficulties and inadequacies in the legal regulations and consumer protection practices of social organizations, especially the consumer protection association In order for consumer protection associations to truly 23 become important and effective institutions in protecting consumers’ rights and interests as in some countries in the world and in Southeast Asia, the Government and state agencies must pay attention to the importance of protecting consumers' rights and interests Consumer protection associations must innovate the way of operation, cooperate and support each other to well perform the role of an organization representing the rights and interests of consumers nationally and locally 24 ... of consumers in Vietnam at present Theoretical and practical significance of the Thesis - Theoretically, The thesis has built and provided a scientific basis in terms of theory, practice and... interests of consumers under Vietnam’s law” as the title of doctoral thesis so as to respond to the current requirements of theoretical, legal and practical basis in Vietnam at present Objectives of... Library of Vietnam - Library of the Graduate Academy of Social Sciences LIST OF PUBLICATION RELATED TO THE THESIS La Truong Anh (2018), “Social orgnizations protecting consumers in Vietnam”, Journal