Clearer regulations are needed to protect the rights of consumers when buying imported goods

	Spending more than US$91 billion importing goods from China
	How many times are additional declarations of royalty fee for imported goods permitted
	Strict control and supervision of goods and vehicles crossing An Giang border gate

The National Assembly deputies proposed a more effective commodity management mechanism to protect consumers. Illustration.

To better protect the rights of consumers when buying imported goods, delegate Ly Thi Lan (Ha Giang delegation) said that, in recent years, economic cooperation, especially the export and import of goods between our country and countries around the world, especially the number of products, goods imported into Vietnam for sale to consumers is increasing. However, the inspection, examination and supervision of the quality and prices of imported products and goods are still limited and inadequate, leading to significant damage to consumers.

"There are many products and goods imported into Vietnam when they reach consumers, the price has increased much, or the quality is not guaranteed. This is an issue that needs to be stipulated for products and goods imported into Vietnam to sell to consumers", said delegate Ly Thi Lan.

Delegate Ly Thi Lan proposed to the Drafting Committee to add the content of import and consumption right after the word consumption, specifically: "Business organizations and individuals are the ones that carry out one, several or all stages of the investment process, from production to consumption or import, consumption of products and goods," and simultaneously propose to review other provisions of the Law project.

Regarding the issue of counterfeit goods, National Assembly deputy Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap delegation) said that Vietnam has a whole legal system to protect consumers' rights, but the basic rights of consumers are still being violated when buying counterfeit goods, goods with poor quality. The reason is that the policy is still inadequate. The consumer protection law was promulgated 12 years ago, while the country's socio-economic situation, as well as in the world, has changed a lot.

Also, on this issue, delegate Ly Tiet Hanh (Binh Dinh delegation) raised concerns the purchase and sale of counterfeit goods of famous brands are very popular with both buyers and sellers. For sellers of counterfeit goods, when detected, there are laws to handle. However, when consumers intentionally use fake goods, is there a violation or not for consumers?

"Many famous brands are sold publicly and are impartially used by consumers. However, the law is not clear in this regard. Therefore, to protect consumers sustainably, it is necessary to be fair with sellers and buyers," emphasized delegate Ly Tiet Hanh.

In addition, according to Ms Hanh, if the responsibility of consumers is not improved, it is often confused, and eventually, many people will have to spend real money to buy fake goods.

On behalf of businesses, National Assembly delegate Tran Van Khai (Ha Nam delegation) also emphasized that over the past time, the vast majority of businesses have well implemented the Law on Customer Protection. However, some businesses have not performed well, leading to violations of consumers' rights. Outstanding violations are related to consumer information protection.

In addition, the National Assembly deputies also raised the issue of protecting consumers' rights in the e-commerce environment. According to National Assembly deputy Trinh Lam Sinh (An Giang delegation), Vietnam is one of the countries with the leading developer of e-commerce transactions in the world. However, the current consumer protection law has not yet been regulated, resulting in many limitations and inadequacies.

The National Assembly deputies discussed in the group the law on Consumer Protection. Photo: H.Diu

Pointing out the reasons leading to the above situation, National Assembly delegate Tran Van Khai said that it partly originated from inadequacies and limitations related to law enforcement on consumer protection. Law enforcement entities on consumer protection are facing limited resources and operating costs.

"The annual budget for consumer protection activities at the central and local levels is very small, not commensurate with the workload that the agencies and organizations implement", the delegate stated the situation. Regarding human resources, agencies are also in a situation where one person has to perform many tasks with an incomplete and inconsistent operating model.

Therefore, talking about the amendments to the draft Law on Consumer Protection, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said that the draft raised the issue of protecting consumers' rights in transactions involving specific factors in the condition of digital economic transformation. Along with that, the draft Law has completed and supplemented regulations to create maximum conditions to encourage and promote activities of social organizations participating in protecting customers' rights.

Moreover, commenting on the draft, delegate Tran Van Khai said that the Government should also direct the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant ministries and sectors to actively review and strengthen activities to protect consumers' rights in performing tasks according to assigned functions.