Vietnamese consumers who are currently victims of numerous life-threatening tricks and cons are being encouraged to become more aware of their rights.
 |
| Unhygienic food due for sale |
At a recent conference to improve consumer rights protection in Dak Lak, Vice President and General Secretary of Vietnam Standard and Consumer Association (VINASTAS) Nguyen Manh Hung announced that over 102,000 cases of fake goods and intellectual infringement had been discovered, including 550 violators being charged.
Major abuses of consumer rights included the sale of substandard food that led to thousands food poisoning cases and hundreds of deaths, fake goods, false measurement and lack of accurate information related to goods and services.
Nguyen Phuong Nam, Deputy Chief of Competition Administration Department under Ministry of Industry and Trade said, “The legal framework is quite adequate but the management still has some issues. One of the most common is that consumers do not take receipts of the products. If consumers buy poor-quality goods, they don’t have enough legal ground to sue the seller.”
Nam said that a consumer rights association document will be issued soon. He further recommended the promotion of consumer rights awareness to the public.
He also emphasised on the need of tight co-operation between management agencies and consumers in order to promote the campaign for greater consumer rights.