Consumer protection: No longer a national issue

Proactive international cooperation…

The rapid growth of cross-border trade, e-commerce, and digital platforms has posed new challenges, requiring countries to enhance cooperation to ensure that consumers are protected fairly, transparently, and effectively.

As a developing country, Vietnam cannot stand outside of this trend. By joining next-generation free trade agreements, such as the CPTPP and EVFTA, Vietnam has committed to adhering to stricter consumer protection standards.

At the signing ceremony of the MoU on consumer protection between the MoIT’s National Competition Commission and the British Embassy - photo: Ngan Thuong

The Vietnamese government has been tightening cooperation with international organizations to strengthen enforcement capacity of its consumer protection laws, while also updating regulations to align with international practices.

According to Nguyen Quynh Anh, Vice Chairwoman of the National Competition Commission under the Ministry of Industry and Trade - MoIT, the agency has engaged in bilateral cooperation with consumer protection agencies from countries like the UK, Australia, the Republic of Korea, China, and France, while has also actively participated in international forums, such as the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), the ASEAN Committee on Consumer Protection (ACCP), and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), among others, to seek effective solutions to enhance the enforcement of consumer right protection.

Most recently, the National Competition Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the British Embassy on consumer protection cooperation.

…to address practical issues

Commenting on this MoU, Iain Frew, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Vietnam, emphasized that this marks an important milestone in the relationship between the UK and Vietnam’s National Competition Commission and the MoIT to build standards for protecting consumers and product safety, especially as the two countries celebrate 15 years of strategic partnership, with bilateral trade travel doubling over the past decade to approximately 7 billion GBP annually.

The MoU is part of the UK’s Economic Integration Program (EIP) with ASEAN, which aims to promote reform, economic development, and sustainability. “This is also part of the UK’s investment in its partnership with Vietnam, both as a strategic partner and as an ASEAN member,” the ambassador stated.

He stressed that product safety is a key issue for UK consumers, and the UK expects that consumer protection measures should apply not only to British consumers but also to UK companies abroad. Products and services they provide in the Vietnamese market are expected to meet the same high standards.

Consumer protection is no longer a national issue - photo: Kim Bao

Through the MoU, the UK will share its experience and expertise to help Vietnam design effective consumer protection measures and address market challenges based on experience from the UK and other regions, thereby consolidating public trust and creating an environment where people feel confident in shopping, innovating, and selling, as well as adopting new approaches to how products are bought and sold.

The UK will also work on identifying and assessing risks in consumer markets and products, at the same time reviewing and sharing experience in product recalls and the most effective ways to do it for both consumers and businesses, and also looking into specific problems and challenges of each sector, or specific forms of management.

Ambassador Iain Frew added that the UK will explore how information is exchanged between regulatory bodies and consumers, and vice versa, thereby improving the effectiveness of information reception and better monitoring consumers’ daily experiences with products and services and providing feedbacks on those experiences.

Nguyen Quynh Anh shared, “We are looking forward to the MoU to learn from the UK’s experience in gathering consumer information and communication.” She also expressed confidence that the UK’s experience over the years will be valuable in solving practical challenges in Vietnam.