Consumer Protection: Still Vague

(Baonghean) - Although there is a Law on Consumer Rights Protection (CR) - effective from July 1, 2011 and Decree 99/2011/ND-CP of the Government, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Consumer Rights Protection, many consumers are still very vague about their rights and interests. Many cases accept risks due to lack of information, fear of wasting time, losing lawsuits... This is the basis for organizations, individuals, businesses, and production units to continue to bring to the market products and services that do not ensure quality.

To protect consumer rights, the Law has provisions that are beneficial to consumers, such as consumers who file a lawsuit, even if they lose, do not have to pay court fees, have the right to file a lawsuit, and after 3 days the competent authority must accept and try it; the Law also stipulates that protecting consumer rights is the responsibility of all organizations and individuals... But the general mentality of consumers for a long time is to avoid conflict, thinking that the product is not of great value, and if they complain, it will take time and effort.



Protecting consumer rights contributes to increasing the competitiveness of goods in the market.

In addition, when buying goods, very few consumers require the seller to have an invoice, provide product labels, or pay attention to the origin; when they buy products (expired, fake, counterfeit), they just "click their tongue" and let it go... Nhuanh Nguyen Thanh Trung - an officer at the Provincial Post Office, on Valentine's Day, he bought his girlfriend a box of chocolate candy at a store on Ho Tung Mau Street - Vinh City, when he came back to check the expiration date, it was already 2 months past.

But he thought, if he returned it, they might not have received it, and there was no invoice to prove the origin of the goods, so the 240,000 VND candy box had to be thrown in the trash. Or like Ms. Nguyen Thi May (teacher at Hoa Mi Kindergarten), last year she bought a motorbike at a store, they asked to delay the invoice for a few days, but when she wanted to register the motorbike and ask for the invoice again, the sales staff said they didn't know. Ms. May had to go back a few more times to get the invoice...

Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung, Head of the Department of Standards, Metrology and Quality - Vice President of the Nghe An Association for Standards and Consumer Protection, said: Since the Law on Consumer Protection came into effect, although the authorities have increased dissemination, many consumers do not know about the law, so when using poor quality products and services, they do not know who to "complain to". The Nghe An Association for Consumer Protection was established in 2007, managed by the Department of Industry and Trade, but because it is not funded, its performance is not high.

By 2010, the Association had requested funding from the Steering Committee of the Nghe An Small and Medium Enterprises Support Program (granted for 5 years) to organize the dissemination of laws on consumer rights protection through the dissemination of State legal documents in the field of standards, measurement of product quality, etc. The purpose of the Association's activities is to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers when they are violated; ensure the reputation of genuine manufacturers, businesses and services. Therefore, the Association has participated in product quality inspections organized by provincial departments and branches to grasp the situation of compliance with the law on trade, measurement, quality, and labeling of goods by business organizations and individuals in the province.

According to statistics of Nghe An Association for Standards and Consumer Rights Protection, from 2008 to 2010, there were still some complaints about consumer rights being violated, but from 2011 to now, no consumer has come directly to ask the Association for help; there are only a few cases that have been reported by phone asking the Association for advice on how to resolve the issue. Recently, a customer, when buying gasoline in Vinh City, suspected that this Enterprise was selling gasoline that was both poor quality and insufficient in quantity. The Association coordinated with the Department of Market Management, the Department of Science and Technology Inspectorate, and the Department of Standards, Metrology and Quality to inspect that gas station.

However, to protect the rights of consumers, consumers must first understand their basic rights. If you discover substandard products or services, boldly fight directly or through authorities and mass media, forcing manufacturers and service providers to stop their wrongdoings, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

The Law on Consumer Rights Protection stipulates 8 basic rights of consumers: Right to safety; Right to information; Right to choice; Right to be listened to; Right to participate in developing policies and laws on consumer rights protection; Right to compensation; Right to complaint; Right to consumer knowledge consultation. In addition, consumers must be responsible for informing authorities and social organizations when discovering unsafe products and services that cause damage to consumers.

Ngoc Anh