Tighten control over advertising of dietary supplements and medicines.
(Baonghean.vn) - Voters in Nghe An province have suggested that the current advertising situation on mass media is not strictly managed, especially for products such as medicines, functional foods, and machinery, because the actual effects do not match the information in the advertisements, affecting consumer rights.We propose that relevant authorities strictly regulate the advertising sector and impose sanctions on cases of misleading advertising or exaggerating the effects and effectiveness of products.
The relevant authorities have responded to this issue as follows:
| Clause 1, Article 19 of the Advertising Law stipulates: "Advertising content must be truthful, accurate, clear, and not cause harm to producers, businesses, and advertisers." Also, according to Article 20 of the Advertising Law, before advertising, products must have sufficient certificates and licenses proving they meet circulation conditions, quality standards, and safety standards from competent authorities. Most products advertised on state-owned television stations have all the necessary certificates and licenses and conduct advertising seriously. However, on some dedicated advertising channels of pay-TV stations or online newspapers and websites, some advertised products still lack sufficient certificates and licenses, and the content and images exaggerate the product's effects, causing consumer dissatisfaction. According to points a and b of Clause 5, Article 51 of Government Decree No. 158/2013/ND-CP dated November 12, 2013, the penalty ranges from VND 50,000,000 to VND 70,000,000. |
To curb false advertising that misrepresents the quality of products and services, within its assigned responsibilities, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has been implementing the following solutions:
- A document has been sent to Vietnam Television and provincial/city radio and television stations requesting strict control over advertising content before broadcasting; strengthening inspection of advertising application processing and strictly enforcing legal regulations on advertising.
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- Inspection of advertising activities of media agencies nationwide, including print newspapers, online newspapers, and radio and television stations (according to Decision No. 141/QD-BVHTTDL dated January 20, 2015), to be carried out in the third and fourth quarters of 2015.
The purpose of this inspection is to detect and strictly handle acts of false advertising of goods and services on mass media in the past; to guide press agencies to strictly check documents proving the conditions for advertising goods and services as stipulated in Article 20 of the Advertising Law; and to check the mandatory content that must be displayed on advertising products for goods and services, especially as stipulated from Article 3 to Article 11 of Decree No. 181/2013/ND-CP, before implementation to avoid the use of false advertising content on their media outlets.
- Regularly monitor advertising in print media, online newspapers, and television, detect violating advertising content, and promptly remind and correct the media outlets to make adjustments.
- Establish a coordination mechanism between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Information and Communications in the inspection, examination, and handling of violations (periodically and unexpectedly) regarding advertising activities on mass media.
- Strengthen inspection, examination, and handling of violations within the scope of authority.
PV (TH)
