(Photo: https://quochoi.vn/) The committee is responsible for making a verification report onthe draft Law on Protection of Consumer Rights (revised).
Representing the report on October 25 afternoon, the committee’schairman Le Quang Huy said that some provisions in the draft law were onlysuitable for conventional businesses and transactions.
He said that business models using new technology or digitaltransformation had yet to be considered, emphasising the need to study and addregulations to protect consumers in e-transactions better.
Regarding specific transactions between consumers and businessorganisations/individuals (Article 37), there are suggestions to separate theform of multi-level marketing from direct sales because multi-level marketingis not a form of direct selling.
Moreover, separate provisions are needed to regulate multi-levelselling because it is an increasingly developed form with many potentialfactors that violate the interests of consumers.
Regarding dispute resolution content, the draft stipulates fourdispute settlement methods, in which negotiation and conciliation is the mostcommonly used method, up to 80% in handling consumer complaints.
"However, the results of negotiation and conciliation areoften not seriously implemented by the parties because the legal value of theminutes of successful negotiation and conciliation is not high," Huy said.
Many consumers do not widely choose the two methods of Arbitrationand Court due to complicated procedures, the time it takes to settle and thehigh costs.
In the past ten years, the number of cases resolved througharbitration and court has been very few.
"Regulations on the conditions for applying the shortenedprocedure are not clear and not strict enough to have a basis for applying theshortened procedure. For example, the draft law only stipulates the conditionof 'simple case', but there are no criteria for what is 'simple'," Huysaid.
Revised Law on Inspection
On October 25 morning, deputies discussed the draft Inspection Law(revised).
Compared to the version discussed at the NA's third session, thedraft being debated this time has 111 adjusted articles out of the total 118. Aconsensus has been reached between the compiling and verification agencies.
Deputy Phan Duc Hieu from Thai Binh province said that theinspection law was revised comprehensively, and this was the time to legaliseGovernment's mechanisms and decisions in inspecting enterprises.
Hieu said that in 2016, the Government issued Resolution 35/NQ-CPon support for business until 2020, in which there were provisions on businessinspection, particularly those about the announcement of inspection plans ofagencies to avoid overlapping.
According to the resolution, no inspection should be conducted ifthere was no legal base, especially inspections relating to tax management, Hieusaid.
"However, such administrative support is not sustainable andhardly reassured enterprises," Hieu said. These contents must be includedin the revised law.
According to the Government's report, there are 72 specialisedagencies with inspection functions.
"Besides, enterprises operate continuously. It is difficultfor the law to be retroactive when an inspection has a statute of limitations.If there are no clear processes and procedures, especially retroactiveprinciples, enterprises face the risk of business stagnation and the interestsof shareholders. Investors could be affected," Hieu said.
"Inspection is to promote law enforcement, not to catchviolations. Therefore, it is necessary to follow the principle of riskmanagement, suitable to the nature and scale of business and legal complianceof the business," he said.
Deputy Le Thanh Van from Ca Mau province emphasised that hisbiggest concern was the institutional reform issue, specifically the InspectionLaw's mode of operation.
"Institutional reform focuses on the elements ofdecentralisation and control of power in the activities of State agencies, butit has not yet been prominent in the draft," Van said.
As the anti-corruption work has been strongly stepped up, therewould be a huge backlog if only the anti-corruption steering committee wereresponsible for dealing with everything, Van said, adding that "it isnecessary to increase the authority of the inspection agency in the directionthat it is allowed to discipline organisations and individuals one level lower,similar to the operating mechanism of the Party Central Committee's InspectionCommission"./.
VNA
