Nhan Dan - The draft Law on Consumer Rights Protection was under discussion by members of the National Assembly Standing Committee at the NA's 33rd session in Hanoi on August 20.
Under the chair of NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong, lawmakers will also debate six other draft laws and other issues of concern at this session which will run until August 25.
Deputy Dang Vu Minh, chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Science, Technology and the Environment, made a report at the meeting mentioning five controversial issues including: the role and unity of the draft Law on consumer rights protection in the current legal system; the responsibility of organisations and individuals who deal in goods and services to protect the rights of consumers ; the State’s responsibilities for protecting consumer rights; the legal position, authority and responsibility of social organisations to protect consumer rights; and mechanisms and procedures to settle disputes between consumers, manufacturers and dealers.
Regarding disputes between consumers and businesses, many deputies expressed the opinions that disputes should not be settled by administrative measures. Deputy Tran The Vuong said that the relationship between consumers, producers and dealers is a civil relationship that covered in the civil code so disputes should not be settled administratively.
Agreeing with Tran The Vuong, Justice Committee Chairwoman Le Thi Thu Ba claimed that if disputes are settled by administrative measures, administrative agencies would likely become the locus for people to send their complaints.
Law Committee Chairman Nguyen Van Thuan saidk, “dispute settlement is not the job of administrative agencies; we should not turn them into judicial agencies if we are building a State governed by law.”