HANOI RESOURCE CENTRE

Consumer sovereignty in the framework of social justice, economic equality and environmental balance, within and across borders

Strengthening the Consumer Movement in Vietnam

    CUTS Hanoi Resource Centre is implementing a project entitled “Strengthening the consumer movement in Vietnam” in association with the Vietnam Standards and Consumers Association (VINASTAS) with the support of The Ford Foundation – Office for Vietnam and Thailand.

    The overall goal of this project is to promote a healthy and vibrant consumer culture in Vietnam, which ensures the meeting, in the long term, of the seven legitimate needs of consumers as set out in the United Nations’ Guidelines for Consumer Protection. The duration of the project is twenty-four months, expectedly to be completed by 2010.

    The specific objectives of the project include:

  • Structured development of the consumer movement in Vietnam, with the core being VINASTAS, its provincial branches and subordinate institutions, based on clear strategies and innovative activities;
  • Positive developments/changes in consumer protection laws and regulations; and
  • Effective mechanisms for engagement of all relevant stakeholders, most of all consumers, and ensure active participation channels for better representation of consumer voices.

    Expected outcomes

    The project plans to achieve these goal and objectives via the attainment of the following outcomes:

    (Under Objective No.1)

  • Enhanced national and international visibility of VINASTAS and its associate agencies;
  • Enhanced effectiveness and efficiency of current VINASTAS activities, ranging from advocacy (though meetings, publications, and dialogues) to complaint handling;
  • Increase in the resources available with VINASTAS, including financed projects, number of volunteers, and contributions from organisations and individuals; and

    Emergence of new initiatives/activities better suited to the demands and needs of the changing situation of the Vietnam markets and consumers.

    (Under Objective No.2)

  • Current legal regulations on consumer protection revised/amended and consolidated;
  • Improved internal work processes of relevant institutions (including State agencies and consumer organisations) with regards to consumer complaints handling; and
  • Increase in the rate of successfully-handled complaints as well as consumer losses/damages recovered.

    Publication

  • Some recommendations on the draft Consumer Protection Law of Vietnam
  • (Under Objective No.3)

  • Greater awareness and support from the society on consumer protection activities
  • Improvement of current tools and development of new mechanisms for interacting with, educating and informing consumers
  • Substantive increase in the numbers of feedback on VINASTAS‟ or the project activities.