Removing legal obstacles for market management activities

Many overlapping regulations

According to Mr. Pham Ngoc Khuong, Captain of Market Management Team No. 3 (Market Management Department of Hai Duong province), currently, the legal regulations related to the activities of the market management force are broad and are stipulated in many different documents. Many contents are still unclear, leading to different understandings and applications, some regulations are overlapping.

According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 45 decrees and sanctions on the authority to impose penalties related to market management forces, not to mention guiding regulations.

In the process of performing their duties, market management forces are still hesitant to apply legal documents to handle the act of not posting prices. The penalty for this violation is stipulated in Decree 87/2024/ND-CP dated July 12, 2024 of the Government. However, in addition to Decree 87, there are a number of other decrees (issued previously) that also stipulate penalties for this act in various fields.

Specifically, the act of "not posting veterinary medicine prices" will be fined from 2-3 million VND if applied according to Decree 90/2017/ND-CP dated July 31, 2017 of the Government (amended and supplemented by Decree No. 04/2020/ND-CP and Decree No. 07/2022/ND-CP). However, according to Article 13, Decree 87/2024/ND-CP dated July 12, 2024, this act will be subject to a fine of 500,000-1 million VND.

The administrative sanctions for expired goods also overlap because they are related to 3 decrees; the administrative sanctions for violations regarding certificates of eligibility for business in goods and services in conditional investment and business sectors are related to 4 decrees...

Many production, business and trading establishments in the province are still small, so it is difficult for the authorities to punish them, while propaganda, mobilization and reminders are not enough of a deterrent. Awareness and sense of law compliance in production and business activities of many establishments are still low.

Market management forces have not been equipped with tools to support quality assessment for some products: gasoline, fertilizer, food, etc. Therefore, in the process of inspection and handling of administrative violations, it is necessary to coordinate with relevant professional agencies to assess quality.

Mr. Tran Duc Vuong, Deputy Head of Market Management Team No. 5, said: “The team has a warehouse to store exhibits, but the area is small and not enough to accommodate a large number of seized and confiscated goods. Currently, there is no separate specialized warehouse for each type of exhibits and means that require special storage conditions such as fresh food, pesticides, etc. Meanwhile, the use of funds for warehouse rental activities to store exhibits and means of administrative violations is still limited.”

Not keeping up with market developments

During a working session with the provincial National Assembly Delegation in early October, comrade Tran Van Toan, Director of the Market Management Department of Hai Duong province, said that currently, some legal documents are not highly predictive and cannot keep up with the complex developments of the market.

The amendment and supplementation of legal policies on anti-smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods are still slow and not suitable to the practical situation. Some products on the market such as electronic cigarettes and "laughing gas" (N2O gas) do not have clear regulations on handling, causing difficulties for market management forces in the process of inspection and handling violations.

The Market Management Ordinance issued in 2016 has revealed many shortcomings and limitations in the current period. The current staffing of the Market Management Department of Hai Duong province is too small (52 civil servants), affecting the effectiveness of public service implementation, especially in the context of the increasing number of ad hoc directives from all levels, arising according to market developments and seasonal characteristics.

Currently, violations related to e-commerce are evolving rapidly, are complex, difficult to manage, difficult to identify subjects, warehouses, and even occur across borders and are difficult to trace. Many subjects take advantage of e-commerce activities to trade in smuggled goods, counterfeit goods, goods of unknown origin, and poor quality goods, etc.

The work of preventing and detecting business locations or warehouses, wharves, and storage yards of violators is difficult. To hide and transport goods to consumers, online traders of counterfeit and contraband goods take advantage of warehouses and vehicles of delivery and receiving companies, but market management forces do not have the authority to stop vehicles, open seals, and inspect.

Transactions and services are no longer within the scope of a single country, but have crossed borders with complex operations. This is a challenge that requires overcoming policy loopholes, quickly completing the legal corridor, helping e-commerce develop sustainably.

The provincial National Assembly delegation has requested market management teams to continue to promote propaganda and dissemination of laws to establishments to strictly comply with regulations on production and business activities. Consider building a coordination regulation between the market management team and local authorities, police forces, customs, etc. "It is time to study and consider promulgating the Law on Market Management", said Nguyen Thi Viet Nga, Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation. emphasized at the recent working session with the Provincial Market Management Department.