Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The protection of consumer rights online has beenthe focus amid the boom of e-commerce and the digital economy since theCOVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Stressing the importance of consumer protection to building a healthyenvironment and promoting socio-economic development, the ministry launchedConsumer Rights Day on World Consumer Rights Day which is marked every year onMarch 15.

This year’s event highlighted information transparency and safe consumption.

Despite the Law on Consumer Rights Protection taking effect on July 1, 2011,the infringement of consumer rights remained widespread at many levels withincreasing complexity.

Entering the post-COVID-19 pandemic period, e-commerce, especially borderlesstrade, has made consumer rights protection a new focus as there were a numberof risks consumers face online, including fake and low-quality products andappropriation of personal information for fraud.

Tran Huu Linh, General Director of the Vietnam Directorate of MarketSurveillance, said that along with the online shopping trend, there was anincrease in trade fraud and risks to consumers, including fake and poor-qualityproducts.

The ministry’s statistics showed that more than 1,660 online kiosks with morethan 6,400 products were removed and five e-commerce websites that were allegedto sell fake and unclear-origin products were blocked last year.

Protecting consumer rights in cyberspace was a focus of the market watch,especially in the context that Vietnam aimed to become one of the leadingcountries in the region in terms of digital economy development with a planthat the digital economy would account for 20% of GDP by 2025, Linh said.

Linh said that owners of many online stores paid attention to consumerprotection as one of their key business strategies. He urged consumers to makeorders from licensed platforms or official stores to get their rightsprotected.

Nguyen Quynh Anh, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Competition and ConsumerAuthority, said that consumer protection needed to have stronger and moresubstantive changes, which would require the active participation ofbusinesses.

“We used to think that consumer protection was the matter of the Statemanagement agency and the consumers. Now, enterprises will be a more importantsubject in the consumer protection process,” Anh said. “Enterprises must beaware of their roles in protecting consumer rights and ensuring consumersaccess safe and affordable products and services.”

According to Trinh Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Competition andConsumer Authority, the ministry would amend the Law on Protection of ConsumerRights to ensure the regulations keep pace with the changes.

The draft amended law would be considered for approval at the NationalAssembly’s meeting in May./.