On the second day of the second session of the 16th National Assembly, lawmakers discussed in groups a bill amending laws on trade, competition, foreign trade and consumer protection.
Speaking about support for negotiations, Nguyen Khanh Vu, a deputy from Quang Tri Province, said the bill gives consumers rights to file complaints and negotiate, but people still do not know where to complain, whom to contact or what to do next.
The deputy supported bringing complaint intake closer to residents but said adding the words “at the local level” would not solve the problem. The bill does not identify the agency responsible for receiving requests. Current law defines local authorities as both provincial and commune-level people’s committees. Residents may go to a commune even though the law does not assign it this task, while Decree No. 146 of 2025 assigns intake duties to the provincial level.
The Law on Organization of Local Government requires the allocation of powers to clearly identify the implementing authority, the duties and the scope of responsibilities.
The bill also does not set out what should happen if a business still refuses to negotiate. The current law only covers forwarding the request and notifying the consumer of the result. In 2025, a business’s failure to negotiate was the most common violation, accounting for 26.9% of all cases.
Proposal to clarify commune and provincial responsibilities
Nguyen Khanh Vu proposed requiring commune-level people’s committees to receive requests and support negotiations when the consumer lives in the same administrative unit where the organization or business has its headquarters, branch or business location.
The provincial people’s committee where the consumer lives would receive requests and support negotiations involving two or more communes, including cases where the organization or business is based in another province.
The deputy also proposed that if an organization or business does not begin negotiations within seven working days, the authority or social organization that forwarded the request should, after receiving a consumer’s response, explain other dispute-resolution options in writing, handle the matter within its powers or ask a competent authority to address the violation.
If a request falls outside the receiving authority’s powers, that authority or organization should tell the consumer where to send it.
Duong Minh Anh, a deputy from Hanoi, proposed studying state budget support for community consumer-protection advisory groups in disadvantaged, mountainous and ethnic-minority areas. She also called for clear rules on online coordination between commune and provincial authorities to prevent responsibility from being passed back and forth.
Before the group discussions, Minister of Industry and Trade Le Manh Hung presented the government submission on the bill. Phan Van Mai, chairman of the National Assembly’s Economic and Finance Committee, presented the review report.
The Economic and Finance Committee also called for clarification of the powers of provincial and commune authorities, the primary complaint-receiving agency, the procedure for transferring files, rules against duplicate handling and jurisdiction over disputes on digital platforms.
Sources: Thanh Niên
