New regulations on responsibility of e-commerce platforms operating in Vietnam 

To tackle infringement activities that arise on Internet platforms in Vietnam recently, the Government of Vietnam has issued Decree 85/2021/ND-CP amending and supplementing several articles of Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce  which regulates responsibility of e-commerce platforms operating in Vietnam.

Due to previous regulations that have a limited scope of enforcement which only aim at infringers and violators in the territory of Vietnam, the issuance of Decree 85/2021/ND-CP has, to some degree, addressed this problem.

Specifically, in this decree, offshore providers of e-commerce are the main subjects that are targeted. 

According to point 1 Article 67a Decree 85/2021/ND-CP, Decree 85 will apply to the operators if the e-commerce websites of offshore traders and organizations operating e-commerce websites in Vietnam has one of the following modes of operation:

• The websites are displayed in the Vietnamese language;
• The websites are under Vietnamese domain names; 
• The website processes more than 100,000 sales transactions annually from Vietnam.

Accordingly, if the offshore traders and organizations have one or all of the above-mentioned traits, they will have to register their e-commerce activities with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (“MOIT”) and establish representative offices in Vietnam or appoint a representative(s).

The operation content of the representative office or the content of authorization must ensure the responsibilities specified in Clause 5 of Article 67a Decree 85/2021/ND-CP which are: 

a) Cooperate with state management agencies in preventing transactions of goods and services in violation of Vietnamese law;

b) To perform the obligations on protecting the interests of consumers, product and goods quality according to the provisions of Vietnamese law;

c) Fulfill reporting obligations according to the regulations of Decree 85.

Obligations of e-commerce platforms to customers and users

When detecting or receiving feedback on illegal business acts on the e-commerce trading floor, the e-commerce platform has the following obligations to the customers and the users of their platform:

a) Prevent and remove from the website the information on buying and selling goods and providing services on the list of goods and services banned from operating in accordance with law;

b) Remove information about illegal goods and services within 24 hours from the date of receipt of a request from a competent state management agency;

c) Coordinate with intellectual property rights holders to review and remove products that infringe intellectual property rights according to the process and procedures announced in the Regulation on the operation of the e-commerce trading floor;

d) Warn or refuse to provide services for a definite or permanent period to individuals, traders, and organizations that commit illegal business acts;

dd) Other measures according to the Regulation on the operation of the e-commerce trading floor.

Support state management agencies

The e-commerce platforms will have the responsibility to support Support state management agencies to investigate and handle business acts that violate the law and settle disputes and complaints by conducting the following actions:

a) Provide information on subjects showing signs and acts of law violation on the e-commerce trading floor to competent state management agencies when detecting or receiving the infringing information, among others;

b) Regularly update keywords as recommended by competent state management agencies and filter information by keywords before information about goods and services is displayed on the website;

c) Receive and respond to information to settle complaints, reflections, and disputes related to the e-commerce trading floor at the e-commerce management portal of the MOIT’s e-commerce management portal (online.gov.vn).

*** Other Articles***

– You could visit here to see the Trademark Registration in Vietnam.

– You can also check the Vietnam Trademark Law: Detailed Guide And Legal Notes.

– You could check Questions of filing trademark in Vietnam: POA, Trademark requirement and trademark fee in Vietnam.

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