In a meeting held onDec 14 by the President's Office, Deputy Minister of Industry and TradeLe Danh Vinh said that the number of violations of consumer rights andthe extent of the violations were on the increase, seriously affectingthe rights of consumers.
The Law on Consumer RightsProtection regulated that disputes between consumers and individuals andorganisational businesses will be settled by negotiation, conciliation,arbitration and courts.
Consumer protection organisationshave the right to sue businesses for harming the public interest andthe State will provide funding for organisations to implement the tasksoutlined in the law.
Introducing the amended Law onMinerals, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Chu PhamNgoc Hien said the law's new points are regulations related to licensingmineral exploitation through auctioning exploitation rights, Statemanagement of minerals, and devolution of licensing powers to localauthorities.
Auctioning mineral exploration rights willhelp abolish the current "give and take" mechanism in licensing andallow qualified organisations which have enough capacity and experiencein the sector to be chosen, he said.
The Law also laysout regulations on the overall direction of the mineral sector as wellas rules on mineral planning and exploration to avoid overlappingresponsibilities between different State agencies, Hien said.
The breakthrough amendment of the revised law is the change in State'smineral management mechanism which was based on financial regulationsand in line with the rules of the market economy, he said.
Under the law, the State will collect a fee from individuals and organisations that are licensed to explore minerals.
The Law on Minerals and Law on Consumer Right Protection will come into effect on July 1, 2011.
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Duy Thang said the Law on PublicOfficials and Civil Servants will come into force on January 1, 2012./.