Producers of ‘ghost money' used in the burning of votive offerings willnot be allowed to use the content, image, patterns and colours of realVietnamese and foreign currencies for their products following a draftregulation issued by the Hanoi Department of Information andCommunications.
Under the draft regulation, all votivemoney printing establishments in the city must have businessregistration certificates and will be required to register samples andkinds of votive money they plan to print.
The sizes ofvotive money must be 3cm shorter or longer than real bank notes andproducers are required to print votive money in one colour and only onone side of the paper.
Printing establishments will also be required to print their addresses on votive papers.
Department's Deputy Director Duong Ky Lan said the regulation wasdrafted as the lack of regulations and punishments made it difficult tomanage the print, production and trading of votive papers.
"The current regulations lack detailed guidance and remain unspecific.For example, it is difficult for information and communicationsinspectors to punish businesses, as it is not easy to define what kindof votive paper is allowed for printing while the granting of licensefor votive money printing has yet been widely applied," he said.
It was clear that votive money that resembled real currency still existed for sale, he added.
"Therefore, the department is mapping out a draft document in order tocreate more effective management tools for inspectors and authorisedagencies to keep the print and trade of votive papers under bettercontrol," he said.
The draft is expected to be completedby the end of this week to be submitted to the municipal People'sCommittee for approval.
"If the regulations are approved,detailed guidance will be issued and information dissemination will bestrengthened to raise awareness among both producers and customers," Lanadded.
Last year, the State Bank of Vietnam proposedthe Ministry of Information and Communications to require alldepartments of Information and Telecommunications nationwide to ban theuse of designs resembling existing Vietnamese bank notes during theprint approval process./.
Under the draft regulation, all votivemoney printing establishments in the city must have businessregistration certificates and will be required to register samples andkinds of votive money they plan to print.
The sizes ofvotive money must be 3cm shorter or longer than real bank notes andproducers are required to print votive money in one colour and only onone side of the paper.
Printing establishments will also be required to print their addresses on votive papers.
Department's Deputy Director Duong Ky Lan said the regulation wasdrafted as the lack of regulations and punishments made it difficult tomanage the print, production and trading of votive papers.
"The current regulations lack detailed guidance and remain unspecific.For example, it is difficult for information and communicationsinspectors to punish businesses, as it is not easy to define what kindof votive paper is allowed for printing while the granting of licensefor votive money printing has yet been widely applied," he said.
It was clear that votive money that resembled real currency still existed for sale, he added.
"Therefore, the department is mapping out a draft document in order tocreate more effective management tools for inspectors and authorisedagencies to keep the print and trade of votive papers under bettercontrol," he said.
The draft is expected to be completedby the end of this week to be submitted to the municipal People'sCommittee for approval.
"If the regulations are approved,detailed guidance will be issued and information dissemination will bestrengthened to raise awareness among both producers and customers," Lanadded.
Last year, the State Bank of Vietnam proposedthe Ministry of Information and Communications to require alldepartments of Information and Telecommunications nationwide to ban theuse of designs resembling existing Vietnamese bank notes during theprint approval process./.
