VIETNAM, June 3 - HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Industry and Trade said in a recent report to the National Assembly that it is looking into regulations to better manage e-commerce business and protect the rights of consumers, including a potential requirement to authenticate individual sellers.

Individual e-commerce sellers would have to provide information to verify their accounts on e-commerce platforms.

Management and supervision of disputes in e-commerce would also be decentralised to local levels. Responsibilities of intermediary service providers such as logistics, Internet service providers (ISPs), affiliate marketing and social network management services will also be clarified.

In May 2023, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính asked to increase connectivity and data sharing to promote the development of e-commerce, including the verification of e-commerce business accounts and transactions.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade predicted that e-commerce development will continue to be robust, after expanding at 25 per cent last year.

E-commerce is growing popular, especially among the young, elderly and people in rural and remote areas. However, there are problems such as increasing fraud and an abundance of low-quality and counterfeit products.

The Vietnamese Government last year approved a project on preventing counterfeit products and protecting consumers with a goal that 100 per cent of major e-commerce platforms committed not to sell counterfeit products. — VNS