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THE
GOVERNMENT
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SOCIALIST
REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM
Independence - Freedom - Happiness
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No:
24/2003/ND-CP
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Hanoi,
March 13, 2003
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DECREE
DETAILING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ORDINANCE ON
ADVERTISEMENT
THE GOVERNMENT
Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the
Government of December 25, 2001;
Pursuant to Advertisement Ordinance No. 39/2001/PL-UBTVQH10 of November 16,
2001;
At the proposal of the Minister of Culture and Information,
DECREES:
Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1.-
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2. Political information is not subject to the
regulation by the Advertisement Ordinance and this Decree.
Article 2.- A number of
terms and expressions in the Advertisement Ordinance are construed as follows:
1. Advertisement of profit-making services means
advertising economic and social services, aiming to generate profits for
service-providing organizations or individuals.
2. Advertisement of non-profit services means
advertising services for realizing the social policies and information in form
of announcements, messages or classified advertisements.
3. Advertising time volume means the time volume
for broadcasting advertisements on radio or television; or advertising time
volume in films, video tape or disk, audio tape or disk programs or cultural
and sport activity programs.
4. Advertising time volume percentage means the
time volume calculated in percentage of the advertisement-broadcasting time on
the total time volume for broadcasting programs of a radio or television
channel in a day, or of the advertising time volume on the total programmed
time of a film, a video tape or disk, audio tape or disk or a cultural or sport
activity program.
5. Advertising space means areas for publishing
and printing advertisements on printed newspapers; space for displaying
advertising products on billboards, signboards or panels; space for drawing and
painting advertisements on transport means, illuminating objects, aerial or
aquatic objects, other moving objects as all as other similar forms of
displaying advertising products.
6. An advertising drive means a period of time
for consecutively publishing an advertising product on printed newspapers, or
consecutively broadcasting it on radio or television, a time period for
continuous advertising on banners, illuminating objects, aerial or aquatic
objects and other moving objects.
7. Specialized advertising program means a
period of time for continuously broadcasting on radio or television advertising
products, which lasts for over 10 minutes.
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Article 3.- A number of
acts strictly prohibited in advertising activities prescribed in Article 5 of
the Advertisement Ordinance are specified as follows:
1. Making advertisements of national or racial
discrimination nature or infringing upon the belief or religious freedom;
2. Making advertisements of violence-inciting or
horrifying nature; or using unhealthy words or phrases;
3. Using images of Vietnamese Party and/or State
leaders;
4. Making advertisements not true to the actual
quality of advertised goods and/or services; with false addresses of
production, business or service-providing establishments;
5. Forcing advertisements in any form;
6. Making advertisements which restrict the
vision of persons joining in traffic or affect the solemnity at working offices
of the State agencies; using sounds which cause noises exceeding the permitted
noise level according to the Vietnamese standards;
7. Making advertisements which defame, compare
or cause confusions with other production, business or service-providing
establishments; using names or images of other organizations and/or individuals
for advertisements without their consents;
8. Advertising curative medicines, which are sold
only at physicians’ prescriptions; medicines not yet granted registration
certificates or with expired registrations and put out of the list of medicines
permitted for use; medicines already registered but suspended from circulation;
medical instruments and equipment not yet permitted for use, medical services
not yet permitted to be provided in Vietnam;
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Chapter II
ADVERTISING ACTIVITIES
Article 4.-
1. Advertising information
on business activities must be truthful, accurate and consistent with the
already registered business scope and lines.
2. Advertising information on goods and
profit-making services must demonstrate in a truthful and accurate manner their
actual specifications, quality, utilities, labels, designs, categories,
packing, origins, service modes, use, preservation and warranty durations.
3. Advertising information on non-profit
services must be truthful and accurate, correctly reflecting service
requirements, capabilities and quality.
Article 5.-
1. For advertising
products displayed on billboards, signboards, panels, banners or in similar
forms, their serial numbers and duration of advertisement permits and names of
applicants therefor must be inscribed thereon.
2. For advertising products displayed on
posters, the serial numbers of publication permits therefor, names of
publication permit applicants, names of printing establishments and numbers of
printed copies must be inscribed thereon.
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Article 6.-
1. Specialized advertising
pages or supplements of printed press must be permitted by the Ministry of
Culture and Information. The number of specialized advertising pages must not
exceed that of principal newspapers and shall not be counted into selling
prices.
2. Advertisements must not be made on front
pages or front covers of dailies, periodicals, magazines, special issues and
supplementary issues, except for specialized advertising newspapers.
Article 7.-
1. Advertisements must not
be made immediately after musical themes or symbol images of radio and
television programs, except for movies, art, sport and entertainment programs.
2. Each broadcasting drive for an advertising
product on radio or television must not exceed 8 days, except for the following
cases:
a/ For sponsored advertisements associated with
an activity which continuously takes place for more than 8 days, the duration
of such continuous activity shall be regarded as an advertising drive;
b/ For advertisements of non-profit services
aiming to materialize the social policies associated with an activity which
continuously takes place for more than 8 days, the duration of such continuous
activity shall be regarded as an advertising drive;
Article 8.-
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2. Each television movie program must not be
interrupted for advertisements more than twice, and each time must not exceed
five minutes; each entertainment program on radio or television must not be
interrupted for advertisements more than four times, and each time must not
exceed five minutes.
3. Advertisements for business activities, goods
or services of an advertiser or an advertising service provider must not exceed
50% of the time volume for each advertising time on radio or television.
Article 9.- Heads, editors-in-chief,
general directors or directors of press agencies shall be responsible for the
contents, presentations, positions, time volumes or spaces of advertisements on
their press media.
Article 10.- Agencies,
organizations and enterprises dealing in advertising services on computer
information networks must be granted licenses therefor by the Ministry of
Culture and Information and have certificates of advertising service business
registration.
Article 11.-
1. Directors of
publishing houses shall be responsible for advertising products and positions
of advertisements on their publications, which are published under plans.
2. Advertisements on publications which require
publication permits must be permitted by the State management agencies in
charge of publication according to the provisions of the Publication Law.
Article 12.-
Advertisements on billboards, signboards, panels, screens, banners,
illuminating objects, aerial or aquatic objects, other moving objects or in
similar forms, which are hung, put up, stuck or installed outdoor or at public
places, are prescribed as follows:
1. Not to hide over 10% of the space of an
advertising product which has previously been put up and not yet had its
duration expired, in front of, at a distance of 200 meters from and/or at a 90o
angle with the existing advertisement;
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3. In urban centers, advertisements occupying
large outdoor spaces, not in line with the urban planning and affecting social
safety, beautiful views and environmental landscapes shall be limited.
Article 13.-
Advertising products at festivals, conferences, seminars, art performances,
cultural exchanges, physical training and sport competitions must not be hung,
put up, stuck or installed at a height equal to or higher than logos or
appellations of such programs; and the sizes of letters used on such advertising
products must be smaller than those of appellations of such programs.
Article 14.-
Advertisements on other advertising media such as parasols, trolleys, cargo
boxes, fence roofs, flag ropes and other articles shall require no permits but
must comply with the provisions of the advertisement legislation and other
relevant provisions of law.
Article 15.-
1. Organizations and
individuals that wish to deal in advertising services must have business
registration certificates as prescribed by law.
2. Within five working days, organizations and
individuals dealing in advertising services, that wish to locate their branches
or representative offices in other provinces or cities, shall have to notify
the provincial-level business registration sections and Culture and Information
Services of the localities where their branches or representative offices are
expected to be located of the following contents:
a/ The enterprises’ names and headquarters
addresses;
b/ Business lines or trades;
c/ Names and addresses of working offices of
branches or representative offices;
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e/ Full names and places of residence of heads
of branches or representative offices.
3. Advertising service business registration
certificates granted by business registration sections of the district or
equivalent level shall be valid for operations within the local provinces or
centrally-run cities.
Article 16.- Organizations
and individuals that wish to have their non-profit services advertised must
produce documents to secure the truthfulness and accuracy of advertising
information contents when so requested by the advertising service providers or
advertisement distributors.
Article 17.-
1. Organizations and
individuals making advertisements for business activities, goods and/or
services must have business registration certificates as prescribed by law.
2. Advertisements for products and goods on the
list of goods subject to the application and certification of Vietnamese
standards must be granted certificates of Vietnamese standard compatibility by
competent State agencies.
3. Advertisements for products and goods on the
list of goods subject to the application and certification of branch standards
or other standards require standard compatibility certificates granted by
competent State agencies.
4. Those who make advertisements for medicines
and raw materials for medicine production, cosmetics, vaccines, immune
bio-products, medical instruments and equipment and foodstuffs must fully
notify the contents of advertising products to the Health Ministry or the
provincial/municipal Health Services authorized by the Health Ministry. In case
of disapproval of advertising products, the Health Ministry or the provincial/municipal
Health Services must notify such in writing to advertisers and advertising
service dealers.
Within 10 working days after receiving the
written notices, if the Health Ministry or the provincial/municipal Health
Services make no written reply, the advertisers or advertising service dealers
may make advertisements according to the notified contents.
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5. The advertisement of breast milk substitutes
must comply with the provisions of law on trading in and use of breast milk
substitutes.
6. For advertisements for biological products in
service of cultivation, husbandry, livestock feeds, veterinary drugs, plant
protection drugs, fertilizers and fertilizer preparations, plant varieties and
domestic animal breeds, the contents thereof must be fully notified to the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. In case of disapproval of the
notified contents, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development must
notify such in writing to the advertisers or advertising service dealers.
Within 10 working days, after receiving written
notices, if the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development makes no written
reply, the advertisers or advertising service dealers may make advertisements
according to the notified contents.
7. Advertisements for inventions, utility
solutions, industrial designs, trademarks, appellations of origin of goods,
geographical indications, trade names, copyrights and relevant rights must
ensure the truthfulness of information related to the protection status of such
objects according to the law provisions on industrial property and copyright
protection.
Article 18.-
Organizations and individuals that are engaged in many business lines, produce
or trade in many types of products or goods under the same brand (firm
appellation), when making advertisements therefor, must clearly state the
contents of the business lines or types of products or goods to be advertised.
Article 19.-
1. Advertising products
on the computer information networks shall fall under the responsibility of the
heads of agencies, organizations or enterprises licensed to provide Internet
services. Advertisements on screens installed at public places shall fall under
the responsibility of the owners of such screens and comply with the following
regulations:
a/ For advertisements on computer information
networks, the advertising products must be sent to the Ministry of Culture and
Information at least 10 working days before making the advertisements;
b/ For advertisements on screens installed at
public places, the advertising products must be sent to the
provincial/municipal Services of Culture and Information at least 10 working days
before effecting the advertisements.
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2. For advertisements on billboards, signboards,
panels and transport means, the advertising duration shall not exceed three
years. When such duration expires, any prolongation must be permitted by the
provincial/municipal Services of Culture and Information.
In case of changing the advertising positions,
sizes or products, the permits of the provincial/municipal Services of Culture
and Information are required.
3. Advertisements on banners, illuminating
objects, aerial or aquatic objects and other moving objects about activities,
which are expected to last for a definite period of time, shall be effected
during such period, before such duration for not more than five working days
and after such duration for not more than two working days.
In case of advertisements for an activity which
is expected to last for an indefinite period of time, the duration of an
advertising drive shall not exceed 15 working days. The interval between two
advertising drives shall be at least eight working days.
Article 20.- Within 10
working days after receiving complete and valid dossiers, the Ministry of
Culture and Information or the provincial/municipal Services of Culture and
Information shall have to grant permits for making advertisements. In case of
refusal to grant permits, written replies must be made, clearly stating the
reasons therefor.
Chapter III
ADVERTISING ACTIVITIES
INVOLVING FOREIGN ELEMENTS
Article 21.- Vietnamese
organizations or individuals having advertising service business registration
certificates granted by the provincial-level business registration sections may
enter into investment cooperation with foreign organizations or individuals to
deal in advertising services in forms of business cooperation contracts or
joint ventures, and shall be allowed to commence their operations only after
being granted investment licenses by competent State agencies.
Article 22.-
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2. The Ministry of Culture and Information shall
contribute its comments in the evaluation of foreign-invested projects in the
advertisement domain.
3. Within 15 working days after receiving
complete and valid dossiers, the Ministry of Culture and Information shall have
to give its written replies to the State agencies competent to grant investment
licenses.
4. Contents of comments to be contributed to the
evaluation of foreign-invested projects include:
a/ Degree of the projects’ compatibility with
the advertisement planning;
b/ Advertising technical and technological
levels of foreign organizations and individuals;
c/ Socio-economic benefits;
d/ Advertising scope and fields;
e/ Other law provisions on advertisement.
Article 23.- Organizations
and individuals granted foreign investment licenses, shall, within five working
days before commencing their operations, have to notify such in writing to the
provincial/municipal Services of Culture and Information of the localities
where they are headquartered, enclosed with notarized copies thereof.
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1. Foreign organizations
and individuals dealing in advertising services shall be granted permits to
establish their representative offices in Vietnam when they have advertising
service business registration certificates or similar lawful papers according
to the regulations of the countries, of which such organizations and
individuals bear the nationalities.
2. The People’s Committees of the provinces or
centrally-run cities, where foreign organizations and individuals dealing in
advertising services wish to set up their representative offices, shall have to
grant, modify, supplement or withdraw permits for establishing representative
offices in the advertisement domain.
3. Rights and obligations of representative
offices and persons working thereat:
a/ To exercise the rights and perform the
obligations according to the legislation on advertisement;
b/ To conduct only operations according specific
contents inscribed in their establishing permits;
c/ To be entitled to employ Vietnamese and
foreigners to work at their offices. Persons working at representative offices
must pay taxes as provided for by Vietnamese laws;
d/ To be entitled to open specialized payment
accounts in foreign currencies and specialized payment accounts in Vietnam dong
with foreign-currency origin at banks licensed to operate in Vietnam, and to
use such accounts only for the representative offices’ operations. The
representative offices have their own seals as provided for by the provisions
of Vietnamese law;
e/ To make annual reports on the representative
offices’ operations to the permit-granting agencies.
Article 25.-
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a/ Having advertising service business
registration certificates or other similar lawful papers under the regulations
of the countries where they are headquartered;
b/ Having operated for five years or more after
making business registration and having run their representative offices in
Vietnam for 7 years or more as from December 2001 without committing violations
of Vietnamese laws.
2. The Ministry of Culture and Information shall
grant, modify, supplement or withdraw permits for establishing branches to
operate in the advertisement domain.
3. Rights and obligations of branches and
persons working thereat:
a/ To operate according to the contents
inscribed in their establishing permits;
b/ To be entitled to employ Vietnamese and
foreigners. Those who work at branches shall have to pay taxes according to the
provisions of Vietnamese law;
c/ To implement the prescribed accounting regime
and to be only allowed to apply another common accounting regime according to
the provisions of Vietnamese law;
d/ To make annual reports to the permit-granting
agencies on their operations, make financial statements with certification by
Vietnamese auditing agencies or independent auditing agencies licensed to
operate in Vietnam. In case of necessity, at written requests of the competent
agencies defined by the Vietnamese law, the branches shall have to report,
supply documents or explain matters related to their operations.
Article 26.-
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a/ The application of the foreign organization
or individual dealing in advertising services for permit to establish a
representative office or branch (according to the form set by the Ministry of
Culture and Information);
b/ Copies of the business registration
certificate and similar lawful papers according to the regulations of the host
country, which are certified by the competent agencies of foreign countries and
their Vietnamese translations. Such copies must be notarized by the public
notary office of the host country or certified by the foreign-based Vietnamese
diplomatic mission or consular office.
2. Foreign organizations and individuals dealing
in advertising services shall send dossiers of application for permits to
establish representative offices or branches to the permit-granting agencies
defined in Articles 24 and 25 of this Decree.
3. Within 15 working days after receiving
complete and valid dossiers, the agencies competent to grant permits shall have
to grant permits the establishment of representative offices or branches. In
cases where dossiers are incomplete or invalid, the permit-granting agencies
shall, within three working days after receiving such dossiers, notify such in
writing to the foreign organizations and/or individuals dealing in advertising
service, so that the latter supplement and complete their dossiers.
4. Operation contents and duration of
representative offices and branches are specifically inscribed in their
permits.
5. Within 45 working days after being granted
permits, the representative offices and branches shall have to commence their
operations and notify in writing the permit-granting agencies of the locations
thereof, the numbers of Vietnamese and foreigners working at such
representative offices or branches.
6. In cases where representative offices or
branches of foreign organizations or individuals dealing in advertising
services change their names, nationalities, the full names of representatives,
the number of foreigners working at such representative offices or branches,
the operation contents, the locations of the representative offices or branches,
such changes must be notified to the permit-granting agencies.
Article 27.-
1. Permits for the
establishment of representative offices or branches shall be withdrawn in the
following cases where:
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b/ They operate for wrong purposes or
inconsistently with the contents inscribed in their permits;
c/ The representative offices use their names to
conduct advertising service business;
d/ They violate the provisions of Vietnamese
legislation on advertising activities and relevant law provisions.
2. Representative offices and branches shall
terminate their operations in the following cases:
a/ At requests of foreign organizations or
individuals dealing in advertising services and having Vietnam-based
representative offices or branches;
b/ When the competent State agencies issue
decisions on the withdrawal or cancellation of permits according to the
provisions of Vietnamese laws.
3. In case of operation termination according to
the provisions at Point a, Clause 2 of this Article, foreign organizations and
individuals dealing in advertising services shall have to notify in writing the
termination of operation of their representative offices or branches to the
permit-granting agencies at least 30 working days before the date of operation
termination and return their permits to the permit-granting agencies.
Article 28.- Vietnamese
organizations and individuals dealing in advertising services are allowed to
advertise their business activities, goods and/or services in foreign countries
according to the regulations of such countries and the provisions of the
Vietnamese legislation on advertisement.
Chapter IV
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Article 29.- The
Ministry of Culture and Information shall be answerable to the Government for
performing the function of State management over advertisement throughout the
country, having the following tasks and powers:
1. To elaborate and submit to the Government
planning, plans and policies on advertising activities;
2. To elaborate and submit to the Government for
promulgation or promulgate according to its own competence legal documents on
advertisement;
3. To grant, modify, supplement or withdraw
permits for the establishment of branches of foreign organizations and
individuals dealing in advertising services; permits for advertisement on
computer information networks; permits for publishing additional pages or
supplements exclusively for advertisements for printed press; or exclusive
advertisement channels or programs on radio or television;
4. To organize and direct the professional or
managerial training and fostering of personnel engaged in advertising
activities;
5. To inspect and examine the law observance in
advertising activities; to settle complaints and denunciations and handle
violations of the legislation on advertisement;
6. To organize and guide the enforcement of the
provisions of advertisement legislation;
7. To organize and manage the international
cooperation in the advertising domain;
8. To contribute opinions to the evaluation of
foreign-invested projects in the advertising domain.
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Article 30.-
1. The Ministry of Trade
shall, within the ambit of its tasks and powers, have to coordinate with the
Ministry of Culture and Information in performing the State management over
advertisement of goods and commercial services; draw up and submit to the
Government for promulgation the list of goods and commercial services banned
from advertisement.
2. The Ministry of Health shall, within the
ambit of its tasks and powers, have to coordinate with the Ministry of Culture
and Information in performing the State management over advertisement for
medicines, raw materials for producing medicines, cosmetics, vaccines, immune
bio-products, medical instruments and equipment, medical services and
foodstuffs; promulgate the list of medicines already put out of the list of
medicines permitted for use and already registered medicines which are
suspended from circulation; elaborate and submit to the Government for promulgation
the list of medicines banned from advertisement.
3. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development shall, within the ambit of its tasks and powers, have to coordinate
with the Ministry of Culture and Information in performing the State management
over advertisement for bio-products in service of cultivation, husbandry,
livestock feed, veterinary drugs, plant protection drugs, fertilizers,
fertilizer preparations, plant varieties and domestic animal breeds.
4. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall,
within the ambit of its tasks and powers, have to coordinate with the Ministry
of Culture and Information in performing the State management over
advertisements related to intellectual property objects.
5. The Ministry of Planning and Investment
shall, within the ambit of its tasks and powers, have to evaluate
foreign-invested projects in the advertising domain.
6. The ministries, the ministerial-level
agencies and the agencies attached to the Government shall, within the ambit of
their respective tasks and powers, have to coordinate with the Ministry of
Culture and Information in performing the State management over advertisement.
Article 31.- The
People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall perform the
following tasks:
1. To grant, modify, supplement or withdraw
permits for the establishment of representative offices of foreign
organizations or individuals dealing in advertising services;
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a/ To work out planning on advertising
activities;
b/ To work out planning on areas, streets and
places where advertisements are permitted to be installed;
c/ To work out planning in terms of sizes,
dimensions and number of advertisements in various forms for each area, thus
securing traffic safety, urban beauty and safety in fire prevention and combat
as well as construction structure.
d/ To grant permits for making advertisements according
to the provisions in Clause 2, Article 16 of the Advertisement Ordinance;
e/ To organize and guide the implementation of
the provisions of the advertisement legislation in their localities;
f/ To organize training and fostering courses to
raise managerial and professional skills of advertising personnel;
g/ To assume the prime responsibility and
coordinate with the local functional agencies in organizing the inspection,
examination and settlement of complaints and denunciations and handling of violations
according to their respective competence;
h/ To periodically report to the Ministry of
Culture and Information on the granting of permits for making advertisements,
planning on, inspection and examination of advertising activities in their
localities.
Article 32.- The State
Inspectorate in charge of culture and information shall perform the function of
specialized inspection of advertisements according to the provisions of the
inspection legislation, the Advertisement Ordinance and other relevant law
provisions.
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Chapter V
IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS
Article 34.-
Advertising service business registration certificates and advertising permits
granted before the effective date of this Decree, which have not expired and
are not contrary to the provisions of the Advertisement Ordinance and this
Decree, shall still be effective for implementation.
Article 35.-
1. This Decree takes
effect 15 days after it is published on the Official Gazette.
2. To annul the Government’s Decree No. 194/CP
of December 31, 1994 prescribing advertising activities in the Vietnamese
territory; and Chapter III (from Article 11 to Article 25) of the Government’s
Decree No. 32/1999/ND-CP of May 5, 1999 on sale promotion, commercial
advertisements and trade fairs and exhibitions.
The previous stipulations on advertising
activities, which are contrary to the provisions of this Decree, shall all be
hereby annulled.
Article 36.- The
ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the
agencies attached to the Government, the presidents of the People’s Committees
of the provinces and centrally-run cities, organizations and individuals
engaged in advertising activities shall have to implement this Decree.
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ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT
PRIME MINISTER
Phan Van Khai