On 16 May 2024, the Government of Vietnam promulgated Decree 55/2024 to elaborate some articles of the Law on Protection of Consumers’ Rights (Decree 55/2024) which replaced the Decree 99/2011 from 1 July 2024. Decree 55/2024 introduces some noteworthy amendments on requirements applied to standard form contracts (Standard Contracts) and general trading conditions (T&Cs) as follows:

Multilingual Standard Contracts and T&Cs:

Decree 55/2024 allows additional languages to be used in the Standard Contracts and T&Cs as agreed by the parties alongside Vietnamese. Previously, Decree 99/2011 only allowed the use of Vietnamese. This change accommodates international trade practices and facilitates clearer communication between parties.

Registration application

Decree 55/2024 requires traders to register the Standard Contracts and T&Cs with the competent authority and publicly disclose the Standard Contracts and T&Cs before using the Standard Contracts and T&Cs or receiving pre-payments, deposit, escrow, or security measures by consumers.

Decree 55/2024 also adds a series of new forms to facilitate the registration and processing of applications with simplicity and clarity.

Decree 55/2024 increases the time limit for the appraisal of registration application for the Standard Contracts and T&Cs from 20 business days under Decree 99/2011 to 60 days to accommodate the complexity of each Standard Contracts and T&Cs.

Decree 55/2024 supplements the responsibility of traders to publicly disclose the notice of registration completion at their premises, business locations, and online throughout the entire duration of using the registered Standard Contracts and T&Cs.

Cancellation and revision of the Standard Contracts and T&Cs

Decree 55/2024 empowers consumer protection organizations to request the cancellation or revision of the Standard Contracts and T&Cs.

Decree 55/2024 extends the time frame for the cancellation and revision for the Standard Contracts and T&Cs within 120 days, instead of 10 business days under Decree 99/2011.

Decree 55/2024 now requires traders to publicly disclose the cancelled, revised Standard Contracts and T&Cs and notify consumers of newly applicable Standard Contracts and T&Cs.

Competent authority’s powers on the management of the Standard Contracts and T&Cs

Decree 55/2024 also delineates the powers, responsibilities and the coordination of the central and local competent authorities in managing and controlling the Standard Contracts and T&Cs.

This post is written by Pham Thi Thu Trang and edited by Hoang Thi Thanh Thuy.