The National Assembly discussed a number of controversial contents of the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Advertising.

Reporting on the reception, explanation and revision of the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Advertising, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Society Nguyen Dac Vinh said that, so far, the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Advertising has basically ensured the correct objectives of amending the Law, and there are no major contents with different opinions between the drafting agency, the reviewing agency and relevant agencies.

The Government issued Document No. 215/CP-KGVX dated April 16, 2025 agreeing with the draft Law. The draft Law, after being received, revised and finalized, consists of 3 articles, 23 articles have been amended and supplemented, 1 article and 7 points and clauses of the 2012 Advertising Law have been abolished, and 05 articles have been amended and supplemented compared to the draft submitted at the 8th Session.

Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh chaired the discussion session.

Reporting on the reception, explanation and revision of the draft Law, the Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Society said that regarding the Interpretation of terms (Clause 1, Article 1 of the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of clauses of Article 2), some opinions suggested defining more clearly the scope of advertising activities; revising the term "activities providing cross-border advertising services in Vietnam", the term "advertising product transporter", clarifying the form of wearing, hanging, attaching, sticking, drawing or similar forms.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly has accepted and directed the revision of the term "advertising" to ensure a higher generality, clear meaning, and not to be confused with non-advertising information (such as political propaganda and agitation information), in accordance with the diversity of current advertising forms.

Regarding the term "advertising product transporter", the draft Law is amended to regulate 02 types of subjects: (i) people who directly advertise, recommend, and endorse products, goods, and services online; (ii) people who directly advertise by wearing, hanging, attaching, pasting, drawing, using for profit purposes or other forms as prescribed by the Government. Supplementing the explanation of the term "advertising product transporter is an influential person", mainly referring to the provisions of the law on consumer rights protection.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Society Nguyen Dac Vinh reported on the reception, explanation and revision of the draft Law.

Regarding State management of advertising activities (Clause 2, Article 1 of the draft Law amending and supplementing Article 4) , some opinions said that there is an overlapping responsibility of some ministries; some other opinions said that this specific regulation does not cover all the tasks of ministries and branches; some opinions gave specific comments on the state management responsibilities related to advertising activities of ministries; proposed to supplement the responsibilities of People's Committees at all levels in state management of advertising activities.

Incorporating the opinions of delegates, the draft Law was revised in the direction of combining Article 4 and Article 5 into 01 article providing general regulations on State management of advertising. At the same time, the Government was assigned to stipulate the State management responsibilities of each relevant ministry and branch, and the responsibilities of People's Committees at all levels in the Decree guiding the implementation of the Law.

Regarding the Rights and obligations of the person transmitting advertising products (Clause 8, Article 1 of the draft Law supplementing Article 15a), some opinions said that Article 15a mainly regulates obligations, lacks regulations on the rights of the person transmitting advertising products and suggested a review to ensure consistency between the draft Law and the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights 2023. Many opinions contributed to the obligations of the person transmitting advertising products as an influential person.

In response to the opinions of delegates, the draft Law has revised Article 15a to include 3 clauses as follows: (i) Clause 1 stipulates the rights of the person transmitting advertising products; (ii) Clause 2 stipulates the obligations of the person transmitting advertising products in general; (iii) Clause 3 stipulates the obligations of influencers when transmitting advertising products. In addition to the general obligations stipulated in Clause 2, there are some specific obligations; the provision on the obligation to directly use the product when advertising cosmetics, health protection foods, and dietary supplements on social networks is removed due to low feasibility, difficulty in control and implementation.

Regarding Advertisements on Printed Newspapers (Clause 13, Article 1 of the draft law amending and supplementing Article 21), some opinions proposed to remove the regulations limiting the ratio of advertising area in newspapers and magazines. Some opinions suggested to keep it as the current Law.

Currently, the advertising market share in print newspapers has decreased sharply, so in order to support press agencies to effectively implement the financial autonomy mechanism, have sufficient investment resources, and improve the quality of news and article content, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly agrees with the draft Law on adjusting advertising area on newspapers and magazines (not exceeding 30% of the total area of ​​a newspaper publication or 40% of the total area of ​​a magazine publication).

View of the discussion session.

Regarding advertising on radio and television (Clause 14, Article 1 of the draft Law amending and supplementing Article 22), some opinions suggest keeping the regulation on advertising duration on pay TV channels as in the current Law at 5%.

In response to delegates' opinions, the draft Law maintains the regulation on advertising time on pay TV channels at 5% as in the 2012 Advertising Law to ensure the rights of viewers who have paid the fee.

Some comments suggested a thorough impact assessment of changes in advertising duration, especially on films on Vietnam Television during prime time.

According to the law on cinema, Vietnamese films are given priority to be broadcast between 6pm and 10pm. In order to support revenue generation, ensure funding for the production of quality films, and serve viewers of Vietnam Television in the context of declining television advertising and to fulfill legal obligations in the Cinema Law, the draft Law requests to maintain the regulation on increasing advertising time in feature film programs. At the same time, taking into account the opinions of National Assembly deputies, this content is revised as in the draft Law.

Delegates attending the discussion session.

Regarding online advertising and cross-border advertising (Clause 15, Article 1 of the draft Law amending and supplementing Article 23), there are opinions suggesting that regulations on online advertising and cross-border advertising need to be more specific, stipulating specific rights and obligations of each market participant. There are opinions suggesting that the authority to handle violations of the law on online advertising and cross-border advertising should be clearly defined.

In response to delegates' opinions, the draft Law has added provisions on the rights and obligations of advertising product carriers (Article 15a); on the obligations of advertisers, advertising service providers, advertising product carriers, and advertising publishers participating in online advertising activities (Clause 3, Clause 4, Clause 5, Article 23); on the responsibilities of online advertising service providers when establishing and operating an intermediary digital platform to provide services (Point g, Clause 5, Article 23).

Regarding cross-border advertising, taking into account the opinions of National Assembly deputies, the draft Law has been revised in the direction of establishing this as a type of advertising that needs to be managed, relevant entities must fulfill tax obligations and comply with Vietnamese law, clearly defining the responsibilities of organizations and individuals participating in online advertising activities, cross-border advertising must prevent and remove violating advertisements, in case of failure to do so, competent authorities must deploy technical measures to prevent and take handling measures according to legal regulations.

• 

  Strengthen inspection of compliance with legal regulations on advertising, especially advertising of goods such as medicine and milk.

Some opinions suggest that it is necessary to base on scientific basis and practical experience to increase the waiting time to turn off or on ads from 1.5 seconds to 6 seconds. Some opinions suggest that there should be a feature for users to choose whether or not to watch ads.

Regarding this issue, the Chairman of the Committee on Culture and Society said: Adjusting the waiting time to turn off or on ads is necessary. To protect the rights of viewers and comply with international practices, ensuring fairness between domestic and foreign enterprises in advertising activities, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly has adjusted the draft in the direction of stipulating the principles for requirements with features and easily recognizable icons for ad recipients to turn off ads, notify service providers of violating advertising content and refuse to view advertising content if it is inappropriate.

Regarding specific regulations on "turning off ads", to ensure flexibility and suitability with practice, it is recommended that the Government provide detailed regulations in the draft Decree guiding the implementation of the Law, accordingly: (i) for ads in the form of static images, there is no regulation on waiting time to turn off ads; (ii) for ads in the form of a series of moving images or videos, the maximum waiting time to turn off ads is 06 seconds.

Regarding classified advertising, there are suggestions to supplement and perfect regulations on classified advertising, clearly defining the responsibility of local authorities in arranging classified advertising locations.

In response to delegates' opinions, the draft Law has added classified advertising to the outdoor advertising planning content (Clause 1, Article 37). At the same time, it is recommended that the drafting agency add the responsibility of the provincial People's Committee for classified advertising activities in the area in the document detailing the implementation of the law.

Regarding ensuring the consistency of the Advertising Law with related laws , some opinions suggested reviewing to ensure the consistency of the draft law with current laws such as the Law on Chemicals, the Law on Technical Standards and Regulations, the Law on Environmental Protection, the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, the Law on Commerce and other related laws.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly has directed the review and revision of specific provisions of the draft Law to ensure consistency in the legal system. In addition, through the review, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly found that the provisions of the 2012 Advertising Law have covered the content of commercial advertising in the 2005 Commercial Law (Section 2, Chapter IV of the 2005 Commercial Law).

Based on the consensus of the competent state management agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade), the Standing Committee of the National Assembly has added the content of abolishing the provisions on commercial advertising in the Law on Commerce in Article 2 to ensure consistency and avoid overlap.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/quoc-hoi-thao-luan-ve-mot-so-noi-dung-con-y-kien-khac-nhau-cua-du-thao-luat-sua-doi-bo-sung-mot-so-dieu-cua-luat-quang-cao-20250510092541921.htm