Directive No. 04/CT on rectifying the management of advertising activities and strictly handling violations related to advertising.

DIRECTIVE

OF THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND INFORMATION

On Rectifying Management of Advertising Activities and Strictly Handling Violations in Advertising

Dear: Departments of Culture and Information

After the implementation period of Decree 194/CP on advertising activities and Circular No. 37/VHTT of the Ministry of Culture and Information, especially since the implementation of Decrees 87, 88/CP and Directive 814/TTg of the Government, advertising activities nationwide have been rectified to some extent. The chaotic and arbitrary advertising, as well as advertising attached to signboards, has significantly decreased. Beautiful and modern advertising forms have begun to develop, enhancing the aesthetic appearance of cities and towns.

However, management of advertising activities still reveals many difficulties and lacks strictness. On March 19, 1996, the Ministry of Culture and Information issued Circular No. 625/CV-VHTT requesting Departments of Culture and Information to strengthen management of advertising activities, but the situation has changed slowly, still revealing many issues that need to be resolved:

- The situation of advertising without permits; not clearly stating permit numbers, validity periods, and service names; incorrect font usage; content unsuitable for Vietnamese cultural traditions, etc., remains widespread and is not promptly reminded or handled. Particularly, alcohol and tobacco products, which are prohibited from being advertised, continue to be advertised by manufacturers in public places, entertainment venues, stages, sports fields, media, etc., without being dealt with firmly and strictly, causing much negative public opinion and reducing the effectiveness of state regulations.

- Management and issuance of advertising permits still have many limitations and obstacles. To date, many provinces and cities have yet to plan advertising within their areas; the process of issuing permits for advertising implementation has not been improved, still requiring multiple procedures; the speed of permit issuance is very slow, almost never meeting the prescribed time limits, causing significant difficulties for advertising service businesses. Some localities also collect additional fees beyond regulations or do not allow units with national business licenses to advertise locally, while issuing permits to units without advertising functions or allowing direct production enterprises to advertise outside their production bases, leading to disorder and substantial tax loss for the state.

To address these situations, further rectify and create conditions for advertising activities to develop in the right direction, the Ministry of Culture and Information instructs units in the industry to cooperate with related sectors to strictly implement Decree 194/CP, Circular No. 37/VHTT, Decrees 87, 88/CP, Decree 36/CP "amending and supplementing certain clauses of the regulations attached to Decrees 87, 88/CP and Decree 194/CP of the Government," and the following specific guidelines:

I. RECTIFYING MANAGEMENT OF ADVERTISING ACTIVITIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH REGULATIONS

1. Issuance of certificates of qualification for advertising practice must be carried out strictly according to the procedures and conditions stipulated in Article 10 and Article 12 of Circular No. 37, clearly recording the scope and field of operation of each organization or individual applying for advertising business. Implement Directive No. 657/TTg dated September 13, 1996, of the Prime Minister "on strengthening management of non-state-owned industrial, commercial, and service establishments" to review advertising organizations in this sector. Suspend and strictly handle those operating without a practice license or exceeding permitted scope and fields according to Clause 5, Article 26 of Decree 88/CP.

2. Issue advertising implementation permits only to organizations and individuals holding certificates of qualification for advertising practice and advertising business licenses issued by the Ministry of Culture and Information or Departments of Culture and Information (only issue at the main office location; branches may use certified copies). Units already granted national operation licenses by the Ministry of Culture and Information can advertise in localities without setting up additional branches. Advertisers can only directly implement product and goods advertising at their production sites and on their own means of communication (Article 7, Circular No. 37); if they want to advertise elsewhere, they must go through advertising service businesses to ensure management and state tax collection.

3. Based on Circular No. 2506/TC-TCNH dated September 22, 1995, of the Ministry of Finance regarding the management of lottery operations for advertising purposes, Departments of Culture and Information shall only issue permits for production, trading, and service establishments to conduct simple promotional sales advertising. In cases where promotional advertising involves separate ticket issuance, number drawing, or using lottery results to determine winners, approval in writing from the Ministry of Finance is required. Central and local radio and television stations must monitor contracts for advertising implementation to ensure compliance with these regulations.

Violations will be handled according to Clause 6, Article 24, Decree 88/CP.

4. All sponsorship activities (cultural festivals, fashion shows, quiz contests, sports competitions, etc.) involving advertising content and promotional advertising must obtain permits from the local Department of Culture and Information. Violations will be handled according to Clause 6, Article 4, Decree 88/CP.

Permitting authorities must publicly post advertising plans; regulations on procedures and fees at the licensing offices; ensure permit issuance within the prescribed timeframe and not obstruct legitimate advertising activities.

From now on, the collection of advertising permit fees shall be carried out solely in accordance with Circular No. 28/TT-LB dated May 30, 1996, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture and Information. Provinces, cities, districts, and counties are not allowed to request advertisers to pay any additional amounts or provide any other items. The Departments of Culture and Information must coordinate with local finance departments to issue guidelines for the use of advertising fee revenues as stipulated in Circular No. 28/TT-LB to ensure the regime and policies for districts, counties, and related units involved in advertising management within their jurisdictions.

II. RESOLVE TO ENFORCE SANCTIONS FOR VIOLATIONS IN ADVERTISING

1. All outdoor fixed or mobile advertisements must clearly indicate the license number, validity period, and name of the advertising service provider (Article 24 of Decree No. 194/CP); otherwise, sanctions will be imposed and the advertisements removed according to the provisions at point a, Clause 3, Article 24, Decree No. 88/CP.

All advertisements in the form of publications (as provided for in Article 1 of Decree No. 79/CP dated November 6, 1996, detailing the implementation of the Law on Publishing) must clearly state the publisher or organization authorized to publish, the print run, printing location, registration certificate number for publication plans or publication permits. Failure to comply will result in penalties under point C, Clause 4, Article 24, Decree No. 88/CP.

2. Text on advertisements and signs must comply with the regulations amended in Decree No. 36/CP dated June 19, 1996, issued by the Government.

a. Only signs of foreign economic organizations or joint ventures with foreign entities may display personal names or international trade names in a foreign language larger than Vietnamese characters but not more than twice the size of Vietnamese characters. Violations will be handled according to Clause 2, Article 28, Decree No. 88/CP.

b. Only advertisements featuring abbreviated brand names and foreign-language brand names, international trade names of production and service establishments approved by competent state agencies (at the ministry level or provincial People's Committees) and terms that have been internationalized or cannot be replaced by Vietnamese terms may be displayed in larger sizes than Vietnamese characters, but not more than twice the size of Vietnamese characters, while simultaneously displaying the Vietnamese text above the foreign text. This section clarifies the content, product, and industry being advertised.

Violations will be handled according to point a, Clause 4, Article 25, Decree No. 88/CP.

3. Based on Decree No. 194/CP, Article 5 of Circular No. 37/VHTT issued by the Ministry of Culture and Information prohibits advertising in all forms of tobacco products and alcoholic beverages. Therefore, all activities defined in Article 1 of Decree No. 194/CP, including "the introduction and wide dissemination of enterprises, goods, services, brand names, names, symbols according to the operational needs of production, business, and service establishments," if related to tobacco products (not just cigarettes) and alcohol (including health tonics), are not permitted through the advertising methods specified in Article 7 of Decree No. 194/CP.

b. All hotels, guesthouses, inns, restaurants, eateries, beer shops, coffee shops, and similar establishments using paintings, photographs, posters, stickers (vinyl), flyers, brochures, umbrellas, carts, boxes, light boxes, flags, salespeople, and other forms of advertising for tobacco and alcohol; organizations and individuals providing advertising services for tobacco and alcohol on boards, signs, transportation means; public cultural venues such as art performances, fashion shows, sports fields, exhibitions displaying tobacco and alcohol; media outlets and publishing houses advertising tobacco and alcohol must strictly enforce the provisions set forth in Article 27 of Decree No. 88/CP.

c. Investigate and identify organizations and individuals deliberately engaging in the production and sale of goods intended for tobacco and alcohol advertising. In addition to strict enforcement under Clauses 5 and 6, Article 25, Decree No. 88/CP, repeated offenses should be referred for prosecution.

d. Tobacco and alcohol manufacturers must be responsible for the forms and products of their advertising in localities; violations will be handled according to Clause 5, Article 27, Decree No. 88/CP. Enterprises operating in multiple industries (such as Dunhill) but only registered for tobacco products in Vietnam, when advertising without specifying the product to be advertised as required by Article 4 of Circular No. 37 and failing to produce import permits for the advertised products, will be penalized according to Clause 4, Article 25, Decree No. 88/CP.

III. SPECIFIC MEASURES

To effectively implement the tasks mentioned above, the Ministry of Culture and Information requests relevant units within the Ministry and the Departments of Culture and Information to take the following specific measures:

1. Departments of Culture and Information: need to review the current situation of advertising management in their respective regions; identify issues and obstacles, propose solutions to address them, and immediately rectify the management of advertising activities in their regions.

2. Bureau of Cultural Information Bases: lead and coordinate with relevant units to enhance management of advertising activities across various sectors in accordance with state regulations; strengthen inspections and guidance for localities to manage advertising activities well.

3. Specialized Inspection Department of Culture and Information: guide inspections by Departments of Culture and Information to intensify the inspection and handling of violations. At the same time, they need to cooperate with related sectors to organize inspections and checks in some provinces and cities, and take measures to handle violations by both management agencies and advertising service providers.

Upon receipt of this Directive, relevant units within the Ministry and the Departments of Culture and Information are requested to develop implementation plans and regularly report results to the Ministry.