~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Vietnam supermarkets to be standardized

HANOI - To regulate the quality of goods and services in supermarkets nationwide, Vietnam's Ministry of Trade (MoT) is planning to create a list of regulations designating those stores allowed to call themselves supermarkets, said Vu Minh Phuc, deputy head of the Hanoi Department of Trade.

If a store does not meet the ministry's future standards, which include requirements on a store's size, the number of commodities offered and enforcement of anti-smuggling regulations, it will not be permitted to identify itself as a supermarket.

There are now 60 self-service stores operating in Hanoi, and though many are called supermarkets, few meet the city's current supermarket standards and many others would not meet upcoming national standards. Among these stores, only 11 are state-run, meaning they were set up by companies belonging to the Hanoi Department of Trade and the Ministry of Trade. The others are limited liability companies and joint ventures. The Vietnamese government hopes that the regulations will help them exert more control over supermarkets' operations. Currently, supermarkets are not under the aegis of any state agency, leading to inequality in infrastructure and a lower quality of goods in many self-service stores.

Phu said, local authorities can oversee that these business pay their taxes but cannot control the quality and prices of goods they sell. Many stores in Hanoi that call themselves supermarkets have been found selling smuggled, fake and inferior goods despite the capital's regulations.

Phu said an association of supermarkets, which along with the government could draft national regulations, is expected to be set up sometime between August and October.

Pham Huu Thin, an MoT official at the Department of Policies for Domestic Market that will eventually oversee national standards, said his department is collecting supermarket owners' ideas about the standards. Once collected, they will be submitted to the trade minister for his approval.

Thin said his department has examined supermarkets in Germany and France to develop these standards. However, Thin said he do not know when exactly the standards will be announced or which government agency would penalize those markets that violate national regulations.

Asia Times - April 26, 2004