Chương I Luật bưu chính 2010: Những quy định chung

Chapter 1

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Law provides for postal activities; the rights and obligations of organizations and individuals involved in postal activities and the state management of postal activities.

Article 2. Subjects of application

This Law applies to organizations and individuals that conduct or participate in conducting postal activities in Vietnam.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Law, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Postal activities include activities of investing and commercially dealing in, and providing and using postal services, public postal services and postage stamps.

2. Postal articles include letters and parcels which are accepted, transmitted and delivered lawfully through the post network.

3. Postal service means a service of accepting, transmitting and delivering postal articles by various modes other than electronic ones from the place of the sender to the place of the recipient through the post network.

4. Public postal service means a postal service provided at the request of the State, including universal postal service and postal service for national defense and security tasks and other special tasks.

5. Universal postal service means a postal service constantly provided to the public under weight, quality and postage conditions prescribed by competent state agencies.

6. Letter means communication in written form, with or without an addressee, except for periodicals, books, newspapers and magazines.

7. Unaddressed letter means a letter containing no information on the recipient in the letter itself or on its wrapping, including also letters for advertisement or propaganda.

8. Basic mail service means a mail service involving no element which adds the service value.

9. Post network means a system of facilities dealing with postal articles and postal service points which are linked together by transmission and delivery routes for the provision of postal services.

10. Public post network means a post network invested by the State and assigned to a designated enterprise for management and operation.

11. Postal service point means a place for accepting and delivering postal articles, including post office, kiosk, agent, public letter box and other forms of accepting and delivering postal articles.

12. Public post box means a postal service point in a public post network used for accepting basic letters.

13. Consolidated letter box means a cluster of household letter boxes installed in a place convenient for delivering and receiving postal articles of a high-rise apartment building or office building having many independent addresses.

14. Full postal process means a period of time from the time of acceptance of a postal article to the time of its delivery to the recipient.

15. Information on postal service use includes the contents of a postal article and information on the full names, addresses and telephone numbers (if any) of the sender and recipient and relating information.

16. Postal service user means an organization or individual that uses a postal service, including sender and recipient.

17. Sender means an organization or individual that is named in the section of information on the sender on the postal article and in the contract on provision and use of postal service.

18. Recipient means an organization or individual that is named in the section of information on the recipient on the postal article and the contract on provision and use of postal services.

19. Designated enterprise means a postal service provider designated by the State to perform the public postal obligation and participate in the provision of international postal services and other services within the framework of international agreements of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and other international agreements on post to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

20. Vietnamese postage stamp means a printed matter issued under a decision of a competent Vietnamese state agency in charge of post for prepaying a postage on the public post network and recognized within the UPU's network.

21. Foreign postage stamp means a printed matter issued by a member country of the UPU for prepaying a postage and recogniz.ed within the UPU's network.

Article 4. Principles of postal activities

1. Assuring security, safety, timeliness, accuracy and convenience in the provision and use of postal services.

2. Guaranteeing letter secrecy under law.

3. Providing postal services under the state-managed market mechanism.

4. Assuring the constant and stable provision of public postal services for the society.

5. Respecting and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals involved in postal activities.

Article 5. State policies on post

1. To build and develop a modem post sector to serve socio-economic development, maintenance of national defense and security and people's life.

2. To build and perfect a competitive environment under law to encourage all economic sectors to participate in postal activities.

3. To encourage the application of scientific and technological advances and the training of human resources for postal development.

4. To step up international integration and cooperation and realize international commitments in the post sector.

5. To apply incentive mechanisms for the provision of public postal services in areas with difficult socio-economic conditions and areas with exceptionally difficult socio-economic conditions.

Article 6. Cases in which postal articles arc prioritized for acceptance, transmission and delivery in case of emergencies

1. Prevention and combat of fires, natural disasters and other calamities.

2. Prevention and combat of diseases and epidemics.

3. Rescue and salvage.

4. National defense and security.

Article 7. Prohibited acts

1. Sending, accepting, transmitting or delivering postal articles with contents which provoke, undermine security or the great national solidarity or oppose and sabotage the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

2. Sending, accepting, transmitting or delivering postal articles containing weapons, explosive articles or substances, toxic or radioactive substances, narcotics or disease germs for terrorist purposes or infringing upon the life and property of citizens or causing social disorder and insecurity.

3. Sending, accepting, transmitting or delivering postal articles containing cultural matters which are contrary to social ethics or the fine traditions and customs of Vietnam.

4. Impersonating others while using postal services.

5. Appropriating or stealing postal articles: fraudulently exchanging contents of postal articles.

6. Disclosing information on the use of postal services, opening or destroying postal articles in contravention of law.

7. Damaging public post works; impeding lawful postal activities.

8. Committing unlawful competitive acts in postal activities.

9. Producing, trading in or using Vietnamese and foreign postage stamps in contravention of law.

10. Conducting postal activities in contravention of law.