Chương I Luật Giá 2023: Những quy định chung

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Law provides for the rights and obligations of agencies, organizations, individuals, and consumers concerning prices and valuation; price management and regulation of the State; price summary, analysis, and forecast; databases on prices; valuation; specialized price inspectorate, inspection of compliance with laws on prices and valuation.

Article 2. Regulated entities

This Law applies to organizations and individuals engaging in the business of goods and services (hereinafter referred to as “suppliers of goods and services”); consumers; state agencies; other organizations and individuals relevant to prices and valuation in Vietnam’s territory.

Article 3. Application of the Law on Prices and relevant laws

1. In case of different regulations between the Law on Prices and other laws promulgated before the effective date of the Law on Prices, the Law on Prices shall prevail, except for cases prescribed in Clause 4 of this Article.

2. In case of other laws promulgated after the effective date of the Law on Prices that require particular regulations on the management and regulation of prices different from the ones prescribed in the Law on Prices, it is obligatory to determine the specific content that is implemented under or not under the Law on Prices and the content that is implemented under that such laws. 

3. In case other laws promulgated after the effective date of the Law on Prices stipulate additional regulations on goods and services priced by the State, it is obligatory to conduct a policy impact assessment; such goods and services must meet at least one of the criteria prescribed in Clause 1 Article 21 of this Law. At the same time, it is obligatory to elaborate on the competence and responsibility for pricing, pricing forms for the mentioned goods and services, and determine the grounds and methods of pricing and the promulgation of pricing documents that are implemented under or not under the Law on Prices and contents that are implemented under such other laws.

4. Certain goods shall be priced by the State in compliance with relevant laws as follows:

a) The determination of land prices shall comply with land laws;  

b) The determination of housing prices shall comply with housing laws;

c) The determination of electricity prices and electric services shall comply with electricity laws;

d) The determination of medical service prices shall comply with medical examination and treatment laws;  

dd) The determination of tuition fees and prices for services in education, training, and vocational education shall comply with education, higher education, and vocational education laws;

e) The determination of royalty for the utilization and use of published works, audios, or videos in case of limitation of copyrights or relevant rights, compensation for rights to use transferred inventions under compulsory decisions in case of disagreement between the persons granted the right to use such inventions and the right holders, and compensation for the right to use transferred plant varieties under compulsory decisions shall be implemented under laws on intellectual property.

Article 4. Interpretation of terms

For the purpose of this Law, the following terms shall be construed as follows:

1. Goods refer to products that may be exchanged, purchased, and sold on the market.

2. Services refer to invisible products with their production inseparable from consumption.

3. Essential goods and services refer to the goods and services required to meet the basic demand of humans, such as primary ingredients, fuels, materials, and services for production and circulation in conformity with the socio-economic context of each period. 

4. Market prices refer to the prices of goods and services established based on supply and demand and decided by market factors within a certain period of space.

5. Market price refers to the average of general prices of goods and services on the market in a certain period of space, measured by the consumer price index (CPI) or production price index (PPI) (in any).

6. Aggregate cost of goods and services include:

a) The production costs of goods and services; purchase prices of goods and services of organizations and individuals engaging in commercial operations; import prices of goods;

b) Circulation costs of goods and services.

7. Price determinants refer to the actual aggregate cost; profits (if any) or losses (if any); financial obligations as prescribed by laws.

8. Price regulation refers to when competent state agencies apply measures under this Law to limit the inadequacies of the market economy to protect legitimate rights and benefits of consumers, suppliers of goods and services, and the State and implement objectives for inflation control and socio-economic development.

9. Price stabilization refers to when competent state agencies perform solutions or measures under this Law to stabilize the prices of goods and services when there are abnormal fluctuations in prices within a certain period.

10. Abnormal fluctuations in prices refer to the phenomenon where the market prices of goods and services increased too high or too low compared to the market prices of a previous period.

11. Pricing means the process of determining the prices of goods and services performed by competent state agencies or suppliers of goods and services.

12. Price schemes refer to the presentation of grounds for pricing or adjusting prices or determinants of prices of goods and services.

13. Price negotiation refers to the agreement among organizations providing goods and services on purchase prices and sale prices of goods and services that are intermediaries of state agencies as prescribed by this Law.

14. Price declaration means notifications of prices after pricing or adjustment provided by organizations providing goods and services subject to price declaration according to Clause 2 Article 28 of this Law for competent state agencies for market price summary, analysis, and forecast.

15. Price listing means the form of disclosing purchase and sale prices of goods and services of suppliers of goods and services to make sure they are easily seen by customers and competent state agencies.

16. Valuation means advisory operations of evaluating assets at a certain location and period for specific purposes performed by valuation enterprises or valuation councils under the Valuation Standards of Vietnam.

17. Assets subject to valuation include assets, goods, and services subject to valuation upon requests from agencies, organizations, or individuals or due to other cases.

18. Valuation certificates are documents issued by valuation enterprises or their branches after the valuation to notify customers and relevant organizations or individuals (if any) prescribed in valuation contracts of the value of the valuation assets and the main contents of valuation reports.

19. Valuation reports means documents presenting the valuation process used as the basis for preparing valuation certificates of valuation enterprises or issuing notifications of results of the valuation of valuation councils. To be specific:

a) Regarding the provision of valuation services, valuation reports are prepared by a valuer specifying his/her opinions on prices and are considered and approved by legal representatives of the valuation enterprise or heads of such enterprise’s branches;

b) Regarding valuation operations of the State, valuation reports are prepared by valuation councils, specifying the opinions of council members and unanimous suggestions of the councils.

20. Notifications of valuation results are documents issued by valuation councils after the valuation operation to notify agencies, organizations, and individuals competent to establish valuation councils of the values of valuation assets and the main contents of valuation reports.

21. Collusion of prices and valuation refers to acts of agreeing on the falsification of prices of goods and services or values of assets subject to valuation for self-seeking purposes of agencies, organizations, or individuals.

Article 5. State's principles of price management and regulation

1. Manage and regulate prices based on market policies in conformity with socio-economic development policies in each period; ensure transparency and respect for the rights of suppliers of goods and services to pricing and price-based competition according to laws.

2. Protect legitimate rights and benefits of consumers, suppliers of goods and services, and the State.

3. Contribute to macro-economic stability, ensure social security and sustainable development; promote private investment in the provision of public services; adopt policies appropriate to areas with disadvantaged or extremely disadvantaged socio-economic conditions, and other cases as prescribed by laws.

Article 6. Disclosure of information on prices and valuation

1. State agencies and state affiliates shall disclose:

a) Guidelines, schemes, and reports on measures to manage and regulate prices approved by competent state agencies; legislative documents on prices;

b) Documents on pricing of goods and services included in the list of goods and services priced by the State, except for state reserves;

c) Lists of eligible valuation enterprises and valuers; lists of valuation enterprises that are suspended or have their certificates of eligibility for valuation services revoked; lists of persons with revoked valuer cards.

2. Suppliers of goods and services shall disclose:

a) Specific prices of goods and services they determined within the price brackets, maximum prices, and minimum prices promulgated by competent state agencies;

b) Prices of goods and services subject to price declarations as prescribed in Clause 2 Article 28 of this Law;

c) Prices of goods and prices subject to price listing

3. Valuation enterprises shall disclose:

a) Lists of their valuers;

b) Basic information on their operations, including certificates of eligibility for valuation services and the number of certificates issued annually;

c) Price lists of valuation services.

4. Agencies, units, organizations, and individuals responsible for disclosing information prescribed in this Article shall ensure accuracy, truthfulness, and punctuality and take responsibility for the disclosed contents. The disclosure of information does not apply to information included in the list of state secrets and cases where disclosure is forbidden as prescribed by laws.

Information and communications about policies of laws on prices and price management and regulation mechanisms shall ensure objectivity and truthfulness as prescribed by laws.

5. The disclosure of information prescribed in this Article shall be posted on the websites (if any) of agencies, units, organizations, and individuals or be disclosed under other appropriate forms.  For cases prescribed in Point b Clause 1 of this Article, the information shall be disclosed by sending written documents to relevant agencies, units, organizations, and individuals and updated to databases on prices. Regarding contents prescribed in Point a and Point b Clause 2 of this Article, the information shall be disclosed via updates to databases on prices.

Article 7. Forbidden acts concerning prices and valuation

1. Regarding price and valuation authorities; persons with positions and entitlements prescribed by laws on prevention and combat against corruption of price and valuation authorities:

a) Interfering in the implementation of rights and obligations of suppliers of goods and services or consumers concerning prices and organizations or individuals engaging in valuation operations contrary to their functions, tasks, and entitlements as prescribed by laws.

b) Deliberately disclosing or using information on prices provided by suppliers of goods and services contrary to regulations of competent state agencies;

c) Conducting bribery, collusion, or agreements to falsify the prices of goods and services or vales of assets subject to valuation for self-seeking purposes; colluding in prices and valuation.

2. Regarding organizations and individuals:

a) Spreading or disseminating false and inaccurate information on socio-economic situations causing disturbances in the market information and prices of goods and services;

b) Conducting fraudulent pricing by deliberately changing contents committed in transactions without informing customers in advance regarding the time, location, and conditions for purchase and sale, methods of transport and payment, quality, quantity, features, functions, goods, and services at the time of delivering goods or providing services;

c) Taking advantage of emergencies, incidents, tragedies, natural disasters, or epidemics to increase the sale prices of goods or services contrary to the fluctuation of aggregate cost compared to normal conditions for self-seeking purposes;

d) Obstructing the price management, regulation, or valuation operations of competent state agencies;

dd) Forging or providing forged certificates of valuation or using forged certificates of valuation for purposes prescribed in Clause 4 Article 55 of this Law;

e) Preparing or providing certificates of valuation when they are ineligible for providing valuation services or using such certificates for purposes prescribed in Clause 4 Article 55 of this Law; signing certificates of valuation or reports on valuation when they are not valuers;

g) Conducting bribery, collusion, or agreements to falsify the prices of goods and services or values of assets subject to valuation for self-seeking purposes; colluding in prices and valuation.

3. Regarding valuation enterprises:

a) Conducting acts of unhealthy competition as prescribed by laws on competition; providing inaccurate information on the qualifications, experience, and capacity of service provision of valuers or valuation enterprises;

b) Providing valuation services for persons related to valuation enterprises according to laws on enterprises;

c) Providing inaccurate or false declarations, forging applications for issuance or re-issuance of certificates of eligibility for valuation services, applications for valuer practicing certificates;

d) Issuing false certificates of valuation;

dd) Conducting bribery, collusion, or agreements to falsify the prices of goods and services or values of assets subject to valuation for self-seeking purposes; colluding in prices and valuation.

4. Regarding valuers:

a) Providing inaccurate information on the qualifications, experience, and capacity of service provision of valuers or valuation enterprises;

b) Forging, leasing, lending, or using valuer cards contrary to this Law and relevant laws;

c) Independently preparing certificates of valuation or reports on valuation;

d) Signing certificates of valuation or reports on valuation contrary to specialty or notifications of state agencies on permitted practicing fields; signing certificates of valuation or reports on valuation when not meeting conditions for valuation practice according to Clause 1 Article 45 of this Law;

dd) Performing valuation for persons related to valuation enterprises according to laws on enterprises;

e) Preparing false reports on valuation or documents related to valuation operations according to Valuation Standards of Vietnam;

g) Conducting bribery, collusion, or agreements to falsify the prices of goods and services or values of assets subject to valuation for self-seeking purposes; colluding in prices and valuation.

5. Regarding valuation councils:

a) Directing or interfering in valuation operations affecting the professional independence of council members for self-seeking purposes;

b) Issuing false notifications of results of the valuation or reports on valuation;

c) Conducting bribery, collusion, or agreements to falsify the prices of goods and services or values of assets subject to valuation for self-seeking purposes; colluding in prices and valuation.

6. Regarding members of valuation councils:

a) Preparing false documents related to valuation operations according to Valuation Standards of Vietnam;

b) Conducting bribery, collusion, or agreements to falsify the prices of goods and services or values of assets subject to valuation for self-seeking purposes; colluding in prices and valuation.

7. Regarding customers and third parties in valuation contracts:

a) Deliberately providing false information on assets subject to valuation;

b) Using expired certificates of valuation; using certificates of valuation contrary to valuation purposes in association with assets subject to valuation and the number of such assets prescribed in valuation contracts;

c) Conducting bribery, collusion, or agreements to falsify the prices of goods and services or values of assets subject to valuation for self-seeking purposes; colluding in prices and valuation.

8. Regarding agencies, organizations, and individuals: issuing documents with forms and methods limiting the operations of valuation enterprises and valuers contrary to this Law.