Is it illegal to display full advertisements on passenger cars in Vietnam?

Is it illegal to display full advertisements on passenger cars in Vietnam?

Article 32 of the Law on Advertising 2012 regulates advertising on means of transport, specifically as follows:

1. The advertising on means of transport must comply with this Law and law provisions on traffic.

2. The advertisements must not be displayed on the front, the back and the roof of the vehicle.  The advertisement area must not exceed 50% area of each permissible side of the vehicle.  The display of symbols, logos of the vehicle owners or the car corporations must comply with the law provisions on traffic.

According to Article 55 of the 2008 Road Traffic Law, which provides for assurance of quality, technical safety and environmental protection standards of motor vehicles joining in road traffic, according to which:

1. The manufacture, assembly, modification, repair, maintenance and import of motor vehicles to join in road traffic must comply with regulations on quality, technical safety and environmental protection standards. It is strictly forbidden to transform automobiles of other types into passenger cars.

2. Owners of vehicles may not alter the structure, components or systems of their motor vehicles against the manufacturer designs or modification designs already approved by competent agencies.

3. Automobiles and trailers or semi-trailers pulled by automobiles joining in road traffic must be periodically inspected in terms of technical safety and environmental protection (below referred to as inspection).

4. The heads of register units and persons directly conducting inspection shall take responsibility for the confirmation of inspection results.

5. Vehicle owners and drivers shall maintain the technical status of their vehicles joining in road traffic according to the prescribed standards between two inspections.

6. The Minister of Transport shall stipulate conditions, standards for and grant of permits to motor vehicle register units; and stipulate and organize the inspection of motor vehicles. The Minister of Defense and the Minister of Public Security shall stipulate and organize the inspection of army and police motor vehicles used for defense and security purposes.

According to this Article, the act of displaying ads to cover passenger cars is an illegal act, prohibited by the Law in Vietnam because of the dangers to the driver, passengers on the vehicle and other road users.

What are penalties for displaying full advertisements on passenger cars in Vietnam? 

Pursuant to Article 34 of Decree 38/2021/ND-CP stipulating violations against regulations regarding prohibited advertising activities, according to which:

1. Imposing the fine ranging from 1,000,000 dong to 2,000,000 dong for the act of hanging, placing, pasting or drawing ad products on utility poles, traffic signal posts and green trees at public places, except as specified in point d of clause 3, point b of clause 5, and point b of clause 8, of Article 12 in the Government's Decree No. 100/2019/ND-CP dated December 30, 2019, regulating sanction against administrative violations in the road and rail traffic sector.

2. Imposing the fine ranging from 10,000,000 dong to 20,000,000 dong for one of the following violations:

a) Showing advertisements containing the superlative words or phrases like "best", "only", “number one” or other equivalents without legally required corroborative evidence;

b) Placing advertisements that affect urban settings, traffic order and safety, and peace, except for the cases specified in clause 1 of this Article, clause 1 and 3 of Article 43, and clause 3 of Article 48 of this Decree;

c) Using advertisements infringing on the freedom of belief, religion, gender stereotyping adverts, and adverts implying bias against people with disabilities;

d) Coercing entities, organizations or individuals to advertise or receive adverts without their consent.

3. Imposing the fine ranging from 20,000,000 dong to 40,000,000 dong for one of the following violations:

a) Advertising in breach of laws on intellectual property;

b) Showing adverts containing personal images, oral statements or writing without their consent, unless otherwise permitted by laws.

4. Imposing the fine ranging from 40,000,000 dong to 60,000,000 dong for one of the following violations:

a) Using adverts damaging an organization’s prestige, or an individual’s honor and dignity;

b) Advertising by using the method of direct comparison of the price, quality and benefits of a product, good or service with those of another product, good or service of the same kind of another organization or individual;

c) Using advertisements containing actions, oral statements, images, sounds or writing which cause children to have unethical thoughts, words or actions; adversely affects the health, safety or normal development of children;

d) Using adverts that are unaesthetic, go against historical, cultural, moral traditions and fine customs of Vietnam.

5. Imposing the fine ranging from 60,000,000 dong to 80,000,000 dong for the act of putting false or misleading advertisements about the capability of trading or providing products, goods and services of individual or institutional traders; the quantity, quality, price, usability, design, packaging, trademark, origin, type, method of rendering or warranty period of registered or announced products, goods and services, except as specified in clause 4 of Article 51; point b of clause 4 of Article 52; clause 1 of Article 60; and point c of clause 1 of Article 61, in this Decree.

6. Imposing the fine ranging from 80,000,000 dong to 100,000,000 dong for one of the following violations:

a) Using adverts having detrimental effects on the solemnity of the national flag, emblem, anthem and Party’s flag, except as prescribed in point b of clause 2 of Article 45 herein;

b) Using adverts having detrimental effects on the solemnity of national heroes, cultural celebrities, leaders, leadership of the Party and the State, except as prescribed in point b of clause 2 of Article 45 herein;

c) Using adverts harming the national sovereignty.

7. Other supplementary penalties:

Withholding the right to use the acknowledgement of receipt of registration for product launch announcement for the duration of between 05 and 07 months; the right to use the Certificate of advertisement content for the duration ranging from 22 to 24 months, for the violations specified in point a of clause 2, point b of clause 4 and clause 5 of this Article, in case of commission of violations on advertising of health protection foods 2 or more times within the period of 06 months.

8. Remedies:

a) Compelling the removal, demolition and deletion or erasure of advertisements or the recall of printed newspapers and magazines with advertisements in case of commission of the violations specified in clause 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this Article;

b) Compelling offer of apologies to organizations or individuals in case of commission of the violations specified in point b of clause 3, point a of clause 4 of this Article;

c) Compelling ratification of false information with respect to the violations specified in clause 5 of this Article.

Thus, when there is an act of displaying advertisements on vehicles that affect traffic safety in Vietnam, individuals may be fined from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000. In addition, it is also forced to remove, dismantle, delete ads or recall products of newspapers and magazines printed with advertisements.

Best Regards!