Discussing at the meeting hall about the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Advertising, delegate Nguyen Van Canh (Binh Dinh Delegation) said that the Law on Advertising has provisions on the use of Vietnamese: In the case of using both Vietnamese and foreign languages on the same advertising product, the size of the foreign text must not exceed ¾ of the size of the Vietnamese text, and must be placed below the Vietnamese text; when broadcast on radio, television or audio-visual media, Vietnamese must be read before the foreign language.
Delegate Nguyen Van Canh said that he had used services many times in areas where many foreigners stayed, and places that provided services where many foreigners frequented. Some places had menus with Vietnamese written smaller than the foreign language; some places had Vietnamese written after the foreign language, below the foreign language; some places did not write Vietnamese but only the foreign language.
“Sometimes when I entered the restaurant, the Vietnamese staff greeted me and introduced the service in English,” said the delegate of Doan Binh Dinh.
Another time, the delegates went to a shopping mall, in the middle of the mall lobby there was a model of a Christmas tree, a tripping sign and the activity program was also written in foreign languages. At that time, there were only a few foreign visitors while there were hundreds of Vietnamese.
According to the delegate, Vietnamese not only plays the role of the main communication tool but also the means of preserving and transmitting the culture of many generations associated with the development of Vietnamese society. Therefore, the cases of not using Vietnamese as above, as well as similar cases, need to be adjusted.
The delegate said that in the Advertising Law, advertising is only intended to introduce to the public, there are no regulations for introducing to customers, so in many cases, organizations and individuals think that if they serve their own customers, then how they use it is up to them, and does not violate the law. The priority of using Vietnamese at this time depends on the awareness of respecting the Vietnamese language of the service provider; while in many places, the business owners are foreigners.
Therefore, the delegate proposed to add the word "customer" after the word "public" in the legal provision. This would help the menu fall under the scope of the Advertising Law.
The delegate said that the menu used to be quite simple, with only a few food and drink items and their prices listed. Nowadays, the menus are designed elaborately and eye-catchingly by businesses, and are used as an effective form of advertising to attract attention and stimulate customer demand.
With the addition of the word "customer" after "public" in the law's provisions, the menu will fall under the scope of the Advertising Law.
"Because the menu is also to introduce products and services to customers, Vietnamese will be the mandatory language on the national menu. When the menu uses a foreign language, Vietnamese will be presented with priority according to regulations," the delegate analyzed.
