Strengthening management of outdoor advertising activities

Signs and billboards attached to buildings and houses along Vo Nguyen Giap Street (Dien Bien Phu City).

There are currently over 70 enterprises and 21 branches registered in the province for advertising services. From 2017 to present, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has received and processed 276 advertising notification dossiers from units. By 2022 (latest statistics), the whole province has 11 independent outdoor billboards with a single-sided area of 40m2 or more; 11 independent outdoor billboards with an area of less than 40m2 and 138 billboards with a single-sided area of over 20m2 attached to buildings and houses. Basically, enterprises and branches doing advertising business comply with the provisions of current laws on advertising services.

However, the current state management of outdoor advertising activities still has many shortcomings, many violations of advertising activities need to be rectified and overcome, such as: Advertising by large outdoor panels, by boards, signs, billboards, banners... in many places is not unified. Many organizations and individuals carry out advertising but have not notified the competent state management agency; many cases of advertising first and then notifying later; there is still a situation of advertising by leaflets, classified ads without a license, mobile advertising placed on the sidewalk causing loss of urban aesthetics, obstructing traffic safety.

On the roads in Dien Bien Phu City, towns, and central areas of districts and towns, mobile advertising billboards are everywhere, messy with all kinds of shapes and colors. These billboards are placed very arbitrarily, the size does not follow any standards; many billboards and advertising boards do not state or do not fully state the license number, license term, or the name of the person requesting the advertising permit. In addition, pasting flyers and hanging advertisements on walls and electric poles spoils the urban beauty. Typically, along Nguyen Chi Thanh Street (Dien Bien Phu City), there are many billboards and mobile advertising billboards placed by people on the sidewalk, right next to the road, obstructing pedestrians and traffic participants.

The above advertising situation not only causes difficulties for management but also causes losses because advertising fees are not collected, especially small advertisements. Since 2020, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, many establishments have had to temporarily close and stop business operations. In order to create conditions for organizations and individuals to restore production and business, every year according to the plan, the specialized inspection of culture, sports and tourism still organizes advertising activities, but mainly to propagate and remind businesses to comply with the provisions of law in advertising activities. Therefore, during this period, no units or enterprises related to advertising activities have been handled or administratively punished.

To rectify outdoor advertising activities, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued many documents guiding and propagating the Law on Advertising; inspecting and rectifying commercial advertising activities. The reception of advertising notification dossiers is carried out seriously, strictly according to the prescribed procedures and time, ensuring favorable conditions for organizations and individuals who need to advertise in the province. At the same time, strengthen propaganda work, guide organizations and individuals to properly implement advertising regulations in the construction and installation of signs. To strictly manage outdoor advertising activities, Dien Bien province is currently developing an Outdoor Advertising Plan in the province until 2030, with a vision to 2050. Thereby, forming a synchronous propaganda system, serving political tasks, outdoor commercial advertising, promoting local socio-economic development. At the same time, determine the land location, occupied space, scale, and form of some means of propaganda and outdoor advertising such as: independent billboards or billboards attached to buildings; specialized advertising screens, banners, signs, on that basis submit to competent authorities to grant or lease land for long-term use. Create a legal basis for state management, bring economic efficiency to the provincial budget, contribute to building a civilized, clean, and beautiful urban area.

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