The Online Product Safety Summit in Ha Noi on March 18, with participation from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and major e-commerce platforms, helped accelerate the rollout of an product safety portal for the bloc.
Organised by the UK Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) in coordination with the agency for domestic market surveillance and development under the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, the event went beyond policy discussions to focus on practical enforcement solutions for identifying and removing non-compliant goods from online marketplaces, thereby strengthening consumer protection amid the rapid growth of e-commerce.
Speaking at the event, Tran Huu Linh, head of the agency, stressed that multilateral cooperation is key to effectively managing cross-border e-commerce while fostering a transparent and safe business environment.
UK Deputy Ambassador to Viet Nam Alex Strugnell affirmed the UK’s continued support for Viet Nam’s digital transformation, particularly through knowledge sharing, training and technical assistance in product safety.
One of the forum’s notable outcomes was progress toward operationalising the ASEAN product safety portal, which will allow member states to exchange real-time data on unsafe products and recalls. This mechanism is expected to curb the cross-border circulation of hazardous goods while enhancing coordination among regulatory authorities.
Participants also shared lessons from the UK’s product safety database system, supporting regulators’ transition from manual monitoring to technology-driven oversight. Pilot results indicate that such tools could help remove nearly 50% of flagged unsafe products on major e-commerce platforms.
The summit further introduced web-scraping tools enabling authorities to prioritise high-risk product categories such as electrical appliances, toys and cosmetics. In addition, a Southeast Asia-UK e-commerce platforms contact group was initiated to facilitate rapid coordination between regulators and businesses.
