Da Nang authorities identify 7 types of foreign-language signs violating rules

An Hai Ward is one of the areas in Da Nang that attracts large numbers of international tourists.

Several streets primarily serving foreign visitors have seen signs and advertising billboards displaying only foreign languages.

The signs and advertising billboards are designed to make the English, Korean or Chinese text stand out prominently.

If Vietnamese is included, it is often displayed in much smaller lettering or placed in a less noticeable position.

The situation has been observed on several streets in the ward, including Duong Dinh Nghe, Ho Nghinh, Ha Dac and Ha Bong.

7 types of foreign-language signs and ads subject to inspection

Authorities will review, inspect and take action against seven categories of signs and advertising billboards containing foreign-language content in violation of regulations.

The first category includes signs that use only foreign languages and contain no Vietnamese.

The second covers signs that include Vietnamese but display foreign-language text in violation of regulations on its size and placement.

The third includes signs and advertising billboards where foreign-language content is more prominent, making it difficult to identify the Vietnamese content.

The fourth category covers signs that use foreign words or phrases that are not among those permitted by law.

The fifth includes signs that use foreign languages to indicate the type of business, industry or service without meeting requirements on the use of Vietnamese.

The sixth covers advertising billboards whose content is entirely in a foreign language but does not fall under cases permitted by law.

The seventh includes signs and advertising billboards with unclear or misleading advertising content, or those showing signs of violating other legal regulations on advertising.

Tran Thi Nho, vice-chairwoman of the An Hai Ward People’s Committee, said that through August 30, the ward would focus on disseminating legal regulations to businesses, reviewing establishments, photographing their current signs and classifying violations.

“For this campaign, ward authorities will coordinate with the police to conduct inspections simultaneously,” she said.

“Priority areas include major streets, coastal roads with high concentrations of businesses, areas crowded with tourists, and streets with many accommodation establishments, restaurants, spas, entertainment venues and signs using foreign languages.”

After the awareness campaign, from September 4 to October 4, an inter-agency task force will simultaneously inspect businesses along the streets and encourage owners to voluntarily remove or modify signs that violate regulations.

The ward will also conduct follow-up inspections, prepare sanctioning dossiers and enforce the removal of non-compliant signs against businesses that deliberately refuse to comply.