Authorities to apply stricter laws in the petrol market                                    A newly-issued decree by the government concerning the trading of petrol has suggested stricter punishments for those who store and trade in low-quality products.    Petrol companies to face stricter rules Resolution 97, which concerns administration fines for violations in the fuel business, will take effect from October 10. Firms that store and trade sub-standard products will be fined an amount as high as 1.5 times the cost of the products. If the firms try to mix strange substances into the fuel to lower the quality or create low-quality products in any way, the fine will be 1.5-2.5 times the cost of the products. Firms will be fined  VND50 million (USD2,400) if they try to use improper measurement tools to earn profits. In addition, violators that are petroleum companies or export-import companies may have their business licences revoked for one to six months. Violators that are dealers and service companies will have their licences revoked for one to three months. Nguyen Dac Loc, head of the Hanoi Department of Market Management said, Resolution 97 has filled in some of the loopholes from the previous Resolution 104. "Due to unclear regulations, we only checked on the octane and sulfur indexes. But now we'll have to check more carefully for any strange substances." Loc said. According to Loc, the dealers can hardly make a profit in this industry so they try to mix in other substances to increase the volume of petrol. "They spent the money to build the stations, hired staff to do the management work, yet the commission fees are not nearly enough to offset these expenses. These agents have made a lot of complaints." he said. A new resolution about copyright protection will also take effect on October 15, raising the maximum fines to VND250 million for violators who are individuals and VND500 million for an organisation. Source: nguoilaodong, dtinews.vn