Legal context of informal farmers' groups

From: Adam @ UoM <fforde@unimelb.edu.au>

Date: Feb 10, 2006 5:14 PM

Subject: [Vsg] Legal context of informal farmers' groups

In 2000-2001 Nguyen Dinh Huan and I carried out a three province study of informal farmers' groups. This was financed by Sida and was quite a large piece of work.

According to legal advice we had in 2000-2001, such informal farmers' groups operated according in a legal framework governed by the Civil Code. Our report (Fforde and Huan 2001) which can be downloaded from www.aduki.com.au in English and in Vietnamese), stated on p.22 that "these informal groups operate according to the Civil Code (chapter 4, section 4, clause 120)." This we were told was an adequate legal framework, permitting them to exist legally and their activities be recognised by the Law, importantly to pool assets or labour, and be held responsible for economic activities where these were not covered by other Laws. Fieldwork did not suggest that such bodies were, if they entered into agreements either internally or with other parties, doing things with which the law could not cope. That this did not give them a formal 'corporate' legal status (Tu cach pham nhan) did not seem to matter. In any case Law in Vietnam is as much contentious as many others things.

It appears that arguments are being made that to secure regulation of such activities, if that is desired, and also so as to push resources towards the usually officially sponsored new-style cooperatives (see the evidence in the same report on the movement to establish new-style cooperatives), the issue of problems with their legal status is being given prominence as an obstacle to the development of informal farmers' groups.

This would seem to me to be predictable as part of the general process, but spurious.

Comments from the legal eagles?

Adam