The purpose of this paper is to identify the place open for occupation by the consumer movement in a Vietnam undergoing transition. Civic organisations in Vietnam have been strongly influenced by Party policy throughout the 20th century. Although Vietnam is now opening up to liberalism, many structures remain ideologically close to the communist state. This is true of VINASTAS, the only consumer advocacy association in Vietnam that emerged from the state sphere in the 1980s. With a limited budget and human resources, VINASTAS is now struggling to fulfil the mission it has taken on. Placed in a system of tension between the state, private enterprises and individual consumers, the structure is strongly dependent upon its action context. Its very existence suggests that VINASTAS is working to identify the civic rights of the individual, but exactly what it stands for in the nascent civil society movement is open to challenge.