Vietnam | Trade

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (") is the ministry which supervises trade. The MOIT is responsible A. Department Supervising Trade the advancement. promotion, governance, regulation, management and growth of industry and trade

B. Brief Introduction of Trade Laws and Regulations  The most important event in trade in Vietnam's recent history is the country' s accession to the World Trade  Organization (WTO) in 2007, thereby opening up Vietnam to foreign investment and catapulting the nation into a4 Vietnam's agreements on WTo accession committed the country to a number of economic reforms which it  penod of rapid development  ad amy out over a several years. The reforms include the following key rules regarding the access of foreign  investors to certain goods and services

a Good

Cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes, of tobacco or tobacco substitutes:  Other manufactured tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes: "homogenized or "reconstituted"bacco: tobacco extracts and essences  Petroleum olls and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, other than crude: preparations not elsewhere  specified or included, containing by weight 70 percent or more of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous

Newspapers, magazines, and periodicals, irrespective of whether they are illustrated or contain  ao, Disks, videos, and other information-containing audio or simillar objects including models and original  casements:

materials for production of disks or vide

Other aircra

spacecraft launch vehicles and their components; and

Anumber of aircraft components

The following specific goods are not permitted to be distributed by FIEs

Sugar cane and sugar beet

Tobacco and cigars

Crude oil and processed oil  Pharmaceutical drugs(excluding nourishing products);  Explosives

tmage-recorded objects on any material  Es have been permitted to export rice since 1 January 2011, but are still not allowed to export crude  petroleum and petroleum/oil obtained from bitumen minerals  b Services

Foreign investors may establish WFOEs in sectors of this non-exhaustive list  Accounting, auditing, and bookkeeping ses nd commissions agencies)

Mcos.

Aircrafts leasing services

Services Incidental to Manufacturing  Maintenance and Repair of Equipment(not including maritime vessels, aircraft, or other transpon  equipment).

s: and  Management consulting services and services related to management consulting (including Arbitration and  conciliation services for commercial disputes between businesses advertising)  Advertising activites are open to foreign investors but only in the form of a joint venture or BCc with  Vietnamese partners authorized to provide advertising services  o Services Incidental to Agriculture, Hunting, and Fore  Relevant services are accessible to foreign investors in the form of a joint venture or BCC. However, foreign  capital contributions may not exceed 51 percent of the legal capital of the joint venture

his is only permitted in the form of a BCC or joint venture with Vietnamese partners who are au

provide these services in Vietnam. Foreign capital contribution may not exceed 51 percent of the legal capital ofthe joint venture.  (a) Motion Picture Projection Service

This is only permitted through a BCC or joint venture with Vietnamese partners who are authorized to provthese services in Vietnam. Foreign capital  not exce

Vietnams houses of culture, film projection places, public cinema clubs and societies, and mobile projection  teams are not allowed to engage in BCCs or joint ventures with foreign services suppliers  (iv)Technical Testing and Analy  Vietnam now grants private suppliers access to a sector previously closed to private sector competition on the  t the service had been supplied in the exercise of govemmental authorty. A joint venture format with a

is required (without the local ownership minimum requirement being specified by law). Five years after

sector services suppliers have been granted such access: WFOEs are permitted

access to certain geographical areas may be restricted for national security reasons

ealth and Related Social Services  Foreign services suppliers are permitted to provide services through the establishment of 100 percent foreign-  int ventures with Vietnamese partners, or through BCCs. The minimum investment capital  for a commercial presence in hospital services must be at least USD 20 million for a hospital, USD 2 million forpolyclinic unit and USD 200, 000 for a specialty unit

C. Trade Management

The Vietnamese National Assembly provides policy on trade for implementation by the MoIT. It is the National  ibly's position to continue to manage trade in a way that opens up Vietnam's markets and other  markets for Vietnamese exporters and to promote trade in general.

D The Inspection and Quarantine of Import and Export Commodities  According to Law on Customs 2014, the customs declarant must declares and submit customs declarations  together with documentary evidence (e.g. sales contract, commercial invoice, bill of lading, certificate of goods

ongin, import or export permit,, notice of specialized inspection, etc Then, the declarant must send the goods  by transport to the proper place for physical inspecton. The declarant must pay taxes and fulfil other financial

The customs authorty and the customs officials. upon receiving the relevant customs documents must register  the customs documents. In order to venfy the customs documents, the officials must conduct a physical inspection  of goods and transport vehide. The officials will also collect taxes and other amounts payable in accordance with  the laws on taxes, charges and fees and other corresponding regulations of law Lastly. the customs officials will  decide whether to grant the customs clearance for goods, release of goods and certification of completion ofcustoms formalities applied to the relevant transport vehicle  Import and export duties declaration are required upon registration of customs declarations with the customs  offices. Export duties must be paid within 30 days of registration of customs declarations. For imported goodsimport duties must be paid before receipt of consumer goods  Exported goods and services are generally exempt from tax Export duties may be levied on natural resourcessuch as minerals, timber, and scrap metals. Materials used for production, especially those items which are notproduced domestically, have very low import duties, while consumer and luxury goods carry high import dutiesE Customs Managemen

The Vietnam Customs Administration is responsible for managing import and export activites and intemational  trade. Vietnam Customs is also in charge of providing favorable conditions to trade development  Another key aspect of the Vietnam Customs mission is to fight against smuggling. combat  and to protect the interests of consumers