New legal documents come into effect as from October 2015

08/10/2015
There are a range of legal documents of the Vietnamese Government, the Prime Minister and ministries coming into effect as from October 2015, as follows:

1. Decree No. 64/2015/ND-CP dated 6 August 2015 of the Government providing for principles, content, coordination forms and responsibility of implementation of ministries, sectors and localities in managing foreigners to enter, exit, transit or reside in Viet Nam will take effect as from 15 October 2015.

According to the Decree, ministries, sectors and localities are required to proactively, regularly and closely cooperate with one another in creating favorable conditions for foreigners to enter, exit, transit or reside in Viet Nam in accordance with laws, ensuring centralized, unified and non-overlapped direction and management.

2. Decree No. 65/2015/ND-CP dated 7 August 2015 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decrees on the handling of administrative violations in the fields of publishing, provision and disclosure of false information took effect as from 1 October 2015.

The Decree provides for levels of punishment on administrative infringements on such areas as statistics, energy power, price management, fees, bills, education, vocational activity, health, civil aviation, hydrometeorology and maps.

3. Decree No. 66/2015/ND-CP dated 12 August 2015 of the Government on regulation on aviation authorities came into effect as from 1 October 2015.

Under the Decree, the Civil Aviation Authorities of Vietnam under the Ministry of Transport performs as aviation authorities with the following duties and powers: issuing directives and precepts and taking emergency measures in civil aviation; monitoring civil aviation activities; issuing, approving and recognizing permit, certificate and other specialized civil aviation operation documents; organizing, operating and directing system of surveillance, management of aviation safety, aviation security; directing aviation search and rescue, airport emergency; directing to overcome aviation incidents and accidents; specialized aviation inspection. 

4. Decree No. 67/2015/ND-CP dated 14 August 2015 of the Government amending and supplementing some article of the Decree No. 110/2013/ND-CP dated 24 September 2013 providing for sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of judicial assistance, judicial administration, marriage and family, civil judgment enforcement, enterprise and cooperative bankruptcy took effect as from 1 October 2015.

5. Decree No. 68/2015/ND-CP dated 18 August 2015 of the Government on registration of nationality of and rights to aircraft will take effect as from 15 October 2015.

According to the Decree, to be eligible for registration of Vietnamese nationality, an aircraft must be the one that does not bear the nationality of any country or have the nationality of a foreign country deregistered; has valid papers proving aircraft ownership or the right to possession of aircraft leased or lease-purchased; meets the requirement on age of used aircraft (if any); and satisfies the law-prescribed conditions and requirements on assurance of national defense and security, aviation safety and security, and environmental protection.

6. Decree No. 69/2015/ND-CP dated 26 August 2015 of the Government will take effect as from 10 October 2015. The Decree amends and supplements a number of provisions of the organization and operation charter of the Vietnam Railways Corporation promulgated together with the Government’s Decree No. 175/2013/ND-CP dated 13 November 2013.

7. Decree No. 70/2015/ND-CP dated 1 September 2015 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of some articles of Law on Health Insurance regarding people’s army, public security and persons being responsible for cipher activity will take effect as from 15 October 2015.

8. Decree No. 71/2015/ND-CP dated 3 September 2015 of the Government providing for management of people and vessels operating in Viet Nam’s sea border areas will take effect as from 20 October 2015.

According to the Decree, activities prohibited in sea border areas include illegal construction and installation of works and equipment; acts threatening the safety of border works;  research, investigation, survey, exploration and exploitation without prior permission of Vietnamese competent agencies; military drill and training with any types of weapon and in any form without permission of Vietnamese competent agencies; flight in no-flight zones; launching of aircraft likely to threaten national defense, security, economic conditions and aviation safety; landing ships or other objects in violation of Vietnamese law; filming, photo taking, drawing or radio broadcasting and reception in restricted areas.

9. Decree No. 72/2015/ND-CP dated 7 September 2015 of the Government providing for management of external information activities will take effect as from 22 October 2015 and replacing the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 79/2010/QD-TTg dated 30 November 2010.

Accordingly, external information activities must comply with the Party’s policies and guideline, the State’s laws, treaties to which Viet Nam is a contracting state, and regulations and customs in host countries where these activities are conducted.

10. Decree No. 73/2015/ND-CP dated 8 September 2015 of the Government providing for stratification criteria, rate frame and standards for university level rank will take effect as from 25 October 2015.

11. Decision No. 31/2015/QD-TTg dated 4 August 2015 of the Prime Minister stipulates quotas of luggage, moveable assets, gifts, presents, sample goods to be exempted from tax, considered for tax exemption and not subject to tax. The Decision took effect as from 1 October 2015.

12. Decision No. 33/2015/QD-TTg dated 10 August of the Prime Minister on housing support policies for poor households during 2011-2015 phase took effect as from 1 October 2015. According to the Decision, each poor household can get a loan of up to VND 25 million from the Viet Nam Bank for Social Policies to build or repair their houses.

13. Decision No. 35/2015/QD-TTg dated 20 August 2015 of the Prime Minister amending and supplementing some articles of Decision No. 02/2012/QD-TTg dated 13 January 2012 of the PM on promulgating the list of essential goods and services, for which contract forms and general transaction conditions must be registered, will effect as from 15 October 2015

According to this Decision, the following types of service are supplemented to “the List of essential goods and services for which contract forms and general transaction conditions must be registered”: (i) prepaid mobile phone service; (ii) the service of issuance of personal debit cards for consumption purpose; and (iii) life insurance service.

14. Beside the documents mentioned as above, other legal normative documents also come into effect from October 2015, including:

- Circular No. 118/2015/TT-BTC dated 12 August 2015 of the Ministry of Finance amending some articles of Circular No. 02/2012/TT-BTC on regimes of collection, payment, management and use of fees in the fields of lawyers took effect as from 1 October 2015;

- Circular No. 119/2015/TT-BTC dated 12 August 2015 of the Ministry of Finance guiding financial management mechanism for the small and medium-size enterprise development fund took effect as from 1 October 2015;

- Circular No. 120/2015/TT-BTC dated 14 August 2015 of the Ministry of Finance providing for forms, print mode, releasing and managing of Customs Declarations for exit or entry Vietnam took effect as from 1 October 2015;

- Circular No. 123/2015/TT-BTC dated 18 August 2015 of the Ministry of Finance guiding foreign investment activity in security in Vietnam took effect as from 1 October 2015;

- Circular No. 24/2015/TT-BTTTT dated 18 August 2015 of the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications stipulating management and use of Internet resources will take effect as from 10 October 2015;

- Circular No. 143/2015/TT-BTC dated 11 September 2015 of the Ministry of Finance on customs procedures and management of automobiles and motorcycles of organizations and individuals allowed to import and temporarily import for non-commercial purpose will take effect as from 26 October 2015;

- Joint Circular No. 117/2015/TTLT-BTC-BYT dated 11 August 2015 of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health amending and supplementing some articles of Joint Circular No. 113/2013/TTLT-BTC-BYT dated 11 August 2015 specifying the management and use of funds for implementing the 2012-2015 phase health national target program took effect as from 1 October 2015.