“Legislation is currently in the funnel shape. Laws are open but decrees and circulars are constricting,” said Mr Nguyen Dinh Cung, President of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) at a launching workshop on the 10 best and worst business legal regulations held recently by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).
Many imposing laws
Mr Cung said many current legal regulations are built on the subjective will of makers rather than scientific grounds and practical facts. Besides, one of the biggest weaknesses of current legislations is lack of transparency. Most legal documents do not ensure this criterion, resulting in various interpretations. We must wait for circulars and guidelines for them to be applied.
He said that legislation is currently in the funnel shape. Laws are open but decrees and circulars are constricting. Legal compliance is superficial, laws have no practical values or not as interesting as they are written. Many regulations are only easy for State authorities. “For example, the Law on Food Safety and Hygiene provides that food traders must have knowledge of food safety and hygiene. To meet this ruling, they must attend training classes organised by relevant authorities and only the certificate of such authorities is legally valid. Authorities should provide a set of standards and traders can learn anywhere convenient to them. Why is only their certification from their training valid,” Cung added.
Giving evidence to bad regulations, Mr Dau Anh Tuan, Director of Legal Department under VCCI, cited that Circular 47/2011/TT-BTNMT provides that wastewater from animal husbandry must meet Class A standards, which are drinkable water! He said “This requirement is even 6-7 times higher than that in Japan and South Korea; no enterprise can meet this.” Or Decree 60/2014/ND-CP provides a lot of regulations very hard for businesses to abide by. For instant, the import of printing machines and equipment must be licensed, the head of printing unit must have a college degree or higher specialised in printing, companies are not allowed to outsource printing, printing companies must report on financial conditions every six months and one year.
Creating the powerful voice of the community
“"It is high time businesses joined forces to raise a common voice over policy changes and demand good services and good regulations,” he stressed. According to many experts, more than 50 per cent of current legal documents are related to business and business environment to a certain extent. This is the time that laws affect the competitiveness more than ever, and even decide the existence of businesses. Bad and unreasonable regulations may send companies to collapse and bankruptcy. Therefore, VCCI will conduct a poll to figure out 10 best regulations and 10 worst regulations with respect to the business environment. Voting results are the recognition of the business community to the efforts of State authorities. If their regulations make the investment environment more favourable, they are good ones. The voting will also send warnings to regulations that unreasonably hinder production and business operations.
VCCI President Vu Tien Loc said that, in addition to praising good policies and warning bad ones, this programme also aims to establish a monitoring channel of current regulations, with the confident and active participation of enterprises. This will press policymakers to make better policies. This programme also contributes to improving the quality of legislation and linking individual businesses to form a common powerful voice of the business community. The nomination will be closed on January 22, 2016 and the shortlist will be announced on February 18. The voting round will start on March 25 and the final result of best policies and worst policies will be announced in late April, ahead of the gathering of the new National Assembly.
PV
Vietnamese
