At the socio-economic discussion session of the second plenary meeting of the 14th National Assembly on November 7, Deputy Vu Tien Loc, President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Member of Thai Binh Parliamentarian College, said he agreed with the Government of Vietnam on the recommended introduction of the Foreign Trade Administration Law. This was a meticulously and seriously prepared and drafted bill. He spoke highly of the Drafting Committee for not only submitting the bill but also delivering relatively completed directive decrees for the enforcement to members of the National Assembly. He also put forth some suggestions for the perfection of this bill.
Comments on the scope of application
Dr Vu Tien Loc proposed some additions to the scope of application of the law. Generally speaking, the draft covers so many unnecessary or inefficient issues which imperceptibly put on more regulatory “fetters” on organisations and individuals engaged in foreign trade and restrict their freedom to do business.
He explained that some issues, in spite of relating foreign trade, should not be included in this law because they are already defined in other laws because of particularity. This resulted in overlapping and multiple administrations on one content, e.g. by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other ministries defined in other laws. For example, regulations on goods temporarily imported for re-export, transit goods and export-import border gates have to date been governed by the Law on Customs, and customs authorities are performing these tasks well. Now, these regulations are added to the new law, resulting in more paperwork for doing these businesses granted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Dr Loc also pointed out issues not only related to foreign trade but also involved in a lot of other areas are present in this draft law, leading to fragmented administrations and complicating settlement of disputes of foreign trade management measures (settlement of disputes at the government level). Government-level international dispute settlement mechanism is essential but it necessarily covers all commercial disputes rather than fixed definitions in the draft.
Recommendations
Deputy Loc pointed out the biggest goal of this law: Unifying foreign trade administration measures defined in various laws by multiple agencies. The current status gives rise to inconsistent, non-transparent and business-impeding foreign trade administration mechanism.
VCCI President Loc cited that specialised inspection of exports and imports is a pressing issue in import-export practices. A third of exports and imports are subject to specialised inspection and this process takes up over 70 per cent of customs clearance time. No matter how much the customs sector has striven to reform the process, it will be in vain because most emerging issues rest in specialised inspection stage. Specialised inspection is under the jurisdiction of many ministries (currently 12 ministries perform specialised inspection). There are no consistent regulations on how specialised inspection is carried out, why it is carried out, how long it is carried out and what it is applied to. Each ministry will make a list of goods subject to specialised inspection. That is a big shortcoming.
Contents added to the law
Dr Loc opined that many issues may be decentralised but this draft law forwards them all to the Government. With respect to export and import prohibition, the list of these measures must comply with WTO commitments and others (e.g TPP and EVFTA).
Regarding export and import licences and certificates of free sale (CFS), draft principles on the granting of licences and certificates are not actually principles because they are too general, while other contents concerning these papers are too vague. And, this means that it is free for guidelines to specify how they are governed. As regards the certificate of origin, the regulation is not as clear and logical as that in the current Trade Law.
He also noted that the draft law empowers jurisdiction of a lot of issues to the Ministry of Industry and Trade but without appending any grounds or criteria. And, this may give rise to the abuse of power. Similarly, the draft also “lays out” new types of permits such as permit for temporary import for re-export, transit permit, and permit for the processing of goods on the list of prohibited exportation and importation.
Finally, he also suggested the title for the bill as many deputies were concerned. If passed by the National Assembly, it will be among very few laws carrying the word “administration/management” as explained to stress this aspect of the law. Indeed, it not only refers to management contents, but also has foreign trade promotion incentives and guarantees the freedom of business in foreign trade. For that reason, it will be more appropriate to call it Law on Foreign Trade if adopted.
Minh Chau
Vietnamese
