Proposal to abolish 16 conditional business lines

In a document recently sent to the Ministry of Finance , the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) said that the list of conditional investment and business sectors and occupations under the Investment Law 2020 is increasing. The reason is that specialized laws issued later continuously add new sectors and occupations.

Notably, VCCI assessed that the number of conditional business lines in reality is much larger than the number in the official list. The reason is that the scope of many regulated industries and trades is very broad, including small-scale fields and activities within which business conditions are also imposed.

Since the Investment Law 2020 took effect, there has not been a comprehensive review to assess the suitability of the industries and occupations in the list. According to VCCI, in response to feedback from businesses and the urgent need for a transparent business environment, reviewing and reducing this list is absolutely necessary.

VCCI emphasized that determining a business line as "conditional" must strictly comply with the provisions of Clause 1, Article 7 of the 2020 Investment Law. Accordingly, business conditions should only be applied when absolutely necessary "for reasons of national defense, national security, social order and safety, social ethics, and public health".

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Based on this principle, VCCI has proposed specific review criteria. Including: abolishing industries and occupations that do not have a significant impact on public interests. Abolishing industries and occupations that have other effective alternative management measures. Redefining the scope of industries and occupations to control only really necessary activities, avoiding the situation of "managing the whole bunch". Ensuring consistency, avoiding overlap between regulations.

Based on the above criteria, VCCI has made specific recommendations, which are considered the focus of this review. Among them, it is proposed to completely abolish 16 conditional business lines, including:

Accounting services business

Customs clearance service business

Rice export

Temporary import and re-export of frozen food

Trading activities of foreign service providers in Vietnam

Employment service business

Labor leasing service business

Car warranty and maintenance service business

Business services of building, converting, repairing and restoring inland waterway vehicles

Business of shipbuilding, conversion and repair services

Construction activities of foreign contractors

Cremation facility management and operation services business

Study abroad consulting service business

Movie distribution service business

Business of performing arts services, fashion shows, beauty contests, modeling

Printing and minting activities

According to VCCI's assessment, these are industries and professions that do not really need to be controlled by business conditions, or there are other more effective management tools.

In addition, VCCI proposed to narrow the scope and review 5 industries and occupations, including: research, manufacturing, testing, repair, and maintenance of unmanned aircraft and related equipment; fertilizer trading; aquatic breed trading; water resource exploitation service trading; and gold trading.

For this group, VCCI believes that management is necessary but the current scope is too broad and needs to be adjusted to focus only on high-risk activities, avoiding causing unnecessary difficulties for businesses.

VCCI hopes that the above proposals will be carefully considered by the authorities to amend and perfect legal regulations, contributing to creating a truly open, transparent and favorable investment and business environment for the business community.

Minh Thu

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/kinh-te/chinh-sach/de-xuat-bai-bo-16-nganh-nghe-kinh-doanh-co-dieu-kien/20250806095700434