Workshop "Identifying difficulties and obstacles caused by legal regulations in production and business activities" - Photo: VGP/HT
Prolonged legal "bottlenecks"
Speaking at the workshop "Identifying difficulties and obstacles due to legal regulations in production and business activities" organized by VCCI in coordination with the Ministry of Justice on July 14, Ms. Le Thi Xuan Hue - representative of Bower Group Asia shared some shortcomings that enterprises are facing in administrative procedures, especially related to the application of information technology which is still fragmented and unsynchronized.
Giving a practical example, Ms. Hue said that she once had to bring about 10kg of documents to the Hanoi Department of Planning and Investment (old) to complete the procedure for renewing the investment certificate, requiring two people to carry the documents. "The Department required 10 sets of documents to send to 10 ministries and branches for comments. Each set weighed about 1kg," Ms. Hue said.
Another issue raised by Ms. Le Thi Xuan Hue is: The use of information technology systems in monitoring import and export goods. There are cases where enterprises have completed import procedures, but because officers do not check the system, the goods cannot be re-exported, thereby causing difficulties in tax refunds.
Ms. Hue said that in such cases, it is necessary to assign specific responsibilities to officials who make mistakes, and at the same time have clear sanctions if they cause damage to businesses.
A representative of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association shared that many transport companies are being "tied down" by regulations that are no longer appropriate. Notably, the maximum age for drivers of passenger vehicles with more than 29 seats is: men must not be older than 57 years old, women must not be older than 55 years old.
This regulation should be adjusted according to the Labor Code, that is, raising the driving age to 62 for men and 57 for women.
"Many experienced drivers who are still healthy are disqualified due to age restrictions. The Ministry of Health should shorten the health check-up period instead of imposing strict age regulations," a representative of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association suggested.
In addition, some other contents are also proposed to be revised, such as the regulation on paint color of school buses - which does not affect traffic safety but costs hundreds of millions of VND per vehicle if it has to be repainted.
In the food sector, Mr. Nguyen Hong Uy - Head of the Technical Group of the Food and Nutrition Subcommittee of EuroCham warned about the risk of tightening administrative procedures from the draft amendment of Decree 15/2018/ND-CP. Accordingly, the product registration dossier increased from 7 items to 41 items, in which many requirements such as description of production process, type of machinery, technical parameters... can easily lead to disclosure of technological secrets.
Mr. Nguyen Hong Uy said: If every time a technology change has to be approved from the beginning, businesses will not be able to improve. This is a huge barrier to innovation, contrary to the spirit of Resolution 57 on technological innovation.
EuroCham representative highly appreciated the efforts to reform the law towards international standards, especially Resolution 66 of the Politburo. However, he noted: "The problem of counterfeit and pirated goods is largely due to the lack of post-inspection. Licensing without actual inspection cannot prevent violations".
Mr. Huy said that it is necessary to shift management to post-audit, following the risk management method as developed countries are doing. Meanwhile, the draft Decree increases administrative procedures to a level equivalent to, or even exceeding, the drug registration process.
"There is a section called 'post-audit of documents', a very difficult concept to understand, because how can fraud be detected by reading documents?", a EuroCham representative raised the issue.
Mr. Dau Anh Tuan - Deputy General Secretary and Head of Legal Department (VCCI) - Photo: VGP/HT
Need for real determination in legal reform
Mr. Dau Anh Tuan - Deputy General Secretary and Head of the Legal Department (VCCI) said: Business law reform needs to be promoted quickly and comprehensively. According to him, many regulations have been inadequate for decades but have not been amended, while new regulations have soon arisen problems immediately after being applied.
VCCI representative said: There have been many reviews of laws related to investment, land, construction, and environment. However, the legal system is still inconsistent, lacking transparency and not suitable to reality.
Lawyer Nguyen Hong Chung - Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Industrial Park Finance Association (VIPFA) also agreed: When emphasizing that the legal document system lacks connectivity, causing difficulties for businesses in the process of searching and processing documents.
Lawyer Chung suggested: It is necessary to urgently review, amend and supplement relevant laws, decrees and circulars to ensure consistency, synchronization and transparency, especially the harmony between the Investment Law, Land Law, Construction Law and Environmental Protection Law. The goal is to create a seamless process, minimizing time for investors.
There should be a mechanism to closely monitor and publicize the processing time of documents. Develop high-level online public services, ensuring convenience and efficiency.
Regarding the review and improvement of tax and customs policies, lawyer Chung suggested that it is necessary to clarify regulations on conditions for enjoying tax incentives, avoid different interpretations, and ensure the stability and predictability of policies so that businesses can feel secure in their investments.
Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Thanh Tu speaks at the Workshop - Photo: VGP/HT
From the perspective of a management agency, Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Thanh Tu said that to remove obstacles, it is necessary to focus on real bottlenecks, not just handle individual cases.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Anh Tu proposed four solutions: Strengthening legal explanation and dissemination of regulations; developing clear application guidelines; amending and supplementing normative documents; and issuing resolutions to handle urgent issues.
Mr. Minh
Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/go-vuong-mac-ve-quy-dinh-kinh-doanh-thuc-day-doanh-nghiep-phat-trien-102250714165610607.htm
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