Tracing the origin of goods is costly due to the lack of 'made in Vietnam' criteria

The Economic Committee believes that the lack of criteria for "made in Vietnam" goods is costly for businesses, but the Ministry of Industry and Trade says there are "potential legal risks" if stricter regulations are issued than currently, so they cannot be issued yet.

In the summary report of the review recently sent to delegates by Secretary General of the National Assembly Bui Van Cuong, the Economic Committee of the National Assembly assessed that the promulgation of the import-export strategy until 2030 and regulations on the origin of goods produced in Vietnam is slow.

Accordingly, regulations on identifying Vietnamese goods or goods produced in Vietnam (made in Vietnam) and the set of origin criteria used to identify "made in Vietnam" goods have not yet been issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, although it has been proposed to be developed since 2018. This, according to the Economic Committee, leads to difficulties in tracing the origin of goods in Vietnam, and determining the origin of products, especially components and raw materials, is costly.

Explaining the delay in issuing criteria for determining "made in Vietnam" goods , in the supplementary report for questioning, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said that he had proactively proposed it since 2018, but after 5 years it has not been issued. Mr. Dien said that the ministry initially proposed to develop a Circular, but some policy contents were beyond its authority, so it submitted the document to the Government for adjustment to the Decree level.

However, part of the policy content defining criteria for goods made in Vietnam was included in Decree 111/2021, so the Minister of Industry and Trade assessed that the issuance of regulations on goods made in Vietnam at the Decree level was "no longer necessary". The Ministry again asked the Government for permission to draft a document at the Circular level and to consult ministries and branches on this draft. But once again, the Ministry of Industry and Trade encountered problems with its authority, functions and tasks when drafting this document at the Circular level, so up to now, the regulation on criteria for goods "made in Vietnam" is still "stuck".

"The legal basis is unclear, so issuing regulations that are stricter than existing regulations will pose legal risks," the Minister of Industry and Trade explained.

In addition, Mr. Dien said that the regulation on "origin of goods" stated in Decree 111/2021 has a wide scope and is mandatory content on product labels, so the introduction of new regulations will be a mandatory set of criteria for all products manufactured in Vietnam.

For most domestic enterprises, especially small production facilities or individual business households, determining the HS code or calculating the value content of each raw material in the product to determine whether the goods are made in Vietnam will incur large compliance costs. Meanwhile, enterprises are still determining goods made in Vietnam according to the criteria in Decree 111 and encounter no problems.

Over the past five years, only 16 businesses have requested guidance from the Ministry of Industry and Trade on labeling goods made in Vietnam, according to the Minister of Industry and Trade. The Ministry's leaders said that in the difficult economic context, introducing new conditions would incur costs for businesses, so it was not appropriate.

Therefore, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed to temporarily suspend the issuance of the Circular regulating goods produced in Vietnam. Mr. Dien said that he will coordinate with agencies to report to the Government to issue policies at an appropriate time, minimizing the impact on production and business of enterprises.

According to the program, the National Assembly will question the implementation of the National Assembly's Resolution from the beginning of the term in the field of Industry and Trade on the afternoon of November 6 and the morning of November 7.

Mr. Minh

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