“Arguing” about Circular No.20 administrative procedures or business investment conditions

The future of Circular No. 20 not yet determined

According to the Ministry, currently the relevant ministries, agencies and localities have different views in determining the stipulation of Circular No.20 as administrative procedures or business investment conditions.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported to the Prime Minister on July 8, and the Office of the Government has received the document on the directing opinion of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister has assigned the Ministry of Industry and Trade in collaboration with the relevant ministries, agencies, authorities, associations, enterprises to assess uniformly the implementation of the Circular, including clarification the provisions of the Circular No.20 or administrative procedures or business investment conditions.

To implement this direction, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has hosted meetings with relevant authorities and they are summarizing to report to the Prime Minister on this issue proposing the operating direction in the near future.

The General Department of Customs has received the dispatch to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for advice on the validity of Circular No.20 from July 1, 2016. The answer of the Ministry of Industry and Trade is the basis for local Customs implementation.

The proposal comes from the idea that the guidance in Circular No.20 is inconsistent with the provisions of the Law on Investment.

Specifically, based on the List of conditional business lines provided in Appendix 4 of the Law on Investment No.67/2014/QH-2013 dated 26-11-2014 the import of cars of 9 seats or less is not in this list.

Thus, the import procedures for cars of 9 seats or less do not require documents to prove the enterprise meets the conditions under the Law on Investment.