On April 27, 2018, the Minister of Industry and Trade signed Decision No. 1408/QD-BCT on continuing to cut and reduce sub-licenses (the third time), thereby abolishing 12 procedures and simplifying 42 procedures in 10 areas, across 19 legal documents, including 10 circulars and 1 joint circular issued by the Ministry to concretize 1 Prime Minister's decision and 7 Government decrees related to the above areas under the Ministry's state management.
Businesses continue to benefit from the third round of administrative procedure reductions from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Previously, in 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Trade abolished 15 procedures and simplified 108 procedures out of a total of 443 administrative procedures under its management. A year later, with Decision 3610a/QD-BCT, the Ministry of Industry and Trade continued its reform efforts by cutting and simplifying 183 procedures (including 49 eliminations and 134 simplifications) out of a total of 451 procedures under its management in 2017. This marks the third time the Ministry has continued to reduce administrative procedures to create the best possible conditions for the business community.
According to economic experts, over the past two years, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has truly moved forward, implementing strong reforms in line with the spirit of the Party, State, and Government: creating, innovating, and providing all favorable conditions for people and businesses to develop the economy.
In addition to trade promotion, food safety, and import/export, seven other areas also saw procedural reductions and simplifications this time, including: commodity trading (3 procedures); standards and measurement (9 procedures); competition management (7 procedures); safety engineering (5 procedures); alcohol business (2 procedures); energy (3 procedures); and electricity (1 procedure).
A notable aspect of the "third revolution in procedures and sub-licenses" within the Ministry of Industry and Trade is the focus on areas such as: energy, electricity, competition management, standards and measurement, trade promotion, food safety, and import and export…
Specifically, in the field of trade promotion, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has reviewed, adjusted, and abolished 9 administrative procedures related to the confirmation of registration for promotional activities involving chance-based games conducted in two or more provinces or centrally-governed cities.
In addition, the Ministry also abolished the requirement for images of promotional goods and goods used for promotion; the sample lottery ticket for promotional programs that issue lottery tickets; and replaced the Certificate of Quality of promotional goods and services and goods and services used for promotion as prescribed by law with a copy of the document on the quality of promotional goods as prescribed by law.
Also during this "third revolution," the time required for trade promotion was reduced from 7 working days to 5 working days. Regarding the notification of promotional activities, the deadline for submitting the notification to the Department of Industry and Trade was reduced from 7 working days to 3 working days before the promotion takes place.
Other cases, such as confirming registration for organizing trade fairs and exhibitions abroad; confirming changes and additions to the registration content for organizing trade fairs and exhibitions abroad; and confirming registration for organizing trade fairs and exhibitions in Vietnam, have had their processing time shortened from 10 working days to 7 working days.
Regarding food safety, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has abolished or simplified eight administrative procedures. This includes abolishing the requirement for documents in the application for a Food Safety Certificate for food businesses, specifically: a certified copy of the business registration certificate or enterprise registration certificate or investment certificate with food business activities as stipulated in the regulations on granting Food Safety Certificates to food businesses by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and by the Department of Industry and Trade; and also abolishing the requirements for "factory area," "ventilation system," "lighting system," etc.
Regarding import and export, the Ministry of Industry and Trade abolished the regulation on granting import licenses for tobacco products for duty-free trading as stipulated in Decree No. 167/2016/ND-CP; and reduced the processing time from 5 days to 3 working days for the issuance of Certificates of Free Sale (CFS) for exported and imported products and goods under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade as stipulated in Decision No. 10/2010/QD-TTg.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has also abolished the confirmation document from the specialized management ministry. The responsibility for seeking opinions from the specialized ministry has shifted from the business entity to an exchange of opinions between state agencies; simultaneously, the procedure for issuing export processing licenses with foreign elements, as stipulated in Circular No. 04/2014/TT-BCT, has been reduced from 10 days to 5 working days.
