Do members who do not use products of the cooperative have their status of member terminated in Vietnam?

Do members who do not use products of the cooperative have their status of member terminated in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 16 of the Law on Cooperatives 2012, stipulating termination of the status of member and member cooperative are as follows:

1. The status of member or member cooperative is terminated upon occurrence of any of the following cases:

a/ A member who is an individual dies, is declared dead or missing by a court, has his/her civil act capacity restricted or lost, or is sentenced to imprisonment in accordance with law;

b/ A member that is a household no longer has a lawful representative as prescribed by law; a member that is a legal entity is dissolved or goes bankrupt; a member cooperative of a cooperative union is dissolved or goes bankrupt;

c/ The cooperative or union of cooperatives is dissolved or goes bankrupt;

d/ A member or member cooperative voluntarily leaves the cooperative or union of cooperatives;

e/ A member or member cooperative is expelled as prescribed by the charter;

f/ A member or member cooperative does not use products or services for a continuous time prescribed by the charter, but not more than 3 years. For a job creation cooperative, a member does not work for a continuous time prescribed by the charter, but not more than 2 years;

g/ At the committed time of full capital contribution, a member or member cooperative does not contribute or has contributed capital less than the minimum contributed capital specified in the charter;

h/ Other cases as prescribed by the charter.

2. The competence to terminate the status of member or member cooperative is as follows:

a/ For the cases specified at Points a, b, c, d and f, Clause 1 of this Article, the Board of Directors shall make decision and report to the coming general meeting of members;

b/ For the cases specified at Points e, g and h, Clause 1 of this Article, the Board of Directors shall request the general meeting of members to make decision after consulting the Control Board or controller.

3. The settlement of the benefits and obligations toward members or member cooperatives in the case of termination of the status of member or member cooperative must comply with this Law and the charter.

Thus, members of the cooperative who do not use the products of the cooperative for a continuous period as prescribed in the charter but not exceeding 03 years will have their status of member terminated. In case you have not used the products of the cooperative for 2 months, if you want to know if your status of member is terminated or not, you need to review the cooperative's charter for this case in Vietnam.

What is time limit for newly admitted members of the cooperative to pay full capital contribution in Vietnam?

According to Article 17 of the Law on Cooperatives 2012, contribution of charter capital and certificates of capital contribution are as follows:

1. For cooperatives, contributed capital of a member must comply with the agreement and the charter, but must not exceed 20% of the charter capital of the cooperative.

2. For unions of cooperatives, contributed capital of a member cooperative must comply with the agreement and the charter, but must not exceed 30% of the charter capital of the cooperative union.

3. The time limit for, form and level of capital contribution are prescribed in the charter, but the time limit for full capital contribution must not exceed 6 months from the date the cooperative or union of cooperatives is issued a certificate of registration or from the date of admission.

4. When fully contributing capital, a member or member cooperative shall be issued a certificate of capital contribution by his/her/its cooperative or union of cooperatives. A certificate of capital contribution has the following principal contents:

a/ Name and address of the head office of the cooperative or union of cooperatives;

b/ Number and date of issue of the certificate of registration of the cooperative or union of cooperatives;

c/ Full name, permanent address, nationality, identity card or passport number of the individual member or lawful representative of the household.

For a member being a legal entity, to specify its name, head office, number of the establishment decision or registration number; and the full name, permanent address, nationality, identity card or passport number of its at-law representative. For a member cooperative, to specify its name, head office, number of the certificate of registration of the member cooperative; the full name, permanent address, nationality, identity card or passport number of its at-law representative;

d/ Total contributed capital and time of contribution;

e/ Full name and signature of the at-law representative of the cooperative or union of cooperatives.

5. The order and procedures for issuance, re-issuance, change and revocation of certificates of contributed capital are prescribed in the charter.

According to this Article, the time limit for fully contributing charter capital to the cooperative for newly admitted members shall comply with the cooperative's charter, but shall not exceed 06 months from the date of admission in Vietnam.

What are obligations of members of the cooperative in Vietnam? 

Article 15 of the Law on Cooperatives 2012 stipulates the obligations of members and affiliated cooperatives as follows:

1. To use products and services of their cooperative or union of cooperatives under service contracts.

2. To contribute fully and in due time capital as committed under the charter.

3. To take responsibility for debts and financial obligations of their cooperative or union of cooperatives within the scope of contributed capital in their cooperative or union of cooperatives.

4. To pay compensations for damages caused by themselves to their cooperative or union of cooperatives as prescribed by law.

5. To comply with the charter and regulation of their cooperative or union of cooperatives, resolutions of the general meetings of members or member cooperatives and decisions of the Boards of Directors of their cooperative or union of cooperatives.

6. Other obligations as prescribed by the charter.

Thus, cooperative members have the obligations specified above in Vietnam.

Best Regards!