Notable new policies of Vietnam effective as of the middle of January 2024

1. Vietnam’s amendments to regulations on declaration, collection, and payment of fees and charges, and statement of fees from January 12, 2024

On November 28, 2023, the Government of Vietnam promulgated Decree No. 82/2023/ND-CP on amendments to Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP guiding the Law on Fees and Charges 2015, effective as of January 12, 2024.  

Decree No. 82/2023/ND-CP has amended the name and Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of Article 3 of Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP on the declaration, collection, and payment of fees and charges, and statement of fees as follows:

- Payers shall carry out declaration and payment of fees/charges on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis, or when they arise; pay fees/charges to collectors or State Treasury either in cash, or via credit institutions or payment service providers, or adopting other methods as prescribed by law. 

Depending on the nature and characteristics of each type of fees/charges, competent authorities mentioned in Clause 2 Article 4 of the Law on Fees and Charges 2015 shall stipulate appropriate payment methods and fee/charge declaration and payment periods.

- Collectors shall declare and transfer collected fees/charges according to the following provisions:

+ On a daily, weekly or monthly basis, fee collectors shall transfer collected fees to accounts on fees to be paid to State Treasury; charge collectors shall transfer collected charges to accounts on charges to be paid to state budget or accounts on payments to state budget opened at State Treasury. 

Based on the amount of collected fees and the distance from the collection place to the State Treasury, competent authorities mentioned in Clause 2 Article 4 of the Law on Fees and Charges 2015 shall set down specific daily, weekly or monthly periods as the basis for fee collectors to transfer collected fees to accounts on fees to be paid to State Treasury, and for charge collectors to transfer collected charges to accounts on charges to be paid to state budget or accounts on payments to state budget opened at State Treasury.

+ Fee collectors shall declare and transfer collected fees to state budget on a monthly basis, and make statement of collected fees on an annual basis, and charge collectors shall declare and transfer collected charges to state budget on a monthly basis as prescribed in the Law on Tax Administration 2019, the Government’s Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP, and the Government’s Decree No. 91/2022/ND-CP.

+ Collectors of customs fees, and charges on goods, luggage and transiting vehicles; overseas Vietnamese missions authorized to collect fees/charges shall declare, collect and transfer fees/charges in accordance with the Decree No. 126/2020/ND-CP.

-  Fee/charge collectors shall prepare and issue fee/charge receipts in accordance with Decree No. 123/2020/ND-CP and Decree No. 11/2020/ND-CP.

2. Vietnam’s regulations on candidates participating in entrance exams for officials from January 15, 2024 

On November 29, 2023, the Minister of Home Affairs of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 17/2023/TT-BNV on the Internal Provisions and Regulations on Organization of Entrance Exams for Officials, effective as of January 15, 2024. 

According to the Circular, regulations on candidates participating in entrance exams for officials are as follows: 

- Be present in the exam room at the prescribed time. Wear neat, civilized, and polite clothing. If a candidate is late more than 1 minute from the official start of the exam, he/she shall not be permitted to participate in the exam. If a candidate encounters force majeure that lasts beyond the exam time, the head of the exam location shall immediately submit a report to the head of the invigilation committee to consider deciding whether such a candidate can take the exam in the following exam session or another exam period.

- Present citizen identification cards or citizen identity cards or other legal identification documents with attached photos and personal information issued by competent authorities that are still valid; exam registration confirmation papers for invigilators to carry out comparison before entering the exam room. 

- Sit at the seats according to their candidate numbers and put their citizen identification cards, citizen identity cards, or other legal identification documents with attached photos and exam registration confirmation papers on the tables for invigilators and members of the Inspection Council to inspect.

- Only bring pens and certain types of drugs that are mandatory for candidates with specific medical conditions into the exam room; bags, mobile phones, audio recorders, cameras, computers, information transmitters, receivers, data backup devices, other information storage and transmission devices, and documents related to exam contents are banned from being brought into the exam room.

- Comply with every guidance of the invigilators of the exam room; keep order and refrain from smoking or using stimulants and alcoholic foods and beverages in the exam room, etc. 

See more details in Circular No. 17/2023/TT-BNV, effective as of January 15, 2024. 

3. Vietnam’s procedures for issuing codes to officials working at market surveillance authorities at all levels, effective as of January 20, 2024 

This is a content of Circular No. 25/2023/TT-BCT dated November 30, 2023 on codes of officials working at market surveillance authorities at all levels promulgated by the Minister of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, effective as of January 20, 2024. 

According to the Circular, applications and procedures for issuing codes to officials working at market surveillance authorities at all levels are as follows: 

- An application includes: 

+ Written request for the issuance of codes of officials of the market surveillance authority where the concerned officials are recruited, accepted, mobilized, appointed, transferred, or subject to secondment (hereinafter referred to as "acceptance"); 

+ 1 certified copy of the decision on work acceptance at the market surveillance authority. 

- Code issuance procedures: 

+ Within 10 working days from the date the officials are accepted for work at the central market surveillance authorities, the Department of Organization and Personnel of the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance shall prepare applications for the issuance of codes of officials to request the General Director of the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance to consider issuing decisions.

Within 15 working days from the date the officials are accepted for work at market surveillance authorities of provinces and centrally affiliated cities, heads of such authorities shall prepare applications for the issuance of codes of officials for officials under their management to request the General Director of the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance to consider issuing decisions; 

+ Within 15 working days from the date of receipt of valid applications, the General Director of the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance shall decide on the issuance of codes to requested officials. 

4. Vietnam’s regulation on codes and grades of professional titles of pre-university teachers from January 15, 2024 

On November 28, 2023, the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 22/2023/TT-BGDDT on codes, professional standards, appointment, and classification of the salaries of teachers of university-preparatory schools, effective as of January 15, 2024. 

According to the Circular, codes and grades of professional titles of pre-university teachers are as follows: 

- Pre-university teacher grade III - Code V.07.07.19.

- Pre-university teacher grade II - Code V.07.07.18.

- Pre-university teacher grade I - Code V.07.07.17.

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