Procedures for re-announcement of inland waterway port in Vietnam

Procedures for re-announcement of inland waterway port in Vietnam (Illustrative Image)

Circular 50/2014/TT-BGTVT stipulates that an inland waterway port must be reannounced in three cases: when there is a change of ownership; the decision on the announcement of operations has expired; or changes in the port’s structural facilities, land area, water area, or its use.

The owner of inland waterway port shall send 01 (one) set of dossier to request the re-announcement of inland waterway port directly, by post or in other appropriate forms to the Viet Nam Inland Waterway Administration or the Department of Transport. The dossier includes:

- Application for re-announcement of inland waterway port is written under the Form No. 10 in the Appendix issued with this Circular;

- In case of change of owner without change of announced contents, the port owner shall send with the application the legal document of port transfer and documents related to the handover of owner or legal document on division or merger (if any);

- In case of re-announcement due to change of structure of port works, waters, hinterland and port utility, the port owner must send with the application the certified copy of papers demonstrating the changed contents;

- In case of re-announcement due to expansion or upgrading to improve the port passing capacity, the provisions in Article 10 of this Circular shall apply for the expanded or upgraded part;

- For inland waterway port announced for operation before 01/01/2005 due to the loss of documents, the port owner must send with the application the drawing of surface of port works, plan of waters and hinterland of port.

The Vietnam Inland Waterway Agency or the Department of Transport shall receive, inspect, and process as follows:

In the case of direct submission, if the dossier is complete, a receipt note shall be issued, and a time limit for receiving the results is specified; if the dossier is incomplete, it shall be returned immediately with guidance for completion.

In the case of submission via postal system or other appropriate methods, if the dossier is incomplete, within 02 (two) working days from the date of receiving the dossier, the Vietnam Inland Waterway Agency or the Department of Transport shall issue a written request for the port owner to supplement and complete the dossier.

For inland waterway ports receiving foreign watercraft: within the scope of their responsibilities, the Vietnam Inland Waterway Agency or the Department of Transport shall appraise the dossier and submit it to the Ministry of Transport along with 01 (one) set of documents requesting the reannouncement of the inland waterway port within 03 (three) working days from the date of receiving the complete dossier as per regulations. The Ministry of Transport shall issue a decision to reannounce the operations of the inland waterway port according to Form No. 5 attached to this Circular and send it to the port owner within 03 (three) working days from the date of receiving the appraisal presentation and requested reannouncement dossier. In the case of disapproval, a written response indicating the reasons must be issued.

For inland waterway ports not receiving foreign watercraft: within 03 (three) working days from the date of receiving the complete dossier as per regulations, the Vietnam Inland Waterway Agency or the Department of Transport shall issue a decision to reannounce the operations of the inland waterway port according to Form No. 5 attached to this Circular and send it to the port owner. In the case of disapproval, a written response indicating the reasons must be issued.

The validity duration of the decision to reannounce the operations of the inland waterway port corresponds to the land use duration granted by the competent authority to the port owner or as requested by the port owner.

For more details, refer to Circular 50/2014/TT-BGTVT which comes into effect in Vietnam from January 01, 2015.

Ty Na

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