Vietnam: Enterprises affiliated to the Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Public Security are allowed to import and export weapons

According to Decree No. 79/2018/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, organizations and enterprises affiliated to the Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Public Security are allowed to import and export weapons. An organization/enterprise affiliated to the Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Public Security is entitled to import and export weapons if it:

- is assigned the plan for or task of weapon import/export by the Minister of National Defense or Minister of Public Security; and

- satisfies the conditions for security, order, fire prevention and fighting, incident response and prevention and environmental protection, etc. To be specific:

+ Regulations on entry and exit and security and order assurance plans should be made. Equipment, items and commodities transported into and out of the organization/enterprise should be kept under control. Security forces should be set up.

+ Regulations, sufficient equipment, forces in charge of inspecting fire safety and internal fire fighting plans should be in place. It is required to carry out fire drills and adopt fire safety measures as prescribed.

+ Measures for reducing, collecting and treating materials and wastes, and tackling environmental pollution on site shall be adopted. It is prohibited to leak or spread toxic to the environment. Provision of sources and equipment for prevention and response to environmental emergencies shall be ensured.

+ Warehouses, storage places and equipment in service of weapon trading shall fulfill conditions for security, order, fire prevention and fighting, incident response and prevention and environmental protection in accordance with regulations.

+ The manager of an organization/enterprise shall be provided with training in management and use of weapons, fire safety and incident prevention and response during the trading process.

Procedures for issuance of the weapon import/export license

If the organization/enterprise affiliated to the Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Public Security wishes to import/export weapons, it is required to prepare an application including:

- An application form specifying reasons;

- A copy of the establishment decision or a copy of the enterprise registration certificate;

- A copy of the document about assignment of plan or task of weapon import/export given by the Minister of National Defense or Minister of Public Security.

The application specified above shall be made into 01 set and submitted to the Police Department of Administrative Management of Social Order (Ministry of Public Security).

Within 05 working days from the date on which the satisfactory application is received, the competent authorities specified above shall issue the weapon import/export license. In case of rejection, it is required to provide written explanation.

The weapon import/export license is valid for 90 days.

In case the license is expired, the organization/enterprise shall submit a written request for extension, specifying reasons thereof to the competent authorities specified in Point b of this Clause for consideration.

View more details at Decree No. 79/2018/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, effective from July 01, 2018.

- Thanh Lam -

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