Financial and Trade Policies Effective Early August 2017

1. Price Registration for Milk and Nutritional Products for Children < 6 years old

According to the guidelines in Circular 08/2017/TT-BCT on price registration and declaration for milk and nutritional products for children under 6 years old, the Ministry of Industry and Trade stipulates:

- Businesses producing or importing milk must register the recommended retail price and promptly notify the recommended retail price to their distribution system;- Businesses producing or importing milk can register different recommended retail prices for specific geographic areas;- The retail price must be listed and must not exceed the registered recommended retail price;- The registered price must be kept confidential by the agency receiving the price registration and declaration forms until the registered price is effective.

Refer to Circular 08/2017/TT-BCT, effective from August 10, 2017.

2. Publicizing Budget via the Unit's Electronic Portal

This is one of the forms of publicizing the budget as stipulated in Circular 61/2017/TT-BTC guiding the publicizing of the budget for budget-estimating units and organizations supported by the state budget (NSNN).

The publicizing of budget estimates, data, and explanatory statements on the implementation of the state budget (NSNN) estimates, and state budget settlements is carried out in one or several forms as stipulated in point b, clause 1, Article 15 of the State Budget Law, including:

- Announcing at a meeting, posting at the working office of the agency, organization, or unit;- Publishing print materials;- Notifying relevant agencies, organizations, units, and individuals in writing;- Posting on the electronic information site. Units with an electronic portal must publicize the budget through their own electronic portal;- Announcing on mass media.

Circular 61/2017/TT-BTC is effective from August 1, 2017, and applies from the 2017 budget year, repealing Circular 21/2005/TT-BTC.

3. New Regulations on Governance of Public Companies

On June 6, 2017, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 71/2017/ND-CP guiding governance for public companies, repealing Circular 121/2012/TT-BTC. Accordingly:

- The structure of the Board of Directors (BOD) must ensure a balance between members with legal, financial, and business knowledge and experience, and consider gender factors (currently gender factors are not mentioned);- From August 1, 2020, the Chairman of the BOD is not allowed to concurrently hold the position of Director (General Director) of the same public company. Currently, this is allowed if approved by the annual General Meeting of Shareholders;- From August 1, 2019, a member of the BOD of one public company is not allowed to concurrently be a BOD member in more than five other companies.

According to the new regulations in Decree 71, public companies are not allowed to provide loans or guarantees to shareholders who are individuals or organizations and related persons of those shareholders, except for cases where the public company is a credit institution.

Decree 71/2017/ND-CP is effective from August 1, 2017.

4. Principle of Postponing Payment for Government Bond Transactions

Circular 46/2017/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance guides the payment of transactions for Government of Vietnam bonds, government-guaranteed bonds, and local government bonds.

Accordingly, the principle of postponing payment in the event of insufficient payment capacity for transactions on Government of Vietnam bonds is as follows:

- The maximum postponement period is 2 working days from the payment date of the insufficient funds transaction;- If the buyer has enough money for payment within the mentioned period, the postponed payment transaction will be executed like a normal government bond transaction;- If the payment period expires and the buyer does not have enough money, the Vietnam Securities Depository Center will cancel the government bond transaction payment.

Circular 46/2017/TT-BTC is effective from August 1, 2017, replacing Circular 05/2015/TT-BTC.

Video on policies, finance, and trade effective from early August 2017

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE