Highlight of the most notable documents of the past week

1. Officially increasing statutory pay rate to 1,390,000 VND from July 1, 2018

On May 15, 2018, the Government of Vietnam officially approved Decree 72/2018/ND-CP regulating the statutory pay rate for officials and public employees and the armed forces.

From July 1, 2018, the statutory pay rate of 1,390,000 VND/month will be applied as the basis for:

- Calculating salaries on the salary scale, allowances, and implementing other policies as per legal regulations;- Calculating operating expenses and living expenses;- Calculating deductions and entitlement policies based on the statutory pay rate.

This statutory pay rate applies to officials and public employees, salaried persons, allowance recipients, and laborers working in agencies, organizations, and public service providers of the Communist Party, the State, socio-political organizations, and associations receiving state budget support.

1. Language requirements for practicing pharmacy in Vietnam

Circular 07/2018/TT-BYT provides detailed regulations for certain articles of the Pharmacy Law and Decree 54/2017/ND-CP, which officially came into effect on June 1, 2018, replacing Circular 13/2009/TT-BYT.

It outlines language usage requirements for foreign nationals (FNs) and overseas Vietnamese (OVs) practicing pharmacy as follows:

- The person responsible for pharmaceutical expertise at a retail pharmacy and the person in charge of clinical pharmacy at a medical examination and treatment facility must be recognized as proficient in Vietnamese;- If not proficient in Vietnamese, they must register the language used and have an interpreter;- FNs and OVs not recognized as proficient in Vietnamese must have "requires an interpreter in practice" noted on their pharmacy practice certificate;- When practicing, the application for a Certificate of Eligibility for Pharmaceutical Trading must include a contract with an interpreter.

1. 07 entities required to undergo industrial explosive material safety training

The Government of Vietnam issued Decree 71/2018/ND-CP (effective from July 1, 2018), providing detailed regulations on the Law on Management and Use of Weapons, Explosives and Supporting Tools.

It stipulates that the following entities must undergo training in industrial explosive material safety:

- Managers;- Workers directly involved in the production of industrial explosives;- Persons responsible for managing industrial explosive material warehouses;- Blast commanders;- Miners;- Service personnel, those escorting, and drivers of vehicles transporting industrial explosives;- Persons involved in industrial explosive material analysis and testing.

1. 03 cases considered complex incidents for damage verification

On May 15, 2018, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 68/2018/ND-CP providing detailed guidance on certain articles of the Law on State Compensation Liability.

Specifically, Clause 4, Article 45 of the Law stipulates that the compensation resolution agency may request the participation of a representative of the state management agency for compensatory work and the financial agency to participate in verifying damage for complex incidents.

A complex incident is understood as:

- Involving multiple types of damage occurring at different times;- The compensation claim amount exceeds 5 billion VND;- Significantly affecting local political security, and social order and safety.

Refer to Decree 68/2018/ND-CP effective from July 1, 2018.

1. At least 50% reduction in business information disclosure fees

This recommendation by the Ministry of Planning and Investment aims to implement key tasks and solutions to improve the business environment, enhancing national competitiveness in 2018 and subsequent years as stated in Resolution 19-2018/NQ-CP dated May 15, 2018, by the Government of Vietnam.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment recommends reducing the business information disclosure fee by at least 50%. Currently, this fee is set at 300,000 VND per disclosure.

Additionally, Resolution 19 outlines a series of tasks and solutions for ministries and central authorities as follows:

- General Department of Customs: Develop a list of specialized inspection items to be reduced;- Ministry of Justice: Lead and cooperate with other ministries to draft a Law on asset registration or propose amendments and supplements to legal regulations on asset registration in laws such as the Land Law, and the Housing Law;- Ministry of Finance: Resolve issues related to import-export taxes.

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