Lawyer in Vietnam Oliver Massmann Legal Update December 2016

1. Lawyer in Vietnam Oliver Massmann Legal Update December 2016
1. Decree No. 154/2016/ND-CP of the Government on Environment Protection Fee for Waste
Water
Issuance date: 16 November 2016
Effective date: 01 January 2017
This Decree replaces Decree No. 25/2013/ND-CP dated 06 August 2014 of the Government. According
to this Decree, there are 2 more circumstances under which the environment protection fees are
exempted:
(i) waste water from vehicles used for fishing of fishermen;
(ii) qualified for discharging domestic waste water treated by management units operating the
drainage system.
This Decree also sets a fixed fee for industrial waste water of VND1.5 million/year, instead of no more
than VND2.5 million/year as currently.
2. Law No. 03/2016/QH14 of the National Assembly on Amendment of and Supplementation to
Article 6 and Annex 4 on the List of Conditional Business Lines under the Law on Investment
Issuance date: 22 November 2016
Effective date: 01 January 2017
According to this Law, “trading in firecrackers” is added to the prohibited business activities; a new list
of 243 conditional business lines replaces the current list of 267 business lines, “car manufacturing,
assemble and import”, “sale of equipment and camouflage software used for sound and video recording
and positioning” and some other business activities are added to the list of conditional business lines.
Many of the business lines are removed from the list, for example: bidding agency’s services, insurance
agency training services, drugs testing services, art and photography works trading, manufacture of gold
jewelry and handicrafts, extracurricular tutoring services.
3. Official Letter No. 4916/LDTBXH-LDTL of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs on
stabilizing labor relations during the period of year end and traditional new year holidays.
Issuance date: 07 December 2016
Effective date: 07 December 2016
According to this Official Letter, chairmen of the provincial People’s Committees are responsible to
instruct their specialized offices to:
(i) supervise the compliance with labor regulations at enterprises, make sure the due payment of
salaries, bonuses, avoid the late payment to employees during the months near Tet holidays;

2. (ii) cooperate with confederation of labor to provide guidelines on plans to amend the area
minimum wages to enterprises.
4. Decision No. 4846/QĐ-BCT of the Ministry of Industry and Trade approving the general plan
on simplifying administrative procedures in the field of industry and trade in the year of 2017
Issuance date: 09 December 2016
Effective date: 09 December 2016
According to this Decision, various departments of MOIT will need to work and implement this Plan by
way of proposing or issuing relevant amendments to existing decrees or circulars. Under this Plan, many
administrative procedures will be cut down/simplified, including:
(i) the procedure to obtain a “Trading License” for foreign invested enterprises to conduct export
and import activities will be removed.
(ii) the rights to wholesaling materials used for manufacturing of FDI enterprise will be extended;
(iii) the quota of liquor trading permit will be removed (the limit of 01 permit per 1000 people will
be removed);
(iv) some conditions for issuance of liquor trading permit (both wholesale and retail) will be waived,
including removal of the condition on the transportation.
(v) the application dossier for liquor trading permit will be simplified. Some “difficult to obtain
documents” will be no longer required.
5. Decree No. 166/2016/ND-CP of the Government on electronic transactions in Social Insurance,
Health Insurance and Unemployment Insurance
Issuance date: 24 December 2016
Effective date: 01 March 2017
Under this Decree, documents for electronic social insurance comprise of:
(i) Application for e-social insurance;
(ii) Accounting documents in compliance with e-accounting system of Vietnam Social Insurance;
(iii) Other documents, notifications of organizations, persons conducting e-social insurance
transactions.
6. Decree No. 175/2016/ND-CP of the Government amending and supplementing Decree
86/2013/ND-CP on business in prize-winning electronic games for foreigners (“Decree 175”)
Issuance Date: 30 December 2016
Effective Date: 15 February 2017

3. Decree 175 amends and supplements some regulations on electronic game equipment. Specifically,
electronic game machines must be brand new with technical parameters which were verified by
independent verification institutions from G7-based countries.
Payout rates of slot machines have to account for at least 90% and be already installed in the
equipment. Also, the payout rates are required to be expressly addressed in the publicized game rules.
Enterprises are allowed to maintain and repair depraved machines without intervening payout rates. In
addition, such enterprises are obliged to request the involvement of the independent verification
institutions in case the depraved components affect payout rates.
7. Circular No. 53/2016/TT-BCA of Ministry of Public Security on registration and acceptance of
temporary residence for foreigners in Viet Nam (“Circular 53”)
Issuance Date: 28 December 2016
Effective Date: 15 February 2017
Under Circular 53, foreigners once registering their temporary residence by either online declaring
through website or offline declaring through hard-copy registration form.
(i) With regards to online declare the temporary residence through website:
The foreigner first access the website of Immigration Management Agency under provincial
Department of Public Security to obtain a declaration account by providing personal information
including: name, date of birth, phone number, passport number, temporary residence address
and email.
As such, the foreigner will use the declaration account to register his/her temporary residence in
Vietnam. Information required for registration will comprise: name, date of birth, gentle,
nationality, passport number and the proposed duration of temporary residence.
Immigration Management Agency under provincial Department of Public Security is responsible
to receive the information provided by the foreigner 24 hours per day and 7 days per week. In
case the foreigner register his/her temporary residence in border-related regions, Immigration
Management Agency must give announcement to the border police in question.
(ii) With regards to offline declare the temporary residence through a hard-copy registration form:
The foreigner can also register his/her temporary residence through a hard-copy registration
form at the agency of ward-level police.
The ward-level police is also obliged to give announcement to the border police in question
should the foreigner register his/her temporary residence in border-related regions.
8. Circular No. 35/2016/TT-NHNN of State Bank of Vietnam on safety and confidentiality of
providing internet banking services (“Circular 35”)
Issuance Date: 29 December 2016

4. Effective Date: 1 July 2017
Under Circular 35, State Bank of Vietnam requires the commercial banks who supply internet banking
services to provide guidance for their clients on protection of safety and confidentiality of internet
banking services, namely:
(i) To keep the password and/or OTP confidential and not to share the devices where such codes
are saved;
(ii) Not to use a public computer to access and conduct the internet banking transactions;
(iii) Not to allow the website browser to remember the ID and password;
(iv) To exit the internet banking apps once not in use;
(v) To install the anti-virus software on personal devices for the purpose of internet banking
transaction; and
(vi) Not to use jailbroken mobile devices to install and use software/apps in connection with
internet banking transactions.
Putting that aside, commercial banks must apply safety guarantee measures for clients’ database,
including at least: Client’s sensitive data, legal right for accessing the database, measures for access
inspection and access management so that the commercial banks can prevent clients’ information from
being disclosed.
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Please do not hesitate to contact Oliver Massmann under omassmann@duanemorris.com if you have
any questions or want to know more details on the above. Oliver Massmann is the General Director of
Duane Morris Vietnam LLC.
THANK YOU !