Asia Counsel Insights gives readers a concise insight into legal and business developments in Vietnam. This edition has news on commercial mediation, new food labelling rules, new government penalties in the travel industry and the publication of judicial decisions.

1. ASIA COUNSEL INSIGHTS
24 April 2017
Asia Counsel Insights provide an
overview of the key trending legal
and business issues in Vietnam and
how they may impact your
business. Please enjoy your read.
Key Dates:
30 April (Victory Day) and 1 May
(International Labour Day) are
public holidays in Vietnam, and as
30 April 2017 falls on Sunday, the
public holiday period will be
extended to Tuesday, 2 May 2017.
Employment
New Social Insurance Premium
Contribution
Under Decree 44/2017/ND-CP dated
14 April 2017 of the Government on
compulsory social insurance
contribution to the occupational
health and safety fund, the rate of
contribution by the employer to the
fund is reduced from 1% to 0.5% of
the salary fund used as basis for
calculation of social insurance
contributions. Accordingly, the total
contribution rate of the employer
shall be reduced from 22% to 21.5%
(including 3% to sickness and
paternity fund, 0.5% to occupational
health and safety, 14% to a pension
fund, 3% for health insurance and 1%
for unemployment insurance).
Decree 44 will take effect from 1
June 2017. For employees working
under a labour contract with a term
of 1-3 months, the above new
contribution rate shall be applicable
from 1 January 2018.
Dispute Resolution
Commercial Mediation
On 20 February 2017, the
Government issued Decree
22/2017/ND-CP on commercial
mediation, which will take effect
from 15 April 2017. Commercial
disputes are resolved by mediation if
the relevant parties have a written
mediation agreement before, after
or during the dispute settlement
process. Mediation is conducted by
one or more registered ad-hoc
mediators or mediators from a
licensed mediation center.
Mediation centers are non-profit
entities. Parties to a commercial
dispute may agree on the mediation
procedures or follow the mediation
rules of the mediation center or a
procedure proposed by the
mediators. The disputing parties may
pursue court proceedings if they
cannot settle the dispute via
mediation. An agreed mediated
outcome can be submitted to courts
for recognition and is enforceable.
Agribusiness
Animal and aquaculture feeds
On 4 April 2017, the Government
issued Decree 39/2017/ND-CP on
management of animal and
aquaculture feeds. Under Decree 39,
feed manufacturers must meet
regulatory conditions on
manufacture location, environment,
equipment, personnel and technical
testing facilities. New feeds are
subject to assessment by qualified
institutions, except where the Ministry
of Agriculture and Rural Development
(“MARD”) have been recognised the
technical research of such fee or
have been tested in a foreign country
having agreement with Vietnam on
recognition of new feeds. Feeds must
have a list of applicable standards
and declarations of confirmation with
technical regulations to be registered
and published on MARD’s website
before product circulation into the
market.
About Asia Counsel
Asia Counsel is a dynamic international corporate and commercial law firm dedicated to serving clients in Vietnam. Our partners have over nine years of
experience in working on complex and challenging matters in Vietnam. We are committed to helping clients achieve their business strategies and providing
outstanding legal services.
If you have any questions on any of the items discussed above, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Christian Schaefer
Managing Partner
E christian@asia-counsel.com
Minh Duong
Partner
E minh@asia-counsel.com
Asia Counsel Vietnam Law Company Limited, Level 5, 18 HBT Building, 16-18 Hai Ba Trung Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

2. ASIA COUNSEL INSIGHTS
24 April 2017
Vietnam Fact Box
According to the 2016 report
published by Topica Founder
Institute, the Vietnam start-up
ecosystem saw deal value of
USD 205 million, a significant
rise in value from 2015.
2016 saw a noticeable trend
in the number of deals in
Fintech – accounting for over
half of the reported deal
value of USD 129 million – with
e-commerce coming second
at USD 35 million.
While the report doesn’t
account for all startup deals,
it reveals a trend of Vietnam’s
growing position as a start-up
hub and a technology
market with significant
potential.
Commercial
Labelling
On 14 April 2017, the Government
issued Decree 43/2017/ND-CP on
labelling of goods, which takes
effect from 01 June 2017 and
replaces Decree 89/2006/ND-CP.
The new provisions include:
• Expiry date means the date
after which goods no longer
retain their existing quality
features. Under Decree 98,
expiry date means the date
beyond which goods are not
allowed to be circulated.
• For goods which are divided,
transferred, extracted, or re-
packaged, labels must show
the date of division, transfer,
extraction or re-packaging.
• Labels of a number of goods
must have additional
compulsory contents, such as
date of expiry, lot identification
code (if any) and warnings of
alcohol; date of expiry, code
and bar code of cigarettes;
number of registration or import
license and manufacture lot
number of medicines for
human use.
Business
Seaports
The Government issued Decree no.
37/2017/ND-CP dated 4 April 2017
on business conditions for
operations of seaports.
Under Decree 37, seaport
operators (seaport enterprises)
must obtain a certificate of
satisfaction of conditions for
seaport operations business. To
obtain this certificate, seaport
enterprises must satisfy the
conditions on organisational
structure and manpower, facilities
and equipment, labour safety and
hygiene, fire and explosion
prevention and fighting and
environmental protection as
specified in Decree 37. The
Vietnam Maritime Administration
shall issue the certificate within 10
days from the date of receipt of
the valid application dossier.
Decree 37 shall take effect from 1
July 2017. Seaport enterprises which
have operated seaports before 01
July 2017 are permitted to continue
their operations, but must satisfy the
conditions prescribed in Decree 37
as of 01 July 2020.
Tourism
Administrative penalties
On 20 March 2017, the Government
issued Decree 28/2017/NĐ-CP
amending decrees on administrative
penalties for breaches of intellectual
property and breaches in culture,
sport, tourism and advertisement
sectors. Decree 28 prescribes a
number of new penalties in tourism
sector such as:
• A fine of VND5-10 million shall apply
in the following cases:
▪ There is no written travel
contract with the tourists or their
representatives;
▪ There is no written travel agency
contract with the travel
agencies;
▪ Contracts with tourists do not
contain full compulsory details as
prescribed by law.
▪ There is no travel program in
writing for tourists.
• A fine of VND40-50 million will apply
to persons providing domestic travel
services without establishing an
enterprise.
• A fine of VND3-5 million will be
apply in case there is no signboard
for inland waterway tourist
transportation means.
Litigation
Judgement Publication
Under Resolution No. 03/2017/NQ-HĐTP dated 16 March 2017 of the Supreme Court
on publication of court judgements and decisions on courts’ portals, the following
judgements and decisions are published:
• Un-appealed or un-protested first-instance judgment; judgments of appellate
courts; decisions on judicial review and retrial of criminal, administrative, civil,
marriage and family, business, commercial and labor cases;
• Valid decisions on resolution of civil matters, decision on judicial review and retrial
of civil matters;
• Decisions on declaration of enterprises’ bankruptcy; decisions on resolution of the
petition for or protest against decisions on declaration of enterprises’ bankruptcy;
valid decision on administrative sentences applied at courts.
The above judgements and decisions must be published within 30 days from the
date of becoming effective.