Minister and chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung said that amendments to the Decree No 38 guiding the implementation of the Law on Food Safety will be submitted to the Government early next month.

Dung made the announcement to delegates at the dialogue on mechanisms, policies and administrative procedures related to business operations and activities of European enterprises in Viet Nam, which took place in Ha Noi on Monday, hosted by the Advisory Council for Administrative Procedures Reform (ACAPR).

Once the revised decree is approved, it will come into effect immediately, according to Dung. He is also the chairman of the ACAPR.

There will be comprehensive changes in specialised inspection procedures applicable to imports, while the number of procedures may be reduced by 90-95 per cent.

The Government has demonstrated strong determination to reform administrative procedures and improve the business environment. On January 15, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed Decree No 08 to cut 675 business conditions, or 55 per cent of the business conditions under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

After the Tet (Lunar New Year) Holiday, the PM will preside over a conference on logistics in a bid to reduce costs for enterprises in this area, according to Dung.

In January 2016, the Government Office launched a system to collect enterprises’ proposals and recommendations and around 1,000 of which have been settled.

Thanks to the Government’s endeavour, Viet Nam’s business environment jumped 14 places in 2017, according to the World Bank.

This year, PM Phuc tasked lower levels of Government, especially the ACAPR, with continuing efforts to boost administrative procedures reform.

“We wish to gain feedback regarding business obstacles from representatives of more than 1,000 European enterprises,” said Dung.

The minister said that on the same day, he chaired a meeting with ministries, associations and businesses on the amendments of the decree.

At the meeting, 11 businesses submitted opinions raising many issues relating to recognition and execution of arbitration decisions, double taxation avoidance, implementation of intellectual property rights, drug bidding into healthcare units, imports of healthcare equipment, foreign investment procedures in the pharmacy sector, regulations on plant protection products and policies in the automobile industry.

Vu Quoc Tuan from Eurocham said the amended decree 38 would be extremely favourable and in line with international norms.

“Enterprises are waiting for the promulgation of the decree not only everyday but even every hour. We expect the Government will approve and issue the amended decree as soon as possible to remove barriers for firms’ development,” he said.

This is the first dialogue held by the ACAPR this year and the fourth in its history.

Untie difficulties in auto import procedures

Relating to Decree 116 on auto production and trading, Tran Quang Ha, deputy director of the Department of Science and Technology under the Ministry of Transport said the circular guiding the decree’s implementation was submitted to the ministry’s leaders for approval.

They had meetings with businesses and associations to clarify obstacles. The circular is expected to be announced this week.

Nicolas Audiear, Eurocham’s co-chairman said Eurocham was pleased as Vietnamese Government listened to firms’ opinions and having suitable adjustments.

He hoped that most of proposals at the event would be partly resolved no later than the end of this year when the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is implemented. — VNS