1. Overview of procedures

No

Category

Content

1

Implementing Agency

(1) Foreign-invested economic organizations fall under the cases for which the Business License and Retail Establishment License are issued, as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 5 of Decree No. 09/2018/NĐ-CP.

(2) Foreign-invested economic organizations do not have a Business License or Retail Establishment License as regulated in Decree No. 09/2018/NĐ-CP. However, they have already been issued a Certificate of Business Registration, Certificate of Investment Registration, or equivalent legally valid documents containing the content of (i) activities related to the purchase and sale of goods and directly related activities in cases requiring a Business License, or (ii) the establishment of retail establishments falling under the cases requiring a Retail Establishment License as prescribed in Decree No. 09/2018/NĐ-CP.

2

Receiving Authority

Comprising:

(1) Department of Industry and Trade where the Business License and Retail Establishment License are issued; and

(2) Ministry of Industry and Trade (in the cases specified in Note 1); and

(3) Ministry of Sectoral Administration (in the cases specified in Note 2).

3

Implementing method

Economic organizations submit dossiers through one of the following forms:

  • Directly;
  • By mail;
  • Online according to the guidelines of the Department of Industry and Trade where the economic organization is issued the Business License or Retail Establishment License (depending on the actual situation in each province or city).

4

Submission deadline

Before January 30th annually.

5

Dossier components

The report is in accordance with the Form No. 13 in the Appendix issued with Decree No. 09/2018/NĐ-CP.

Quantity: 01 set (in case of direct or postal submission of the dossier).

6

Result

Dossiers are accepted

2. A few notes on performing the procedure

Note 1:

Economic organizations must submit dossiers to the Ministry of Industry and Trade if they engage in the following activities: purchase and sale of goods and activities directly related to the purchase and sale of goods:

  • Implement the right to import, distribute wholesale goods such as oil, and lubricants;
  • Implementing the right to retail goods such as rice, sugar, recorded items, books, newspapers, and magazines;
  • Provide logistics services, except for logistics services sub-sectors for which Vietnam has committed to market opening under international agreements to which Vietnam is a party;
  • Leasing of goods, except financial leasing; except leasing of construction equipment with operators;
  • Trade promotion services, except advertising services;
  • Provide commercial intermediation services;
  • Provide e-commerce services;
  • Provide bidding organization services for goods and services.

Note 2:

Economic organizations must submit dossiers to the Ministry of Sectoral Management if their business involves goods such as rice, sugar, recorded items, books, newspapers, and magazines.

Note 3:

In the event that a foreign-invested economic organization does not have a business license or a retail establishment license pursuant to Decree No. 09/2018/NĐ-CP, the economic organization is required to submit a report to the Department of Industry and Trade where its head office is located and where the retail establishment is established.

Note 4:

If the economic organization is required to report to the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, the economic organization may conduct the reporting process online through the following link: https://bit.ly/3TQSHgC.

3. Penalties for failure to submit reports as required

3.1. If the economic organization fails to submit the documents in time or fails to carry out the reporting, provide documents or explain issues related to the trade of goods and directly related activities, the economic organization may be subject to an administrative penalty ranging from 10,000,000 VND to 20,000,000 VND, as stipulated in Point c, Clause 1, Article 70 of Decree No. 98/2020/NĐ-CP.

3.2. If the economic organization fails to implement the regular reporting system for 24 consecutive months or fails to submit reports, documents or explanations as required by the competent authority after 3 months from the expiration date of the request, its Business License or Retail Establishment License shall be revoked, as stipulated in Point đ and e Clause 1 and Point e and g Clause 2 Article 43 of Decree No. 09/2018/NĐ-CP

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.