VietNamNet Bridge – Enterprises have voiced their complaints that their business has come to a standstill because of the new policies which have not been legalized.

The Taiwanese enterprises in the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in HCM City now cannot implement their import and export deals because they don’t have the branch establishment certificates.

However, it is not their fault. The problem is that the relevant ministries have not issued the circular that guides the implementation of the Decree No. 164 on the issue, even though the decree took effects on January 1, 2014 already.

The Article No. 21 of the decree says that export processing enterprises must set up branches outside the export processing zones to carry out of the trade of goods in Vietnam. The Ministries of Finance, Industry and Trade, Planning and Investment are in charge of issuing the circulars to guide the implementation of the decree.

A representative of the Taiwanese Enterprises’ Association in the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone said since there has been no guidance from the relevant ministries, the enterprises don’t know what they have to do to obtain necessary documents.

The representative noted that the requirement on the branch establishment certificate would be unnecessarily burdensome for businesses.

In an effort to help enterprises avoid interruptions in their business, the HCM City Customs Agency once proposed to allow to implement the old regulation until March 31, when the ministerial circulars are issued.

However, the General Department of Customs on March 4 released the Dispatch No. 2179 requesting the enterprises to pursue the Decree No. 164. As such, the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone Customs Agency has announced that it would not deal with the import-export contracts of the enterprises which have not opened branches.

A ray of hope has sparkled as the HCM City Customs Agency has proposed the HCM City People’s Committee to allow the delay of the implementation of the Decree No. 164 until the end of June, to be applied to the enterprises in Tan Thuan and Linh Trung Export Processing Zones.

Meanwhile, the enterprises in HCM City now weep bitterly over the inconsistency of the legal documents.

The Decree No. 209 that guides the implementation of the VAT Law and the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 219 on the same issue show the different dates of validity.

Le Thi Thanh Lam, Deputy General Director of SG Food, said though the decree took effects on January 1, 2014, only on March 6, 2014 did the taxation agencies show the circular. As a result, SG Food had to interrupt its sale to wait for the circular to come out.

Under the new regulation, the horticultural products, livestock, fisheries, raw or preliminarily processed aquatic products will bear the VAT rate of zero percent instead of five percent.

Van Duc Muoi, General Director of Vissan, said after discovering the inconsistency in the legal documents, the enterprise has asked the HCM City Taxation Agency about this. However, the agency said it was still waiting for the guidance from the General Taxation Department.

“Until the reply is made, we would be imposed five percent as previously,” Muoi complained.

Compiled by Thanh Mai