MOIT is collecting opinions about the draft circular on the classification and management of some types of commercial infrastructure.

These commercial establishments would be punished if their classification is wrong.

Commercial establishments can be classified as supermarkets if they have business locations suitable to the development plan, and have a scale and business organization meeting the basic criteria of one of three classes of supermarkets, or mini marts.

First-class general supermarket, for example, must have business premises of 3,500 sq m or larger, and trade at least 20,000 product items. Meanwhile, specialized supermarkets must have business premises of 1,000 sq m at minimum and trade at least 2,000 product items.

Mini marts must have a business area of 80 sq m or larger and the list of trading goods must be at least 500 items.

First-class shopping centers must have business premises of 50,000 sq m or higher. The figures are 30,000 sq m and 10,000 sq m for second- and third-class, respectively.

Regarding convenience stores, MOIT’s draft documents says these retail premises are 30 to 200 sq m and mostly serve clients within the radius of less than 500 meters.

According to the Vietnam Confederation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), in general, the classification and naming of business models are implemented by businesses themselves in order to promote their brands and help consumers recognize them. The State should only make an intervention if sellers exploit the ambiguity in naming and cause misunderstanding.

If commercial establishments don’t observe the regulations stipulated in the circular, they will be punished in accordance with the law.

For example, the laws need to impose heavy fines on commercial establishments that wrongly classify supplemental food and drugs.

However, there is no example about the misuse of the names of commercial infrastructure. If a small grocery introduces itself as a supermarket, it won’t be able to sell more goods or sell goods at higher prices. Consumers don’t misunderstand this. Therefore, VCCI believes there is no need to name commercial establishments correctly.

If the classification just serves statistical work, there is no need to have a regulation on punishing enterprises.

VCCI asked the document compilation agency to explain the necessity of the document, believing that it is not urgent.

According to VCCI, the draft circular has regulations that will interfere with the business freedom of enterprises and increase business costs. The cost increases will lead to higher prices of products and lower profits for enterprises.

The draft document says that all supermarkets, mini marts, shopping centers and outlets must have parking areas for customers. The requirement would lead to operation cost increases and reduce the flexibility of business models.

In principle, shops with parking areas can offer convenience to clients and they will attract more customers and have higher revenue. And stores with no parking areas would lose clients.

In other words, the market itself will determine this issue without the state’s intervention.

Under the draft document, first- and second-class supermarkets must have food and entertainment services, while shopping centers must reserve areas for entertainment activities, have offices to lease, and have areas for finance and banking activities.

The proposed regulations, according to VCCI, will create a high level of intervention in enterprises’ business freedom.

The business space depends on the demands of clients and enterprises’ capacity. Businesses and consumers will make adjustments themselves to fit their conditions.

VCCI has also proposed the removal of the proposed regulation that convenience stores can only serve clients within the radius of under 500 meters, saying that the regulation is not feasible because convenience stores owners don’t know where their clients live.

Luong Bang