Start with belief in business

The space to cut business conditions and costs for enterprises is very favorable, but real changes in state management thinking are still needed.

Cutting business conditions: Starting with trust in businesses

The space to cut business conditions and costs for enterprises is very favorable, but real changes in state management thinking are still needed.

Vietnam's standards on contaminants in health-protecting foods have higher requirements than those of developed countries. Photo: Duc Thanh

Compliance costs remain a concern

In a document recently sent to the National Assembly leaders by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), concerns about increased compliance costs and the presence of new bottlenecks have re-emerged. Notably, according to Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Deputy General Secretary and Head of the Legal Department of VCCI, this does not make state management more effective.

These opinions were compiled by VCCI when giving comments on the Draft Law on Product and Goods Quality (amended) - an important bill with a profound impact on the production and business activities of enterprises. This law, together with the Law on Technical Standards and Regulations, is considered the foundation for the system of goods inspection and control in Vietnam.

According to the Draft, the approach to classifying goods is still maintained as it is currently, that is, according to group 1 and group 2, in which group 2 is high-risk goods, subject to strict control. The list of group 2 goods is issued by ministries and branches. According to this mechanism, group 2 goods will still have to declare conformity before being circulated.

“This creates a huge burden for businesses because conformity is only based on test samples, not reflecting actual product quality. Businesses must comply with technical standards and carry out many cumbersome procedures, such as declaring conformity, printing labels, stopping goods at ports for conformity inspection. Costs and time increase, while management efficiency is not significantly improved,” Mr. Tuan clarified his opinion when VCCI proposed to remove regulations on conformity and promote post-inspection according to the risk management method.

Not only that, Mr. Tuan expressed concern when the Draft added requirements for electronic labels and barcodes. “The Draft requires businesses to register with state agencies, pay annual maintenance fees, and invest in a connection technology system. This significantly increases compliance costs, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, while the benefits of this are not really clear for all industries,” Mr. Tuan analyzed.

This is the reason why VCCI proposed to completely remove the list of group 2 goods, and instead manage product quality according to technical standards. In case group 2 must still be maintained, VCCI recommends that the issuance of the list should be strictly controlled.

In this direction, the authority to issue regulations is transferred from ministries and branches to the Government to ensure consistency and limit abuse. Along with that, ministries and branches must periodically publish actual violation data. Every 3 years, the Government must review and remove low-risk items from the Group 2 list...

Pre-test or post-test problem

The adjustments proposed by VCCI are determined to help free up resources for businesses, reduce compliance costs, and ensure effective state management in the field of product and goods quality.

The practical evidence mentioned by VCCI is that the issuance of Decree 15/2018/ND-CP replacing Decree 38/2012/ND-CP (detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Food Safety Law) has helped save 90% of administrative costs, while the violation rate has decreased compared to the previous period.

It should also be mentioned that in Resolution 02/2025/NQ-CP on key tasks and solutions to improve the business environment and enhance national competitiveness in 2025, the Government also requires replicating proven effective experiences and policies on state management of production and business activities of enterprises such as management principles under Decree 15/2018/ND-CP.

The key to creating a “good example of state management” in the above decree is the application of the risk management principle based on the level of legal compliance of enterprises and the level of risk of goods. Accordingly, the subjects exempted from inspection are increased; decentralization is increased, overcoming the situation of overlapping, hierarchical, and duplicate management; creating flexibility and initiative for enterprises in implementing administrative procedures; switching from pre-inspection to post-inspection...

In the 5-year review of Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP last year, the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM, now the Institute for Policy and Strategy Research) calculated that with the regulation allowing self-declaration of products, on average each enterprise saves 602.5 million VND/year; with the abolition of the deadline for the Self-declaration, enterprises save more than 310 million VND/year in costs... Not only enterprises, the Ministry of Health has saved up to 8.5 million working days and 3,332.5 billion VND/year, contributing to reducing 90% of the number of licenses and up to 95% of the volume of state inspections...

However, the above solution still does not seem to be the first thing that drafting agencies consider when starting to build and amend documents related to enterprises.

Another report by CIEM also shows this reality, when mentioning some ministries and branches issuing circulars on standards and technical regulations that create many costs and barriers for business investment activities.

There are some issues that Vietnam's standards have higher requirements than those of developed countries, such as standards on contaminants in health protection foods or the abuse of issuing standards and including in the list of group 2 goods types that are not likely to cause safety problems such as Standard 20 of the Ministry of Science and Technology on stainless steel...

In particular, the number of business conditions has decreased in form after a 50% cut in 2018, shown through points, clauses, items or bullet points, but many conditions refer to other documents or regulations based on Vietnamese standards or based on related laws quite commonly...

Can trust the business

Last weekend, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) organized a training course for member businesses to disseminate and update legal regulations on the environment and industrial wastewater after Circular 06/2025/TT-BTNMT on national technical regulations on industrial wastewater was issued.

There are many new points, removing many obstacles for businesses related to the allowable threshold of indicators in aquaculture and processing, applying specific QCVN for aquaculture and processing, the roadmap for application to aquaculture and processing facilities that have been in operation since January 1, 2032... At this point, businesses have been waiting for 7 years, after many recommendations.

In the context that ministries and branches must reduce at least 30% of administrative procedure processing time, at least 30% of business costs (compliance costs); abolish 30% of unnecessary business conditions..., according to the provisions of Official Dispatch No. 22/CD-TTg on a number of key tasks and solutions to reduce administrative procedures, improve the business environment, and promote socio-economic development, there have been positive movements.

Even Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, former Director of CIEM, is waiting for more positive and clear movements. “We have never had such a good foundation as now to do this. I do not see any limitations in discussing institutional reform, which means thinking differently, doing differently, will achieve the goal,” said Mr. Cung.

Moreover, he said that the streamlining of the apparatus that the Party and the State are implementing is, in essence, a change in the role and function of the State in general and each organization in the State apparatus in particular, placed in relation to the market and society. "Thus, along with the revolution of streamlining the apparatus, there will be a revolution of streamlining the legal system," Mr. Cung explained.

That is, when legal documents are reviewed in the spirit of the same issue, same content, should only be regulated in one law, as directed by General Secretary To Lam, Mr. Cung proposed to immediately conduct a review to cut down on conditional business lines, strongly shifting from "pre-inspection" (through administrative procedures, licensing...) to "post-inspection" according to standards, regulations, risk level and compliance history of the management subject...

Dr. Tran Du Lich also shared this plan, with calculations, the level of reduction in compliance costs, as well as business conditions, will be much higher than the 30% floor level.

But the important thing is, with this management method, the two most important factors for business people, legal risks and business freedom, will be solved, thereby opening up a space of business freedom for businesses.

“But to do this, we must put our trust in businesses and the market to truly change the mindset and way of state management,” Mr. Cung said frankly.

Ministries, agencies and localities focus on thoroughly reviewing, cutting down and simplifying regulations and administrative procedures related to investment, production, business and people's lives, ensuring a reduction of at least 30% of administrative procedure processing time and at least 30% of business costs (compliance costs); abolishing 30% of unnecessary business conditions; implementing business-related procedures in the electronic environment, ensuring smoothness, continuity and efficiency.

The Government Office shall preside over and coordinate with agencies and localities to develop and submit to the Government for promulgation a Resolution approving the Program to reduce and simplify administrative procedures related to production and business activities in the period of 2025 - 2030; to be completed before March 31, 2025.

Source: Official dispatch No. 22/CD-TTg

Source: https://baodautu.vn/cat-giam-dieu-kien-kinh-doanh-bat-dau-tu-niem-tin-vao-doanh-nghiep-d254421.html