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Improving the business environment: The distance from the support policy to beneficiaries is quite far

Spotlight on Decree 15

Assessing the results of the survey in implementing Resolution 19 and Resolution 35 on improving the business environment and business development - perspective from the enterprise, Dr. Vu Tien Loc, President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) said that many ministries and sectors are pioneers in reducing and simplifying business conditions and specialized inspection reform, but some ministries and branches have not changed much yet. Ministries and branches that have fierce and aggressive leaders, the reduction shall take place powerfully. Because of this, there is a need for independent evaluations, which monitor the implementation of the reduction process. Avoid the run of numbers in the optimistic reports about achievements that are always emphasized and people and businesses do not benefit from.

"After all, the most important measure is the satisfaction of the business. As a matter of fact, the new practical impact is the final and most important criterion for assessing whether a reform or reform agenda is truly successful. More than anyone else, it is the entrepreneurs who feel most clearly the change of business environment in Vietnam in recent years. Do they understand the best way to make administrative procedures more convenient? Is there a duplicate check? Have negative harassment? Are there frequent blackouts? If there is a dispute, will the court proceedings be effective?" - VCCI President stressed.

Notably, one of the most recognized results of the specialized inspection of goods is the Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP on food safety – “Tet Gift” by the Government for businesses to cut and create conditions for businesses.

Previously, Decree 38/2012 / ND-CP on food safety, certification procedures and declaration of conformity are very difficult. According to the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), 35,000 to 45,000 cases are required each year. The average enterprise will spend about 4 months at a cost of 10 million VND for normal food and 30 million VND for functional foods to complete the certification and declaration of conformity. With Decree 15, the main food safety management approach has changed from pre-check to post-control. Rather than having the approval of a state agency, businesses can proclaim food safety themselves. The State will focus on the inspection, examination and handling of violations in cases of inaccurate publication. Enterprises only need to submit the dossier for announcement to state agencies and to conduct production and business immediately without waiting for the approval of state agencies. According to estimates by the European Business Association in Vietnam, Decree 15 will reduce administrative costs by up to 90% and save 10 million VND per working day and 3.7 trillion VND a year for businesses.

From a business perspective, Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, Deputy General Secretary of Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) agrees with the viewpoint that the reformating of business conditions for ministries, sectors and localities are dissimilar. It is clear that if the ministries have shifted, they are under the local authority to do so; the change must first be at the ministerial level and then at sector level.

Mr. Nam highly appreciated Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP on food safety because there was a change not only on the surface of the law, but also on management thinking. It has abolished the regulation on food safety certification that must be certified by the Ministry of Health. This has created a very good condition for businesses to operate, because a year in the food industry they have to make tens of thousands of these certifications. While the principle of food safety is that the business must have self-fulfillment and self-responsibility. Now, thanks to Decree 15, businesses can have their own training and certification department.

Wish not for guidance in each locale

Contrary to the satisfaction of Decree 15, Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam is pressing on another issue. "From an industry perspective, from production to export, involving 7 ministries, I expect something else. I highly appreciate that there are some very active ministries such as Agriculture and Rural Development, Health, Industry and Trade, that focus on issues that the Minister prioritizes. For example, the inadequacy of the use of iodized salt in food processing as stipulated in Decree 09/2016/ND-CP on nutritional micronutrients has been reported by enterprises and industry associations to the government since March 2017, and many subsequent dialogues have not been resolved. Resolution 19/2018 has included this in the request for the Ministry of Health. Accordingly, the Government requested the amendment of Decree 09/2016 to abolish the requirement "salt used in food processing must be iodized", the deregulation of "flour used in food processing must be iron and zinc reinforced," instead, would only encourage food businesses’ use. The resolution was made, but now the Ministry of Health continues to set up a delegation to check whether it is true. So what is the meaning of Resolution 19?" asked Mr. Nam.

Commenting on the results of Resolution 19 and 35, economist Pham Chi Lan said that business conditions in some areas were substantially improved, but not many. The engine has no incentive to cut business conditions. Single window but a lot of nooks, still have to run to a lot of different places. If we cannot connect our apparatus continues to be fragmented. From fragmentation to commercialization, abuse of power creates its own interests elsewhere.

To overcome this situation, Ms. Pham Chi Lan said that it needs to be more drastic, the demand for institutional reform must be stronger. Cannot let the situation of “above is hot but under is cold”; cannot let subordinates keep harassing, affecting the whole machine. The case must be discharged. We have now approved the CPTPP, which is persuading the European community for early adoption of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), indicating that competition in the near future, especially in the context of strong institutional arrangements, requires more and more ministries, sectors and localities to improve the business environment.

"We already have a list, and why does the State not cut business conditions without having to wait for the ministries? We need to go ahead with the new Decrees, declare a series of cuts and set conditions, and if ministries do not cut, it will automatically cut. I hope in the next two years not to need Resolution 19, the Government does not have to hand only to each locality," Ms. Pham Chi Lan emphasized.

Commenting on the report on the implementation of resolutions 19 and 35, economist Pham Chi Lan said that the administrative reform is for the government agencies, not just for businesses. At the same time, the state should restore the "guillotine" mechanism - learning from Korean experience. Accordingly, cannot let subordinates keep harassing, affecting the whole machine that must discharge those cases. In addition, we need to set a goal of how to improve the business environment so that we can be comparable to other countries in EVFTA, CPTPP, instead of constantly comparing with other ASEAN countries. In addition, it is necessary to apply information technology in the reduction of business conditions to support transparency and accountability to avoid the single window situation but with many niches.

Source: Customs News