13 Laws effective from January 1, 2015

From January 1, 2015, 13 laws officially came into effect with many important contents such as: Expanding the scope of benefits and coverage of health insurance; allowing surrogacy for humanitarian purposes; exempting corporate income tax on income from processing agricultural and aquatic products by cooperatives; strengthening control and management of construction quality; and addressing scattered, wasteful, and inefficient public investment.

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The 13 laws include:1. Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the Health Insurance Law; 2. Employment Law; 3. Law amending and supplementing certain articles of tax laws; 4. Marriage and Family Law; 5. Plant Protection and Quarantine Law; 6. Notary Law; 7. Customs Law; 8. Construction Law; 9. Public Investment Law; 10. Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the Inland Waterway Traffic Law; 11. Environmental Protection Law; 12. Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam; 13. Bankruptcy Law.

Expanding the scope and level of benefits under health insurance.

According to the Health Insurance Law, the health insurance benefits of citizens will be expanded. Accordingly, people living in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions; and people living in island communes and districts will be granted free health insurance cards funded by the State budget.

The law abolishes the 5% co-payment requirement for the poor, those receiving social welfare, ethnic minorities living in areas with difficult socio-economic conditions; those living in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions; and those living in island communes and districts. It also abolishes the 20% co-payment requirement for relatives of those who rendered meritorious service to the revolution, including biological parents, spouses, children of martyrs, and those who cared for martyrs.

The law also reduces the co-payment rate from 20% to 5% for other relatives of war veterans and those belonging to near-poor households.

Notably, the Health Insurance Fund will cover 100% of medical examination and treatment costs when patients have participated in health insurance for 5 consecutive years or more and the amount of co-payment for medical examination and treatment costs in the year is greater than 6 months of the basic salary.

The Employment Law regulates five major groups of issues.

The Employment Law comprises 7 chapters and 62 articles, regulating 5 major groups of issues including: 1- Policies to support job creation; 2- Labor market information; 3- Assessment and certification of national vocational skills; 4- Organization and operation of employment services; 5- Unemployment insurance.

Specifically, the public employment policy is a new policy aimed at providing temporary, paid employment to workers through the implementation of projects or activities using state capital associated with socio-economic development programs at the commune level, including: building infrastructure serving agricultural, forestry, fisheries, and salt production; building public infrastructure; environmental protection; climate change adaptation; and projects and activities serving the local community.

Corporate income tax exemption applies to income from processing agricultural and aquatic products by cooperatives.

The amended Law on Taxation stipulates the exemption of corporate income tax (CIT) for income from agricultural and aquatic product processing activities of cooperatives and enterprises in particularly difficult areas. A tax rate of 10% is applied to income from agricultural and aquatic product processing activities of cooperatives and enterprises in difficult areas. A tax rate of 15% is applied to income of enterprises engaged in cultivation, livestock farming, and processing in the agricultural and aquatic sectors not located in areas with difficult socio-economic conditions or areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions.

Regarding value-added tax, the Law adds offshore fishing vessels as an exempted item; and moves three groups of goods previously subject to a 5% tax rate to the tax-exempt category: fertilizers; animal feed for livestock, poultry, and other animals; and specialized machinery and equipment for agricultural production.

Surrogacy for humanitarian purposes

The 2014 Marriage and Family Law includes notable amendments and additions, such as revisions to marriage regulations (marriage age; removal of the prohibition on same-sex marriage, although "the State does not recognize same-sex marriage").

In addition, the Law also includes provisions on surrogacy for humanitarian purposes, aiming to meet the needs of couples who want children but whose wives are unable to conceive.

It is strictly prohibited to bring soil in or import harmful organisms.

The Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine has added several new principles to plant protection and quarantine activities, namely: the principle of pest control based on the principle of prevention being paramount; the application of integrated pest management measures in a sustainable manner, prioritizing biological control, the use of pest-resistant plant varieties, cultivation techniques, and good agricultural practices; and the use of pesticides must adhere to the "four correct principles" to ensure effectiveness, safety for people and food, minimize environmental pollution, and protect the ecosystem.

The law stipulates prohibited acts, emphasizing the prohibition of bringing soil and importing harmful organisms into Vietnam, breeding harmful organisms; and producing, trading, using, storing, transporting, disposing of, collecting, and processing pesticides and pesticide packaging in violation of regulations.

Improving the quality of notary services.

Regarding the Law on Notarization, the basic provisions concerning notaries, notarization organizations, notarization procedures, and state management of notarization have been expanded, and the scope of notarization has been broadened.

The law focuses on regulating notaries and notary practice organizations, aiming to improve the quality of the notary workforce, develop large-scale, stable notary practice organizations, and enhance the quality of notary services.

Fundamental changes to the method of carrying out customs procedures.

The Customs Law clearly stipulates the promotion of customs procedure reform, modernization of customs management, fundamental changes in the method of implementing customs procedures from traditional and semi-electronic methods to fully electronic methods, continued simplification of customs administrative procedures, application of management principles to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of customs management activities, and strengthening national and economic security protection to prevent smuggling, illegal transportation of goods across borders, and trade fraud.

Tăng cường kiểm soát, quản lý chất lượng xây dựng

Nguyên tắc cơ bản và cũng là nội dung cốt lõi của Luật Xây dựng là đổi mới phương thức và nội dung quản lý dự án, nhất là các dự án sử dụng vốn Nhà nước, khắc phục thất thoát và lãng phí, nâng cao chất lượng các công trình xây dựng.

Luật Xây dựng 2014 với nhiều điểm mới sẽ tăng cường kiểm soát, quản lý chất lượng xây dựng ở tất cả các khâu trong quá trình đầu tư xây dựng, đảm bảo công khai, minh bạch về quy trình cấp giấy phép xây dựng; khắc phục trình trạng quy hoạch chồng lấn, quy hoạch treo, đảm bảo dự án đầu tư xây dựng đúng mục tiêu, chất lượng, hiệu quả, nâng cao vai trò quản lý của Nhà nước về xây dựng.

Khắc phục đầu tư dàn trải, lãng phí, kém hiệu quả trong đầu tư công

Luật Đầu tư công đã thể chế hóa quy trình quyết định chủ trương đầu tư. Đây là nội dung đổi mới quan trọng nhất của Luật Đầu tư công, được coi là điểm khởi đầu quyết định tính đúng đắn, hiệu quả của chương trình, dự án theo đúng các mục tiêu, định hướng, kế hoạch, quy hoạch và chính sách phát triển của Đảng và Nhà nước.

Đồng thời, sẽ ngăn ngừa sự tùy tiện, chủ quan, duy ý chí trong việc quyết định chủ trương đầu tư, nâng cao trách nhiệm của người ra quyết định chủ trương đầu tư, góp phần khắc phục tình trạng đầu tư dàn trải, lãng phí, kém hiệu quả trong đầu tư công.

Phát triển giao thông đường thủy nội địa phải phù hợp với quy hoạch phát triển GTVT

Với Luật Giao thông đường thủy nội địa, có nhiều điểm mới được sửa đổi, bổ sung như quy định phát triển giao thông đường thủy nội địa phải phù hợp với quy hoạch phát triển giao thông vận tải và đảm bảo quốc phòng an ninh, phát triển kết cấu theo hướng hiện đại, đồng bộ về luồng, tuyến, cảng, bến, công nghệ quản lý… Ủy ban nhân dân các cấp tổ chức đăng ký phương tiện thủy nội địa theo quy định của Bộ trưởng Bộ Giao thông vận tải và tổ chức quản lý phương tiện được miễn đăng ký.

Về phương tiện thủy nội địa, Luật bỏ quy định đăng kiểm đối với các loại phương tiện nhỏ không có động cơ trọng tải từ 5 tấn đến dưới 15 tấn. Đối với người lái phương tiện, Luật sửa đổi đã bỏ quy định giới hạn không quá 55 tuổi đối với nữ và 60 tuổi đối với nam để phù hợp với điều kiện thực tế.

Bổ sung quy định về tăng trưởng xanh, biến đổi khí hậu

The amended Law on Environmental Protection supplements several provisions on green growth, climate change, and environmental security. At the same time, it harmonizes the provisions of the Law with international environmental commitments as expressed in international environmental treaties that Vietnam has signed and participated in.

The new regulations are also consistent with the characteristics of environmental science, such as prioritizing prevention, recognizing the organic interconnectedness of environmental factors, and not being separated by administrative boundaries.

Businesses are permitted to practice asset management during bankruptcy proceedings.

A new feature in the basic content of the Bankruptcy Law is that an insolvent enterprise or cooperative is one that fails to fulfill its debt payment obligations within 3 months from the due date. Accordingly, the Bankruptcy Law no longer uses the concept of "falling into a state of bankruptcy" but uses the concept of "insolvency".

A particularly important addition to the 2014 Bankruptcy Law is the provision regarding bankruptcy administrators, which stipulates that individuals and businesses are permitted to practice asset management during bankruptcy proceedings, including bankruptcy administrators and asset management and liquidation companies.

Facilitating entry, exit, and residence in Vietnam for foreigners.

The Law on Exit, Entry, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam creates many advantages for foreigners to enter, exit, transit, and reside in Vietnam for sightseeing, tourism, market research, investment cooperation, business, and study… while also meeting the requirements of protecting national security and maintaining social order and safety.

One of the regulations that has drawn attention is the prohibition of visa conversion, aimed at ensuring effective management and addressing the issue of foreigners applying for tourist visas to Vietnam and then subsequently working on construction projects, teaching, or other purposes, as has been the case in the past.

According to Chinhphu.vn