6 outstanding new policies taking effect from March 2019

1. Rules of origin of goods in the CPTPP Agreement

According to Circular 03/2019/TT-BCT regulating the Rules of Origin of Goods in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, goods are considered to have origin if they:

- Wholly obtained or produced entirely in the territory of one or more member countries;

- Produced entirely from raw materials originating in the territory of one or more member countries;

- Produced entirely from raw materials not originating in the territory of one or more member countries, provided that the goods satisfy all relevant provisions in Appendix I of this Circular;

Circular takes effect from March 8, 2019

2. Replace the entire business registration form

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has issued Circular 02/2019/TT-BKHĐT amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular 20/2015/TT-BKHĐT guiding on business registration.

Accordingly, all business and household registration forms issued with Circular 20/2015/TT-BKHĐT will be replaced by new forms according to Circular 02/2019/TT-BKHĐT.

Some typical forms that are replaced are:

- Application form for registration of private enterprise, one-member LLC, LLC with two or more members, joint stock company, partnership company...

- Notification form and other documents issued by enterprises: Notification of change of business registration content; Notification of change of legal representative...

These text templates are used uniformly nationwide.

The Circular takes effect from March 11, 2019.

3. Add nearly 80 intermediate and college occupations

Circular 06/2019/TT-BLDTBXH adds training majors and occupations to the List of training majors and occupations at level IV, intermediate and college levels issued with Circular 04/2017/TT-BLDTBXH.

Additional majors and professions in 14 fields such as: Pedagogy, law, art, journalism, economics...

Specifically, college level has majors such as: Construction engineering pedagogy, folk performing arts, variety shows, business English, tourism English, restaurant - hotel reception English, corporate legal services...

Intermediate level has majors such as: Supermarket management, asset auction organization assistant, packaging processing technology, high-tech agriculture...

The Circular takes effect from March 15, 2019.

4. Regulations on granting insurance agent certificates

On December 24, 2018, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular 125/2018/TT-BTC regulating the issuance of insurance agent certificates.

Accordingly, the following cases will have their insurance agent certificates revoked:

- Individuals who do not attend the insurance agent certificate exam organized by the Ministry of Finance;

- Candidates who fail to pass the DLBH certificate exam as prescribed in Circular 125;

- Candidates forge identity documents (CCCD, ID card, passport) or use other people's identity documents when taking the exam;

- Candidates are trained during the time the training facility is forced to suspend training activities of insurance agents according to the decision of the competent authority on administrative sanctions in the field of insurance business.

The Circular takes effect from March 1, 2019.

5. Electronic medical records: Each patient has only one management code.

This is the information stated in Circular 46/2018/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health regulating electronic medical records.

Accordingly, each patient has only one management code, storing electronic medical records at a medical examination and treatment facility. Electronic medical records must meet the following requirements:

- Must record all information content as paper medical records;

- Must have the digital signature of the person responsible for the information entered into the electronic medical record;

- Comply with the regulations on personal information protection.

This Circular takes effect from March 1, 2019.

6. Brokers who adopt children under 16 years old can be criminally prosecuted.

According to Resolution 02/2019/NQ-HDTP effective from March 15, 2019 guiding the application of Article 150 on the crime of human trafficking and Article 151 on the crime of human trafficking under 16 years of age of the Penal Code, the act of brokering adoption of children under 16 years of age in the following cases will be prosecuted for criminal liability for the crime of human trafficking under 16 years of age:

- Knowing that the purpose of adopting a child under 16 years old is to sexually exploit, force labor, take body parts, sell to others or for other inhumane purposes, but still transferring the victim to receive money, property or other material benefits.

- Taking advantage of adoption to adopt children under 16 years old for sexual exploitation, forced labor, taking body parts...

The Decree takes effect from March 15, 2019.