6 notable new policies effective from March 2019

1. Rules of origin for goods in the CPTPP Agreement

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

- Having a pure origin or being wholly produced within the territory of one or more member states;

- Manufactured entirely from materials originating within the territory of one or more member countries;

- Produced entirely from materials not originating in the territory of one or more Member States, provided that the goods meet all the relevant regulations in Appendix I of this Circular;

The 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 business registration.

Accordingly, all business and household business 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 have been replaced include:

- Application form for registration of a private enterprise, single-member limited liability company, multi-member limited liability company, joint-stock company, partnership company, etc.

- Sample notices and other documents issued by businesses: Notice of changes to business registration details; Notice of changes to the legal representative, etc.

These document templates are used uniformly nationwide.

The circular takes effect from March 11, 2019.

3. Adding nearly 80 vocational and college-level programs.

Circular 06/2019/TT-BLDTBXH supplements the list of training fields and occupations at level IV for intermediate and college-level training issued with Circular 04/2017/TT-BLDTBXH.

The additional professions fall into 14 fields such as: Education, law, arts, journalism, economics, etc.

Specifically, college-level programs include fields such as: Construction Engineering Education, Folk Performing Arts, Variety Shows, Business English, Tourism English, Hotel and Restaurant Reception English, Corporate Legal Services, etc.

Intermediate-level programs include fields such as: Supermarket management, asset auction assistant, packaging processing technology, high-tech agriculture, etc.

The circular takes effect from March 15, 2019.

4. Regulations on the issuance of 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 result in the revocation of insurance agent certificates:

- Individuals who do not participate in the Insurance Agent Certification Examination organized by the Ministry of Finance;

- Candidates who did not pass the insurance agent certification exam as stipulated in Circular 125;

- Candidates who falsify personal identification documents (citizen identification card, citizen identification card, passport) or use someone else's personal identification documents when participating in the exam;

- Candidates who took the exam were trained during a period when the training institution was forced to suspend its insurance agent training activities according to a decision of the competent authority regarding 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 information is stated in Circular 46/2018/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health regulating electronic medical records.

Accordingly, each patient will have only one unique identification number for managing and storing their electronic medical records at a single healthcare facility. Electronic medical records must meet the following requirements:

- All information must be recorded as in the paper medical record;

- The digital signature of the person responsible for the content entered into the electronic medical record is required;

- Comply with regulations regarding the protection of personal information.

This circular takes effect from March 1, 2019.

6. Brokers of adoptions involving children under 16 years of age may face criminal prosecution.

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

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

- Exploiting the adoption process to adopt children under 16 years of age for sexual exploitation, forced labor, organ harvesting, etc.

The decree takes effect from March 15, 2019.