Circular 01/2022/TT-BCT amending Circular 47/2014/TT-BCT, on the management of e-commerce websites, and Circular 59/2015/TT-BCT, providing the management of e-commerce activities via mobile applications

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Circular No. 47/2014/TT-BCT of December 5, 2014, on the management of e-commerce websites, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Circular No. 59/2015/TT-BCT of December 31, 2015, providing the management of e-commerce activities via mobile applications^[1]

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 98/2017/ND-CP of August 18, 2017, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP of May 16, 2013, on e-commerce; and the Government’s Decree No. 85/2021/ND-CP of September 25, 2021, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP of May 16, 2013, on e-commerce;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 08/2018/ND-CP of January 15, 2018, amending a number of decrees regarding conditions for business investment under the state management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

At the proposal of the Director General of the E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency,

 The Minister of Industry and Trade promulgates the Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Circular No. 47/2014/TT-BCT of December 5, 2014, on the management of e-commerce websites, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Circular No. 59/2015/TT-BCT of December 31, 2015, prescribing the management of e-commerce activities via mobile applications.

Article 1. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Circular No. 47/2014/TT-BCT of December 5, 2014, on the management of e-commerce websites (below referred to as Circular No. 47/2014/TT-BCT)

1. To amend and supplement Article 5 as follows:

“Article 5. Principles of notification and registration of e-commerce websites

 Owners of e-commerce websites that also have functions of goods sale and provision of e-commerce services shall only carry out registration procedures with the Ministry of Industry and Trade in accordance with Chapter II of this Circular.”

2. To amend and supplement the title of Chapter II as follows:

“Chapter II

PROCEDURES FOR NOTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION OF E-COMMERCE WEBSITES AND REGISTRATION OF PROVISION OF E-CONTRACT CERTIFICATION SERVICES”

3. To amend and supplement Article 20 as follows:

“Article 20. Method of reporting for traders and organizations that have registered websites for e-commerce service provision

Traders and organizations developing websites for e-commerce service provision shall send online reports via the E-Commerce Management Portal or send written reports by post to the Ministry of Industry and Trade with statistics on their operations in the preceding year.”

4. To add the following 20a below Article 20 in Chapter II:

“Article 20a. Provision of e-contract certification services

1. A Regulation on provision of e-contract certification services shall be publicized on the homepage of the website and must have the following contents:

a/ Rights and obligations of service-providing traders and organizations;

b/ Rights and obligations of service users;

c/ Description of methods and process of certification of e-contracts;

d/ Limitation of the liability of service-providing traders and organizations;

dd/ Information security and management in the provision of e-contract certification services;

e/ Mechanism for settlement of complaints and disputes between parties related to the provision of e-contract certification services;

g/ Measures to handle violations for those who do not comply with the Regulation.

2. When there is a change in any of the contents specified in Clause 1 of this Article, a service-providing trader or organization shall notify such to all service users at least 5 days before making such change.”

5. To add the following Article 28a below Article 28:

“Article 28a. Publicization of the list of market-leading enterprises in the field of e-commerce services

1. Before March 15 every year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall publicize the group of 5 market-leading enterprises in the preceding year.

2. To-be-publicized information includes:

a/ Names of traders and organizations providing e-commerce services;

b/ Names of websites and applications providing e-commerce services.”

6. To add Article 29a below Article 29 as follows:

“Article 29a. Publicization of the list of traders and organizations providing e-contract certification services that have carried out registration procedures

1. The list of traders and organizations providing e-contract certification services that have completed registration procedures and received certification from the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall be publicized on the E-Commerce Management Portal.

2. To-be-publicized information includes:

a/ Names of traders and organizations providing e-contract certification services;

b/ Serial numbers of business registration certificates or establishment decisions of traders and organizations;

c/ Head office addresses, phone numbers and emails of traders and organizations;

3. Upon termination or cancellation of registration, information about traders and organizations providing e-contract certification services shall be deleted from such list and changed to the status “terminated registration” or transferred to the list of law-violating traders and organizations.”

Article 2. To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Circular No. 59/2015/TT-BCT of December 31, 2015, providing the management of e-commerce activities via mobile applications (below referred to as Circular No. 59/2015/TT-BCT)

1. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 2 as follows:

“2. Traders, organizations and individuals specified in Clause 1 of this Article are Vietnamese traders, organizations and individuals; foreign individuals residing in Vietnam; and foreign traders and organizations engaged in e-commerce activities in Vietnam.”

2. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 5 as follows:

“1. To notify the Ministry of Industry and Trade under Section 1, Chapter II of this Circular if such applications have the function of online ordering.”

Article 3. To annul or replace a number of clauses and articles of Circular No. 47/2014/TT-BCT and Circular No. 59/2015/TT-BCT

1. To annul or replace a number of clauses, articles of, and the Appendix to, Circular No. 47/2014/TT-BCT as follows:

a/ To annul Clause 2 of Article 1, and Articles 3, 4, 6 and 13.

b/ To replace the Appendix “Application for registration of a website for e-commerce service provision” (Form TMDT-1) with the Appendix “Application for registration of a website/application for e-commerce service provision (Form TMDT-1) to this Circular.

2. To annul Clause 2 of Article 1, Clause 8 of Article 3, and Articles 10 and 13, of Circular No. 59/2015/TT-BCT.

Article 4. Implementation provisions

1. This Circular takes effect on March 8, 2022.

2. Any problems arising in the course of implementation of this Circular should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for consideration and settlement.-

Minister of Industry and Trade
NGUYEN HONG DIEN

* The Appendix to this Circular is not translated.