Decree No. 01/2002/ND-CP dated January 03, 2002 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 01/CP dated January 3, 1996 on sanctions against administrative violations in the field of trade

DECREE

AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING A NUMBER OF ARTICLES OF THE GOVERNMENT’S DECREE No. 01/CP OF JANUARY 3, 1996 ON SANCTIONS AGAINST ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATIONS IN THE FIELD OF TRADE

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of September 30, 1992;

Pursuant to the Commercial Law of May 23, 1997;

Pursuant to the Enterprise Law of June 26, 1999;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Handling of Administrative Violations of July 6, 1995;

At the proposal of the Trade Minister,

DECREES:

Article 1.-To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No.01/CP of January 3, 1996 on sanctions against administrative violations in the field of trade (hereinafter referred to as Decree No.01/CP) as follows:

1. To add Point e to Clause 2, Article 1 as follows:

e/ Violations of regulations on goods labeling and goods stamps.

2. To amend and supplement Article 4 as follows:

Article 4.-Sanctioning of the violations of regulations on business registration applicable to enterprises or branches and/or representative offices of enterprises engaged in trading business

1. A warning or a fine of between VND 100,000 and 500,000 shall be imposed for one of the following violations:

a/ Failing to keep the business registration certificates, the representative office or branch-setting up or operation registration certificates at the registered business head offices;

b/ Failing to report the loss of business registration certificates, representative office or branch-setting up or operation registration certificates or valid copies thereof to the agencies that have granted such business registration certificates or setting up or operation registration certificates.

2. A fine of between VND 200,000 and 1,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of temporarily ceasing business operation without notifying such to the agencies that have granted business registration certificates or terminating business operation without declaring it for deletion of the enterprise’s name from the name registry as prescribed.

3. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and 3,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of leasing or lending business registration certificates or representative office or branch-setting up or operation registration certificates.

4. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 5,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following violations:

a/ Hiring or borrowing business registration certificates or representative office or branch-setting up or operation registration certificates;

b/ Conducting business or activities in contravention of the contents inscribed in business registration certificates or representative office or branch-setting up or operation registration certificates;

c/ Modifying contents of business registration certificates or representative office or branch-setting up or operation registration certificates, which are different from the registered contents;

d/ Continuing business operation after such business operation is suspended or business registration certificates or representative office or branch-setting up or operation registration certificates are withdrawn.

5. A fine of between VND 5,000,000 and 10,000,000 together with business operation suspension shall be imposed for acts of conducting business without business registration or business licenses when dealing in goods items which, as prescribed by law, require business license.

6. Provisions in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article shall also apply to acts of breaching investment licenses, decisions on the setting up of branches or representative offices of foreign investment enterprises, licenses for setting up of representative offices or branches of foreign traders conducting trading business and service activities in Vietnam.

7. Additional sanctioning forms: suspension or withdrawal of business or operation registration certificate of representative offices or branches for 6 months for violation acts prescribed in Clause 3 and Point c, Clause 4 of this Article.

3. To amend and supplement Article 5 as follows:

Article 5.-Sanctioning of violations of regulations on business registration applicable to private business households.

1. A warning or a fine of between VND 50,000 and 200,000 shall be imposed for one of the following violations:

a/ Failing to report the loss of business registration certificates to the agencies that have granted such business registration certificates;

b/ Failing to keep business registration certificates or valid copies thereof at the business registration places;

c/ Temporarily ceasing business operation without notifying such to the agencies that have granted business registration certificates;

d/ Failing to return the business registration certificates to the business registration certificate granting agencies when relocating business places to other urban or rural districts.

2. A fine of between VND 200,000 and 1,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of leasing or lending business registration certificates.

3. A fine of between VND 200,000 and 2,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a/ Hiring or borrowing business registration certificates;

b/ Conducting business activities in contravention of the contents inscribed in business registration certificates;

c/ Modifying contents of business registration certificates which are different from the registered contents.

d/ Continuing business operation after decisions on business operation suspension are issued by competent agencies or the business registration certificates are withdrawn.

4. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 5,000,000 together with business operation suspension shall be imposed for acts of conducting business without registration or business licenses when dealing in goods items which, as prescribed by law, require business license.

5. Additional sanctioning forms: suspension or withdrawal of business registration certificates for between 3 and 6 months for violation acts prescribed in Clause 2 and Point c, Clause 3 of this Article.

4. To supplement Article 10 as follows:

Article 10a.-Sanctioning of violations of regulations on goods labels.

1. A warning or a fine of between VND 50,000 and 200,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a/ Trading in goods with ragged labels or labels with dim inscriptions that cannot be read.

b/ Trading in goods with labels designed not in compliance with the regulations on sizes, position, inscribing methods and languages.

2. A warning or a fine of between VND 100,000 and 500,000 shall be imposed for acts of trading in goods with labels not in compliance with regulations.

3. A fine of between VND 200,000 and 1,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts of violating the regulations on compulsory label content:

a/ Trading or storing goods with labels not inscribed with goods names, names and addresses of traders responsible for such goods.

b/ Trading or storing goods with labels not inscribed with goods quantity, composition and major quality norms.

c/ Trading or storing goods with labels or accompanying documents not inscribed with goods’date of manufacture, use duration, preservation duration, use and preservation instructions.

d/ Trading or storing imported goods with labels not inscribed with names of the countries of origin as prescribed.

e/ A fine of between VND 500,000 and 2,000,000 shall be imposed for violation acts prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article if involved goods are medicaments for human beings, animals or plants, vaccines, medical bio-products.

4. A fine of between VND 500,000 and 2,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of trading in labeless goods, which must have labels as prescribed by law.

5. A fine of between VND 500,000 and 2,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of trading in goods with labels improperly inscribed with optional contents according to the goods labeling regulation.

6. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and 3,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a/ Trading or storing goods with labels inscribed with wrong goods names, names and addresses of traders responsible for such goods.

b/ Trading or storing goods with labels or accompanying documents inscribed with wrong date of manufacture, use duration, preservation duration, use and preservation instructions.

c/ Trading or storing imported goods with labels inscribed with wrong names of the countries of origin as prescribed.

7. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 5,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of trading or storing goods with labels with their contents or presentations already erased, crossed out, modified, or with changed or fraudulently substituted labels.

8. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 5,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts: trading, storing or transporting assorted goods labels or goods labels with contents or presentations in contravention of law provisions.

9. A warning or a fine of between VND 100,000 and 500,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a/ Producing or importing goods with ragged labels or labels with dim inscriptions that cannot be read.

b/ Producing or importing goods with labels designed not in compliance with regulations on sizes, position, inscribing methods and languages.

10. A fine of between VND 500,000 and 2,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a/ Producing or importing goods with labels not inscribed with goods names, names and addresses of traders responsible for such goods.

b/ Producing or importing goods with labels not inscribed with goods’quantity, composition and/or major quality norms.

c/ Producing or importing goods with labels not inscribed or without any accompanying documents inscribed, with date of manufacture, use duration, preservation duration, use and preservation instructions.

11. A fine of between VND 500,000 and 2,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of producing or importing goods with labels improperly inscribed with optional contents according to the goods labeling regulation.

12. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and 5,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a/ Producing or importing goods with labels with goods names, names and addresses of traders responsible for goods inscribed not in compliance with regulations.

b/ Producing or importing goods with labels or accompanying documents inscribed with wrong date of manufacture, use duration, preservation duration, use and preservation instructions.

c/ Producing or importing goods with labels inscribed with wrong origin of such goods.

13. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 10,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of producing or importing labelless goods, which must have labels as prescribed by law, or failing to add auxiliary labels in Vietnamese language.

14. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 10,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of producing or importing goods with labels with contents erased or modified, or with changed or fraudulently substituted labels.

15. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 10,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of producing, printing or importing assorted goods labels with contents or presentations not compliant with law provisions.

16. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 10,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of trading in, transporting or storing for sale goods labels, marks or packing of all kinds, which bear signs identical or similar to those of trademarks or appellations of goods origin currently under protection, thus causing confusion.

17. A fine of between VND 5,000,000 and 20,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of producing or importing goods labels, marks or packing of all kinds, which bear signs identical or similar to those of trademarks or appellations of goods origin currently under protection, thus causing confusion.

18. Additional sanctioning forms and other measures:

a/ Forcible cessation of circulation of goods with labels violating the provisions in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15 of this Article.

b/ Forcible destruction of goods labels, for violation acts prescribed in Clauses 8, 16 and 17 of this Article.

c/ Confiscation of material evidences and means used in administrative violations, for violation acts prescribed in Clauses 7 and 14 of this Article.

d/ Forcible overcoming of violations consequences, for violation acts prescribed in Clauses 5 and 10 of this Article.

e/ Apart from being subject to the above sanctioning forms, before putting their goods into circulation, the violating organizations and individuals shall also have to abide by the goods labeling regulation and may be compelled to apply remedies to overcome consequences or pay damages of up to VND 1,000,000 to damage sufferers, for violation acts prescribed in Clauses 7 and 14 of this Article.

Article 10b.-Sanctioning of violation acts of inscribing goods labels with goods quantity, composition and major standard norms at variance with the already announced ones

1. A fine of between VND 200,000 and 1,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of trading in goods with contents inscribed on their already publicized labels untrue to their actual quantities, but without causing any harms to health of human beings, animals, plants and environment.

2. A fine of between VND 1,000,000 and 3,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of trading in goods with contents inscribed on their already publicized labels untrue to natural origins, names, utilities, composition and major quality norms of goods, but without causing any harms to health of human beings, animals, plants or environment.

3. A fine of between VND 500,000 and 2,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of producing or importing goods with quantity details inscribed on their already publicized labels untrue to their actual quantities.

4. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 5,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of producing or importing goods with contents of natural origins, names, utilities, composition and major quantity norms inscribed on their labels untrue to the goods reality regarding any of the said contents, but without causing any harms to health of human beings, animals, plants or environment.

5. A fine of between VND 5,000,000 and 10,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following violation acts:

a/ Trading in goods containing added impurities and/or additives, which are not permitted for use, and change such goods quality; goods containing no or little pharmaceuticals, or containing pharmaceuticals different from those inscribed on goods labels or packing; goods containing no or insufficient active elements or effective matters to constitute their utility; goods containing active elements or effective matters other than those announced on goods labels or packing.

b/ Trading in goods with use value untrue to the already announced natural origins, names and utility, thus affecting the health of people, animals, plants or environment.

c/ Trading in goods with an incomplete composition or made of substituted raw materials or spare parts with inferior quality, as compared to the already announced goods quality, thus adversely affecting the production, health of human beings, animals, plants or environment.

6. A fine of between VND 10,000,000 and 20,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the following violation acts:

a/ Producing or importing goods containing added impurities and/or additives which are not permitted for use and change their quality; goods containing no or little pharmaceuticals or containing pharmaceuticals different from those inscribed on goods labels or packing; goods containing no or insufficient active elements or effective matters to constitute their utility; goods containing active elements or effective matters other than those announced on goods labels or packing.

b/ Producing or importing goods with use value untrue to the already announced nature origins, names and utility, thus affecting the health of human beings, animals, plants or environment.

c/ Producing or importing goods with an incomplete composition or made of substituted raw materials or spare parts with inferior quality as compared to the already announced goods quality, thus adversely affecting the production, health of human beings, animals, plants or environment.

7. Additional sanctioning forms and other measures:

a/ Forcible destruction of goods labels, for violation acts prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article, and addition of new labels in strict compliance with law provisions.

b/ Confiscation of goods and means used in violations, for violation acts prescribed in Clauses 5 and 6 of this Article.

c/ Forcible overcoming of violations consequences, for violation acts prescribed in Clauses 5 and 6 of this Article.

d/ Forcible cessation of business operation for 6 months or one year. Cases where serious consequences are caused shall be forwarded to the competent bodies for penal liability examination of organizations and individuals that commit violation acts prescribed at Points b and c, Clause 5 or Points b and c, Clause 6 of this Article.

Article 10c.-Sanctioning of violations of regulations on stamps for home-made goods and imported goods

1. A warning or a fine of between VND 50,000 and 200,000 shall be imposed for acts of sticking home-made goods stamps on wrong positions, using ragged stamps or failing to stick stamps directly on goods.

2. A fine of between VND 100,000 and 2,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of trading in, storing or transporting stampless home-made goods, which must be stuck with stamps as prescribed by law.

3. A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 5,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of producing stampless home-made goods, which must be stuck with stamps as prescribed by law.

4. A fine of between VND 100,000 and 1,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of trading in, transporting or storing imported goods, which must be stuck with stamps as prescribed by law, but with stamps stuck on wrong positions or with stamps of wrong categories.

5. A fine of between VND 200,000 and 5,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of trading in, transporting or storing imported goods, which must be stuck with stamps as prescribed by law, but unstuck with any stamps or stuck with ragged stamps with unreadable letters and numerals, or with stamps stuck not directly on goods.

6. A fine of between VND 5,000,000 and 20,000,000 shall be imposed for acts of producing, trading in, storing or transporting home-made goods and/or imported goods stamps not issued by the State.

7. Additional sanctioning forms: Confiscation of goods and/or means used in violation acts prescribed in Clauses 2, 3 and 5 of this Article. Forcible destruction of material evidences, for violations prescribed in Clause 6 of this Article.

Article 2.-This Decree takes effect 15 days after its signing. The other provisions of the Government’s Decree No.01/CP of January 3, 1996 on sanctions against administrative violations in the field of trade shall remain effective.

Article 3.-The Ministry of Trade shall have to guide the implementation of this Decree.

Article 4.-The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government, and the presidents of the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to implement this Decree.