Legal Document Updates in English (10/2011)

ANNUAL RENT RATE IS EQUAL TO 1.5% OF THE LAND PRICE
 

On December 30, 2010, the Government issued the Decree No. 121/2010/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 142/2004/ND-CP of November 14, 2005, on the collection of land rents and water surface rents.

According to the new regulations, for cases of land lease with rent rates being paid annually, the annual rent rate is equal to 1.5% of the land price based on the use purpose of the rented land prescribed by People’s Committees of provinces or centrally run cities (below referred to as provincial-level People’s Committees) under the Government’s regulations on methods of determining prices and price brackets for land of different categories.

Instead of basing on land price as being regulated in the Decree 142, , provincial-level People’s Committees shall provide for a rent rate (at a percentage of land prices according to use purposes of rented land) for each category of land, each grade of urban center, commune or region, type of street, land position or grade.

Also basing on this Decree, The land rent rate applicable to each project shall be kept unchanged for 5 years. Upon the expiration of this period, if the land price

 prescribed and publicized by provincial-level People’s Committees fluctuates by 20% at most over the land price used for calculation of land rent rates applicable at the previous time of determining the land rent rate, provincial-level Finance Departments (in case of leasing land to economic organizations, overseas Vietnamese or foreign organizations or individuals) or district-level People’s Committees (in case of leasing land to households and individuals) shall decide on the land rent rate to be applied in the subsequent period.

In the case of land and water surface lessees who delay the remittance of land or water surface rents into the state budget shall be fined instead of bearing 0,02% over the remittance of land rents; the imposition of fines for late payment of land and water surface rents shall comply with the Law on Tax Administration and guiding documents.

ALLOW TO PAY THE INDEBTED LAND USE LEVY AMOUNTS
IN 5 YEARS AT MOST
 

This regulation is mentioned in the Decree No. 120/2010/ND-CP which was issued by the Government on December 12, 2010 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 198/2004/ND-CP of December 3, 2004, on the collection of land use levy.

Accordingly, in case households and individuals that are permitted to change land use purposes or are granted land use right certificates and must pay land use levy and households and individuals that are allocated resettlement land by the State but cannot afford to pay land use levy may have unpaid levy amounts recorded as “land use levy debts” in their land use right certificates if they so wish and file written applications, enclosed with dossiers of application for grant of land use right certificates, dossiers of application for change of land use purposes or dossiers of application for allocation of resettlement land. Land users shall pay indebted land use levy amounts at the land price at the time of granting their land use right certificates. They may pay these debts within 5 years on an amortization basis. Past this 5-year time limit, if land users still fail to fully pay the indebted land use levy amounts, they shall pay land use levy at the land price at the time of debt payment.

In case an organization was allocated land without collection of land use levy or leased land by the State before October 15, 1993, when it is granted land use rights certificates, the land use levy shall be collected at a level equal to 40% of land prices prescribed by provincial-level People’s Committees as for cases of selling state-owned houses to current tenants, for areas within the residential land allocation limits, or 100% of land prices decided by provincial-level People’s Committees in conformity with actual land use right transfer prices in the market at the time of grant of land use right certificates, for areas in excess of residential land allocation limits.
This Decree also amends and supplements some other important contents relating to collection of land use levy; collection of land use levy upon land allocation by the State; collection of land use levy upon the conversion from land lease to land allocation with the collection of land use levy; collection of land use levy upon the grant of land use right certificates to current land users; land use levy exemption or reduction and so on.
This Decree takes effect on March 1, 2011 and annuls Clause 2, Article 8 of the Government’s Decree No. 198/2004/ND-CP of December 3, 2004; Article 5 of the Government’s Decree No. 84/2007/ND-CP of May 25, 2007.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ASSESSMENT ORGANIZATIONS
NEED ONLY 01 (ONE) ASSESSOR
 

On December 30, 2010, the Government issued the Decree No. 119/2010/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles the Government’s Decree No. 105/2006/ND-CP of September 22, 2006, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Intellectual Property regarding protection of intellectual property rights and state management of intellectual property.

Within that, the Decree amends and supplements many new regulations on Intellectual property assessment, defining again the assessment contents in the ways to concretize them and not repeat the regulations which are mentioned in the Law on Intellectual Rights.

Intellectual property assessment organizations are regulated in more details rather than in the Decree 105; accordingly, assessment organizations include enterprises established and operating under the law on enterprises; cooperatives and unions of cooperatives established and operating under the law on cooperatives; non-business units; law-practicing organizations established and operating under the law on lawyers, excluding subsidiaries of foreign law-practicing organizations,wholly   

foreign-owned limited liability law firms, limited liability law firms in the form of joint ventures between Vietnamese law-practicing organizations and foreign law-practicing organizations.
An intellectual property assessment organization must have at least one intellectual property assessor (instead of 02 assessors as regulated in the Decree 105); having a working office, equipment and facilities and having a necessary database for assessment

Time for processing petitions are reduced from 30 days to 20 days  after receiving a petition for inspection or supervision of imports or exports, or within 24 working hours after receiving a petition for suspension of customs clearance, the customs office shall consider and issue a notice of acceptance of the petition, if the petitioner has performed the obligations provided at Points a, b and c, Clause 1 and 2, Article 217 of the Law on Intellectual Property. In case of rejection, the customs office shall reply in writing to the petitioner, clearly stating the reason.

These amends and supplements take effect on February 20, 2011.

07 (SEVEN) 2011 – 2020 NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR GENDER EQUALITY
 

The Prime Minister has just signed the Decision No. 2351/Q-TTg on December 24, 2010 approving the 2011-2020 national strategy for gender equality to ensure substantive equality between men and women in opportunity, participation and benefits in the political, economic, cultural and social domains, contributing to fast and sustainable national development.

The strategy places 07 national targets for gender equality, and the most prominent is to intensify women’s holding of managerial and leading positions, aiming to gradually narrow gender gap in the political domain, accordingly, to strive for the percentage of 25% or higher of women participating in Party committees in the 2016-2020 tenure; the percentage of 30% or higher of female deputies to the National Assembly and People’s Councils at all levels in the 2011-2015 term and over 35% in the 2016-2020 term. Besides, It is necessary to strive for the targets that by 2015, 80% and by 2020, over 95% of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and People’s Committees at all levels will have female leaders and for the targets that by 2015, 70% and by 2020, 100% of Party and State agencies and socio-political organizations with the number of female cadres, civil servants and public employees making up 30% or higher will have women holding key leading positions.

At the same time,  narrowing  gender gap in the economic, labor and employment domains; to increase access of rural poor women and ethnic minority women to economic resources and labor market. The targets are that annually, at least 40% of the total number of people given new jobs will be assured for each sex (male and female); the rate of female entrepreneurs  will reach 30% by 2015 and 35% or higher by 2020; the rate of female rural laborers who are aged under 45 and vocationally trained will reach 25% by 2015 and 50% by 2020.

Additionally, ensuring gender equality in access to and benefit from healthcare services, the ratio of infants will not exceed 113 male infants/100 female infants by 2015 and 115/100 by 2020; reducing the maternal mortality rate to 58.3/100,000 live births by 2015 and below 52/100,000 live births by 2020; raising the percentage of pregnant women having access to services of medical care and prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission to 40% by 2015 and 50% by 2020 as compared to 2010 and the abortion rate to 27/100 live births by 2015 and below 25/100 by 2020.

ISSUING 15 NATIONAL TARGET PROGRAMS IN 2011
 

On December 12, 2010, the Prime Minister issue the Decision No. 2331/QD-TTg promulgating the list of national target programs in 2011

Accordingly, the national target program on employment has objectives in raising,  the vocational training quality and effectiveness with a view to creating jobs and increasing incomes for rural labor; to contribute to labor and economic restructuring for the cause of agricultural and rural industrialization and modernization; supporting the job creation and develop the labor market, especially in rural areas and non- formal sectors. The national target program includes 6 component projects such as renovation and development of vocational training; vocational training for rural laborers; job creation loans from the National Employment Fund; support for sending laborers to work overseas under contracts; support for labor market development; capacity building, communication and program monitoring and evaluation.

The national target program is managed by The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries, sectors and localities in, managing and organizing the program implementation.
Besides, The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries, sectors and localities in, managing and organizing the program implementation in the national target programs such as the poverty reduction national target program; the rural clean water and environmental sanitation national target program; the health national target program; the population and family planning national target program; the food hygiene and safety national target program; the national target program on culture; the national target program on drug prevention and combat; the national target program on crime prevention and combat; the national target program on energy efficiency and conservation and so on.

This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing.