A Comparison Between Vietnam’s Trade In Service Commitments under WTO, CPTPP, and EVFTA

The full text of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP) and the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and European Union (EVFTA) have been made available for public information. Please download here a table comparing the existing commitments of Vietnam under WTO Agreement, CPTPP and EVFTA Agreement for certain service sectors. The comparison is done by Tran Thuy Tien, Nguyen Thuc Anh and Le Minh Thuy.

Notes:

Vietnam’s specific commitments are contained in two Annexes (Annex I and Annex II) of Chapter 9 of the CPTPP and Chapter 8 and Annex 8-B of the EVFTA Agreement. The list below covers specific commitments in specific sectors or sub-sectors. But there are commitments which apply to all sectors and are not listed in here.

CPC codes are as used in the Provisional Central Product Classification.
No limitation means no limits on national treatments in terms of Foreign ownership, forms of investment or other restriction.
Branching is generally not allowed unless otherwise indicated.

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Vietnam Covid-19 Outbreak – Legal Guide to Employment Issues

Please download our guidance on the following employment Covid-19 issues here.

This guidance is written by Nguyen Hoang Duong, Nguyen Bich Ngoc, Quach Mai Phuong, and Nguyen Quang Vu.

1. Employer’s general responsibility to maintain a safe workplace during Covid-19 outbreak?

2. How to deal with employees confirmed to be positive for Covid-19?

3. How to deal with an employee who is in quarantine due to Government order?

4. How to deal with an employee who violates “Covid-19” regulations (e.g., making an untrue medical declaration, or avoiding quarantine) and is later on tested positive?

5. How to deal with employees who are suspected to have or be exposed to Covid-19 but are not subject to quarantine requirements?

Vietnam Covid-19 Outbreak - The Legal Secrets of Vietnam’s Success

Undoubtedly, Vietnamese people can be proud of the society’s collective success in combating Covid-19 outbreak (less than 300 confirmed cases and no death after three months since the first confirmed case). Newspaper reports have attributed Vietnam’s success to many things including Government’s decisive and consistent policy, comprehensive quarantine and contact tracing, and high-level of awareness and cooperation by Vietnamese people. However, not much has been said about the legal framework that underpins Vietnam’s success. In this post, we will describe the legal framework which deals with infectious disease and epidemic such as Covid-19 in Vietnam. This post is written by Nguyen Hoang Duy and edited by Nguyen Quang Vu.

Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases 2007

The Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases 2007 was issued by the National Assembly in 2007. Laws issued in Vietnam are not always perfect. However, the fact that there is a law issued by the highest authority in Vietnam about pandemic a long time ago (probably after the SARS outbreak in 2003) demonstrates that Vietnam has given serious thought about how to deal with a pandemic.

Vietnam Covid 19 Outbreak - How to deal with an employee who violates “Covid-19 regulations” (e.g., making untrue medical declaration, or avoiding quarantine) and is later on tested positive?

Available remedies

The employer may consider:

· terminating the violating employee’s labor contract by way of dismissal; and

· requesting the violating employee to compensate for damages.

Dismissal

Under the Labor Code 2012, an employer is permitted to apply dismissal as a form of dealing with breach of labor discipline where the employee is guilty of conduct (a) causing serious loss and damage, or (b) which threatens to cause particularly serious loss and damage to property or interests of the employer.

An employee, who breaches the Government’s “Covid-19” regulations such as making inaccurate mandatory medical declaration or avoiding applicable quarantine requirements and is later on tested positive for Covid-19 (the violating employee) may cause material disruption and damages to the employer.

Vietnam Business Law

Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases 2007