The Ministry of Industry and Trade has said it will streamline paperwork requirements even though it is in disagreement with a complaint that it has the most inspection procedures among the ministries.
In giving the first feedback about the complaint made by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the business community, deputy minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said his ministry does not have too many procedures for industry-specific inspections of businesses. But he affirmed the ministry would make some changes for the benefit of the corporate sector.
On the ministry’s website, Khanh said his ministry has 447 administrative procedures. However, not all of them are related to licensing and some of them are just part of a licensing process, he noted.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment recently claimed the Ministry of Industry and Trade takes the lead in terms of industry-specific inspection procedures and that these procedures should be cut to make life easier for businesses.
Deputy minister Khanh, though disapproving of the claim, said: “The ministry will change the rules that are inappropriate as soon as possible to make things more convenient for businesses.”
The ministry’s Circular 37 on testing of concentrations of formaldehyde in fabric imports that received the most complaints from the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association was revised last Tuesday in a way that does not require importers of fabric as a material for manufacturing and processing to go through the cumbersome testing procedure at the border gates.
As for chemical declaration, the trade ministry was originally the agency that issued a chemical declaration form but this form has eventually become a mandatory procedure without the ministry’s knowledge, Khanh said, and his agency would make adjustments. And the ministry will also change the energy labeling rule.
These are the issues which the Ministry of Planning and Investment cited as evidence of the presence of so many procedures of the trade ministry, which enterprises must perform.
Khanh said the ministry would also fix a decree on trading of cooking gas in a way that protects the interests of businesses.
Source: http://english.thesaigontimes.vn
Key words: Trade ministry, says to relax, inspection, rules
