DECISION

ON APPROVAL FOR THE PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF EU-VIETNAM FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (EVFTA)

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization dated June 19, 2015; the Law on amendments to certain articles of the Law on Government Organization and the Law on Local Government Organization dated November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to the Law on International Treaties dated April 9, 2016;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 102/2020/QH14 of the National Assembly dated June 8, 2020, on the ratification of the Free Trade Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the European Union and relevant documents ;

At the proposal of the Minister of Industry and Trade in documents No. 5248/BCT-DB dated July 20, 2020, 5664/BCT-DB dated August 4, 2020,

HEREBY DECIDES:

Article 1. Promulgate together with this Decision the plan for implementation of EU-Vietnam free trade agreement (EVFTA) and Annexes.

Article 2. This Decision comes into force as of the date of its signing.

Article 3. During the implementation of the Agreement, when it is necessary to make any amendments to suit the actual situation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take charge and cooperate with relevant ministries and central authorities in consolidating and reporting to the Prime Minister for consideration.

Article 4. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of Governmental agencies, the President of People’s Committees of provinces and central-affiliated cities and heads of relevant entities shall implement this Decision./.

PLAN

FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF EU-VIETNAM FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (EVFTA)
(Issued together with Decision No. 1201/QD-TTg dated August 6, 2020 of the Prime Minister)

I. OBJECTIVES

The Prime Minister approves the formulation of an EVFTA Implementation Plan to assign tasks and responsibilities to relevant agencies and organizations, decide on directive, executive and other measures for sufficient and effective implementation of this Agreement.

II. KEY TASKS

In order to achieve the above objectives, in the coming time, in addition to regular tasks, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, governmental agencies, People's Committees of provinces and centrally-affiliated cities need specify and perform following key tasks:

1. Propagation and communication of EVFTA and markets of EU countries

a) Enhance the communication of EVFTA among relevant entities , especially those that may be affected such as farmers, fishermen, central and local authorities, industry associations, cooperatives, the business community, workers, and other labor sectors through the media, websites, publications, documentation, radio and television programs, training classes, seminars to raise awareness and understanding of the commitments as well as the works to be implemented to effectively implement EVFTA;

b) Focus on training officers in regulatory agencies as well as businesses in some sectors such as tax, rules of origin, EU market access, investment, services, customs, Government procurement, trade remedies, intellectual property, labor, environment and so on to ensure that businesses and officers of regulatory agencies have a clear and accurate understanding, thereby helping to make full use and implement the Agreement sufficiently and effectively;

c) Set up the EVFTA contact point at the Ministry of Industry and Trade to provide information, guide and clarify the commitments and issues related to the Agreement;

d) Strengthen the network, strengthen capacity and promote the provision of information and forecasts about import and export markets and domestic markets by regulatory agencies that have the function of providing information about trade and investment so that Vietnamese enterprises can promptly grasp information, technical requirements and regulations on import and export management of EU countries.

dd) Promote trade and investment promotion programs in EU countries to inform the business community of other countries of the opportunities and advantages of Vietnam's business and investment environment, thereby developing trade relations, attracting foreign investment in key sectors; take advantage of source technology and modern technology to remove bottlenecks that may obstruct a number of industries in Vietnam in making use of EVFTA; and further continue to reinforce the position, role and image of Vietnam in the international arena.

e) Enhance the role of business associations; through business associations to grasp and solve difficulties and problems of the business community, especially small and medium enterprises. addition, orient the associations for innovation in production and start-up culture, enable sole proprietorships to improve production capacity, product quality, and meet the EU and international quality standards.

2. Making law and institutions

a) Relevant ministries and central authorities shall continue to review the law during the implementation of the Agreement and report to the Government if there are proposals for amendments to other legislative documents to suit the requirements of the Agreement;

b) Make amendments to legislative documents and submit them to competent authorities for approval and promulgation in accordance with the EVFTA roadmap.  In exceptional circumstances, to fulfill commitments on time, the reduced procedures may apply in accordance with the Law on Promulgation of Legislative Documents 2015;

c) Ensure the implementation of consultation with relevant entities in the process of making policies and laws;

d) Continue to make and complete necessary institutions for the implementation of the Agreement:

- Designate a general contact point and specific contact points in each sector for information exchange between Vietnam and the EU and to fulfill notification obligations under the Agreement;

- Designate and notify the Vietnamese contact points to join EVFTA's Trade Committee, the Specialized Committees according to the chapters; the contact point for communication between Vietnam and the EU on all matters of the Agreement; coordinating agencies in formulation of proposals and receiving technical assistance from EU countries during the implementation of the Agreement; the contact point for the implementation of the new generation FTA, including EVFTA, located at the Ministry of Industry and Trade to closely coordinate with other contact points for the implementation of the EVFTA, CPTPP... at ministries, central authorities and local governments;

- Designate individuals to build a list of arbitrators in accordance with the Agreement to settle disputes arising between the two parties;

- Develop a mechanism to establish a domestic advisory group (DAG) composed of independent representative organizations to ensure a balanced representation across economic, social and environmental sectors, including employer and employee organizations, businesses and environmental organizations.  It is expected that the organizational structure and operational model of this domestic advisory group are as follows:

+ Representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade play a general coordinating role, with the participation and coordination of representatives of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (as the permanent deputy of the coordinating division).

+ The standing agency (acting as the Secretariat of the advisory group) is an agency under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

+ The composition of the advisory group includes some representative organizations of employees and employers, businesses and labor or environmental organizations.

+ The advisory group is responsible for advising on the implementation of the Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter of EVFTA and reporting to the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development (established under the Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter of the Agreement).

3. Building competitive capacity and developing human resources

a) Conduct quantitative assessment of the impact of EVFTA after the Covid-19 pandemic on socio-economic aspects as well as specific sectors, recommend appropriate response measures.

b) Develop programs to support and build competitive capacity for industries and enterprises, especially micro, small and medium enterprises, farmers, in line with international commitments; and further prepare response and support solutions for industries and commodities that are greatly and directly affected from the implementation of the Agreement; support Vietnamese enterprises to participate in regional and global production networks, value chains, and supply chains;

c) Promote the application of science and technology in production and business, improve labor productivity in enterprises and manufacturing industries.  Develop a strategy to actively approach and promptly grasp new development trends associated with modern science and technology, especially applying the achievements of the 4th industrial revolution to production like artificial intelligence, internet of things, 5G technology ...  .Effectively implement policies to attract talents, encourage domestic and foreign scientists to transfer research findings into production practice;

d) Focus on industrial restructuring, create a foundation for industrialization and modernization; speed up the restructuring process of agriculture and rural economy according to advanced production models, apply safe and environmental friendly science and technology;

dd) Strengthen measures and mechanisms to encourage and orient foreign-invested enterprises to connect with domestic enterprises, contributing to the formation and development of supply chains;

e) Attach importance to developing high-quality human resources, especially in engineering - technology, law, finance, etc.;

g) Promote mutual recognition of conformity assessment results with EU, especially for strong products and goods exported from Vietnam to EU.

4. Guidelines and policies for grassroots trade unions and labor organizations at enterprises

a) Continue to improve the legal system governing labor relations and labor standards in accordance with international standards, commitments and conventions to which Vietnam has acceded, including the formulation of decrees on guidelines for the revised Labor Code 2019 and coordinating with the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in the process of amending the Trade Union Law;

b) Promote the early ratification of Convention 87 of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

c) Organize the research, survey, and assessment of security issues when implementing commitments on labor and trade union;

5. Policy on social security, environmental protection and sustainable development

a) Develop and promulgate social policies consistently, including financial support policies, vocational training for career change, providing job counseling services ... to help employees suffering job loss due to business competition;

b) Evaluate the impacts of EVFTA on labor, employment, society, etc issues and propose solutions to effectively implement EVFTA;

c) Continue to promote the full implementation of Vietnam's commitments in the multilateral agreements on the environment, wildlife conservation and protection to which Vietnam has acceded; promote the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement of Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade ("FLEGT-VPA"); pay attention to the inspection, examination and strictly handle violations of the law on environmental protection and biodiversity;

d) Actively engage in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (hereinafter referred to as "IUU") fishing and fishing-related activities fishing and illegal trade in wildlife.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

1. On the basis of the key tasks in this Implementation Plan and on the basis of their assigned functions and tasks, Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of governmental agencies, Presidents of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-affiliated cities shall direct the elaboration of implementation plans for their own ministries, central authorities and local governments for promulgation at the time when the Agreement comes into force.

2. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level bodies, Heads of Government bodies, and Presidents of People's Committees of provinces and centrally-affiliated cities shall focus on directing, enhancing inspection and speeding up the initiation of implementation plans of their ministries, central authorities and local governments, periodically before December 15 every year, send reports to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for consolidating and reporting to the Prime Minister on the implementation and propose necessary measures to ensure an efficient and consistent implementation.

3 . The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take charge and cooperate with the Government Office in monitoring and urging ministries, central authorities and local governments and enterprise representative organizations to implement this Plan.

4. Funding for the implementation of the Plan of Government shall be set aside from the state budget, sponsorships and other lawful financial sources of the ministries and central authorities according to the provisions of law on the state budget.  Funding for the implementation of the plans of the ministries, central authorities and local governments shall be included in the annual budget plans of their respective ministries, central authorities and local governments set aside the state budget, sponsorships, and other legal private funding sources. Relevant ministries and agencies are responsible for making budget estimates, the Ministry of Finance shall consolidate and submit the estimates to the Prime Minister for approval and allocating budgets for the annual implementation of this Plan.

5. In the process of implementation of this Plan, if it is necessary to make amendments to specific contents of the Plan, ministries, central authorities and local governments shall actively report to the Prime Minister, and further send copies of report to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for general consolidation and submission to the Prime Minister for consideration./.

ANNEX

LIST OF DESIGNATED CONTACT POINTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF EVFTA
(Issued together with Decision No. 1201/QD-TTg dated August 6, 2020 of the Prime Minister)

IV. Authority in charge of coordination and consolidation of implementation of the Agreement by Relevant ministries and central authorities and report to the Prime Minister: The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take charge and cooperate with Relevant ministries and central authorities.

V. Contact point for all matters concerning negotiation and admission of new member: The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Relevant ministries and central authorities.

VI. Contact point for communications with EVFTA Parties as to every matter of the Agreement: The Ministry of Industry and Trade

VII. Coordinating authority for establishment, consolidation of proposals and receipt of technical assistance from foreign partners during implementation of the Agreement:

- The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take general coordination role.

- Relevant ministries and central authorities shall initiate activities provided with technical assistance within their functions and tasks./.