b) cooperate in providing professional training for district-level business registration authorities; provide instructions for district-level business registration authorities on document digitalization, data standardization and conversion, and updating of the cooperative registration data with information on local artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration;

c) inspect district-level business registration authorities’ performance of their tasks when handling artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration procedures;

d) provide information on artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration, legal status, and other information on artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions stored on the Cooperative registration database for regulatory authorities and other relevant authorities in accordance with regulations of law;

dd) organize the establishment, management and development of the Cooperative registration information system which is a constituent part of the National Enterprise Registration Information System; assist district-level business registration authorities, artels, cooperatives, cooperative unions and other organizations and individuals in using the Cooperative registration information system;

e) take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Finance in interconnected handling of procedures for business registration and tax registration of artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions, and in the connection between the Cooperative registration information system and the Tax registration system;

g) engage in international cooperation in artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration.

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a) cooperate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment in making connection between the Tax registration system and the Cooperative registration information system in order to issue ID numbers to artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions, ID numbers to affiliates and business locations of artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions, and exchange information on operation and tax payment of artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions and their affiliates and business locations;

b) perform state management of artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration within the ambit of its assigned tasks and powers in accordance with regulations of law.

3. Ministries, ministerial agencies, Governmental agencies, within the ambit of their assigned functions, tasks and powers, have the responsibility to carry out inspection of satisfaction of business conditions and market access conditions for foreign investors by artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions in accordance with regulations of law.

4. People's Committees at all levels shall:

a) perform state management of local artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration within their competence;

b) direct local sector- or area-specific regulatory authorities to carry out inspection of satisfaction of business conditions and market access conditions for foreign investors by artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions;

c) provide adequate human resources, funding and other resources for district-level business registration authorities to perform their tasks and powers as prescribed in this Decree; provide professional and operational training for district-level business registration authorities to improve their competency.

Article 9. Artel registration certificate, cooperative registration certificate, certificate of branch/representative office registration, certificate of business location registration

1. Artel registration certificates are issued to artels. Cooperative registration certificates are issued to cooperatives or cooperative unions.

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2. Contents of artel registration certificate, cooperative registration certificate, certificate of branch/representative office registration, certificate of business location registration shall be written according to information included in the application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration, or the application for branch/representative office/business location registration.

3. Artel registration certificate or cooperative registration certificate is also the certificate of tax registration of the artel or the cooperative or cooperative union. Artel registration certificate and cooperative registration certificate are not business licenses.

Article 10. Declaration of personal information when following procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration

1. If personal identification numbers are available, the person who follows procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration shall declare his/her full name, date of birth and personal identification number and those of the individuals whose personal information must be included in the application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration as prescribed. An individual’s declared information must exactly correspond to his/her information stored on the National population database. Where an individual's declared information does not correspond to his/her information stored on the National population database, he/she shall contact competent authorities to correct information before following procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration.

2. If physical documents are submitted, the applicant for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration shall present his/her citizen identity card or identity card or use his/her eID account when following procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration.

3. If personal identification numbers are not available, the application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration which must, as required by law, include personal information on the legal representative of the cooperative or cooperative union, the head of branch/representative office/business location, the artel’s representative (in case the artel’s representative is an individual) or the lawful representative of the juridical person (in case the artel’s representative is a juridical person) must also include the copy of ID card or passport or unexpired foreign passport or another document of equivalent validity of such an individual.

4. While the connection between the Cooperative registration database and the National population database is interrupted, the application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration must include the copies of ID cards or passports or unexpired foreign passports or other documents of equivalent validity of the applicant and the legal representative of the cooperative or cooperative union, the head of branch/representative office/business location, the artel’s representative (in case the artel’s representative is an individual) or the lawful representative of the juridical person (in case the artel’s representative is a juridical person) as prescribed.

5. Personal information shared between the National population database and the Cooperative registration database includes:

a) Full name;

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c) Personal identification number;

d) Sex;

dd) Ethnic group;

e) Nationality;

g) Permanent residence;

h) Current residence.

6. District-level business registration authorities, Business Registration Offices affiliated to Provincial Departments of Planning and Investment, and other regulatory authorities in charge of business registration are entitled to access and use the information on the National population database when handling procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration, and shall store and preserve information and data in accordance with regulations of law and in a manner that ensures security and confidentiality of information and data which must be fully backed up and have their adequacy and integrity ensured in order to be used when necessary or to serve information inspection and comparison, and resolution or trace requests and complaints, and to be provided at the request of relevant authorities or organizations as prescribed.

Article 11. Quantity and language used in application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration

1. Each artel, cooperative or cooperative union or its founder shall submit 01 application package when following procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration.

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3. Language used in application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration:

a) Any documents included in an application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration must be made in Vietnamese;

b) If any documents included in an application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration are made in foreign language, they must be accompanied by their notarized Vietnamese translations;

c) If a document included in an application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration is made in both Vietnamese and a foreign language, the Vietnamese version shall be submitted when following procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration.

Article 12. Authorization to follow procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration

1. The person who is authorized to follow procedures for cooperative or cooperative union registration shall be the one specified in the resolution of the Meeting on establishment of the cooperative or cooperative union. Authorization to follow procedures for cooperative or cooperative union registration shall comply with provisions of the Civil Code.

2. Except the case specified in clause 1 of this Article, the person whose signature appears on the application form for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration may authorize another organization or individual to follow procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration according to the following provisions:

a) If an individual is authorized, the application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration must include the letter of authorization. The notarization or certification of this letter of authorization is not compulsory;

b) If an organization is authorized, the application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration must include the copy of the service contract signed with the service provider, and that organization’s letter of introduction or assignment of the person who directly follows procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration.

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4. If a postal service provider that does not provide public postal services is authorized, such authorization shall follow provisions of point b clause 2 of this Article.

Article 13. Writing business lines

1. When applying for establishment, or notifying changes in business lines, or applying for the artel registration certificate or the cooperative registration certificate as prescribed in this Decree, the artel, cooperative or cooperative union or its founder shall select the level-4 business lines in Vietnam Standard Industrial Classification and write them on the application. District-level business registration authorities shall provide instructions on writing business lines, check and enter the business lines registered by artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions in the Cooperative registration database.

2. Specific level-4 business lines prescribed in clause 1 of this Article are specified in the Prime Minister’s Decision on Vietnam Standard Industrial Classification.

3. If conditional business lines are prescribed in other legislative documents, they shall be written according to these legislative documents.

4. Business lines that are not mentioned in Vietnam Standard Industrial Classification but prescribed in other legislative documents will be written according to such legislative documents.

5. Business lines that are mentioned in neither Vietnam Standard Industrial Classification nor other legislative documents, district-level business registration authorities shall consider adding them to the Cooperative registration database if they are not prohibited, and then request the Ministry of Planning and Investment to consider adding them as new business lines.

6. In case an artel, cooperative or cooperative union wishes to register more detailed business lines than level 4, it shall select a level 4 business line in Vietnam Standard Industrial Classification, then specify its business lines right under the level-4 line, provided the detailed business lines are appropriate for the selected level-4 line. In such case, the business lines of the artel, cooperative or cooperative union are the detailed lines it specified.

7. Business lines prescribed in clause 3 and clause 4 of this Article shall be written in accordance with clause 6 of this Article, which means detailed business lines must be written under the business lines prescribed by relevant legislative documents.

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Article 14. ID numbers of artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions, ID numbers of affiliates and business locations of cooperatives and cooperative unions

1. Each artel, cooperative or cooperative union is issued with a single ID number. This number is also the taxpayer identification number (TIN) of the artel, cooperative or cooperative union.

2. The ID number of an artel, cooperative or cooperative union exists throughout its operation and shall not be issued to any other entity. When an artel ceases to operate, or a cooperative or cooperative union is dissolved, its ID number will be invalidated. Where an artel ceases to exist as a result of its conversion into a cooperative, its ID number shall not be invalidated.

3. ID numbers of artels, cooperatives or cooperative unions are created, sent and received automatically by the Cooperative registration information system, the Tax registration system, and written on artel registration certificates or cooperative registration certificates. Procedures for creating an ID number of artel, cooperative or cooperative union:

a) When an application for artel registration or cooperative or cooperative union registration is considered satisfactory, information on artel registration or cooperative or cooperative union registration shall be transmitted from the Cooperative registration information system to the Tax registration system;

b) After the transmission of information on artel registration or cooperative or cooperative union registration from the Cooperative registration information system to the Tax registration system is finished, the conformity of the information with regulations of law on tax registration shall be automatically checked by the Tax registration system.

If the information is conformable with regulations of law on tax registration, an ID number of the registered artel, cooperative or cooperative union shall be automatically generated by the Tax registration system that shall also designate a tax authority in charge of the registered artel, cooperative or cooperative union. Information on the issued ID number and designated tax authority shall be then transmitted to the Cooperative registration information system.

If the information is not conformable with regulations of law on tax registration, a notice of such non-conformity will be automatically generated and transmitted from the Tax registration system to the Cooperative registration information system;

c) On the basis of the information transmitted from the Tax registration system, the district-level business registration authority shall issue an artel registration certificate or cooperative registration certificate, and notify the supervisory tax authority of the artel, cooperative or cooperative union to its founder. If, pursuant to regulations of law on taxation, an application is unsatisfactory, the district-level business registration authority shall give a notice thereof to the artel, cooperative or cooperative union.

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5. ID number of a business location of a cooperative or cooperative union is a series of 5 digits from 00001 to 99999. This number is not TIN of the business location.

6. Regulatory authorities shall uniformly use ID numbers of artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions, and ID numbers of affiliates and business locations of cooperatives and cooperative unions to perform state management tasks and exchange information on artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions.

 Article 15. Names of cooperatives and cooperative unions

1. A cooperative or cooperative union shall not use a proper name that is already used by another cooperative or cooperative union, or easily confused with the name of another cooperative or cooperative union that is already registered on the Cooperative registration database, except the names of cooperatives or cooperative unions that have been dissolved or declared bankrupt by competent courts.

2. District-level business registration authorities are entitled to accept or reject the names selected by cooperatives or cooperative unions as prescribed by law. The decision given by the district-level business registration authority is final. If disagreeing with the decision given by the district-level business registration authority, the cooperative or cooperative union may file a lawsuit in accordance with regulations of the Code of Administrative Procedures.

3. Cooperatives or cooperative unions whose names coincide or are confused with each other are recommended to negotiate about changing their names.

4. The name of a cooperative or cooperative union shall be displayed at its headquarters, branches and/or business locations; printed or written on transaction documents, records and printed materials that it issued.

5. In case a cooperative or cooperative union uses a name in a foreign language, its foreign name shall be printed or written in a text size which must be smaller than that of its Vietnamese name.

Article 16. Names of branches, representative offices and business locations of cooperatives and cooperative unions

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2. In addition to its Vietnamese name, the branch, representative office or business location of a cooperative or cooperative union may register a name in foreign language and an abbreviated name. The name in foreign language is the name translated from the Vietnamese name into one of the Latin-based languages. The abbreviated name may be abbreviation of either Vietnamese name or foreign language name.

3. The name of a branch, representative office or business location must be displayed at the premises of the branch, representative office or business location.

Article 17. Identical and confusingly similar names of artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions

1. The proper name selected by an applying artel is considered identical to that of another registered artel if these names consist of the same letters, digits and symbols, regardless of the case of the letters, except artels that have shut down.

The proper name selected by an applying cooperative or cooperative union is considered identical to that of another registered cooperative or cooperative union if its Vietnamese name consists of the same letters, digits and symbols as that of the registered cooperative or cooperative union, regardless of the case of letters.

2. The proper name selected by an applying cooperative or cooperative union is considered confusingly similar to that of another registered cooperative or cooperative union in the following cases:

a) The proper name selected by the applying cooperative or cooperative union and that of another registered cooperative or cooperative union are pronounced similarly;

b) The proper name selected by the applying cooperative or cooperative union is only different from that of another registered cooperative or cooperative union by a natural number or a letter in the Vietnamese alphabet or any of the letters F, J, Z, W that is written right after the proper name with or without a space;

c) The proper name selected by the applying cooperative or cooperative union is only different from that of another registered cooperative or cooperative union by the word “và” (“and”) or the symbol “&”,“.”, “,”, “+”, “-”, “_”;

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dd) The proper name selected by the applying cooperative or cooperative union is only different from that of another registered cooperative or cooperative union by the phrases “miền Bắc” (“North”), “miền Nam” (“South”), “miền Trung” (“Central”), “miền Tây” (“West”), “miền Đông” (“East”).

Article 18. Actions against names of artels, cooperatives, cooperative unions, branches, representative offices and business locations of cooperatives/cooperative unions that infringe upon industrial property rights

1. Any artel, cooperative or cooperative union shall not use a name that infringes upon the industrial property rights with regard to trade name, brand name, or geographical indication of another organization or individual in accordance with regulations of the Law on intellectual property, unless a consent is given by the owner of that trade name, brand name, or geographical indication. Before registering a name, the artel, cooperative or cooperative union or its founder may check the database of industrial property authorities for registered brand names and geographical indications. The artel, cooperative or cooperative union shall assume legal responsibility for its use of a name that infringes upon the industrial property rights.

2. Actions against the use by an artel, cooperative or cooperative union of a name that infringes upon the industrial property rights are taken in accordance with regulations of specialized laws. Identification of names of artels, cooperatives or cooperative unions that infringe upon industrial property rights shall comply with regulations of the Law on intellectual property.

3. A holder of industrial property rights is entitled to send a written request to the relevant district-level business registration authority to request the artel, cooperative or cooperative union whose name infringes upon industrial property rights to change its name. Such a written request must be accompanied with the following documents:

a) The written conclusion given by a competent authority that the name of the artel, cooperative or cooperative union infringes upon industrial property rights;

b) The certificate of registration of brand name or geographical indication; an extract from the national register of protected brand names and geographical indications issued by an industrial property authority; the certificate of registration of international brand name protected in Vietnam issued by an industrial property authority; the contract for use of an object of industrial property in case the requester is the transferee of rights to use such object of industrial property.

Within 03 working days from the receipt of adequate documents as prescribed in this clause, the district-level business registration authority shall request the artel, cooperative or cooperative union whose name infringes upon industrial property rights to change its name. The request sent to the artel, cooperative or cooperative union must be accompanied with the documents mentioned in this clause.

4. The artel, cooperative or cooperative union whose name infringes upon industrial property rights shall follow procedures for change of its name. The artel, cooperative or cooperative union must complete such procedures for change of its name within 60 days from the day on which it receives the request for change of name from the district-level business registration authority or a competent authority that handled the violation. If such artel, cooperative or cooperative union fails to follow procedures for change of its name which infringes upon industrial property rights as requested, the district-level business registration authority shall notify a competent authority to take actions against the violation as prescribed.

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Article 19. Receipt and processing of applications for artel registration, cooperative or cooperative union registration submitted to district-level business registration authorities directly or by post on Cooperative registration information system

1. The person in charge of submitting the application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration (applicant) shall submit the application to the business registration authority of district where the artel, cooperative or cooperative union is headquartered.

2. An application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration shall be received and updated on the Cooperative registration information system when all of the following conditions are satisfied:

a) It contains adequate documents as prescribed in the Law on Cooperatives and this Decree;

b) The name of the artel, cooperative or cooperative union has been written on the application form;

c) The applicant’s telephone number is available;

d) Business registration fees have been fully paid, unless an applicant is exempted from paying such business registration fees as prescribed.

3. Upon receipt of an application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration, the district-level business registration authority shall give a confirmation slip to the applicant.

4. The district-level business registration authority shall adequately and accurately enter the information included in the received application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration, carry out digitalization, and name the electronic documents corresponding to the physical documents included in the application, and upload them to the Cooperative registration information system.

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6. The artel, cooperative or cooperative union is required to modify and complete its application within 60 days from the date on which such modification is requested by the district-level business registration authority. Over the abovementioned deadline, if the artel, cooperative or cooperative union fails to modify and complete its application as requested, its submitted application will be invalidated. The district-level business registration authority shall cancel the received application according to the prescribed process on the Cooperative registration information system.

7. The artel or its representative, or the cooperative or cooperative union or its authorized person, may stop following procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration when the application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration is not yet approved on the Cooperative registration information system. In this case, the person competent to sign the written request for termination of procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration is the one that has signed the application form for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration. The district-level business registration authority shall consider giving a notice of termination of procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration and cancel the application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration on the Cooperative registration information system within 03 working days from the receipt of the request. If the request of the artel, cooperative or cooperative union is refused, the district-level business registration authority shall give a written notice indicating reasons for such refusal to the artel, cooperative or cooperative union.

Article 20. Approving artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration under contingency procedures

1. Approving artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration under contingency procedures means the act of approving an application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration without using the Cooperative registration information system. Approving artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration under contingency procedures shall be employed in the following circumstances:

a) The Cooperative registration information system is in construction or upgrading progress;

b) The Cooperative registration information system or the Tax registration system encounters technical problems;

c) Other force majeure events.

2. Depending on the expected schedule of recovery or construction and upgrading of the Cooperative registration information system, except for force majeure events, the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall make a prior notice of the schedule for district-level business registration authorities to consider approving artel, cooperative and cooperative union registration under contingency procedures.

3. Cooperation between district-level business registration authorities and tax authorities in approving artel, cooperative and cooperative union registration under contingency procedures shall comply with procedures for transfer of documents in physical form or other form.

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Article 21. Notification of modification of applications for artel, cooperative and cooperative union registration

1. If an application is unsatisfactory, or the name of the applying artel, cooperative and cooperative union is not conformable with regulations, or the information included in the application is found inconsistent, the district-level business registration authority shall give a written notice of necessary modifications to the artel, cooperative or cooperative union or its founder within 03 working days from its receipt of the application. The district-level business registration authority must include all necessary modifications to an application for artel, cooperative and cooperative union registration in a single notice.

2. After the aforementioned deadline, if the district-level business registration authority neither issues a registration certificate nor gives a notice of necessary modifications, the artel, cooperative and cooperative union or its founder is entitled to lodge a complaint or make a denunciation as prescribed by regulations of law on complaints and denunciation.

Article 22. Methods of payment of fees for registration of cooperatives, cooperative unions, and their branches, representative offices and business locations

1. The applicant shall pay business registration fees when submitting the application. Business registration fees may be paid directly at district-level application receipt sections or transferred to accounts of district-level business registration authorities or paid online using online payment function on the National public service portal or adopting other payment method as prescribed by law. The paid business registration fees shall not be refunded if a cooperative or cooperative union is not issued with a registration certificate.

2. Online payment service charges shall not be included in business registration fees.

3. Correction of errors that occur during the process of online payment services shall comply with regulations of law on online handling of administrative procedures.

4. District-level business registration authorities shall cooperate with payment intermediary service providers or commercial banks in tracing and checking data on payments made through the online payment system of the National public service portal or such payment intermediary service providers.

Article 23. Detecting fraudulent information in application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration

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The requester shall have the responsibility to provide the district-level business registration authority with one of the documents specified in clause 2 of this Article. Within 03 working days from its receipt of the written request as prescribed in this clause, the district-level business registration authority shall consider processing the request according to provisions of clause 3 of this Article, clause 2 Article 24, clause 1 Article 53, clause 2 Article 55 and clause 2 Article 64 of this Decree.

2. Documents ascertaining that the information in an application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration is fraudulent include:

a) A copy of the document provided by a competent authority to certify that its documents are forged;

b) A copy of the certification given by a police authority that information in the application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration is fraudulent.

3. In order to verify whether the information in an application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration is fraudulent, the district-level business registration authority shall send a request for verification, enclosed with the application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration, to the authorities mentioned in clause 2 of this Article. Requested authorities shall give verification results in writing to the district-level business registration authority within 30 days from their receipt of the latter’s request.

Article 24. Actions against non-conformity with regulations on application and procedures or fraudulent information in application for registration of changes or inaccurate and untruthful information in application

1. In case a district-level business registration authority has processed an application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration against regulations on application and procedures laid down in the Law on Cooperatives and this Decree, it shall send a notification thereof to the artel, cooperative or cooperative union and carry out re-processing of the application in accordance with regulations on application and procedures laid down in the Law on Cooperatives and this Decree.

2. In case the information in an application for registration of changes in artel, cooperative, cooperative union, branch or representative office registration information is found fraudulent, the following actions shall be taken:

In case the information in an application for registration of changes in artel, cooperative, cooperative union, branch or representative office registration information is found fraudulent, the district-level business registration authority shall issue a notice of violation committed by the artel, cooperative, cooperative union, branch or representative office and a decision to revoke the artel registration certificate or cooperative registration certificate or certificate of branch/representative office registration which has been issued according to the application for registration of changes containing fraudulent information within 03 working days from its receipt of the documents specified in clause 2 Article 23 of this Decree. The district-level business registration authority shall publish information on the violation committed by the artel, cooperative, cooperative union, branch or representative office on the National Business Registration Portal.

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The artel, cooperative or cooperative union may submit another application for issuance of artel registration certificate, cooperative registration certificate or certificate of branch/representative office registration. The artel, cooperative or cooperative union may include all lawful contents of the applications which have been submitted after the submission of the application containing fraudulent information in a single application for registration of changes.

3. In case the information in an application for registration of artel, cooperative, cooperative union, branch, representative office or business location is found inaccurate and untruthful, the following actions shall be taken:

a) In case the information in an application for registration of establishment of an artel, cooperative, cooperative union, branch, representative office or business location is found inaccurate and untruthful, the district-level business registration authority shall notify the case to tax authorities and competent authorities for managing and taking appropriate actions in accordance with regulations of law, and also give notification that the artel registration certificate, cooperative registration certificate, or certificate of branch/representative office/business location registration issued according to the application containing inaccurate and untruthful information will be invalidated. The district-level business registration authority shall publish the notification of the invalid artel registration certificate, cooperative registration certificate, or certificate of branch/representative office/business location registration on the National Business Registration Portal.

The district-level business registration authority shall request the artel, cooperative or cooperative union shall submit a new application as a substitute for its application for registration of establishment of an artel, cooperative, cooperative union, branch, representative office or business location containing inaccurate and untruthful information within 30 days from the date of the notification in order to be issued with an artel registration certificate, cooperative registration certificate, or certificate of branch/representative office/business location registration. The artel, cooperative or cooperative union may include all lawful contents of the applications for registration of changes in a single application for registration of changes. The district-level business registration authority shall request the artel, cooperative or cooperative union that fails to submit a complete application to submit reports according to clause 6 Article 7 of this Decree;

b) In case the information in an application for registration of changes in artel, cooperative, cooperative union, branch, representative office or business location registration information is found inaccurate and untruthful, the district-level business registration authority shall notify the case to tax authorities and competent authorities for managing and taking appropriate actions in accordance with regulations of law, and also give notification that the artel registration certificate, cooperative registration certificate, or certificate of branch/representative office/business location registration issued according to the application containing inaccurate and untruthful information will be invalidated. The district-level business registration authority shall publish the notification of the invalid artel registration certificate, cooperative registration certificate, or certificate of branch/representative office/business location registration on the National Business Registration Portal.

The artel, cooperative or cooperative union may submit a new application in order to be issued with an artel registration certificate, cooperative registration certificate, or certificate of branch/representative office/business location registration. The artel, cooperative or cooperative union may include all lawful contents of the applications for registration of changes submitted after the submission of the application containing inaccurate and untruthful information in a single application for registration of changes.

Article 25. Standardization and conversion of artel, cooperative and cooperative union registration data

1. Data standardization means a process of reviewing, comparing, and adjusting information about artel, cooperative and cooperative union registration and the legal status of artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions in the Cooperative registration database.

2. District-level business registration authorities assume responsibility to carry out conversion of artel, cooperative and cooperative union registration information, and add it to the Cooperative registration database. The information converted and added to the Cooperative registration database must match that included in the application for artel, cooperative and cooperative union registration.

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In case the information on registration and legal status of an artel, cooperative or cooperative union in the notice does not match that in the cooperative registration certificate and/or application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration, the artel, cooperative or cooperative union shall send a notice of additional or updated information to the relevant district-level business registration authority as prescribed in clause 1 Article 46 of this Decree within 90 days from the date of the notice given by the district-level business registration authority. The artel, cooperative or cooperative union shall assume responsibility for the truthfulness and accuracy of the information provided for the district-level business registration authority.

4. Document digitalization, data standardization and conversion, and provision of updated and additional information on artel, cooperative and cooperative union registration shall be carried out according to plans of district-level business registration authorities.

Article 26. Rectification, updating, and addition of information on artel, cooperative and cooperative union registration

1. In case an artel, cooperative or cooperative union detects that the information in its artel registration certificate or cooperative registration certificate is inaccurate in comparison to that in the application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration, it shall send a written request for information rectification to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. The district-level business registration authority shall re-issue the artel registration certificate or cooperative registration certificate within 03 working days from the receipt of the request from the artel, cooperative or cooperative union if it contains accurate information.

2. In case the district-level business registration authority detects that the information in its artel registration certificate or cooperative registration certificate is inaccurate in comparison to that in the application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration, it shall notify the relevant artel, cooperative or cooperative union of information rectification and re-issue the artel registration certificate or cooperative registration certificate within 03 working days from the date of notification.

3. In case an artel, cooperative or cooperative union detects that the artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration information on the Cooperative registration database is inadequate or inaccurate in comparison to that in the application for artel registration, the cooperative registration certificate or tax registration certificate as a result of mistakes made during the conversion and transfer of data to the Cooperative registration database, it shall send a written request for addition of information or information rectification to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. Such request must be accompanied by the copy of the notice of establishment/changes in information on the artel, cooperative registration certificate or tax registration certificate. Within 03 working days from the receipt of the request, the district-level business registration authority shall add or rectify the artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration information on the Cooperative registration database.

4. In case the district-level business registration authority detects that the artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration information on the Cooperative registration database is unavailable or inaccurate in comparison to that in the application for artel registration, the cooperative registration certificate or tax registration certificate as a result of mistakes made during the conversion and transfer of data to the Cooperative registration database, within 03 working days from such detection, it shall add or rectify the artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration information on the Cooperative registration database.

5. Rectification, updating and addition of information to the certificate of changes in artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration information, certificate of branch/representative office/business location registration, and artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration information stored on the Cooperative registration database shall comply with provisions of clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.

Article 27. Legal status of cooperatives and cooperative unions

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1. “business suspension” means the legal status of the cooperative or cooperative union during its business suspension as prescribed in this Decree.

2. “revoked due to tax decision enforcement” means the legal status of a cooperative or cooperative union whose cooperative registration certificate is revoked according to a decision issued by the district-level business registration authority at the request of the tax authority for enforcement of a tax administrative decision.

3. “undergoing dissolution, split, consolidated, or merged” means the legal status of a cooperative or cooperative union that is following dissolution procedures according to a notification given by the district-level business registration authority, or that is subject to a split-up resolution, or a consolidation or merger contract, and is following split-up, consolidation or merger procedures with the district-level business registration authority.

4. “undergoing bankruptcy proceedings” means the legal status of a cooperative or cooperative union that is subject to a decision to initiate bankruptcy proceedings issued by a competent court in accordance with regulations of the Law on bankruptcy.

5. “dissolved, bankrupt or cease to exist” means the legal status of a cooperative or cooperative union that is subject to a notification of dissolution given by the district-level business registration authority, or that is subject to a decision to declare bankrupt issued by a competent court in accordance with regulations of the Law on bankruptcy, or that ceases to exist due to split-up, consolidation or merger as prescribed by the Law on cooperatives.

6. “not operate at registered address” means the legal status of a cooperative or cooperative union showing that, through inspection or verification, tax authorities and relevant agencies find that the cooperative or cooperative union does not operate at its registered address. The tax authority shall provide information about the cooperative or cooperative union that no longer operates at its registered address to the district-level business registration authority. Starting and ending dates of this legal status shall be subject to a decision issued by the tax authority, unless a cooperative or cooperative union has the legal status prescribed in clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article. The tax authority shall provide information about the “not operate at registered address” status of the cooperative or cooperative union to the district-level business registration authority. The district-level business registration authority shall record and update the legal status of the cooperative or cooperative union as notified by the tax authority on the Cooperative registration database.

7. “operating” means the legal status of a cooperative or cooperative union that has been issued with the cooperative registration certificate and does not has the legal status prescribed in Clause 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 of this Article.

Article 28. Legal status of artels, branches, representative offices and business locations of cooperatives and cooperative unions

The legal status of artels, branches, representative offices and business locations of cooperatives and cooperative unions on the Cooperative registration database includes:

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2. “revoked due to tax decision enforcement” means the legal status of an artel, or branch/representative office of a cooperative or cooperative union whose artel registration certificate, cooperative registration certificate, or certificate of branch/representative office registration is revoked according to a decision issued by the district-level business registration authority at the request of a tax authority for enforcement of a tax administrative decision.

3. “following shutdown procedures” means the legal status of an artel, or branch/representative office/business location of a cooperative or cooperative union that is following shutdown procedures according to a notification given by the district-level business registration authority.

4. “shut down” means the legal status of an artel, or branch/representative office/business location of a cooperative or cooperative union that has been shut down according to a notification given by the district-level business registration authority.

5. “not operate at registered address” means the legal status of an artel, or branch/representative office/business location of a cooperative or cooperative union showing that, through inspection or verification, tax authorities and relevant agencies find that the artel, or branch/representative office/business location of a cooperative or cooperative union does not operate at its registered address. The tax authority shall provide information about the artel, or branch/representative office/business location of a cooperative or cooperative union that no longer operates at its registered address to the district-level business registration authority. Starting and ending dates of this legal status shall be subject to a decision issued by the tax authority, unless an artel, or branch/representative office/business location of a cooperative or cooperative union has the legal status prescribed in clauses 1, 2, 3 or 4 of this Article. The tax authority shall provide information about the "not operate at registered address” status of the artel, or branch/representative office/business location of a cooperative or cooperative union that no longer operates at its registered address to the district-level business registration authority. The district-level business registration authority shall record and update the legal status of the artel, or branch/representative office/business location of a cooperative or cooperative union as notified by the tax authority on the Cooperative registration database.

6. “operating” means the legal status of an artel, or branch/representative office/business location of a cooperative or cooperative union that has been issued with an artel registration certificate or certificate of branch/representative office registration and does not have the legal status prescribed in clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 of this Article.

Article 29. Disclosure of artel, cooperative and cooperative union registration information

Organizations and individuals may search for the following information on an artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration free of charge by accessing www.dangkykinhdoanh.gov.vn, including: name, ID number, headquarters address, business lines, name of legal representative and the legal status of the artel cooperative or cooperative union.

Article 30. Online registration of artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions

1. Online artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration means the act of following registration procedures on the Cooperative registration information system by the artel’s representative, or the authorized person of the cooperative or cooperative union, or the artel, cooperative or cooperative union itself.

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Article 31. Online application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration

1. An online application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration shall contain the documents prescribed in the Law on cooperative and this Decree and shown in the form of electronic documents. An online application shall have the same legal validity as a physical one.

2. Electronic document is a document in the data form created or digitalized from the physical document, which contains the exact and complete information on the physical document. The electronic document is in the “.doc”, “.docx” or “.pdf” format.

3. An online application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration must meet the following requirements:

a) It contains adequate electronic documents with complete contents as physical documents. Names of electronic documents must be relevant to names of physical documents. The person who signs documents included in the application may directly sign electronic documents using his/her digital signature or append his/her signature to physical documents which then shall be scanned in the formats prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article;

b) Registration information provided on the Cooperative registration information system must be adequate and accurate as that in physical documents, and includes information about telephone number and email address of the applicant;

c) An online application for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration must be authenticated with digital signature of the person competent to sign the application form or his/her authorized person. In case of authorization to follow registration procedures, the online application must be accompanied by the documents and papers which are specified in Article 12 of this Article and shown in the form of electronic documents as prescribed in point a of this clause.

4. The artel, cooperative or cooperative union shall be required to modify and complete its online application within 60 days from the date on which it receives a request for modification from the district-level business registration authority. Over the aforementioned deadline, if the artel, cooperative or cooperative union fails to modify and complete its online application as requested, the district-level business registration authority shall cancel the application according to the process on the Cooperative registration information system.

Article 32. Procedures for online registration of artels, cooperatives and cooperative unions using digital signatures

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2. The applicant shall enter information, download electronic documents, append signatures to the online application, and pay application fees according to the process on the Cooperative registration information system.

3. After the application is sent, the applicant will receive a confirmation slip which is sent to his/her account on the Cooperative registration information system.

4. Information on artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration on the Cooperative registration information system shall be transmitted to the Tax registration system to serve the cooperation and information exchange between the district-level business registration authority and the tax authority.

5. If the application is satisfactory, the district-level business registration authority shall issue an artel registration certificate or cooperative registration certificate in either physical or electronic form. If the application is unsatisfactory, or the name of the applying artel, cooperative and cooperative union is not conformable with regulations, or the information included in the application is found inconsistent, the district-level business registration authority shall give an online notice of necessary modifications to the artel, cooperative or cooperative union. The applicant shall access the Cooperative registration information system using his/her account to receive the application processing result.

6. An artel, cooperative or cooperative union following online registration procedures may stop following such procedures as prescribed in clause 7 Article 19 of this Decree.

Article 33. Cases in which district-level business registration authorities refuse to issue artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration certificates

1. A district-level business registration authority may refuse to issue artel registration certificate, or cooperative or cooperative union registration certificate, in one of the following cases:

a) The artel, cooperative or cooperative union is subject to a notification given by the district-level business registration authority that its violation results in revocation of the artel registration certificate or cooperative registration certificate, or is subject to a decision to revoke the artel registration certificate or cooperative registration certificate;

b) The cooperative or cooperative union is undergoing dissolution according to a dissolution resolution issued by the General Meeting of Members (GMM); the artel is following shutdown procedures;

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2. The district-level business registration authority shall continue processing procedures for artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration in the cases specified in clause 1 of this Article when:

a) The artel, cooperative or cooperative union has taken remedial measures as requested in the notice of violations resulting in revocation of the artel registration certificate or cooperative registration certificate, and the outcomes of such measures are accepted by the district-level business registration authority, or has the validity of its artel registration certificate or cooperative registration certificate, which has been revoked under a revocation decision, restored;

b) The artel, cooperative or cooperative union has to register some changes in artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration information to serve its shutdown or dissolution process as prescribed. In this case, the application for changes must be enclosed with the written explanation of the artel, cooperative or cooperative union for such changes which are accepted by the district-level business registration authority;

c) The artel, cooperative or cooperative union is no longer in the “not operate at registered address” status.

3. In case a competent court, judgment enforcement agency, investigating authority, head or deputy head of the investigating authority, or investigator as defined in the Code of Criminal Procedures makes a written document requesting the artel, cooperative or cooperative union not to carry out one or some artel, cooperative or cooperative union registration procedures, the district-level business registration authority shall refuse to issue registration certificate to the artel, cooperative or cooperative union following such registration procedures until these procedures may proceed according to a written permission given by the abovementioned authority or individual.

Chapter II

DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES FOR REGISTRATION OF COOPERATIVES OR COOPERATIVE UNIONS, THEIR BRANCHES AND REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES, AND NOTIFICATION OF THEIR BUSINESS LOCATIONS

Article 34. Document requirements and procedures for registration of cooperatives and cooperative unions

Document requirements and procedures for registration of a cooperative or cooperative union shall comply with provisions of Articles 41 and 42 of the Law on Cooperatives.

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1. Every cooperative or cooperative union shall be issued with a cooperative registration certificate when all of the conditions set out in clause 1 Article 44 of the Law on Cooperatives are satisfied.

2. The cooperative or cooperative union is entitled to do business from the date of issue of the cooperative registration certificate, except for conditional business lines. In case the cooperative or cooperative union registers the date of commencement of business after the date of issue of the cooperative registration certificate, the cooperative or cooperative union is entitled to do business from the registered date.

Article 36. Document requirements and procedures for registration of branches/representative offices, and notification of business locations

1. Within 10 days from date of issue of a decision to establish its branch/representative office, the cooperative or cooperative union shall submit an application for branch/representative office registration to the business registration authority of district where its branch/representative office is located. The application includes the following documents:

a) A notice of establishment of the branch/representative office;

b) A copy or original of the minutes of the meeting of the Board of Directors (in case of fully-organized management model) or of GMM (in case of simplified management model) on establishment of branch/representative office;

c) A copy or original of the decision issued by the Board of Directors (in case of fully-organized management model) or the resolution issued by GMM (in case of simplified management model) on establishment of branch/representative office.

2. a) A cooperative or cooperative union may establish business locations at places other than those where it is headquartered or its branch is located. The document required when notifying establishment of a business location is the notice of business location.

3. After receiving an application for branch/representative office registration, or notice of business location, the district-level business registration authority shall give a confirmation slip and examine the validity of the received application or notice. If the application is satisfactory, the district-level business registration authority shall issue a certificate of branch/representative office/business location registration. If the application is unsatisfactory, or the name of the branch/representative office/business location to be registered is not conformable with regulations, or the information included in the application is found inconsistent, the district-level business registration authority shall give a written notice to the applicant within 03 working days from its receipt of the application. Such notice must specify explanation and necessary modifications.

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When notifying its establishment of an overseas branch/representative office, the cooperative or cooperative union shall be required to submit the following documents:

a) A notice of establishment of overseas branch/representative office;

b) A copy of certificate of branch/representative office registration or another document of equivalent legal validity.

The district-level business registration authority shall update information about the branch/representative office of the cooperative or cooperative union on the Cooperative registration database within 03 working days from the receipt of adequate notification documents.

Chapter III

DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES FOR REGISTRATION OR NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES IN COOPERATIVE OR COOPERATIVE UNION OR THEIR BRANCH/REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE/BUSINESS LOCATION REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Article 37. Registration of relocation of headquarters

1. Before registering the relocation of headquarters which leads to change of its tax authority, the cooperative or cooperative union must complete all tax procedures related to the relocation with the tax authority in accordance with regulations of the Law on taxation.

2. In case of relocation of its headquarters, the cooperative or cooperative union shall submit an application for registration of changes to the business registration authority of district to which its headquarters is relocated to. The application includes the following documents:

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b) A copy or original of the minutes of the GMM’s meeting on relocation of headquarters of the cooperative or cooperative union;

c) A copy or original of the GMM’s resolution on relocation of headquarters of the cooperative or cooperative union.

3. Procedures for registration of relocation of headquarters of a cooperative or cooperative union shall comply with provisions of Article 47 of the Law on Cooperatives.

4. The relocation of headquarters of a cooperative or cooperative union does not affect its rights and obligations.

Article 38. Registration of change of name of cooperative or cooperative union

1. The application includes the following documents:

a) An application form for registration of changes in cooperative or cooperative union registration information;

b) A copy or original of the minutes of the GMM’s meeting on change of name of the cooperative or cooperative union;

c) A copy or original of the GMM’s resolution on change of name of the cooperative or cooperative union.

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3. The change of name of a cooperative or cooperative union does not affect its rights and obligations.

Article 39. Registration of replacement of legal representative of cooperative or cooperative union

1. The application includes the following documents:

a) An application form for registration of changes in cooperative or cooperative union registration information which bears the signature of the Chairperson of the Board of Directors (in case of fully-organized management model) or the Director (in case of simplified management model). If the Chairperson of the Board of Directors (in case of fully-organized management model) or the Director (in case of simplified management model) is also the legal representative, the application form shall bear the signature of the person who is elected as the new Chairperson of the Board of Directors (in case of fully-organized management model) or the new Director (in case of simplified management model);

b) A copy or original of the minutes of the GMM’s meeting on replacement of legal representative;

c) A copy or original of the GMM’s resolution on replacement of legal representative;

d) The list of legal representatives who are Vietnamese citizens, in which their personal identification numbers must be specified; the list of legal representatives who are foreigners, accompanied with copies of their foreign passports or other documents of equivalent validity.

2. If only personal information about the legal representative on the cooperative registration certificate is changed, the cooperative or cooperative union shall send an application for registration of changes to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. The application only includes an application form for registration of changes in cooperative or cooperative union registration information.

3. If a cooperative or cooperative union applies for registration of replacement of legal representative and other changes at the same time, the person competent to sign the application shall be the Chairperson of the Board of Directors (in case of fully-organized management model) or the Director (in case of simplified management model).

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Article 40. Registration of change in charter capital

1. In case of change in its charter capital as prescribed in clause 1 Article 47 of the Law on Cooperatives, the cooperative or cooperative union shall submit an application for registration of change in charter capital which includes:

a) An application form for registration of changes in cooperative or cooperative union registration information;

b) A copy or original of the minutes of the GMM’s meeting on change in charter capital;

c) A copy or original of the GMM’s resolution on change in charter capital;

d) A copy of the written approval given by the investment registration authority for capital contribution or purchase of shares/stakes by foreign investors/foreign-invested economic organizations in case procedures for registration of capital contribution or purchase of shares/stakes must be followed in accordance with the Law on Investment.

2. Procedures for registration of change in charter capital shall comply with provisions of Article 47 of the Law on Cooperatives.

Article 41. Notification of changes in business lines

1. The application includes the following documents:

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b) A copy or original of the minutes of the GMM’s meeting on changes in business lines;

c) A copy or original of the GMM’s resolution on changes in business lines.

2. Procedures for notification of changes in business lines shall comply with provisions of Article 48 of the Law on Cooperatives. The district-level business registration authority shall issue a certificate of changes in cooperative or cooperative union registration information at the request of the cooperative or cooperative union.

Article 42. Notification of changes in tax registration information

1. Any cooperative or cooperative union that makes changes in its tax registration information without changing business registration information, except change of tax accounting method, shall send a notice of changes in cooperative or cooperative union registration information to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered.

2. Procedures for notification of changes in tax registration information shall comply with provisions of Article 48 of the Law on Cooperatives. The district-level business registration authority shall issue a certificate of changes in cooperative or cooperative union registration information at the request of the cooperative or cooperative union.

Article 43. Notification of changes in information on official members and contributing members that are foreign-invested economic organizations or foreign individual investors

1. The application includes the following documents:

a) A notice of changes in cooperative or cooperative union registration information;

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c) A copy of the written approval given by the investment registration authority for capital contribution or purchase of shares/stakes by foreign investors/foreign-invested economic organizations in case procedures for registration of capital contribution or purchase of shares/stakes must be followed in accordance with the Law on Investment.

2. Procedures for notification of changes in information on official members and contributing members that are foreign-invested economic organizations or foreign individual investors shall comply with provisions of Article 48 of the Law on Cooperatives. The district-level business registration authority shall issue a certificate of changes in cooperative or cooperative union registration information at the request of the cooperative or cooperative union.

Article 44. Notification of establishment of enterprise by cooperative or cooperative union

The document required when notifying the establishment of enterprise by a cooperative or cooperative union is the notice of enterprise establishment.

After receiving the notice, the district-level business registration authority shall check the validity of the notice and update information on the Cooperative registration database within 03 working days from its receipt of the notice.

Article 45. Registration of changes in branch/representative office/business location registration information

1. When there are any changes in its application for registration of branch/representative office/business location, the cooperative or cooperative union shall submit an application for registration of changes in branch/representative office/business location registration information to the business registration authority of district where the branch/representative office/business location is located.

2. Before applying for registration of relocation of a branch/representative office which leads to change of its supervisory tax authority, the cooperative or cooperative union must complete tax procedures related to the relocation with the tax authority in accordance with regulations of the Law on taxation.

3. In case a branch/representative office/business location of a cooperative or cooperative union is relocated to a rural/urban district, district-level town, provincial city, or city affiliated to a central-affiliated city other than the one where it is registered, the cooperative or cooperative union shall send the application for registration of relocation to the business registration authority of district to which its branch/representative office/business location is relocated.

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5. Upon receipt of an application, the district-level business registration authority shall give a confirmation slip to the applicant. Within 03 working days from its receipt of the application, the district-level business registration authority shall examine the validity of the received application and issue a certificate of branch/representative office/business location registration or certificate of changes in branch/representative office/business location registration information at the request of the cooperative or cooperative union. If the application is unsatisfactory or the name of the branch/representative office/business location is not conformable with regulations, or the information included in the application is found inconsistent, the district-level business registration authority shall give a written notice of necessary modifications to the cooperative or cooperative union.

Article 46. Notification of updating or addition of information in application for cooperative or cooperative union registration

1. In case updating or addition of information in application for cooperative or cooperative union registration does not fall into the cases of registration or notification prescribed in Articles 37 through 43 and Article 45 of this Decree, the cooperative or cooperative union shall send a notice of updated/additional information to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. The district-level business registration authority shall receive the notice and consider updating information on the Cooperative registration database. In case the cooperative or cooperative union update or add information to its cooperative registration certificate or certificate of branch/representative office/business location registration, the district-level business registration authority shall issue a new certificate within 03 working days from its receipt of the valid application.

2. In case the headquarters address of a cooperative or cooperative union or address of its branch/representative office/business location is changed as a result of changes in administrative divisions, the cooperative or cooperative union must not follow procedures for registration of changes with the district-level business registration authority. The cooperative or cooperative union shall send a notice of updating or addition of information to the district-level business registration authority in order to be issued with a cooperative registration certificate or certificate of branch/representative office/business location registration containing information on new address at its request or when applying for registration of changes in cooperative or cooperative union registration information.

Chapter IV

DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES FOR NOTIFICATION OF BUSINESS SUSPENSION, REGISTRATION OF DISSOLUTION, RE-ISSUANCE AND REVOCATION OF COOPERATIVE REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES

Article 47. Registration of business suspension and resumption of business of cooperatives or cooperative unions and their branches/representative offices/business locations

1. When a cooperative or cooperative union or its branch/representative office/business location suspends its business or resumes its business, the cooperative or cooperative union shall send a notice to the business registration authority of district where the cooperative or cooperative union is headquartered or its branch/representative office/business location is located at least 03 working days before the planned date of suspension or resumption. If the cooperative or cooperative union or its branch/representative office/business location still wishes to suspend its business after the end of the notified suspension period, another notice of business suspension must be sent to the district-level business registration authority at least 03 days before the planned date of suspension. Each notified suspension period must not exceed 12 months.

2. When notifying business suspension of a cooperative or cooperative union or its branch/representative office/business location, the following documents shall be submitted:

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b) A copy or original of the minutes of the GMM’s meeting on business suspension (in case the business suspension is notified by the cooperative or cooperative union);

c) A copy or original of the GMM’s resolution on business suspension (in case the business suspension is notified by the cooperative or cooperative union).

3. The document required when notifying resumption of business of a cooperative or cooperative union or its branch/representative office/business location is the notice of business resumption.

4. After receiving the required notification documents, the district-level business registration authority shall give a confirmation slip, examine the validity of received documents, and issue a certificate of business suspension or resumption of business by the cooperative or cooperative union or its branch/representative office/business location within 03 working days from the receipt of satisfactory documents.

5. In case the business suspension is notified by the cooperative or cooperative union, the district-level business registration authority shall change its legal status and the legal status of its branches/representative offices/business locations from "operating” into “business suspension”.

6. A cooperative or cooperative union may notify its resumption of business and resumption of business of its branch/representative office/business location at the same time. The district-level business registration authority may update the legal status of the cooperative or cooperative union and the legal status of its branches/representative offices/business locations on the Cooperative registration database at the same time.

Article 48. Business suspension or termination at request of competent authorities

1. Within 03 working days from the day on which the district-level business registration authority receives a notification from a competent authority that a cooperative or cooperative union is engaging in conditional business lines or business lines restricted to foreign investors without satisfying conditions as prescribed, it shall request the cooperative or cooperative union to suspend or terminate such business lines.

2. Within 03 working days from the day on which the district-level business registration authority receives a notification from a competent authority that the cooperative or cooperative union is requested to suspend or terminate one or some business lines in certain fields according to a court’s decision, it shall update information on the Cooperative registration database and publish the same on the National Business Registration Portal.

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In case a cooperative or cooperative union wishes to have its cooperative registration certificate, or certificate of branch/representative office/business location registration re-issued because it has been lost, burned, torn, damaged or otherwise destroyed, it shall send an application for re-issuance to the business registration authority of district where the cooperative or cooperative union is headquartered or its branch/representative office/business location is located. The district-level business registration authority shall consider re-issuing the certificate within 03 working days from the receipt of the application.

Article 50. Registration of voluntary dissolution of cooperative or cooperative union

1. Within 03 working days from its receipt of a dissolution resolution from the legal representative of the cooperative or cooperative union as prescribed in point a clause 3 Article 98 of the Law on Cooperatives, the district-level business registration authority shall:

a) publish the dissolution resolution and a notification that the cooperative or cooperative union is following dissolution procedures and its branches/representative offices/business locations are following shutdown procedures on the National Business Registration Portal;

b) change the legal status of the cooperative or cooperative union into “undergoing dissolution" and change the legal status of its branches/representative offices/business locations into “following shutdown procedures” on the Cooperative registration database;

c) send information about the resolution of the cooperative or cooperative union, and information on its branches/representative offices/business locations following shutdown procedures to relevant tax authorities.

2. Within 05 working days from the day on which all debts are fully paid and tax obligations are fulfilled, the cooperative or cooperative union shall send an application for dissolution to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. The application includes:

a) A notice of dissolution of the cooperative or cooperative union;

b) A report on settlement of assets of the dissolved cooperative or cooperative union;

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d) A report on results of transfer and liquidation of assets made by the council in charge of liquidation of undistributed assets (in case the undistributed fund or undistributed assets are partially derived from or acquired using the State financial support).

3. Before submitting the application for dissolution, the cooperative or cooperative union must complete procedures for shutdown of its branches/representative offices/business locations with the business registration authority of districts where the branch/representative office/business location is situated.

4. After receiving the application for dissolution, the district-level business registration authority shall send information about the dissolved cooperative or cooperative union to the tax authority. Within 02 working days from receipt of information from the district-level business registration authority, the tax authority shall give its opinions about the fulfillment by the cooperative or cooperative union of tax liabilities to the district-level business registration authority. Within 05 working days from its receipt of the application for dissolution, the district-level business registration authority shall change the legal status of the cooperative or cooperative union on the Cooperative registration database to “dissolved” if the tax authority has no objection, and issue a notification of dissolution of the cooperative or cooperative union.

5. After 06 months from its receipt of the dissolution resolution from the cooperative or cooperative union, if the district-level business registration authority does not receive any application for dissolution of the cooperative or cooperative union or shutdown of its branches/representative offices/business locations, and receives no written objection from the tax authority or other relevant entities and related parties, it shall change the legal status of the cooperative or cooperative union and its branches/representative offices/business locations on the Cooperative registration database into “dissolved” and “shut down” , and make notification of dissolution of the cooperative or cooperative union and shutdown of its branches/representative offices/business locations within 03 working days from the end of the abovementioned period.

6. Within 06 months from the receipt of the dissolution resolution, if the district-level business registration authority does not yet change the legal status of the cooperative or cooperative union into “dissolved” and the cooperative or cooperative union wishes to cease dissolution procedures, it shall send a notice of invalidation of the dissolution resolution which must bear the signature of its legal representative to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. Such notice must be accompanied with the GMM’s resolution on invalidation of the dissolution resolution. Within 03 working days from its receipt of the notice, the district-level business registration authority shall post the received notice and the resolution on invalidation of the dissolution resolution on the National Business Registration Portal, restore the legal status of the cooperative or cooperative union and its branches/representative offices/business locations on the Cooperative registration database, and send information on such invalidation to the relevant tax authority.

7. If a cooperative or cooperative union uses a seal issued by a police authority, the seal and the certificate of seal registration shall be returned to the police authority as prescribed.

Article 51. Registration of compulsory dissolution of cooperative or cooperative union

1. Within 03 working days from the date of issue of the decision to revoke cooperative registration certificate or from its receipt of an effective dissolution decision from a competent court, the district-level business registration authority shall:

a) publish the decision to revoke cooperative registration certificate or the court’s effective dissolution decision on the National Business Registration Portal; make a notification that the cooperative or cooperative union is following dissolution procedures and its branches/representative offices/business locations are following shutdown procedures on the National Business Registration Portal, unless a cooperative or cooperative union has its cooperative registration certificate revoked at the request of its supervisory tax authority;

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c) send information about the resolution of the cooperative or cooperative union, and information on shutdown of its branches/representative offices/business locations to relevant tax authorities.

2. Within 05 working days from the day on which all debts are fully paid and tax obligations are fulfilled, the legal representative of the cooperative or cooperative union shall send an application for dissolution to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. Document requirements and procedures for dissolution shall comply with provisions of clauses 2, 3 and 4 Article 50 of this Decree.

3. After 06 months from the day on which the "undergoing dissolution" status of the cooperative or cooperative union is published on the National Business Registration Portal, if the district-level business registration authority does not receive any application for dissolution of the cooperative or cooperative union or shutdown of its branches/representative offices/business locations, and receives no written objection from the tax authority or other relevant entities and related parties, it shall change the legal status of the cooperative or cooperative union and its branches/representative offices/business locations on the Cooperative registration database into “dissolved” and “shut down” , and make notification of dissolution of the cooperative or cooperative union and shutdown of its branches/representative offices/business locations within 03 working days from the end of the abovementioned period.

Article 52. Ceasing existence of split, consolidating or acquired cooperatives/cooperative unions

1. After new cooperatives/cooperative unions which are established from the slip-up of a cooperative/cooperative union, consolidated cooperative/cooperative union or acquiring cooperative/cooperative union are/is issued with cooperative registration certificate, the district-level business registration authority shall change the legal status of the split cooperative/cooperative union, consolidating cooperatives/cooperative unions or acquired cooperatives/cooperative unions into “undergoing dissolution, split, consolidated or merged” and change the legal status of its/their branches/representative offices/business locations into “following shutdown procedures". The district-level business registration authority shall send relevant information to tax authorities. The tax authority shall send information about the statement and transfer of tax liabilities by the cooperative(s)/cooperative union(s) and its/their branches/representative offices/business locations to the relevant district-level business registration authority.

2. Within 03 working days from its receipt of the notification from the tax authority that the split, consolidating or acquired cooperative/cooperative union and its branches/representative offices/business locations have completed statement and transfer of tax liabilities, the district-level business registration authority shall cease the existence of this cooperative/cooperative union and shut down its branches/representative offices/business locations on the Cooperative registration database.

3. Before ceasing the existence of a split, consolidating or acquired cooperative/cooperative union, all of its branches/representative offices/business locations must be shut down.

Article 53. Procedures for revocation of cooperative registration certificate

1. If the information in an application for registration of a new cooperative or cooperative union is found fraudulent, the district-level business registration authority shall issue a notice of violation using Form No. 01 in the Appendix enclosed herewith and a decision to revoke the cooperative registration certificate using Form No. 02 in the Appendix enclosed herewith within 03 working days from its receipt of the documents prescribed in clause 2 Article 23 of this Decree.

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The district-level business registration authority shall cooperate with relevant authorities to consider the explanation provided by the legal representative of the cooperative or cooperative union.

3. In case the district-level business registration authority receives a competent court’s decision to revoke cooperative registration certificate, within 03 working days from its receipt of the court’s decision, it shall issue a decision to revoke the cooperative registration certificate according to the court’s decision using Form No. 02 in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

4. In case the district-level business registration authority receives a request for revocation of a cooperative registration certificate from a competent authority as prescribed by relevant laws, within 03 working days from its receipt of the request, it shall issue a notice of violation using Form No. 01 in the Appendix enclosed herewith and issue a decision to revoke the cooperative registration certificate using Form No. 02 in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

5. After the district-level business registration authority issues a decision to revoke the cooperative registration certificate, the cooperative or cooperative union shall follow the dissolution procedures as prescribed in Article 51 of this Decree and procedures for shutdown of its branches/representative offices/business locations as prescribed in Article 54 of this Decree.

A cooperative or cooperative union whose cooperative registration certificate is revoked at the request of a tax authority must not follow the dissolution procedures as prescribed in Article 51 of this Decree. In this case, the district-level business registration authority shall change the legal status of the cooperative or cooperative union and its branches/representative offices/business locations to the “revoked due to tax decision enforcement” status on the Cooperative registration database.

6. Within 03 working days from the day on which it issues the notice of violation or decision to revoke cooperative registration certificate, the district-level business registration authority shall publish that notice or decision on the National Business Registration Portal and send the same to the headquarters address of the cooperative or cooperative union and to the tax authority for updating and cooperating in performing management tasks.

Article 54. Shutting down branches, representative offices and business locations

1. Before notifying the shutdown of a branch/representative office/business location, the cooperative or cooperative union or its branch/representative office shall fulfill tax liabilities with the relevant tax authority in accordance with regulations of the Law on taxation.

2. Within 10 working days from the issue date of the decision to shut down a branch/representative office/business location, the cooperative or cooperative union shall send an application for registration of shutdown of branch/representative office/business location to the business registration authority of district where the branch/representative office/business location is located.

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a) A notice of shutdown of branch/representative office/business location;

b) A copy or original of the minutes of the meeting of the Board of Directors (in case of fully-organized management model) or of GMM (in case of simplified management model) on shutdown of branch/representative office (in case a branch or representative office is shut down);

c) A copy or original of the decision issued by the Board of Directors (in case of fully-organized management model) or the resolution issued by GMM (in case of simplified management model) on shutdown of branch/representative office (in case a branch or representative office is shut down).

3. After receiving the application for shutdown of a branch/representative office/business location, the district-level business registration authority shall send information about the branch/representative office/business location to be shut down to the tax authority. Within 02 working days from the receipt of information from the district-level business registration authority, the tax authority shall give its opinions about the fulfillment of tax liabilities by the branch/representative office/business location to the district-level business registration authority. Within 05 working days from the receipt of the application for shutdown of the branch/representative office/business location, the district-level business registration authority shall change the legal status of the branch/representative office/business location into “shut down”, if it receives no objections from the tax authority, and issue a notification of shutdown of the branch/representative office/business location.

4. The shutdown of an overseas branch/representative office of a cooperative or cooperative union shall comply with the law of the host country. Within 30 working days from the official date of shutdown of an overseas branch/representative office, the cooperative or cooperative union must send a written notification thereof to the business registration authority of district where the cooperative or cooperative union is headquartered. The district-level business registration authority shall update information about the cooperative or cooperative union on the Cooperative registration database within 03 working days from its receipt of the notification.

5. After 06 months from the day on which the "following shutdown procedures" status of the branch/representative office/business location of a cooperative or cooperative union is published on the National Business Registration Portal, if the district-level business registration authority does not receive any application for registration of shutdown of branch/representative office/business location, and receives no written objection from the tax authority or other relevant entities and related parties, it shall change the legal status of the branch/representative office/business location on the Cooperative registration database into “shut down” , and make a notification of shutdown of branch/representative office/business location. Information on shutdown of branch/representative office/business location shall be transmitted from the Cooperative registration information system to the Tax registration system for updating.

Article 55. Procedures for revocation, invalidation of decision on revocation and restoration of certificate of branch/representative office registration

1. A certificate of branch/representative office registration shall be revoked in the following cases:

a) The application for registration of branch/representative office contains fraudulent information;

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c) The revocation is made according to a Court’s decision;

d) The revocation is made at the request of a competent authority as prescribed by relevant laws.

2. If the information in an application for registration of branch/representative office is found fraudulent, the district-level business registration authority shall issue a notice of violation using Form No. 01 in the Appendix enclosed herewith and a decision to revoke the certificate of branch/representative office registration using Form No. 03 in the Appendix enclosed herewith within 03 working days from its receipt of the documents prescribed in clause 2 Article 23 of this Decree.

3. In case a branch/representative office has suspended its business for more than 12 months without notifying the district-level business registration authority and the tax authority, the district-level business registration authority shall issue a notice of violation using Form No. 01 in the Appendix enclosed herewith and request the legal representative of the cooperative or cooperative union to provide explanation at its office. Upon the end of the time limit for providing explanation specified in the notice, if the legal representative fails to provide explanation or provides implausible explanation, the district-level business registration authority shall issue a decision to revoke the certificate of branch/representative office registration using Form No. 03 in the Appendix enclosed herewith within 03 working days from the end of the notified time limit. The district-level business registration authority shall cooperate with relevant authorities to consider the explanation provided by the legal representative of the cooperative or cooperative union.

4. In case the district-level business registration authority receives a competent court’s decision to revoke certificate of branch/representative office registration, within 03 working days from its receipt of the court’s decision, it shall issue a decision to revoke the certificate of branch/representative office registration according to the court’s decision using Form No. 03 in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

5. In case the district-level business registration authority receives a request for revocation of the certificate of branch/representative office registration from a competent authority as prescribed by relevant laws, within 03 working days from its receipt of the request, it shall revoke the certificate of branch/representative office registration according to the procedures in Clause 2 of this Article.

6. The district-level business registration authority shall issue a decision to revoke the certificate of branch/representative office registration, make a notification that the branch/representative office is following shutdown procedures, and change the legal status of the branch/representative office into “following shutdown procedures”, except the case where the certificate of branch/representative office registration is revoked to serve the collection of tax debts at the request of the tax authority. Within 03 working days from the day on which it issues the notice of violation, revocation decision, and notification that the branch/representative office is following shutdown procedures, the district-level business registration authority shall publish such documents on the National Business Registration Portal, and send the notice of violation and the revocation decision to the headquarters address of the cooperative or cooperative union and to the tax authority for updating and cooperating in performing management tasks.

7. After the district-level business registration authority issues a decision to revoke the certificate of branch/representative office registration, the cooperative or cooperative union shall follow procedures for shutdown of its branch/representative office as prescribed in Article 54 of this Decree.

8. District-level business registration authority shall issue a decision to invalidate revocation decision and restore validity of certificate of branch/representative office registration according to the procedures in Article 56 of this Decree.

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1. The district-level business registration authority shall issue a decision to invalidate the decision to revoke the cooperative registration certificate and restore the validity of the cooperative registration certificate on the Cooperative registration information system in the following cases:

a) The district-level business registration authority determines that the cooperative or cooperative union is not subject to revocation of cooperative registration certificate;

b) The district-level business registration authority receives a written request from the tax authority for revocation of the validity of the cooperative registration certificate after it has been revoked to serve the collection of tax debts.

2. The district-level business registration authority shall issue a decision to invalidate the revocation decision and restore the validity of the cooperative registration certificate within 03 working days from day on which it determines that the cooperative or cooperative union is not subject to revocation of cooperative registration certificate or from the date of its receipt of the written request from the tax authority.

3. Within 03 working days from the day on which it issues the decision to invalidate the decision to revoke cooperative registration certificate, the district-level business registration authority shall send that decision to the headquarters address of the cooperative or cooperative union, send a notice of restoration of the validity of the cooperative registration certificate to the tax authority, and publish such notice and decision on the National Business Registration Portal.

Article 57. Procedures for publishing of court’s decision to initiate bankruptcy proceedings and decision to declare a cooperative or cooperative union bankrupt

1. Within 03 working days from its receipt of a court’s decision to initiate bankruptcy proceedings, the district-level business registration authority shall publish it on the National Business Registration Portal, and change the legal status of the cooperative or cooperative union on the Cooperative registration database into “undergoing bankruptcy proceedings”.

2. Within 03 working days from its receipt of a court’s decision to declare a cooperative or cooperative union bankrupt, the district-level business registration authority shall publish it on the National Business Registration Portal, and change the legal status of the cooperative or cooperative union on the Cooperative registration database into “bankrupt”.

3. Information on the cooperative or cooperative union that is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings or is declared bankrupt shall be transmitted to the Tax registration system for updating.

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REGISTRATION OF ARTELS

Article 58. Document requirements and procedures for artel registration

1. Within 05 working days from the day on which a cooperation contract is signed, the representative of the artel that has to follow or wishes to follow business registration procedures as prescribed in clause 2 Article 107 of the Law on Cooperatives shall submit an application for artel registration to the business registration authority of district where the artel is headquartered. The application includes the following documents:

a) An application form for artel registration;

b) The cooperation contract;

c) A list of members of the artel;

d) A copy or original of the letter of authorization made by members of the artel to an individual or juridical person to act as the artel’s representative.

2. Upon receipt of the application for artel registration, the district-level business registration authority shall give a confirmation slip and verify the artel’s satisfaction of the conditions for artel registration certificate set out in clause 1 Article 59 of this Decree. If the application is satisfactory, the district-level business registration authority shall issue an artel registration certificate and send a notice thereof to the supervisory tax authority of the artel within 03 working days from its receipt of the application.

3. If an artel that is established after the effective date of the Law on Cooperatives and has completed procedures for notification with the People's Committee of commune, ward or commune-level town in accordance with provisions of the Government’s Decree No. 77/2019/ND-CP dated October 10, 2019 prescribing artels makes changes in its business operations with require it to follow business registration procedures or wishes to follow business registration procedures as prescribed in clause 2 Article 107 of the Law on Cooperatives, it shall follow artel registration procedures with the business registration authority of district where the artel is headquartered. An application for artel registration includes the documents prescribed in clause 1 of this Article and a copy of its tax registration certificate. Artel registration procedures shall comply with the provisions of clause 2 of this Article.

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1. An artel shall be issued with an artel registration certificate if all of the following conditions are satisfied:

a) The registered business lines are not banned;

b) The name of the artel is conformable with regulations;

c) The application for artel registration is valid.

2. The artel is entitled to do business from the issuance date of the artel registration certificate, except for conditional business lines. In case the artel registers the date of commencement of business after the date of issue of the artel registration certificate, the artel is entitled to do business from the registered date, except for conditional business lines.

3. In case an artel wishes to have its artel registration certificate re-issued because it has been lost, burned, torn, damaged or otherwise destroyed, it shall send an application for re-issuance to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. The district-level business registration authority shall consider re-issuing the artel registration certificate within 03 working days from its receipt of the application.

Article 60. Document requirements and procedures for registration of changes in artel registration information

1. The representative of the artel which has been registered according to provisions of this Decree shall carry out registration of changes with the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered within 10 days from the occurrence of change in one or some of the following pieces of information:

a) Name of the artel;

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c) Business lines;

d) Total value of contributed capital;

dd) Representative of the artel;

e) Tax registration information.

2. When any of the changes in artel registration information in points a, c and d clause 1 of this Article is made, the artel shall submit an application for registration of changes to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. The application includes:

a) An application form for registration of changes in artel registration information;

b) A copy or original of the minutes of the meeting of the artel’s members on changes in artel registration information.

3. When an artel’s headquarters is relocated, the artel shall submit an application for registration of changes as prescribed in clause 2 of this Article to the business registration authority of district to which its headquarters will be relocated. In case the relocation of its headquarters which leads to change of its supervisory tax authority, the artel must complete all tax procedures related to the relocation with the tax authority in accordance with regulations of the Law on taxation before following procedures for registration of the relocation with the district-level business registration authority.

4. In case of replacement of its representative, the artel shall submit an application for changes to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. The application includes the following documents:

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b) A copy or original of the minutes of the meeting of the artel’s members on replacement of its representative;

c) A copy or original of the letter of authorization made by members of the artel to an individual or juridical person to act as the new representative of the artel.

5. Any artel that makes changes in its tax registration information without changing business registration information, except change of tax accounting method, shall send an application for registration of changes to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. The application shall only include an application form for registration of changes in artel registration information.

6. Upon receipt of an application for registration of changes, the district-level business registration authority shall give a confirmation slip to the applicant. Within 03 working days from its receipt of the application, the district-level business registration authority shall check the validity of the received application and issue an artel registration certificate, in case of the changes in points a, b, d and dd clause 1 of this Article, or issue a certificate of changes in artel registration information, in case of the changes in points c and e clause 1 of this Article, at the request of the artel. If the application is unsatisfactory or the artel’s name is not conformable with regulations or the information included in the application is found inconsistent, the district-level business registration authority shall give a written notice of necessary modifications.

Article 61. Document requirements and procedures for registration of cooperative converted from artel

1. Registration of a cooperative that is converted from an artel shall be carried out at the business registration authority of district where the cooperative will be headquartered.

2. An application for registration of a cooperative that is converted from an artel includes the documents prescribed in points a, b, c, d and dd clause 2 Article 42 of the Law on Cooperatives. If foreign investors/foreign-invested economic organizations contribute capital to or purchase of shares/stakes of a cooperative that is converted from an artel and procedures for registration of capital contribution or purchase of shares/stakes must be followed in accordance with the Law on Investment, the application shall include the documents prescribed in points a, b, c, d, dd and e clause 2 Article 42 of the Law on Cooperatives and a copy of the written approval given by the investment registration authority for capital contribution or purchase of shares/stakes by such foreign investors/foreign-invested economic organizations.

3. The artel shall cease to exist from the date on which the cooperative converted from that artel is issued with a cooperative registration certificate.

4. The cooperative converted from an artel is entitled to keep the artel's ID number unchanged.

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1. If an artel suspends its business for 15 days or longer, or resumes its business, it shall send a notification to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered at least 03 working days before the planned date of business suspension or resumption. If the artel still wishes to suspend its business after the end of the notified suspension period, another notification of business suspension must be sent to the district-level business registration authority at least 03 days before the planned date of suspension. Each notified suspension period must not exceed 12 months.

2. When notifying its business suspension, the artel shall be required to submit a notice of business suspension and a copy or original of the minutes of the meeting of the artel’s members on its business suspension. The document required when notifying resumption of business of an artel is the notice of business resumption.

3. When receiving the required notification documents, the district-level business registration authority shall give a confirmation slip to the artel. Within 03 working days from its receipt of the satisfactory documents, the district-level business registration authority shall give a certificate of business suspension or a certificate of resumption of business to the artel.

4. During the suspension period, the artel shall fully pay outstanding taxes and social insurance contributions, and keep paying its debts and performing contracts signed with its clients and employees, unless otherwise agreed.

5. Within 03 working days from the day on which the district-level business registration authority receives a notification from a competent authority that an artel is engaging in conditional business lines without satisfying conditions as prescribed, it shall request the artel to suspend or terminate such business lines.

6. Within 03 working days from the day on which the district-level business registration authority receives a notification from a competent authority that an artel is requested to suspend or terminate one or some business lines in certain fields according to a court’s decision, it shall update information on the Cooperative registration database and publish the same on the National Business Registration Portal.

Article 63. Document requirements and procedures for shutdown of artels

1. Within 07 working days on which the shutdown of an artel is ratified, the artel shall send the minutes of the meeting of its members on its shutdown and the debt payment plan (if any) to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. The debt payment plan must contain names and addresses of creditors, debt amounts, due dates, location and method of payment, method and deadline for settlement of creditors' complaints;

2. Within 03 working days from its receipt of the documents specified in clause 1 of this Article, the district-level business registration authority shall publish such documents and a notification that the artel is following shutdown procedures on the National Business Registration Portal, change the legal status of the artel on the Cooperative registration database into “following shutdown procedures”, and send information on the shutdown of artel to the relevant tax authority. The artel shall fulfill tax liabilities with the relevant tax authority in accordance with regulations of the Law on Tax Administration.

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a) A notice of shutdown of the artel;

b) A decision to get back undistributed fund and undistributed assets issued by the People's Committee of district where the artel is headquartered (in case the undistributed fund or undistributed assets of the artel are entirely derived from or acquired using the State financial support;

c) A report on results of transfer and liquidation of assets made by the council in charge of liquidation of undistributed assets (in case the undistributed fund or undistributed assets of the artel are partially derived from or acquired using the State financial support).

4. After receiving the application for registration of shutdown from the artel, the district-level business registration authority shall send information about the artel to be shut down to the tax authority. Within 02 working days from its receipt of information from the district-level business registration authority, the tax authority shall give its opinions about the artel’s fulfillment of tax liabilities to the district-level business registration authority. Within 05 working days from its receipt of the application for registration of shutdown from the artel, the district-level business registration authority shall change the legal status of the artel on the Cooperative registration database to “shut down” if the tax authority has no objection, and issue a notification of shutdown of the artel.

5. After 03 months from the day on which the "following shutdown procedures" status of the artel is published on the National Business Registration Portal, if the district-level business registration authority does not receive any application for registration of shutdown of the artel, and receives no written objections from the tax authority or other relevant entities and related parties, it shall change the legal status of the artel on the Cooperative registration database into “shut down” , and make notification of shutdown of the artel within 03 working days from the end of the abovementioned period. Information on shutdown of the artel shall be transmitted from the Cooperative registration information system to the Tax registration system for updating.

Article 64. Procedures for revocation, invalidation of revocation decision, and restoration of validity of artel registration certificate

1. The artel registration certificate of an artel shall be revoked in one of the following cases:

a) The application for artel registration is found to contain fraudulent information;

b) The revocation is made according to a Court’s decision;

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2. If the information in an application for registration of a new artel is found fraudulent, the district-level business registration authority shall issue a notice of violation using Form No. 04 in the Appendix enclosed herewith and a decision to revoke the artel registration certificate using Form No. 05 in the Appendix enclosed herewith within 03 working days from its receipt of the documents prescribed in clause 2 Article 23 of this Decree.

3. In case the district-level business registration authority receives a competent court’s decision to revoke artel registration certificate, within 03 working days from its receipt of the court’s decision, it shall issue a decision to revoke the artel registration certificate according to the court’s decision using Form No. 05 in the Appendix enclosed herewith.

4. In case the district-level business registration authority receives a written request for revocation of the artel registration certificate from a competent authority as prescribed by relevant laws, within 03 working days from its receipt of the request, it shall revoke the artel registration certificate according to the procedures in Clause 2 of this Article.

5. The district-level business registration authority shall issue a decision to revoke the artel registration certificate, make a notification that the artel is following shutdown procedures, and change the legal status of the artel into “following shutdown procedures”, except the case where the artel registration certificate is revoked to serve the collection of tax debts at the request of the tax authority. Within 03 working days from the day on which it issues the notice of violation, revocation decision, and notification that the artel is following shutdown procedures, the district-level business registration authority shall publish such documents on the National Business Registration Portal, and send the notice of violation and the revocation decision to the headquarters address of the artel and to the tax authority for updating and cooperating in performing management tasks. The artel shall follow shutdown procedures as prescribed in Article 63 of this Decree.

6. District-level business registration authority shall issue a decision to invalidate revocation decision and restore validity of the artel registration certificate according to the procedures in Article 56 of this Decree.

Chapter VI

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 65. Transition

1. If an application for cooperative or cooperative union registration has been received but not yet approved by a district-level business registration authority before the effective date of this Decree, procedures for cooperative or cooperative union registration shall be followed in accordance with provisions herein.

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a) In case the cooperative or cooperative union follows procedures for registration or notification of changes in cooperative registration information, it shall submit an application to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. The application includes the corresponding documents prescribed in this Decree and a copy of its tax registration certificate. The district-level business registration authority shall receive the application, check the validity of the received application, and issue a cooperative registration certificate and/or certificate of changes in cooperative or cooperative union registration information in accordance with relevant provisions of this Decree;

b) In case the cooperative or cooperative union follows procedures for notification of business suspension or resumption, or registration of establishment or changes, or notification of business suspension or resumption or shutdown of its branch/representative office/business location located in the same rural/urban district, district-level town, provincial city, or city affiliated to a central-affiliated city as the headquarters of the cooperative or cooperative union, it shall submit an application to the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. The application includes the corresponding documents prescribed in this Decree, an application form for registration of changes in cooperative registration information and a copy of its tax registration certificate. The district-level business registration authority shall receive the application, check the validity of the received application, and issue a cooperative registration certificate, certificate of branch/representative office/business location registration, certificate of changes in cooperative or cooperative union registration information and other certificates in accordance with relevant provisions of this Decree;

c) In case a branch/representative office/business location registration of the cooperative or cooperative union is located in a rural/urban district, district-level town, provincial city, or city affiliated to a central-affiliated city other than where the cooperative or cooperative union is headquartered, it shall follow registration procedures prescribed in point a of this clause before following procedures for registration of establishment, registration of changes, or notification of business suspension or resumption or shutdown of its branch/representative office/business location.

3. Any artel that is established before the effective date of the Law on Cooperatives and has to follow business registration procedures as prescribed in clause 2 Article 107 of the Law on Cooperatives shall follow business registration procedures with the business registration authority of district where it is headquartered. The application includes the application form for artel registration certificate and a copy of its tax registration certificate. In case the artel makes changes in the artel registration information which has been notified to the People's Committee of commune, ward or commune-level town, it may apply for registration of such changes and issuance of artel registration certificate in a single application in order to be issued with an artel registration certificate in accordance with provisions herein. Registration procedures shall comply with the provisions of clause 2 Article 58 of this Decree.

4. An artel that has carried out business registration as prescribed in this Decree must not follow procedures for notification to the People's Committee of commune, ward or commune-level town as prescribed in the Government’s Decree No. 77/2019/ND-CP dated October 10, 2019 prescribing artels.

5. Business Registration Offices affiliated to Departments of Planning and Investment of provinces or central-affiliated cities shall transfer processed applications for cooperative/cooperative union registration to district-level business registration authorities for converting and adding cooperative/cooperative union registration data to the Cooperative registration database.

6. People’s Committees of communes, wards and commune-level towns shall provide information on the artels established before the effective date of this Decree on their records of establishment and operation of artels to district-level business registration authorities for converting and adding data on local artels to the Cooperative registration database as prescribed in this Decree.

Article 66. Implementation

1. This Decree comes into force from the date on which it is signed.

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ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT
PP. PRIME MINISTER
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER




Le Minh Khai