Foreign investors may only invest in the assessment services when fully satisfying the conditions prescribed by the law on investment in Vietnam and in accordance with the commitments in international treaties to which Vietnam is a contracting party.
Foreign direct investment enterprises (hereinafter referred to as FDI Enterprises) that fully satisfy the conditions prescribed in Article 257 of the Commercial Law 2005 and are granted investment registration certificate with the business sectors of commercial assessment services is allowed to perform assessment services and issue assessment certificates. Specifically, as stated below:
- Being the enterprise established according to the provisions of the law;
- Having assessors who have all the qualifications as prescribed by the law;
- Being capable of carrying out procedures and methods for assessing goods or services under the provisions of law, the international standards or which are commonly applied by countries in the assessment of such goods or services.
FDI Enterprises should keep in mind that the assessors must fully meet the criteria under Article 2559 of the Commercial Law 2005 as follows:
- Having a university or college degree suitable to the requirements of the assessment field;
- Having a professional certificate regarding assessment in cases where such professional certificate is required by the law;
- Having worked for at least 3 years in the field of assessment of goods or services.
Currently, according to Vietnam’s commitments on trade in services in the WTO, Vietnam only commits to technical analysis and inspection services (code CPC 8676), including technical assessment services (code CPC 86764). Also, according to this Schedule of Commitments, for goods inspection services, capital restrictions have been abolished.
In addition, in Vietnam’s commitments on trade in services in the WTO and the Vietnamese economic sector code system, there are no regulations on trade assessment services as well as no corresponding CPC and industry codes for this service.
During the registration process, FDI Enterprises should explain and clarify the scope of service provision, objects of goods to be assessed, methods of deploying inspection services and their ability to meet service business conditions according to specialized regulations. For some specific products, enterprises must consult the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Science and Technology.
After being established, FDI Enterprises are only allowed to provide assessment services in the fields of assessment when they fully meet the prescribed conditions. FDI enterprises must register the professional seal used in the assessment certificate with the Department of Industry and Trade where the trader providing assessment services registers its business.
If an FDI enterprise provides assessment services when it has not fully satisfied the conditions prescribed by law or provides assessment services outside the field registered in the Investment Registration Certificate, depending on the nature and severity of violations, FDI enterprises may be administratively sanctioned or examined for penal liability in accordance with the law.
