CIRCULAR

AMENDMENTS TO CIRCULAR NO. 47/2014/TT-BCT DATED DECEMBER 5, 2014 OF THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE ON MANAGEMENT OF E-COMMERCE WEBSITES AND CIRCULAR NO. 59/2015/TT-BCT DATED DECEMBER 31, 2015 OF THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE ON MANAGEMENT OF E-COMMERCE ACTIVITIES VIA APPLICATIONS ON MOBILE DEVICES

Pursuant to Decree No. 98/2017/ND-CP dated August 18, 2017 of the Government on functions, duties, entitlements, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

Pursuant to Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP dated May 16, 2013 of the Government on E-commerce and Decree No. 85/2021/ND-CP dated September 25, 2021 of the Government on Amendments to Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP dated May 16, 2013 of the Government on E-commerce;

Pursuant to Decree No. 08/2018/ND-CP dated January 15, 2018 of the Government on Amendments to a number of Decrees related to investment conditions for business under the state management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

At the request of the Director of the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency;

The Ministry of Industry and Trade promulgates the Circular on Amendments to Circular No. 47/2014/TT-BCT dated December 5, 2014 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on management of e-commerce websites and Circular No. 59/2015/TT-BCT dated December 31, 2015 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on management of e-commerce activities via applications on mobile devices.

Article 1. Amendments to Circular No. 47/2014/TT-BCT dated December 5, 2014 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on management of e-commerce websites (hereinafter referred to as "Circular No. 47/2014/TT-BCT”) are as follows:

...

...

...

“Article 5. Principles of notification and registration of e-commerce websites

Owners of websites with functions of online shopping and e-commerce service shall only register with the Ministry of Industry and Trade in accordance with regulations prescribed in Chapter II of this Circular.”

2. Amendment to Chapter II is as follows:

 “Chapter II. Procedures for notification, registration of e-commerce website, and registration for provision of e-contract authentication services."

3. Amendments to Article 20 are as follows:

“Article 20. Report methods of entities that have registered for e-commerce service websites

Owners of e-commerce service websites shall report to the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the statistic on the operational status of the previous year by online methods via E-commerce Activities Management Information Portal or by post in writing.

4. Article 20a is added after Article 20 in Chapter II as follows:

 “Article 20a. Provision of e-contract authentication services

...

...

...

a) Rights and duties of service providers;

b) Rights and duties of service users;

c) Descriptions of methods and procedures for e-contract authentication;

d) Limitations of responsibility of e-contract authentication service providers;

dd) Regulations on information safety and management in providing e-contract authentication services;

e) Mechanisms for resolving complaints and disputes between parties related to the provision of e-contract authentication services;

g) Methods for handling violations of operation regulations.

2. If there are any changes to the content prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, e-contract authentication service providers shall notify their users at least 5 days before applying those changes."

5. Article 28a is added after Article 28 as follows:

...

...

...

1. Before March 15 every year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall publicize the group of 5 market leaders of the previous year.

2. The publicized information includes:

a) Names of e-commerce service providers;

b) Names of websites or applications that provide e-commerce services."

6. Article 29a is added after Article 29 as follows:

 “Article 29a. Publication of the list of e-contract authentication service providers that have conducted procedures for registration

1. The list of e-contract authentication service providers that have completed procedures for registration and approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall be made public on the E-commerce Activities Management Information Portal.

2. The publicized information includes:

d) Names of e-contract authentication service providers;

...

...

...

c) Addresses, phone numbers, and emails of service providers;

3. E-contract authentication service providers subject to termination or cancellation of registration or information will be removed from this list and have their status changed to “terminated” or be transferred to the list of providers that violate regulations of the law."

Article 2. Amendments to Circular No. 59/2015/TT-BCT dated December 31, 2015 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on management of e-commerce activities via applications on mobile devices (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 59/2015/TT-BCT)

1. Amendments to Clause 2 Article 2 are as follows:

“2. Traders, organizations, and individuals specified in Clause 1 of this Article are Vietnamese traders, organizations and individuals; foreign individuals residing in Vietnam; and foreign traders and organizations that have e-commerce activities in Vietnam.”

2. Amendments to Clause 1 Article 5 are as follows:

“1. Notify the Ministry of Industry and Trade in accordance with regulations prescribed in Section 1 Chapter II of this Circular if the application has the function of online shopping.”

Article 3. Annul and replace a number of clauses, articles of Circular No. 47/2014/TT-BCT and Circular No. 59/2015/TT-BCT

1. Annulments and replacements of a number of clauses, articles, appendixes of Circular No. 47/2014/TT-BCT are as follows:

...

...

...

b) Replace the application for e-commerce service websites in the Appendix (Form TMDT-1) with the application for e-commerce service websites (Form TMDT-1) promulgated with this Circular.

2. Annul Clause 2 Article 1; Clause 8 Article 3; Article 10 and Article 13 of Circular No. 59/2015/TT-BCT.

Article 4. Implementation provision

1. This Circular comes into force as of March 8, 2022.

2. Difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular shall be promptly reported to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for consideration and handling./.

MINISTER




Nguyen Hong Dien