There are many maritime-related services included in the List of Decree 59/2006/NĐ-CP, but there are no longer any regulations concerning maritime law. Photo for illustration.

In the document sent to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) clearly expressed their agreement.

"The provisions in Decree 59/2006/NĐ-CP restrict the rights of citizens. This is not in line with the provisions of the 2013 Constitution and the 2015 Civil Code," VCCI explained the necessity to repeal Decree 59/2006/NĐ-CP.

Decree 59/2006/NĐ-CP, which issued the list of prohibited goods, services, and restricted business activities, is not appropriate in terms of the authority to issue regulations according to the provisions of the 2013 Constitution and the 2015 Civil Code (which require limitations on human rights and citizens' rights to be regulated in legislative documents).

Article 14, Clause 2 of the 2013 Constitution stipulates: "Human rights and citizens' rights may only be restricted by law when necessary for reasons of national defense, national security, public order, social safety, social morality, and community health," and Article 2, Clause 2 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates: "Civil rights may only be restricted by law when necessary for reasons of national defense, national security, public order, social safety, social morality, and community health."

It should also be clarified that Decree 59/2006/NĐ-CP was issued in accordance with the requirement of Article 25 of the 2005 Commercial Law, which delegated the authority to the Government to regulate the list of prohibited goods, goods subject to business restrictions, goods subject to conditional business, and conditions for conducting business in those goods.

In addition to the aforementioned reasons, VCCI also highlights the inconsistency between the list of prohibited goods, services, restricted business activities, and business activities subject to conditions in Decree 59/2006/NĐ-CP and the list of prohibited investment sectors, and sectors with conditional business under the 2020 Investment Law.

Although it is a decree guiding the Commercial Law, the conditions for conducting business with various types of goods listed in Decree 59/2006/NĐ-CP are applicable to "business entities" (meaning that business entities must meet certain conditions to be permitted to engage in the business of goods and services), rather than being "conditions of goods and services" themselves. This is also the principle applied in the list of the 2020 Investment Law.

According to the provisions of Article 4, Clause 2 of the 2020 Investment Law, "In case there are different provisions between the Investment Law and other laws issued before the effective date of the Investment Law regarding prohibited investment sectors or sectors with conditional business, the provisions of the Investment Law shall prevail."

Therefore, the regulations regarding prohibited business sectors and sectors with conditional business will be applied according to the provisions of the 2020 Investment Law.

"The existence of the List in Decree 59/2006/NĐ-CP poses legal risks for businesses because this Decree is still in effect. If a business engages in the trade of goods or services not listed in the Decree but listed in the Investment Law, the business would not need to fulfill any conditions according to the provisions of the Decree, but would need to fulfill business conditions according to the provisions of the Investment Law, and vice versa.” VCCI explains the necessity of repealing Decree 59/2006/NĐ-CP.

Furthermore, the goods and services listed in the List of Decree 59/2006/NĐ-CP are referenced to detailed regulatory documents, many of which have expired. The names of goods and services in this List, along with the regulatory management mechanisms, have also changed according to current regulations.

For example, maritime-related services (cargo inspection services, ship sanitation services, cargo handling services at ports) no longer have detailed provisions in maritime law.

Therefore, if businesses were to apply the provisions of Decree 59/2006/NĐ-CP, they would be uncertain about which regulations and which legal documents to follow.