Request to Apply Anti-dumping Measures on Liquid Sugar Extracted from Corn Starch (HFCS) from China and Korea

Liquid sugar is one of the additives used to sweeten in food processing, widely used in the processing of fast food, bottled food, etc. On May 21^st, 2020, the Trade Remedies Administration (Investigating Authority) received a request to apply anti-dumping measures on liquid sugar extracted from corn starch (HFCS) originating from China and Korea imported into Vietnam from the representative of the Domestic Sugar Industry (the Requesting Party).

 

Anti-dumping law firm in Vietnam

On June 29^th, 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Decision No. 1715/QD-BCT conducting an investigation on the investigation and application of anti-dumping measures on liquid sugar extracted from corn starch (HFCS) from China and Korea (Case No. AD11).

The investigation results show that HFCS liquid sugar products imported from China and Korea are being dumped in the Vietnamese market and have significantly damaged the domestic industry. However, the causal relationship between the dumping behavior of the investigated goods imported from China and Korea and the damage to the domestic industry has not been clearly shown.

Therefore, according to the provisions of Point b, Clause 3, Article 71 of the Law on Foreign Trade Management, the investigating agency proposed the Minister of Industry and Trade to stop investigating the case and not apply dumping measures on goods imported goods under investigation.

On October 07^th, 2021, the Minister of Industry and Trade issued a Notice attached to Decision No. 2274/QD-BTC on termination of the investigation and non-application of anti-dumping measures for liquid sugar extracted from corn starch originating from the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea.

If Client needs any more information or request for legal advice or potential dispute regarding trade remedies measures including, anti-dumping, countervailing duty and safeguard measures or international trade dispute matters, our competition, anti-dumping, and countervailing duty lawyers in Vietnam of International trade and tax practice at ANT Lawyers, an Anti-dumping law firm in Vietnam always follow up anti-dumping cases and its development to update clients on regular basis.

 

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What Are Real Estate Transaction Conditions for Buyer and Seller in Vietnam?

The real estate market is always an attractive market with a large source of potential speculative profits for investors. Because real estate transaction is always high in value, and buying a property for most people is always a life time important decision, and many times with the financial support from the bank, therefore in developed country, real estate lawyers in Vietnam are always involved in all steps of the transaction to ensure the legitimate transfer of the property. In Vietnam, in reality, many real estate transitions are conducted by the buyer and sellers themselves without real estate lawyers and there are many disputes arisen from the transactions in regard to property deposit agreement, property sales and purchase agreement between real estate developer and buyer for a new property, or between buyer and the previous property owner for resale property.

 

Residential property is one of the common types of real estate traded, so when joining in transactions related to property, it is necessary to ensure the conditions for property transfer.  The related parties need to comply and meet the requirements of the above conditions for a successful transfer transaction.

Conditions for property transfer transaction include the following basic points: the transferred property is not in a dispute, complaint, or claim about ownership; the transferred property shall be within the property ownership period, in the case of property owners with a definite term; the transferred property is not distrained for judgment enforcement or distrained to comply  legally effective administrative decisions of competent state agencies; the transferred property is not subject to a decision on land recovery or a notice of house clearance or demolition issued by a competent agency.

For the conditions on the parties to the property transaction, the property transferor needs to meet the following conditions:

The transferor is the owner of the property or the person permitted or authorized by the owner to carry out the transaction on property according to the provisions of law;

In case of transfer of a commercial house purchase and sale contract, the transferor shall be the person who bought the house from the investor or the person who has received the transfer of the house purchase and sale contract;

If the transferor is an individual, this person shall have full civil act capacity to carry out transactions on housing under the provisions of civil law;

If the transferor is an organization, it shall have legal status, unless the organization donates a house of gratitude or charity.

At the same time, the transferee shall also meet the conditions, specifically including the following conditions:

If the transferee is a domestic individual, this person shall have full civil act capacity to conduct property transactions under civil law and it is not required to them to have permanent residence registration in the place where the housing transferred is located;

If the transferee is a foreign individual or overseas Vietnamese, this person shall have full civil act capacity to carry out transactions on housing under Vietnamese law. In addition, this person must be eligible to own houses in Vietnam according to the provisions of law and it is not required to them to have temporary residence registration or permanent residence registration at the place where the housing transferred is located;

If the transferee is an organization, it shall have legal status and not depend on the place of business registration and establishment; if it is a foreign organization, it must be eligible to own a house in Vietnam according to the provisions of law; if the organization is authorized to manage to house, it must have the function of providing real estate services and be operating in Vietnam under the law on real estate business.

Having said that, it would be more efficient for buyer and seller to engage real estate law firm specializing in real estate transaction for buying and selling property in Vietnam to avoid potential disputes and protect their best interest for seller and safeguard investment for buyer.

ANT Lawyers – Real estate law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529

 

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How to Dealing with Trademark Infringement in Vietnam?

According to Vietnam law on intellectual property, when detecting the trademark infringement act, the trademark owner has the self-protection right includes (i) apply technological measures to prevent acts of trademark infringement (ii) request organization or individual who commits an act of trademark infringement of the holder to terminate such act, make a public apology or rectification, and compensate damages; (iii) request the competent authority to handle with acts of trademark infringement in accordance with the provisions of laws.

 

Trademark Infringement in Vietnam

Firstly, to apply the technological measures to prevent acts of trademark infringement measure, infringed party may give our the information related to original of emergence, trademark certificate, protection and duration scope and other information related to the right of trademark owner in order to inform that the infringed trademark are under protection warn the infringing party not to infringe. Besides, the owner of infringed trademark may use the technical means or measures to mark, identify, distinguish and protect the infringed trademark.

 Secondly, the owner could also request organization or individual who commits an act of trademark infringement of the holder to terminate such act, make a public apology or rectification, and compensate damages. In particular, the trademark owners may themselves or authorize to individual or organization, IP attorney in Vietnam to send to the infringed party to stop the the infringement by indicating the information regarding origin of infringement, trademark certificate, protection scope, protection duration and set a reasonable period of time for the infringer to terminate the act of infringement. In addition, depending on the case and level of infringement, the written request will bear different content. It can be said that this is a prior-should-use measure before taking other measures including application of technological measures. If the violating party cooperates and stops the infringement, it will save time and money of both parties when not taking other stronger measures.

Thirdly, owner of trademark could request the competent authority to deal with acts of trademark infringement in accordance with the provisions of laws. When the trademark owner sends the request as mentioned above to infringing party, and, the violated party does not cooperate and continue the infringement, infringed party may sent a request to competent authority with the information such as: date of making the request; name and address of infringed party or their legal representative; name of receiving request authority; name and address of infringing party; name and address of the suspected violator in the case of request for temporary cessation of customs clearance for exports or imports suspected of infringement; brief information of infringed trademark and infringement; proposed measures to handle infringement; documents and evidence accompanying the request. Depending on the seriousness of the infringement, the petitioner may submit a request to the relevant authorities to apply administrative, civil, criminal or customs measures. Be noted that if the request is sent to custom authority for temporary cessation of customs clearance for imports or exports suspected of infringement, it is required to provide the additional information on the mode of import or export, country of exportation, mode of packaging, the lawful importer or exporter, features of lawfully imported or exported goods for distinction from infringing goods.

Overall, it is important to protect the intellectual property rights. Further, engaging with IP attorney in Vietnam will help the process efficiently from registration, managing the intellectual properties, protecting the intellectual property from infringement, and handling the disputes against the IP violators in Vietnam through administrative measures, civil litigation or even criminal prosecution.

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What’s New in the Draft of the Decree on Amending the Decree 52 on E-Commerce?

The DecreeNo.52/2013/ND-CP (Decree 52) on e-commerce will be effective from July 1st, 2013. However, this Decree does not have specific regulations on e-commerce activities for foreign investors conducting e-commerce activities in Vietnam. Therefore, the draft of the Decree amending Decree 52 shall fill the missing gap for foreign investors with particulars in conducting e-commerce activities in Vietnam.

 

The draft decree has supplemented regulations on management of e-commerce activities for foreign investors setting up business in Vietnam. Specifically, the draft decree (i) adds specific regulations on foreign traders and organizations conducting e-commerce activities in Vietnam; (ii) supplements market access conditions for foreign investors in accordance with the Law on Investment; and (iii) provides the exclusion of foreign investors investing in economic organizations that are innovative and creative enterprises in order to promote innovation activities in accordance with the law on support small and medium enterprises.

In particular, the draft decree also provides plans for e-commerce activities of foreign investors in Vietnam. According to the draft decree, foreign investors can set up an e-commerce website under the Vietnamese domain name or an e-commerce website with the display language in Vietnamese. The option of setting up an e-commerce exchange floor with a specified number of transactions from Vietnam in a year is also considered for selection.

In addition, foreign investors setting up e-commerce websites in Vietnam must notify and register e-commerce activities according to regulations. At the same time, they need to ensure the fulfillment of obligations on protection the interests of consumers. The quality of the goods need to be protected by their representative office, designation of a legal representative in Vietnam.

Foreign investors selling goods on Vietnamese e-commerce exchanges must comply with the operating regulations of e-commerce exchanges in Vietnam. When providing Vietnam e-commerce exchanges, foreign investors are responsible for verifying their identities. In addition, foreign investors conducting e-commerce activities are responsible for complying with the provisions of Vietnamese law on the right to export and import goods in accordance with the laws.

The draft decree also specifies that e-commerce service is a conditional market access industry for foreign investors. Market access conditions will also be considered accordingly. In addition, the control and domination of enterprises providing e-commerce services are also clearly regulated.

In the coming time, Vietnam will continue to receive comments to supplement and complete the draft of decree amending Decree 52 on e-commerce activities. It is important to create a clear and appropriate e-commerce operating environment to attract foreign investors with experience and capability to invest, set up company and operate in Vietnam in the area of e-commerce to facilitate goods transaction, protect intellectual property, reduce cost. However, it is also equally important to ensure the management of investment activities of foreign investors in the field of e-commerce in Vietnam. 

ANT Lawyers – E-commerce law firm in Vietnam with international standard, local expertise and strong international network. We focus on customers’ needs and provide clients with a high quality legal advice and services. For advice or services request, please contact us via email ant@antlawyers.vn, or call us +84 24 730 86 529

 

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How Products could Enjoy Exemption in Trade Remedies?

The scope of the exemption applies primarily to both provisional and formal trade remedies. For goods subject to investigation for application of trade remedies, if falling into one of the following cases, organizations or individuals that import/use such goods will be allowed to submit an application for exemption. The importer or manufacturer could consult with international trade lawyers in Vietnam to present the case to the authority to submit application for exemption if meeting the conditions as regulated by laws.

 

After the 2017 Law on Foreign Trade Management was promulgated with a more comprehensive and comprehensive system of legal provisions on trade remedies, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Circular No. 06/2018/TT-BCT in order to provide specific and detailed regulations in this field, including content of the scope of exemption from application of trade remedies. However, based on Clause 1, Article 9 of this Circular, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has only given four (04) exemptions.

After considering the actual situation, on November 29, 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Trade replaced Circular 06/2018/TT-BCT with Circular No. 37/2019/TT-BCT, which stipulates all six (06) types of goods which are exempted from trade remedies. Specifically, Article 10 of Circular No. 37/2019/TT-BCT allows the Minister of Industry and Trade to consider exemption from application of temporary trade remedies and official trade remedies for a number of goods. Imported goods are subject to trade remedy measures in one of six (06) cases.

First, goods cannot be produced domestically.

With this addition, it is understandable that Vietnamese law, in addition to protecting the domestic manufacturing industry, also considers allowing Vietnam to import important goods that cannot yet be produced on its own, in order to ensure to fully and promptly meet the development needs of all aspects, especially the economy and society of the country. The granting of a trade remedy waiver for goods that cannot be produced in the country may initially be seen as preventing the formation of a domestic industry producing the goods. However, the introduction of a new product into the Vietnamese market is a test for the tastes and needs of customers, through which the importation can assess the development potential and profit of that industry in Vietnam, thereby stimulating the investment and production of domestic manufacturers.

Second, goods have distinctive characteristics from domestically produced goods that cannot be substituted for domestically produced goods.

The exemption from trade remedies for different goods that cannot be substituted by domestically produced goods also ensures the supply of special goods, prevents the scarcity of goods, the supply of goods and the supply of goods that cannot be replaced enough demand in the market.

Third, goods are special products of like products or directly competitive goods produced in the country.

Special products are products with the same physical and chemical characteristics as like products or directly competitive goods are domestically produced but have some characteristics, appearance or product quality that are different from those like products, directly competitive goods produced in the country. Basically, this explanation also causes some confusion with the above-mentioned case of goods with differences that cannot be substituted by domestically produced goods, making it difficult to determine the exemption case. However, only goods that fall into one of the six cases can apply for an exemption, so the applicant only needs to prepare sufficient evidence to prove that the goods they import/use in a case that satisfies the condition for an exemption.

Fourth, like products, directly competitive goods produced in the country are not sold on the domestic market under the same usual conditions.

Normal conditions directly affect the quality, efficiency of use, etc. of the goods. Therefore, the difference in normal conditions has brought special features to goods from abroad that are imported/used into Vietnam, which is the basis for exemption from trade remedies, in order to meet the needs of the domestic market.

Fifth, like products, directly competitive goods produced in the country do not meet the amount of domestic use.

With the priority criteria for the development of the domestic manufacturing industry, acts of importing/using foreign goods that cause damage or threaten to cause damage to the domestic industry will be investigated and applied for defensive measures commerce. However, in cases where the domestic industry cannot meet the demand for like products, the relaxation of trade remedies is essential to ensure supply and market balance.

Sixth, imported goods are included in the total amount requested for exemption from regulations for research and development purposes and other non-commercial purposes.

With this regulation, it can be seen that in the future, the goals of science and technology development, technical level development, research and non-commercial purposes will be increasingly focused and encouraged instead of just economic goals as before. Therefore, it can be understood why state agencies allow the import/use of goods for research, development and other non-commercial purposes, even though they are likely to negatively affect the economy domestic production.

Accurate identification of cases where imported/used goods are exempted from trade remedy measures is extremely important and has great significance for foreign importers and manufacturers. Therefore, before submitting an application for an exemption, it is necessary to base on the above provisions and consult with international trade lawyers in trade remedies to accurately determine the scope of the exemption, in order to avoid wasting time and money.

If Client needs any more information or request for legal advice or potential dispute regarding trade remedies measures including, anti-dumping, countervailing duty and safeguard measures or international trade dispute matters, our competition, anti-dumping, and countervailing duty lawyers in Vietnam of International trade and tax practice at ANT Lawyers, an Anti-dumping law firm in Vietnam always follow up anti-dumping cases and its development to update clients on regular basis.

 

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