Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Finance (MoF) hasdrafted a few adjustments to charges and fees in several sectors under itsmanagement.

In a draft circular amending Circular No 286/2016/TT-BTC, theministry has proposed to reduce the fee for the issuance of export foodcertificates, at the request of the importing country, from 350,000 VND (15.5USD) per shipment to 200,000 VND per shipment.

The ministry has also planned to abolish the fee for the grantingof quarantine certificates for animals, terrestrial animal products, importedor transited seafood, temporary imported products for re-export or goodstransferred through border-gates, as stipulated in Circular No 285/2016/TT-BTC.

In the draft circular amending Circular No 225/2016/TT-BTC, theministry has proposed to reduce the level of fees for evaluation, and for theissuance of biosafety certificates for the use of genetically modified productsas food and animal feed, from 120 million VND (5,330 USD) to 105 million VND eachcase.

According to the draft amendments to the Circular No277/2016/TT-BTC, the ministry reduced the fee for evaluation, and forconfirmation of information content in drug and cosmetics advertising from 1.8million VND to 1.6 million VND per application. It has also reduced the levelof fees for evaluation, and the granting of permits for the import oftraditional medicines and pharmaceuticals, from 200,000 VND to 150,000 VND peritem.

In addition to these, the ministry has proposed changes in feesfor the registration of establishment of enterprises and business certificates,which are stipulated in the Circular No 215/2016/TT-BTC. The fee is reducedfrom 200,000 VND to 100,000 VND per company.

The ministry has sent the draft documents to the related ministries,ministerial agencies, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), andthe people’s committees of central cities and provinces for their comments andcontributions.

The MoF has also requested the research institutions to givecomments on the draft circulars, which will be collected and referred to whilerevising the drafts, so that they can send timely reports to the Government andthe Prime Minister.

Dau Anh Tuan, head of the VCCI’s Legislation Department, said thatthe proposed reduction of charges and fees by the MoF is a move contrary to theproposal to increase value added tax (VAT), which has been a controversialissue recently.

Many proposed fee and charge cuts of up to 50 per cent aresignificant. Especially for those just starting a business, reducing theestablishing cost by a few hundreds of thousand VND is also noteworthy.

He said that this was a positive move to materialise theGovernment and the Prime Minister’s policies and declaration that 2017 would bethe year of reducing the cost for enterprises.

To Hoai Nam, standing vice chairman and secretary general of theVietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, applauded the amendments.

He said that because these fees and charges have a direct impacton businesses, after consultation with ministries, departments and localauthorities, the MoF should consult the business community.

He added that the views of the business community and Statemanagement agencies are often different, so the ministry needs to balance themto come up with new and innovative regulations.

Recently, the ministry has proposed an increase in the VAT ratefrom 10 to 12 percent, saying that it was necessary amid the shrinking Statebudget revenue and public overspending. Meanwhile, economic experts reckon thatthe poor would suffer the most by the increase, as most of their spending isfor daily provisions.-VNA