G/C/W/819  
G/STR/Q1/VNM/10  
 
20 October 2022  
(22-7888) Page: 1/2 
Council for Trade in Goods  
Working Party on State Trading Enterprises  Original: English  
 
STATE TRADING  
VIET NAM’S REPL IES TO FURTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE UNITED STATES1 
REGARDING VIET NAM’S STATE TRADING ENTERPRISES  
The following communication, dated and received on 20  October  2022, is being circulated at the 
request of the Delegation of  Viet Nam . 
 
_______________  
 
 
 
Follow -up Question 4  
In its reply to US  Question 4 regarding Viet Nam National Coal – Mineral Industries 
Holding Corporation Limited, Viet Nam did not reply to one of our questions. Therefore, 
we will state our question again:  
• Office of the Government Announcement 346/TB -VPCP clearly states that two 
companies, including Vinacomin or TKV, are designated by the state as coal 
intermediaries:  
[MOIT] shall direct Electricity Vietnam, PetroVietnam, and other enterprises with a 
need for imported coal to sign contracts with the TKV and Dong Bac General 
Corporations (the two enterprises designated as coal import intermediaries) to 
supply coal in acc ordance with the law and international customs; contracts should 
include a guarantee that contracts will be executed, to create conditions for these 
intermediaries to find a stable source of supply with appropriate quality and price.2 
(emphasis added)  
Viet Nam asserts that this measure is "not a legal normative document to grant exclusive 
or special privileges to TKV to importing or exporting coal." Again, is Viet Nam 
representing that directives from the Deputy Prime Minister do not carry legal authority?  
Reply : 
The Notice No. 346/TB -VPCP is a document issued by the Government Office, not a "Decision of the 
Prime Minister". Therefore, it is not considered as a legal normative document according to the Law 
on the Enactment of Legal Normative Documents.  
 
The Working Party of Viet Nam’s Accession to the WTO also took note of this in Paragraph 517 of 
Document WT/ACC/VNM/483.  
 
1 G/C/W/786 - G/STR/Q1/VNM/8 and G/C/W/786/Corr.1 - G/STR/Q1/VNM/8/Corr.1  
2 Paragraph 3, Section 1, Office of the Government Announcement 346/TB -VPCP on the conclusions of 
Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai at the meeting on the coal import situation, dated 26  August  2014.  
3 In reply, the representative of Viet Nam said that " official letters" had not been recognized as legal 
normative documents under the Law on the Enactment of Legal Normative Documents or under the Law on the 
Promulgation of Legal Documents of People's Councils and People's Committees. Pursuant to Article 3 o f 
Government Decree No. 161/2005/ND -CP of 27 December 2005, any document providing for legal normative 
rules, but not adopted in the form prescribed for legal normative documents, such as official letters, notices G/C/W/819 • G/STR/Q1/VNM/10  
 
- 2 - 
 
  In addition, the paragraph referred is for orientation purpose for TKV and Dong Bac General 
Corporations to consider during the coal supply process in accordance with the law and international 
customs.  
 
Follow -up Question 7  
In US  Question 7 regarding General Aviation Import Export Joint Stock Company 
(Airimex), the United States referred to Viet Nam's revised notification that stated th at 
Airimex "is the exclusive importer and distributor of spare parts of airplanes and most of 
[sic] other equipment in the aviation industry." In its reply, Viet Nam stated that, since 
2006, "Airimex has not been granted any exclusive or special privileges  by the 
Government in importing and exporting goods." Please confirm whether the earlier 
exclusive right referenced above continues to apply and, if not, what legal measure 
changed Airimex's status or otherwise authorized other enterprises to import these 
goods.  
Reply : 
Since 2006, Airimex has not been granted any exclusive or special privileges by the Government in 
importing and exporting goods.  
 
Legal basis: Under the Law on Investment 2014 and Law on Investment 2020, the import of spare 
parts of airplane s and equipment in the aviation industry is not on the List of sectors and trades 
banned from business investment and the List of sectors and trades subject to conditional business 
investment. Accordingly, this trading activity is not exclusive for Airimex . 
 
 
__________  
 
and guidelines, would be invalid and sanct ions applied for its issuance in accordance with the law. The 
Government Office had issued Circular No. 04/2005/TT -VPCP and the Prime Minister has issued Directive No. 
08/2005/CT TTg to ensure full implementation of the two Laws and to make the use of "off icial letters" more 
transparent and consistent with WTO rules. The Working Party took note of this commitment.