ADVOCACY UPDATE (FEB – MAR 2021)

SECTOR COMMITTEE

CropLife Vietnam
CropLife continues to engage with and provide technical support for the revision and implementation of regulations on crop protection products and seeds – advocating for science-based, functional and harmonized regulatory systems on plant science
CropLife will also participate in various upcoming communications activities:

Outreach events on the application of agriculture biotech in Vietnam, organized by VFU and VSTA

March: Online Forum hosted by CLA on Drones in Pesticide Application

Online comms campaign on “Drone Application in Agriculture” and “Role of Woman in Agriculture”

Series of animated clips on the responsible use of CP on VTC16

The SC has also drafted its chapter for EuroCham’s WhiteBook, and held a Year-end Board Meeting to elect a New Chair/ Vice Chair from Jan 2021.

Cosmetics Sector Committee
Cosmetics SC has submitted its chapter for the 2021 Whitebook and is finalizing its 2020 financial report and 2021 membership fee. Cosmetics will continue to advocate on the following topic moving forward: pre-approval for advertising.
    
This has been agreed at the Drug Administration Vietnam level, in principle. However, to date, MOH has not issued implementing regulations. MOH has asked for the input of Cosmetics SC for their 2021 plan.

CSR Working Group
First meeting of CSR Working Group
EuroCham recentlyheld the first meeting of its CSR Working Group. The meeting was attended by 30 guests, including NGO representatives as well as senior leaders from companies such as Lufthansa, Primark, and HSBC. The working group identified the following initial objectives:

Highlighting CSR initiatives of EuroCham’s stakeholders – Business Associations, EuroCham member companies, and partners.

Raising awareness about the importance of CSR in Chapter 13 of the EVFTA through webinars, e-documents, etc.

Providing ideas for EuroCham members for CSR/sustainable development initiatives

Including a question about CSR/sustainable development in the Business Climate Index

FAABS
FAABS SC has submitted its 2021 Whitebook chapter. This focuses on the development of the organic sector and improvement of food safety policy in terms of pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables.
It also covers the meat value chain in line with EVFTA opportunities, taking 2021 as an important transitional period for Vietnamese agriculture to rebound for future development.

Green Growth Sector Committee
GGSC has been chosen to become one of the private observers for Climate Investment Funds and Vice-Chair Gavin Smith will represent the SC in the sub-sector: Pilot Program for Climate Resilience.
GGSC is also supporting the EU-ASEAN Green Technology Transfer project, organising a series of workshops and webinars for Vietnam and the Philippines.

International Quality Medicines – Generic & Biosimilar Sector Committee
IQMed-G&B SC has submitted its 2021 Whitebook chapter and provided a comment to the Drug Administration of Vietnam on Circular 32/2018/ TT-BYT and Circular 01/2018/TT-BYT.

HR & Training Sector Commitee
HR&T SC provided input to EuroCham’s presentation to the International Trade (INTA) Committee of the European Parliament on labor rights and the ILO Core Conventions on 25 January.

Legal Sector Committee
Legal SC has provided comments on the Draft Decision to Reduce and Simplify business conditions of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The SC also prepared the Legal chapters of the 2021 Whitebook: EVFTA & EVIPA, Commercial Mediation, Judicial and Arbitral Recourse, M&A, PPP, and Real Estate.

Medical Devices & Diagnostics Sector Committee
On 20 January, the SC sponsored an MOH workshop on collecting comments for the draft circular on job description for medical device technical staff and, on 23 February, sent a joint letter with APACMed and AdvaMed on the circulars for medical device registration.

Mobility Sector Committee
Mobility SC has held two meetings (23 December and 3 February) with VAMA to discuss cooperation on the implementation of the EVFTA. The SC has also contributed input to the International Trade (INTA) Committee of the European Parliament and submitted Automotive and Motorcycle chapters to the 2021 Whitebook.

Taxation and Transfer Pricing Sector Committee
Tax & Transfer Pricing Sector Committee has provided an interview for the Tax Journal of the General Department of Taxation.

Wine & Spirits Sector Committee
W&S SC has written to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) to request clarification of the business conditions for the online sale of wines and spirits. The SC also contributed to the INTA Monitoring Group meeting.