On 25 September 2021, the Government passed Decree 85/2021/ND-CP ("Decree 85") to amend the existing Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce ("Decree 52"). As a result of Decree 85, foreign organisations will now be regulated by Vietnam's e-commerce regulations – previously, those regulations were only applicable to entities in Vietnam or foreign entities with a local establishment presence (e.g., a representative office).
For foreign companies in particular, Decree 85 specifically targets foreign companies that have websites providing e-commerce services in Vietnam, operating in one of the following forms:
- having an e-commerce website operating under Vietnamese domain names;
- having an e-commerce website with a Vietnamese language display; or
- having an e-commerce website that has more than 100,000 transactions from Vietnam in a year.
These foreign companies are required to either establish a representative office or appoint an authorised representative in Vietnam to perform certain responsibilities. These include coordinating with the State in preventing transactions that violate the law, performing obligations to protect consumer interests and ensure quality of products and goods, and performing reporting obligations. As Decree 85 now enables foreign companies to be regulated by Decree 52, this means these companies will also be subject to the various obligations set forth under Decree 52, including those concerning personal data protection.
Decree 85 will come into effect from 1 January 2022. Foreign companies which fall into the above categories have a 12-month period from the effective date to comply with the obligations.
