Decision to Authorise the Division of Industry and Commerce of Provinces and the Capital to Issue and Manage Certificates of Origin of Goods that have Received Special Privileges

On 8 September 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce ("MOIC") issued the Decision to Authorize the Division of Industry and Commerce of Provinces and the Capital to Issue and Manage the Certificate of Origin of Goods that have received Special Privileges No.1197/MOIC ("Decision"). The Decision replaces two earlier decisions, namely (i) the Decision on Authorising the Right of the Division of Industry and Commerce, throughout the country, to issue Certificates of Origin under the Preferential, No. 2036/MOIC.DIMEX, dated 12 October 2010; and (ii) the Decision on Authorising the Right of the Vientiane Capital Division of Industry and Commerce to issue and manage Certificates of Origin under the Preferential, No. 1880/MOIC.DIMEX, dated 5 September 2012.

Pursuant to the Decision, the Division of Industry and Commerce of Province and the Capital is empowered to issue and manage the relevant certificates of origin of goods that have received special privileges as follows:

1. Form A for goods that meet the requirements of the product origin regulations under the general commercial privileges; preferential;
2. Form D for goods that meet the requirements of the product origin regulations under the ASEAN Trade Agreement;
3. Form S for goods that meet the requirements of the product origin regulations under the trade agreement between the Government of the Lao PDR and the Government of Vietnam;
4. Form DFTP for goods that meet the conditions of the product origin regulations under; the unilateral trade privileges from India;
5. Form APTA for products that meet the conditions of the product origin regulations under the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Agreement ("APTA");
6. Form AI for products that meet the conditions of the product origin regulations under the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement;
7. Form AHK for products that meet the conditions of the product origin regulations under the ASEAN-Hong Kong, China Free Trade Agreement;
8. Form RCEP for products that meet the conditions of the product origin regulations under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement ("RCEP").

The issuance and continued use of a certificate of origin of goods that have received special privileges is granted upon the applicant's compliance with the terms, conditions, and instructions of the certification of origin of goods as defined in each contract from time to time. The Department of Import and Export of MOIC will coordinate and guide the Division of Industry and Commerce of Provinces and the Capital in the proper and effective implementation of the Decision. 

Decision on Creating and Developing Secure Applications

On 12 August 2022, the Ministry of Technologies and Communications ("MTC") issued the Decision on Creating and Developing Secure Applications No.2598/MTC ("Decision"). The Decision, which was published in the Lao Gazette Official on 24 August 2022, came into effect 45 days from the date of its issuance.  It aims to encourage individuals, legal entities and organisations that create and develop applications in Lao PDR to ensure that their applications are secure, by complying with the principles set out in the Decision.

Pursuant to the Decision, creating and developing a secure application involves developing and verifying the functionality of the application to make it more secure, including puting in place technical measures such as risk assessment, vulnerability identification, prevention methods and system maintenance. The application shall be reviewed by MTC. It must cover the following aspects and principles:

1. Application development and open data for further development;
2. Functional testing of applications;
3. Use of tools and elements;
4. Maintaining personal information in the application; and
5. Security maintenance in the application.

The Decision also states that the security testing of the application must follow standardised security inspection principles such as risk assessment, vulnerability identification, prevention methods and remedial measures set out by the relevant security management unit and/or the Department of Cyber Security.

The Decision also stipulates that application creators and developers as well as application owners can submit their apps to the Department of Cyber Security in order for the latter to carry out security checks in accordance with the relevant security standards to ensure the security and reliability of their apps and their services.

Decision on Management and Use of Internet Protocol Numbers (Internet Protocol)

On 12 August 2022, the Ministry of Technologies and Communications ("MTC") issued the Decision on Management and Use of Internet Protocol Numbers No.2600/MTC ("Decision"). The Decision, which was published in the Lao Gazette Official on 24 August 2022, came into effect 45 days from the date of its issuance. The Decision states that legal entities or organisations intending to use an Internet Protocol Number ("IP number") must apply with the Asia Pacific Network Information Center ("APNIC") or through the National Internet Center and satisfy the following conditions:

1. The applicant is an Internet service provider, government organisation, financial-banking department/agency, educational institution or information center that uses the internet with its own network;
2. The applicant's technical standards comply with the requirements set by APNIC;
3. There are elements of organisational structure within the applicant such as the presence of a general management person, technical person, and financial person; and
4. Compliance with other conditions as may be prescribed by MTC.

A legal entity or organisation that intends to use the IP number from APNIC has two options to do so: (i) Channel 1: applicants will use IP numbers directly with APNIC; and (ii) Channel 2: applicants will use IP numbers through the National Internet Center (which is a partner with APNIC).

A legal entity or organisation that has received the right to use the number from APNIC must register to use the IP number correctly and completely with MTC within 15 days prior to using such IP number.

The State also encourages individuals, legal entities and organisations in both the public and private sectors to research, develop, transform and use the Internet Protocol Version 6 ("IPv6") instead of the Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) in telecommunications networks, internet networks, hosting devices (Server, Cloud Computing, Hosting), software, internet code names, internet of things devices (IoT), Smart Home, Smart City and other technical systems related to their work and services to ensure the usage of IP numbers to expand their network and technical systems in the future.

The development plan for the use of IPv6 is divided into three phases: (i) Years 2021-2022: preparation phase; (ii) Years 2023-2024: implementation of the initial phase; and (iii) Year 2025 onwards: transition phase from IPv4 to IPv6.