Sale website and application notification process in Vietnam

Currently, society has developed a need to do business on e-commerce platforms or through sale applications, and more and more websites and sale applications have appeared. When operating, these websites must comply with e-commerce management regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and carry out website notifications. In the article below, Viet An Law will provide service for the sale website and application notification process in Vietnam.

Legal basis

• Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce, as amended and supplemented by Decree 08/2018/ND-CP and Decree 85/2021/ND-CP;
• Circular 47/2014/TT-BCT, as amending and supplementing Circular 01/2022/TT-BCT regulating the management of e-commerce websites;
• Circular 59/2015/TT-BCT, as amending and supplementing Circular 01/2022/TT-BCT regulating the management of e-commerce activities via applications on mobile devices.

What is a sale website and application?

According to the provisions of Article 3 of Decree 52/2013/ND-CP, as amended and supplemented by Decree 85/2021/ND-CP, an e-commerce website (referred to as a website) is an electronic information page designed established to serve part or all of the process of buying and selling goods or providing services, from displaying and introducing goods and services to entering into contracts, providing services, payment, and post-sale services.

Article 1 of this Decree also stipulates that sale e-commerce websites are e-commerce websites set up by traders, organizations, and individuals to serve trade promotion activities, selling goods or providing its service. The sale website regime also applied for the sale applications.

Features of sale website

The transition from traditional sale to e-commerce sale websites is a trend that attracts many businesses today. A commercial sale website has the following characteristics:

• High-quality, intuitive images and videos;
• Provide information quickly and accurately;
• Convenient and quick operation;
• Easy interaction between buyers and sellers;
• Diverse payment methods.

Some differences between sale website services and websites providing e-commerce services are as follows:

Obligation for notification of sale website in Vietnam

According to the provisions of Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP, as amended and supplemented by Decree 85/2021/ND-CP, the responsibilities of organizations and individuals when owning a sale website are as follows:

• Notify the Ministry of Industry and Trade about the establishment of an e-commerce website for sale according to Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP amended and supplemented by Decree 85/2021/ND-CP;
• Fully provide information on the website and take responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the information;
• Comply with regulations on protecting customers’ personal information according to Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP, as amended and supplemented by Decree 85/2021/ND-CP;
• Implement regulations according to Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP, as amended and supplemented by Decree 85/2021/ND-CP if the website has an online ordering function.
• Implement regulations under this Decree if the website has an online payment function;
• Provide information about your business situation when requested by a competent state agency to serve e-commerce statistical activities, inspection activities, examination, and handling of violations in commerce.

The subject carries out the process of notifying websites and sale applications

• Traders, organizations, and individuals set up their e-commerce websites to serve their trade promotion activities, sell goods, or provide services (owners of e-commerce sale websites);
• Traders, organizations and individuals use the websites of traders and organizations providing e-commerce services to serve their trade promotion activities, sell goods, or provide services.

Sale website and application notification process in Vietnam

According to Article 52 of Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP, as amended and supplemented by Decree 85/2021/ND-CP, traders and organizations setting up sale e-commerce websites must notify the Ministry Industry and Trade through the online notification tool on the E-commerce Activities Management Portal at www.online.gov.vn . Notification information includes:

• Domain name of e-commerce website;
• Type of goods and services introduced on the website;
• Registered name of the trader, organization, or name of the individual who owns the website;
• Address of the headquarters of the trader, organization, or permanent residence address of the individual;
• Number, date of issue, and place of issuance of the trader’s enterprise registration certificate, or number, date of issue, and unit issuing the establishment decision of the organization; or the personal tax identification number;
• Name, title, identity card number, phone number, and email address of the trader representative, the person responsible for the e-commerce website;
• Other information according to regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Implementation process

According to Circular 47/2014/TT-BCT, as amended and supplemented by Circular 01/2022/TT-BCT, the process of implementing website and application notification is prescribed as follows:

Step 1: Traders, organizations, and individuals register an account to log into the system by providing the following information:

• Name of trader, organization, individual;
• Business registration number of the trader or establishment decision number of the organization or personal tax code of the individual;
• Business fields and activities;
• Address of the headquarters of the trader, organization, or permanent residence address of the individual;
• Contact information.

Step 2: Within 3 working days, traders, organizations, and individuals receive results from the Ministry of Industry and Trade via a registered email address regarding one of the following contents:

• If the account registration information is complete, the trader, organization, or individual will be granted an account to log into the system and proceed to Step 3;
• If account registration is refused or additional information is required, traders, organizations, and individuals must re-register or supplement information as requested.

Step 3: After being granted an account to log into the system, traders, organizations, and individuals log in, select the Notify Sale e-commerce website function, and declare information according to the form.

Step 4: Within 3 working days, traders, organizations, and individuals receive feedback from the Ministry of Industry and Trade via a registered email address about one of the following contents:

• Confirm complete and valid declared information;
• Indicates that the declared information is incomplete or invalid. At that time, traders, organizations, and individuals must return to Step 3 to re-declare or supplement information as required.

After performing the above steps, traders, organizations, and individuals are responsible for monitoring the status of application processing via email or the system access account that has been granted to update and edit information upon request.

Within 10 working days from receipt of the notice requesting additional information in Step 4, if the trader, organization, or individual does not respond, the notification dossier will be terminated and must re-notify the application from Step 3.

Note: The time to confirm the complete and valid notification of traders, organizations, and individuals is 3 working days from the date of receipt of the dossier.

When confirming the notice, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will send traders, organizations, and individuals via registered email address a code to attach to the sale e-commerce website, shown as the noticeable symbol. When selecting this icon, users are directed to the corresponding notification information section of traders, organizations, and individuals at the E-commerce Management Information Portal.

Change, termination, update of notified information

• In case there is a change in one of the information specified in Article 53 of Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP, as amended and supplemented by Decree 85/2021/ND-CP, or stopping the notified website operation, traders, organizations, and individuals must notify the Ministry of Industry and Trade within 7 working days from the date of notification on changes in information or discontinuance of operations;
• Changing or terminating notification information on e-commerce sale websites is done online through the system access account that was granted when making the notification according to the provisions of Article 9 Circular 47/2014/TT-BC, as amended and supplemented by Circular 01/2022/TT-BCT;
• Time to confirm change or termination of notification information: 3 working days from the date of receipt of complete and accurate notification sent by traders, organizations, and individuals to the Ministry of Industry and Trade according to the provisions of Article 9 Circular 47/2014/TT-BCT, as amended and supplemented by Circular 01/2022/TT-BCT.
• Once a year from the time the notification is confirmed, traders, organizations, and individuals are obliged to update and declare notification information according to the form.

Note: Within 10 days from the date of fulfilling the obligation to update information, if traders, organizations, or individuals do not update, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will send a reminder notice through the trader’s account on the E-commerce Activities Management Portal. Within 15 days of sending the reminder notice, if traders, organizations, or individuals still do not respond, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will cancel the notice information on the E-commerce Activities Management Information Portal.

List of e-commerce websites that have implemented notification process

Article 65 of Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP stipulates that the Ministry of Industry and Trade publicly notifies the e-commerce activities management portal (www .online.gov.vn ) of the following lists:

• List of e-commerce sale websites notified according to the provisions of Section 1 Chapter IV of Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP;
• List of websites providing e-commerce services registered according to the provisions of Section 2 Chapter IV of Decree No. 52/2013/ND-CP, as amended and supplemented by Decree 85/2021/ND-CP.

The published list includes information:

• Name of e-commerce website and type of website as notified or registered with the Ministry of Industry and Trade;
• Name and contact information of traders, organizations, and individuals owning e-commerce websites;
• Business registration number of the trader, establishment decision number of the organization, or personal tax code of the individual owning the e-commerce website.

What is the difference between notification and registration obligation?

	Website notification	Register for the website
Types of websites that require notification and registration	Sale e-commerce websites are e-commerce websites set up by traders, organizations and individuals to serve their trade promotion activities, sell goods, or provide services. Website notification to the Ministry of Industry and Trade applies to websites that upload goods to serve sale to that individual (eg: clothing shops, cosmetic shops…) and have online ordering functions. gland.	Websites providing e-commerce services are e-commerce websites set up by traders and organizations to provide an environment for other traders, organizations, and individuals to conduct commercial activities. These websites have to register with the Ministry of Industry and Trade for e-commerce trading floors, online auction websites, online promotion websites, and mobile applications providing e-commerce.
Logo attached	Blue signed has informed the Ministry of Industry and Trade	Red signed has been registered with the Ministry of Industry and Trade

If you have any questions or legal needs related to the sale website and application notification process in Vietnam, please contact Viet An Law Firm for the best advice and support!