On 18 July 2016, with the sponsorship of Baker&McKenzie Vietnam, VBLC organized a workshop entitled “TPP – Impacts on Intellectual Property, Tax and Commerce in Vietnam”.
The success of the workshop was highlighted by the attendance and address of nearly 80 delegates including VBLC members and delegates from enterprises. Participants also come from state organs such as Office of the National Assembly, Customs Department of Quang Ninh Province, Legislative Research Institute of the National Assembly Standing Committee.etc.
Lawyer Tran Tuan Phong, VBLC Board Chairman gave the opening remarks for the workshop, and extended his gratefulness to the sponsor, Baker&McKenzie Vietnam Ltd., as well as the participants.
After the welcome speech, Mr. Fred Burke – Managing Partner of Baker&McKenzie Vietnam presented an overview on the TPP and its effects on Vietnam. According to the presentation, TPP is a special trade agreement, not only because of the benefits it will bring for the member states but also because the agreement includes unprecedented provisions in any previous agreements, such as provisions on environment, labor, etc. If the TPP comes into force, Vietnam will be the largest beneficiary country, with GDP forecasted to increase by 10 % until 2016. Burke also raised his concerns about other difficult issues that the TPP will face, especially with the recent political developments in the United States as both Presidential candidates are not in favor of the agreement.
Following Mr. Burke’s remark, Mr. Quach Minh Tri, Partner of BMVN Intenational LLC gave his presentation on the changes on Intellectual Property in Vietnam. Mr Tri discussed, “The TPP has a separated chapter for provisions on IP, including 82 articles and 6 annexes. Remarkably, TPP tighten the rules on trademarks, patents and copyrights but loosens regulations for Internet service providers. In addition, the participating countries must also comply with the Agreement on two fundamental principles, the first is to offer a trademarked system online and the second is to build a system to publish the judicial decisions and administrative procedures on intellectual property”. According to Mr. Tri, this is the first time that the TPP requires its Member States to protect sound marks and attempts to protect scent marks, as well as provides regulations on protection of pharmaceutical and agrochemical.
Continuing the workshop, Mr. Tran Ngoc Trung, Senior Advisor of Baker & McKenzie Vietnam has presented on the effects of the TPP on Tax and Trade in Vietnam. According to Mr. Trung, the most valuable partner to Vietnam in the TPP is the United States who has great trade turnover and is the only country to which Vietnam is a trade surplus. In addition, he addressed that the effects of the TPP on Vietnam’s economy are mostly intangible in the short term, since most of tariffs being cut off have already been at very low levels, or it would take a very long time for them to be reduced to 0%. This provides the local businesses with some time to adapt to the new rules, especially those on products’ origins. Also according to Mr. Trung, with its long-term effects and its special rules in calculating added value, the TPP will create a completely new and highly competitive business environment and gradually establish an internal supply chain among the members of the TPP. Furthermore, the TPP will contribute to the improvement of the Vietnamese legal system as the agreement requires legal clarity and transparency to help faciliate business operation.
After each presentation, speakers spent 15 minutes of Q&A answering questions from the audience on the topic of the TPP. The Q&A session is considered to be of great significance to the Delegates, especially those from enterprises.
The workshop concluded with a summary on the effects of the TPP on Vietnam by Lawyer Phung Anh Tuan, Managing Lawyer of VCI Legal.
Lawyer Do Trong Hai, one of Member of VBLC Board Chairman, once again expressed his deep appreciation to the speakers and attendees for their participation and announced the closing of TPP workshop.