Vietnam's new Law on Cooperatives, set to take effect on 1 July 2024, lays out various provisions concerning existing cooperatives, registering new cooperatives, restrictions, prohibitions, activities, and policies, effective as early as 1 September 2023. The Law aims to regulate cooperatives and update regulations to ensure shared interests. In this transition period before the new Law's enactment, Vietnamese citizens can use copies of legal documents rather than personal identification numbers for administrative procedures. In terms of existing cooperatives, as long as the cooperatives' organizational structure and operations comply with the new Law's provisions, their operations can continue. If not, charters must be updated to align with the new Law. However, cooperative associations or artels established before this new Law must complete the registration procedures outlined in Article 107, Clause 2 of the Law.
Similarly, the new Law requires cooperatives to cease internal credit extension activities, and cooperative enterprises are not allowed to increase their shares. As for state policies for cooperatives, policies established under the previous 2012 Law on Cooperatives may continue to apply until expiration. Under this Law, prohibited acts concern regulatory authorities, cooperatives, and cooperative members and center around registration, operation, falsified information, resource misuse, and power abuse.
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