Supermarkets free from mandatory holiday, sales schedules

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has stopped drafting a decree that would have required supermarkets to remain open through holidays and have at least three annual promotions a year.

Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh signed the order suspending the controversial decree’s drafting process, saying it was not practical, given “current market needs and management practices.”

Supermarkets will no longer have to open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. during holidays and hold a minimum of three promotional events per year.

The decree’s provisions were severely criticized by experts as well as industry insiders who said the state should leave the day-to-day running of a business to businesses.

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the decree interfered too deeply in the operations of businesses, and violated the Supermarket Investment Law, that allowed businesses to operate freely in compliance with relevant laws.

The Vietnam Retailers Association objected to the proposed regulations saying they would not be practical for all businesses, and some would not be able to comply because of the type of products they dealt with.

Other provisions of the proposed decree were also deemed impractical and restrictive, including one that set space specificatoins to categorize businesses. It said supermarkets should have an area of 250 square meters or more, while trade centers had to have more than 10,000 square meters each.