Foreigners can request for local agent for sale and purchase of goods of various kinds, except for goods on the lists of goods the import and export of which is prohibited or temporarily suspended. With respect to goods on the list for which import or export is subject to issuance of a permit, the business entity shall only be permitted to sign an agency contract after the competent agencies have issued a permit. The agency contract must be in writing or in another form with equivalent legal validity. Under the Commercial Law, agent activities vary by the following forms: commission agent, package agent, exclusive agent and general agent.

Legislation
The same legal basis applicable for the processing for foreigners is effective to the agent activities for foreigners in Vietnam.

Contents of the Contract
A sale and purchase agent contract is requested to contain quite simple contents in comparison to the other types of commercial or economic contracts. Only the following are compulsory present therein: the description about both principals and agents; the contractual goods: name, specifications, quality, quantity, volume; Time-limit for, method and place of goods delivery; Price; Commission rate and costs; Method and time of payment; Bonuses, penalties and indemnity; and duration of validity of contract.

Permitted Activities

As a matter of fact, the following actions are often carried out by local agents instead of foreign principals, which include the dealing with the import/export procedures, the declaration and payment of relevant taxes on behalf of foreign principals.

Taxation
Contractual goods are likely subject to the import/export duties of Vietnam.