On July 13, 2022, the Vietnamese government issued Decree No. 46/2022/ND-CP amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 13/2020/ND-CP providing detailed guidance on the Law on Animal Husbandry (“Decree 46”). The new decree took effect on the issuance date. Among the changes introduced by Decree 46 are a number related to animal feed. Recognition of Testing Methods of Exporting Countries Decree 46 clarifies the steps to recognize animal feed testing methods of laboratories in exporting countries. Under the amended regulations, the Department of Livestock Production (DLP) will organize an assessment team to appraise each dossier for recognition of animal feed testing methods within 30 days of receipt of a complete dossier. If the dossier lacks required information or authenticity, the DLP will organize a practical assessment team at the exporting country’s testing laboratory. If the dossier passes the assessment, within five working days from the completion of the assessment, the DLP will issue a decision on recognition of the testing method. The validity of this decision has been lengthened from three years to five years. State Inspection of Animal Feed Quality Process of State Inspection Decree 46 specifies the process to conduct state inspection of the quality of imported animal feed by unifying the regulations stipulated in the related legal documents listed in Decree 13. The process includes the submission of a state inspection dossier, timelines to receive feedback from the inspection authority, and further steps that can be taken upon receiving acceptance or refusal decisions from the authority. For traditional animal feed and complete compound animal feed, imported shipments are customs-cleared as soon as the importer completes the customs procedures. Within 15 days from the customs clearance date, the importer must submit the conformity assessment results. The importer has complete responsibility for the conformity assessment results, and the compliance of its products with the

Vietnam’s Cybersecurity Law was promulgated on June 12, 2018, and came into effect on January 1, 2019, with a majority of its provisions enforceable from the effective date. However, certain provisions of the law, including the very concerning data localization requirements, still awaited further guidance from implementing regulations. After more than three years of being drafted and submitted back and forth to the government for consideration and approval, Decree No. 53/2022/ND-CP to implement certain articles of the Cybersecurity Law (Decree 53) was finally promulgated on August 15, 2022, with an effective date of October 1, 2022. Key provisions of Decree 53 include the following. 1. Data localization requirements (Articles 26 & 27) Decree 53 retains most of the data localization requirements of the last accessible version of the draft decree dated August 21, 2019 (Draft Decree), clearly extends the scope of requirements to cover both domestic and foreign enterprises, adds regulations on force majeure events, and amends the timeline to implement data localization requirements for business facilitation. (i) Data subject to data localization: Data (information in the form of symbols, writing, numbers, images, sounds, or similar forms) which must be stored in Vietnam (“regulated data”) includes: Data on personal information of service users in Vietnam: Data used to identify an individual. Data generated by service users in Vietnam: Data reflecting the process of participating in, operating and/or using cyberspace by service users and information about network equipment and services used in order to connect with cyberspace in the territory of Vietnam. This includes the account name for use of services, duration of use of services, credit card information, email address, IP addresses for the latest login and logout, and registered telephone number attached to the account or data. Data on the relationships of service users in Vietnam: Data reflecting and determining the relationship between a service

Practical Law has published an updated online version of Agricultural Law in Thailand, a Q&A-style guide that provides detailed overviews of Thailand’s agriculture laws and regulations. The Thailand overview is one of approximately twenty such guides to jurisdictions worldwide, covering key practical issues related to the legal environment for agricultural operations. The Thailand section, which was written by lawyers at Tilleke & Gibbins, covers the following topics: Agricultural policy Acquisition of agricultural companies Acquisition of agricultural land Crop seed business Plant variety rights Genetically modified crops Animal and animal welfare issues Agricultural safety and product liability Practical Law, produced by Thomson Reuters, is a comprehensive global legal resource for business lawyers. The platform features a wide range of guides covering hundreds of jurisdictions and practice areas. The full Agricultural Law in Thailand chapter can be accessed on the Practical Law website.

新型コロナウイルスの危機の際、タイ政府は企業に対し、職場での感染を防ぐために労働者に在宅勤務を許可するよう求め、その後、在宅勤務が全国の労働者の標準となりました。しかし、現在はパンデミックの異なるフェーズに入り、ほとんどの企業は在宅勤務を廃止しています。在宅勤務は過去のものになりつつあるのでしょうか。 いいえ、そんなことはありません。タイ議会は最近、現状を反映するためにタイの労働者保護法を改正する、いわゆる「在宅勤務法案」を第一読会において可決しました。法案に付随する立法覚書では、労働者保護法の改正案は、使用者と労働者のより柔軟な雇用の取り決めと解決を促進すると述べられています。興味深いことに、さらに覚書には、当該法案がバンコクなどの交通渋滞の解消とエネルギー消費の削減を目指していることも記されています。 現在の法案は、労働者保護法に「雇用者と労働者は雇用契約において、労働者が自宅または居宅で勤務することを合意できる (may agree)」という条項を一つ追加するものとしています。本条項案によれば、この在宅勤務は週8時間以上でなければならないとされており、それは従業員の通常の勤務時間として計算されることになります。 「合意してもよい」という文言は、使用者が合意する必要はないことを示唆しており、したがってこの条項を労働者保護法に追加する意味はないのではないかと考えられます。しかし、この改正の意図は、従業員が在宅勤務を希望する場合、使用者は合意しなければならないという点にあるとのことです。法案に関する公聴会では、複数の当事者が「may agree（合意してもよい）」という用語の曖昧さに対して懸念を表明しました。法案が成立した場合の最終的な文言はまだ明らかになっていません。 労働保護福祉局をはじめとする多くの関係者は、この法案がさらなる労働問題を引き起こす可能性があるとして反対しています。法案は簡潔ですが、使用者にとっては、これをどのように実行に移すかについて多くの疑問点が生じます。例えば: 一定の業務、例えば、建設、工場運営、清掃サービス、レストラン、接待サービス業などは例外となるか。 雇用者はどのようにして労働者の生産性を監督することができるか。 雇用者はどのように残業を監督すべきか。 従業員は「自宅」や「住居」の代わりにカフェから働くことができるか。 雇用主は、従業員が仕事をするために使用したインターネットと電気代を支払う必要があるか。 従業員は事務用品を持ち帰って使用することができるか。 雇用者はどのようにして労働安全管理を行うことができるか などです。 この法案は、現在、議会の第2読会を通過する前の小委員会によって検討されています。多くの専門家は、同法案が上院に送付される前の第2、第3読会において激しい議論を巻き起こすと予想しています。   備考：本和文は英文記事を翻訳したものです。原文については、以下のリンクをご参照ください。 Thailand considers New Labor Law on Work-from-Home Arrangements

During the COVID-19 crisis, the Thai government asked employers to allow their employees to work from home to prevent infections in the workplace. Working from home subsequently became the norm for employees throughout the country. Now, however, we are in a different phase of the pandemic, and most employers have scrapped the work-from-home protocols. Does this mean work-from-home arrangements are now becoming a thing of the past? Not so fast. The Thai parliament has recently passed the first reading of the so-called Work from Home Bill, which seeks to amend the country’s Labour Protection Act (LPA) to reflect the current situation. The legislative memorandum accompanying the bill states that the proposed amendments to the LPA will facilitate more flexible employment arrangements and solutions for employers and employees. Interestingly, the memorandum also indicates that the bill further aims to solve the notorious traffic congestion in Bangkok and other cities and reduce energy consumption. In its current draft, the bill adds a single subsection to the LPA stating that “The employer and the employee may agree in the employment contract” that the employee is allowed “to bring work . . . to perform at home or at residence of the employee.” According to this draft provision, these work-from-home arrangements must be at least eight hours per week and are to be counted as the employee’s normal working time. The phrase “may agree” suggests that the employer does not have to agree and thus there is no need to add this text to the LPA. However, the intention of the amendment is that the employer must agree if the employee wishes to work from home. During the public hearing on the bill, several parties voiced the concern about the ambiguity of the term “may agree.” It is still unclear what the final wording will be if the

On July 21, 2022, Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) submitted Report No. 126/BC-BCT to the Prime Minister regarding the mechanism for transitional wind and solar power projects. In this report, the MOIT proposed some recommendations to explicitly address difficulties for outstanding wind and solar power projects (“Transitional Projects”) which have been developed under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 13/2020/QD-TTg dated April 6, 2020, on the development of solar power projects (Decision 13) and Decision No. 37/2011/QD-TTg dated June 29, 2011, on the development of wind power projects (Decision 37), as amended by Decision No. 39/2018/QD-TTg dated September 10, 2018 (Decision 39). The Transitional Projects primarily include those which have completed construction but have not yet been put into operation, and those which have been put into operation but for which the power price has not yet been decided, due to missing the deadline set forth under the aforementioned decisions to be eligible for the feed-in-tariff (FIT). In particular, the MOIT has proposed the following key recommendations to the Prime Minister: Mechanism for Transitional Projects The MOIT proposes two options: Option 1: Developers of the Transitional Projects negotiate and sign power purchase agreements (PPA) with Vietnam Electricity (EVN) within the price framework issued by the MOIT in accordance with the Law on Electricity, the Law on Prices, and their subordinate guiding legislation; or Option 2: The Prime Minister formulates a new decision specifying the mechanism for bidding on the purchase of power produced by the Transitional Projects, estimated to be implemented for the time limit of three years and within the price framework issued by the MOIT. Mechanism for future wind and solar power projects The MOIT proposes to apply the mechanism that developers of future wind and solar projects negotiate the power price and sign the PPA with EVN within the price framework and guidance

2022年7月、タイ内閣は、個人情報保護法 B.E.2562（PDPA）の一部につき一定の企業や団体への適用を免除する勅令をおおむね承認した。 勅令案は、一定の事業者及び活動をPDPAの以下の部分の要件から免除することを提案している。 第2章 個人情報の保護―個人情報の要件の同意、通知、国境を越えた移転等。 第3章 データ主体の権利―データ主体の権利に関する要件及び基準。 第5章 申立て―個人情報保護委員会事務局に対する請求申立てに関する要件。 第6章 民事責任―データ管理者又はデータ処理者の民事責任に関する条件。 第７章 罰則―行政罰及び刑事罰。 提案された適用除外の規定は、以下の3つの主要なカテゴリーの事業者や活動に適用される予定である。   以下の目的のために、特定の法律に従って政府の要請に応じて行動するデータ管理者 国家の安全と公共の安全。 適用除外となる活動には、国家安全保障、機密情報、国家安全保障に関連する情報の保護を目的とした活動や、財政・経済安全保障、公共安全保障の維持を目的とした活動が含まれる。また、資金洗浄、麻薬違法取引、国境を越える脅威とテロ、国境を越える犯罪、人身売買などの特定の犯罪活動の防止と抑制する活動も除外される。また、汚職防止やサイバーセキュリティ対策を強化する活動、公衆衛生、伝染病予防のための衛生、並びに公衆の生命、健康及び財産の保護に関連する活動も除外される。 課税。 適用除外となる活動には、法律に基づく税の徴収に関連する活動で、歳入局（Revenue Department）、関税局（Customs Department）、物品税局（Excise Department）が行う活動が含まれる。これはまた、租税又は関税の執行に関する行為、及び社会保障、義務の履行又は国際協力に関する行為にも及ぶ。 リスク軽減、モニタリング、及び監視。 適用除外となる活動には、国家安全保障への脅威によって引き起こされる損害を軽減するための措置を提供し、監視する活動が含まれる。このカテゴリーの行為は、監督官庁や政府機関が、公共の災害又は公衆に影響を及ぼすおそれのある脅威を予防するための法律に従い、実施するものである。 本勅令案や他の進展などPDPAに関連するご相談については、その他に関する件については、下記の執筆者にご連絡ください。   備考：本和文は英文記事を翻訳したものです。原文については、以下のリンクをご参照ください。 Thai Cabinet Approves Draft PDPA Exemptions for Specific Activities

On August 5, 2022, the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) adjusted the country’s official reference exchange rates. The new rate for US dollars is USD 1 to MMK 2,100—up from the previous rate of USD 1 to MMK 1,850. Authorized dealer (AD) banks (i.e., those licensed to exchange foreign currency) were to begin using the updated rates that same day, in accordance with Myanmar’s requirement to convert foreign currency transfers and balances to local currency using the official CBM rates. In addition, the CBM issued Notification No. 36/2022 to clarify its foreign currency conversion requirement for exporters. The notification specifies that only 65 percent of income received from exportation needs to be converted into MMK within one day. An analysis of the regulations laying out the currency conversion requirements mentioned above suggests that the remaining 35 percent of export earnings balance will be converted into MMK if exporters do not use it within 30 days. Noncompliance with the requirements of Notification No. 36/2022 is punishable under the Foreign Exchange Management Law with imprisonment for up to one year, a fine, or both. For more details on these foreign exchange developments, or on any aspect of financial regulations in Myanmar, please contact Tilleke & Gibbins at [email protected].