Ministry of Foreign Affairs May Terminate the Contract of the Honorary Consulate Without Reason

Illustration (source: internet)

According to the regulations in Circular 01/2020/TT-BNG, honorary consular officers shall terminate their activities upon the decision of the Minister of Foreign Affairs or when the receiving state terminates its consent to the appointment of the honorary consular officer.

- The honorary consular officer does not perform or fails to complete the delegated functions;- There is no longer a need for the appointment of an honorary consular officer;- The honorary consular officer is declared persona non grata by the receiving state;- The honorary consular officer no longer meets the conditions stipulated in Article 15 of this Circular;- The honorary consular officer wishes to resign from the honorary consular duties.

However, aside from the above regulations, the Minister of Foreign Affairs may decide to terminate the activities of the honorary consular officer at any time without providing a reason.

Procedure for terminating the activities of an honorary consular officer:

Step 1: The head of the Vietnamese diplomatic mission in the receiving state or in the concurrently accredited state or the Director of the Consular Department proposes to the Minister of Foreign Affairs the decision to terminate the activities of the honorary consular officer.

When there is a request for the termination of the activities of an honorary consular officer, the Consular Department submits to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (with reference to the opinions of the Vietnamese diplomatic mission in the receiving state or in the concurrently accredited state and relevant units within the Ministry) for consideration and decision on the termination of the activities of the honorary consular officer.

Step 2: In cases where the Minister of Foreign Affairs agrees to terminate the activities of the honorary consular officer, the Consular Department submits to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for signature the Decision to Terminate the Activities of the honorary consular officer.

After the Minister of Foreign Affairs signs the Decision to Terminate the Activities of the honorary consular officer, the Consular Department forwards the information to the Vietnamese diplomatic mission in the receiving state or in the concurrently accredited state to notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the receiving state and the honorary consular officer.

The honorary consular officer is responsible for handing over the seal, title seal, name seal, National flag, National emblem, signboard, Honorary Consular Card, and consular dossier to the Vietnamese diplomatic mission in the receiving state or in the concurrently accredited state for storage and preservation, or to the person authorized by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Step 3: The Vietnamese diplomatic mission in the receiving state or in the concurrently accredited state notifies the Consular Department upon the completion of the acceptance of the operating means and consular dossier of the honorary consular officer.

Depending on the actual situation, the Consular Department provides instructions to the Vietnamese diplomatic mission in the receiving state or in the concurrently accredited state regarding the handover of the operating means and consular dossier to the new honorary consular officer or sends them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for destruction in case there is no candidate for replacement as an honorary consular officer.

For additional regulations, see Circular 01/2020/TT-BNG, effective from March 23, 2020.

Thu Ba

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