In the afternoon of August 5, continuing the program of the first non-scheduled session, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law amending and supplementing Article 6 and Appendix IV on the list of conditional business lines of the Investment Law.
Concerned about the regulation banning the business of nitrous oxide (N2O) gas for entertainment purposes, delegate Nguyen Trung Kien (Delegation of National Assembly Deputies of Dong Nai province) said that this regulation is "extremely necessary".
According to the delegate, although not a drug, N2O is a psychotropic substance.
If abused and used a lot, the impact and influence will be no different from drugs," the delegate said.
Citing actual evidence, the delegate said that in the past time, the Poison Control Center of Bach Mai Hospital has received 149 cases of laughing gas poisoning. Therefore, banning the business of N2O gas for entertainment purposes is necessary.
However, the draft law still allows the business of N2O gas for medical and food industry purposes. Delegate Nguyen Trung Kien proposed that functional agencies study mechanisms to prevent the abuse of this regulation.
There needs to be a mechanism to prevent and combat activities that take advantage of N2O gas business for medical and food industry purposes but smuggle it outside for entertainment purposes. There must be a mechanism to control, prevent, and combat these frauds," delegate Nguyen Trung Kien stated.
Also contributing opinions on this content, delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga (Delegation of National Assembly Deputies of Hai Phong City) expressed her agreement with the policy of urgently handling the situation of N2O gas abuse.
However, if the prohibition regulation takes effect immediately after the law is promulgated but there are no guidelines on identifying violations, determining the purpose of use, responsibilities of suppliers, handling inventory and coordination mechanisms between forces, it will "easily lead to confusion and inconsistent application".
Therefore, the delegate proposed to simultaneously issue a guiding document clarifying the scope of prohibition, cases of legal use, documents proving the purpose of use, responsibilities of sellers and buyers as well as the mechanism for handling violations.
In addition, the delegate also proposed to specifically stipulate the handling plan for valid business licenses, dossiers being resolved, fees and charges already paid, as well as cases of inspection, examination, and violations being handled when some industries and occupations are abolished business conditions.
Do not turn transitional regulations into a mechanism to legalize violations that have occurred," delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga emphasized.
Explaining at the meeting, Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Finance Ngo Van Tuan said that the majority of delegates agreed with the necessity of amending the Law, and at the same time proposed to continue reviewing so that the reduction of conditional investment and business lines becomes substantive, creating a transparent investment and business environment.
Clarifying regulations related to N2O gas, Minister Ngo Van Tuan said that the draft law prohibits the business of N2O gas for human use through the respiratory tract in addition to medical, food technology and testing purposes.
For other legal use purposes, production and business activities are still carried out under specific conditions.
According to Minister Ngo Van Tuan, in the face of the risk of N2O gas being abused, affecting social order and safety, the Ministry of Finance will coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to develop regulations to strictly control from production, transportation, circulation to use, ensuring N2O gas is used for the right purpose.
