On September 12, at the 37th session, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on the draft Law on Chemicals (amended).
Authorized by the Prime Minister to present the Government's Report, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said that after 16 years of implementation, the implementation of the Chemical Law has brought positive impacts to the country's socio-economic development.
However, in addition to the results achieved, the implementation of the law has revealed some shortcomings and limitations. Regulations for chemical projects mainly focus on requirements to ensure chemical safety and environmental protection, without mentioning requirements on technology and industry development orientation.
In addition, the enforcement of laws on chemical management is sometimes not strict. Many dangerous chemicals are misused, causing many difficulties for management agencies and businesses.
The purpose of amending the law is to harmonize the legal system on chemical management with regulations of countries around the world, contributing to creating an open environment, attracting investment from multinational corporations, large chemical corporations with modern technology and management systems.
The amendment also creates favorable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises in international trade and investment in the production of essential chemical products.
Presenting the audit report, Chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy emphasized that chemicals play an important and indispensable role in daily life as well as in the development of manufacturing industries, contributing to improving the quality of human life.
With widespread popularity but potential risks to human health and the environment, chemicals need to be strictly regulated and managed.
The amendment of the Law on Chemicals meets the requirements of fully institutionalizing the Party's viewpoints, guidelines and policies, contributing to perfecting the legal corridor for chemical activities, ensuring consistency and unity with the legal system.
In addition, this amendment overcomes the shortcomings, limitations and inadequacies of the current Law on Chemicals.
The reviewing agency requested the drafting agency to supplement information, assess policy impacts more fully on policy contents, supplement specific evidence in the report; supplement comprehensive assessment of implementation resources to ensure feasibility in practice.
Giving his opinion on the draft law, Politburo member and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man proposed strengthening strict sanctions to ensure deterrence.
“A toxic production facility, a fine of 10 million, 20 million, or 50 million is not enough. They sell billions of products, a fine of 50 million is nothing” - National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man said.
