15 Laws on agriculture and environment were amended, clearly defining the responsibilities of relevant parties.

(Chinhphu.vn) - On September 18, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment held a workshop to disseminate and collect opinions on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of 15 Laws in the fields of agriculture and environment.

Overview of the workshop - Photo: VGP/Do Huong

The amendment of the Laws has been directed towards science , transparency and sustainability.

Pursuant to the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is developing and submitting to the Government a draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the following laws: Law on Environmental Protection; Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine; Law on Animal Husbandry; Law on Biodiversity; Law on Dikes; Law on Surveying and Mapping; Law on Hydrometeorology; Law on Forestry; Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control; Law on Water Resources; Law on Marine and Island Resources and Environment; Law on Veterinary Medicine; Law on Irrigation; Law on Fisheries; Law on Cultivation.

Commenting on the draft law, the representative of CropLife Vietnam highly appreciated the acceptance of opinions from the scientific community, businesses and international organizations in the process of amending the law to serve the development of sustainable agriculture . CropLife Vietnam recognized that this draft law demonstrated the spirit of reform and scientific approach.

Some highlights include the Law on Crop Production, which has changed the "decision to recognize the circulation of annual plant varieties for a period of 20 years, and perennial plant varieties for a period of 25 years". This is a positive change - it will create a stable legal corridor, encouraging businesses and research institutes to boldly invest in selecting and creating new varieties.

Or the latest draft of the Law on Biodiversity has made a significant step forward in providing a more specific definition of genetically modified organisms (Article 3, Clause 27) in line with the development of science and technology. The Ministry needs to continue reviewing and perfecting sub-law documents to more clearly classify genetically modified organisms and gene editing, thereby building a scientific management method in harmony with international trends.

CropLife Vietnam strongly supports the approach of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the Law on Environmental Protection. The current changes in the draft have gone in a positive direction by clearly defining the responsibilities and rights of stakeholders during the implementation process. This is an important foundation to encourage businesses to participate in the system of collecting, treating and recycling pesticide packaging, contributing to the implementation of a circular economy in agriculture, said a representative of CropLife Vietnam.

The representative of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (AmCham Vietnam) also highly appreciated the efforts of the authorities in building a clear and transparent legal framework, while at the same time being consistent with the trend of green, circular and environmentally responsible development.

However, representatives of the US business community in Vietnam also proposed that there should be specific preferential policies for businesses using recycled packaging, especially recycled PET plastic packaging (rPET). Specifically, environmentally friendly products should be exempted or have their financial obligations reduced under the EPR mechanism.

Commenting on the draft, Ms. Le Thi Hoai Thuong, representative of AmCham Vietnam, said that AmCham Vietnam is very interested in the issue of extended producer and importer responsibility (EPR) along with related regulations. The Government needs to have preferential policies for recycled packaging, recycled PET plastic packaging (rPET), such as exempting EPR obligations for packaging made from recycled PET plastic (rPET), or other recycled, environmentally friendly materials to encourage the conversion to environmentally friendly materials.

In addition, the cost of implementing EPR should be included in the reasonable and valid expenses of the enterprise when settling taxes. According to the draft Decree on the Law on Corporate Income Tax, the Ministry of Finance has proposed to allow deduction of contributions to the Environmental Protection Fund when determining taxable income. AmCham Vietnam recommends that the costs of organizing product and packaging recycling should be considered for a similar deduction policy to avoid causing additional financial burden for enterprises.

Sharing the same view, Ms. Le Thi Hong Nhi, representative of the British Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (BritCham), said that the cost of implementing EPR should be included in the reasonable and valid costs of enterprises when settling taxes. In addition, it is necessary to supplement the mechanism of using EPR financial contributions to increase resources to improve collection and recycling infrastructure - an issue that is a challenge for Vietnam.

"The level of financial contribution needs to be adjusted in accordance with the level of environmental friendliness of the product and packaging. This will create incentives for businesses to develop environmentally friendly packaging," Ms. Nhi shared.

Mr. Phan Tuan Hung, Director of the Legal Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment - Photo: VGP/Do Huong

Will be revised synchronously and uniformly

Mr. Phan Tuan Hung, Director of the Legal Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, said that the draft laws only focus on handling the issue of organizational arrangement; the content on cutting and simplifying investment and business conditions can be resolved immediately.

As for the problems and shortcomings, to handle all the problems, it is necessary to amend each law, evaluate and summarize the implementation process to ensure synchronous and unified amendments. Therefore, these draft laws only deal with some "bottlenecks" that are truly "ripe", clear, and need to be resolved immediately. The remaining problems will be handled when implementing the overall amendments and supplements to each law in the 2026 - 2030 period.

This week, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will submit to the Government for submission to the National Assembly for approval three laws, including: Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of 15 Laws in the fields of agriculture and environment; Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Land Law; Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Geology and Minerals at the upcoming 10th session of the 15th National Assembly.

Do Huong

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/15-luat-ve-nong-nghiep-va-moi-truong-duoc-sua-doi-quy-dinh-ro-trach-nhiem-cac-ben-lien-quan-102250918192028042.htm