Concerns about transferring price stabilization authority from the (old) district level to the commune level

Politburo member and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man attended and delivered a speech.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and Vice Chairmen of the National Assembly at the meeting. Photo: quochoi.vn

Presenting the Summary Report on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Prices, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang informed that the draft Law consists of 2 articles: Article 1 - Amending, supplementing and abolishing a number of provisions of the Law on Prices No. 16/2023/QH15; Article 2 - Implementation provisions.

In particular, the draft Law amends and completes 4 groups of contents: Amending regulations on transferring responsibility for implementing price stabilization from the District People's Committee (as assigned by the Provincial People's Committee) to the Commune People's Committee to implement in accordance with the 2-level local government model; amending the names of some goods and services whose prices are determined by the State and the authority and form of determination in Appendix No. 02...

In addition, the group of national reserve goods subject to State pricing will be added, in accordance with the 2025 Bidding Law. At the same time, the service of using infrastructure in industrial parks, economic zones, concentrated digital technology zones, high-tech zones and industrial clusters invested from the State budget will be added to the List of goods and services priced by the State. The authority to set specific prices is assigned to the Provincial People's Committee.

Delegates attending the meeting. Photo: quochoi.vn

In his review of the draft Law, Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai stated that, regarding price stabilization, the Economic and Financial Committee basically agreed with the amendments as proposed by the Government. However, the proposal and implementation of price stabilization at the commune level authorities need to be considered, ensuring feasibility in terms of resources, human resources, and scope of price stabilization for effective implementation.

Regarding the inspection period, the Committee finds that the draft amended Law, which stipulates an extension of the inspection period compared to the current regulations, is not consistent with Resolution No. 68-NQ/TU of the Politburo on private economic development and the provisions of Article 68 of the current Law on Prices. Therefore, it is recommended to review and stipulate an appropriate inspection period, not longer than the current regulations.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai chaired the meeting. Photo: quochoi.vn

Concerned about transferring the authority to organize price stabilization to the commune level, Chairman of the Delegation Work Committee Nguyen Thanh Hai raised the feasibility of decentralization, especially transferring the authority to organize price stabilization from the (old) district level to the commune level.

Ms. Nguyen Thanh Hai analyzed that this transfer of authority is consistent with the 2-level government model, but according to the report of the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2024, on average each commune only has about 0.6 full-time financial and accounting officers. Assigning the responsibility of price stabilization to the commune level while lacking human resources can lead to "overload" and "unprofessionalism".

To solve this problem, Ms. Nguyen Thanh Hai proposed that the drafting agency study the mechanism of authorization or linkage of price management between the commune and provincial levels. At the same time, it is necessary to supplement specific guidance on the responsibility of coordination between departments, branches and commune levels in organizing price stabilization.

Also on this issue, Chairman of the National Assembly's Ethnic Council Lam Van Man agreed with the draft Law on amendments to transfer price stabilization authority from the district level to the commune level, but suggested that during the implementation process, the Government improve facilities and human resources, ensuring conditions to increase the feasibility of transferring from the district level to the commune level.

Speaking at the discussion session, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man affirmed that the core view is that the State must always manage the market. The goal of amending the law is to perfect the market mechanism, strengthen State management of prices, and stabilize and regulate prices through tools such as price stabilization, state pricing and price databases.

Regarding the issue of decentralization and delegation of power, the National Assembly Chairman supports transferring district-level tasks to the commune level. However, it should be noted: "If the commune cannot handle it, the province must reach down, not hand over all the responsibility." To ensure the feasibility of decentralization, it is necessary to increase technological support for the commune level, mainly through digitalization, digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI).

Regarding the draft Law proposing to extend the inspection time for compliance with price laws (from 10 days to 15 days), the National Assembly Chairman requested clarification of the reason, and said that this extension "is also difficult for businesses", so the inspection time should be considered to be reduced.

Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang spoke to receive comments at the meeting. Photo: quochoi.vn

Speaking at the meeting, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang pledged to fully absorb the instructions of the National Assembly Chairman and the discussion and comments of the members of the National Assembly Standing Committee.

In the immediate future, the drafting agency will accept and commit not to extend the inspection and audit period to remove difficulties for businesses. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance will also continue to study the mechanism for decentralizing the pricing of natural gas transportation services, as well as enhance staff training to improve the capacity to perform tasks at the commune level, to ensure the feasibility of decentralization.

Concluding the discussion, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai suggested that the Government review to ensure consistency of the draft Law with related laws and carefully review the decentralization to provincial and communal levels to ensure it is consistent with implementation capacity...

* On the same morning, the National Assembly Standing Committee continued to give opinions on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Statistics and the handling of land rental debt of public service units.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/ban-khoan-viec-chuyen-tham-quyen-binh-on-gia-tu-cap-huyen-cu-cho-cap-xa-718984.html