Proposal to amend and supplement a number of laws in the fields of agriculture and environment

Comrade Le Trong Yen, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee, presided over the meeting at the Lam Dong branch.

The attendees included leaders from the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment, Justice, Finance, Interior, Construction, National Defense, and Public Security.

At the Lam Dong branch, the meeting was chaired by Mr. Le Trong Yen, Vice Chairman of the Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee. Leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Environment and representatives of units under the Department attended.

Leaders of departments and agencies attended the online conference at the Lam Dong branch on the afternoon of July 16th.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment , the draft law amending and supplementing a number of articles of laws in the fields of agriculture and environment includes 16 draft laws: Law on Environmental Protection; Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine; Law on Livestock; Law on Biodiversity; Law on Dikes; Law on Geology and Minerals; Law on Surveying and Mapping; Law on Meteorology and Hydrology; Law on Forestry; Law on 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; and Law on Crop Production, applicable to agencies, organizations, communities, households, and individuals related to the fields of agriculture and environment.

The draft Law amends and supplements three groups of contents regarding organizational restructuring; reduction of investment and business conditions and administrative procedures; and practical difficulties. Specifically, Point c, Clause 1, Article 28 of the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection stipulates that investment projects requiring the conversion of land use from two or more rice crops must prepare an environmental impact assessment report. In reality, some projects constructing rural roads, schools, cultural centers, and commune police stations use very little land from two rice crops, but still require environmental impact assessments, which prolongs the project implementation time and increases costs. Clause 1, Article 31 of the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection stipulates that environmental impact assessments are carried out by the project owner themselves or through a qualified consulting unit. However, the 2020 Investment Law does not stipulate that consulting services for preparing environmental impact assessment reports are a conditional business activity. In practice, regulations regarding the conditions for consulting firms are necessary, helping investors expedite the preparation of environmental impact assessment reports for submission to competent authorities for approval. The aforementioned inconsistencies in regulations lead to difficulties in the process of preparing environmental impact assessment reports…

Delegates attending the online meeting from Lam Dong province on the afternoon of July 16th.

The Lam Dong province has submitted comments on the draft amendment to the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine, proposing the addition of regulations on the management of registration, production, and trading of beneficial organisms used in controlling plant pests. The reason is that in Lam Dong province, several businesses are currently producing, breeding, and supplying beneficial natural enemies to farmers for use in managing plant pests; however, the current legal regulations lack clarity on managing the trading of these products to ensure quality and effectiveness.

Regarding the draft amendment to the Law on Geology and Minerals, it is necessary to fully supplement Clause 12, Article 111 of the Law on Geology and Minerals as follows: “For mineral areas where the mineral exploitation rights auction process has been completed and publicly posted and announced, the organization of the mineral exploitation rights auction shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Law and the guiding decrees at the time of public posting and announcement.” Regarding the draft amendment to the Law on Irrigation, Clause 15, Article 14 of the draft proposes the following amendment: “Organize the development, submission to the competent authority for approval of the plan and organize the implementation of the plan for responding to natural disasters and the plan for protecting irrigation works as prescribed.” The reason is that the draft Law does not clarify which cases of exploiting irrigation works can be self-approved and which cases must be submitted to the competent authority for approval. Retaining the phrase “approve the plan or submit it” easily leads to misunderstanding and inconsistent application.

After listening to the provinces and cities' comments on the draft Law amending 16 Laws, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha acknowledged and agreed with the opinions on unifying decentralization, delegation of power, and the organization of the two-tiered local government apparatus; emphasizing that the draft Law needs to be amended and supplemented to address bottlenecks, strengthen green transformation, digital transformation, decentralization and delegation of power, and the role of the two-tiered local government in state management of agriculture, food safety and hygiene, irrigation, forest protection, livestock, and protection of aquatic resources to ensure stability, sustainability, and long-term implementation.

In July 2027, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will be tasked with compiling and consulting on amendments and additions to the draft law, and forecasting the impacts of the law in practical application…

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/de-xuat-sua-doi-bo-sung-mot-so-dieu-luat-tren-linh-vuc-nong-nghiep-va-moi-truong-382497.html