The National Assembly passed the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of 15 laws on agriculture and environment.

On the morning of December 11th, under the chairmanship of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and the direction of National Assembly Vice Chairman Le Minh Hoan, the National Assembly voted to approve the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of 15 laws in the fields of agriculture and environment with 424 out of 431 National Assembly deputies present voting in favor, achieving a rate of 98.37%.

Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Le Minh Hoan presides over the session. Photo: Pham Thang

Simplify administrative procedures and reduce business conditions.

The law comprises 17 articles, amending and supplementing several articles of 15 laws, including: the Law on Environmental Protection; the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine; the Law on Animal Husbandry; the Law on Biodiversity; the Law on Dikes; the Law on Surveying and Mapping; the Law on Meteorology and Hydrology; the Law on Forestry; the Law on Disaster Prevention and Control; the Law on Water Resources; the Law on Marine and Island Resources and Environment; the Law on Veterinary Medicine; the Law on Irrigation; the Law on Fisheries; and the Law on Crop Production.

The promulgation of the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of 15 laws in the fields of agriculture and environment has made a significant contribution to: institutionalizing the policy of reform and reorganization of the administrative apparatus; strongly decentralizing power and decentralizing authority; simplifying administrative procedures and reducing business conditions; promptly removing legal bottlenecks and freeing up resources for socio -economic development.

The National Assembly voted to pass the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of 15 laws in the fields of agriculture and environment. Photo: Pham Thang

This Law shall come into effect on January 1, 2026, except as provided in Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 16 of this Law. According to Clause 2 of Article 16, the preparation of integrated water resource and irrigation infrastructure planning for inter-provincial river basins shall be implemented from January 1, 2027.

According to Clause 3, Article 16, the breeding, rearing, and artificial cultivation of aquatic species listed in the Appendix of the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Animals and Plants; and endangered, rare, and precious aquatic species as prescribed by the Minister of Agriculture and Environment in Point b, Clause 3, Article 40 of the Fisheries Law (amended and supplemented by Clause 9, Article 14 of this Law) shall be implemented from July 1, 2026. Clause 4, Article 16 stipulates the repeal of Point a, Clause 4, Article 182 of the Land Law of 2024.

Address several bottlenecks and obstacles immediately in 2025.

In a report summarizing and explaining the opinions of National Assembly deputies, the conclusions of the National Assembly Standing Committee, and the opinions of the Science, Technology and Environment Committee on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of 15 Laws in the fields of agriculture and environment, Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang stated that, regarding the proposal to review regulations related to investment and business conditions in the draft Law to conform with the provisions of Clause 3, Article 7 and Point d, Clause 5, Article 7 of the Investment Law, the drafting agency has reviewed the draft Investment Law (amended).

Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang presents the report on receiving and explaining feedback. Photo: Pham Thang

Accordingly, based on the provisions of Clause 2, Article 7 of the draft Investment Law and Appendix IV, the List of conditional investment and business sectors issued with the draft Investment Law, the environmental licensing in Article 1 of the draft Law; the import licensing of plant protection products in Article 2 of the draft Law; the regulations on the List, management regime, and protection of endangered, precious, and rare forest plants and animals, and the implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Animals and Plants… are licensing activities for products as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 7 of the draft amended Investment Law, and do not fall under conditional investment and business sectors. Therefore, they are not subject to the regulations on investment and business conditions as prescribed in the draft amended Investment Law. Therefore, the draft Law assigning the Minister the authority to regulate the procedures for carrying out the aforementioned activities is consistent with the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents 2025 and the draft Law on Investment (amended).

The Minister of Agriculture and Environment stated that there were concerns about the method of drafting a single law amending multiple laws, arguing that it lacked comprehensive coverage and depth in addressing all specific issues. He suggested reconsidering the approach, breaking down the amendments into groups of sectors, and thoroughly reviewing the issues requiring in-depth resolution to ensure a more comprehensive approach.

Regarding this matter, the Minister of Agriculture and Environment reported that the scope of the draft Law focuses on amending the content related to the reorganization of the organizational structure in accordance with the National Assembly's regulations on the deadline for completing the system of documents on organizational restructuring, which is before March 2027.

Furthermore, the draft Law amends several provisions related to reducing investment and business conditions and administrative procedures in accordance with the Politburo's directive in Conclusion No. 119-KL/TW on "thoroughly reforming administrative procedures and reducing compliance costs," and addresses some "bottlenecks" caused by legal regulations that need to be removed in 2025, as targeted in Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW.

From the above scope, the development of a single law amending multiple laws in the fields of agriculture and environment is reasonable, meeting the immediate need to address the system of documents on organizational restructuring and to resolve some bottlenecks and obstacles in 2025 as directed by competent authorities.

Regarding other systemic and fundamental issues that require time for comprehensive assessment and thorough impact evaluation, the drafting agency has developed a specific plan to amend and supplement each law in the fields of agriculture and environment during the 16th National Assembly term (expected to amend and supplement 14 laws during the 16th National Assembly term).

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/quoc-hoi-thong-qua-luat-sua-doi-bo-sung-mot-so-dieu-cua-15-luat-ve-nong-nghiep-va-moi-truong-10400073.html