Immediately handle 20 legal bottlenecks on agriculture and environment

On the morning of November 4, under the direction of Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Le Minh Hoan, the National Assembly listened to the Presentation and Report on the examination of the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of 15 Laws in the fields of agriculture and environment.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Le Minh Hoan chaired the meeting. Photo: Quang Khanh

Creating a favorable, healthy and fair business environment

The draft Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of 15 Laws in the field of agriculture and environment, presented by Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang, said that the development of the draft Law aims to institutionalize the Resolution and conclusions of the Politburo, especially the policy of rearranging the organization and apparatus of two-level local governments; strengthening decentralization and delegation; focusing on removing "bottlenecks" due to legal regulations.

The Draft Law is structured into 17 Articles (15 articles amending and supplementing 15 laws and 02 articles on enforcement and transitional provisions).

Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang presented the Draft Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of 15 Laws in the fields of agriculture and environment. Photo: Ho Long

The draft Law amends and supplements 15 laws in the fields of agriculture and environment, including: 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.

The Draft Law focuses on three groups of content.

Specifically, the group of contents on the arrangement of the administrative apparatus, decentralization, and division of authority when organizing two-level local governments is the main group of contents of the Law project to properly implement the provisions of Resolution No. 190/2025/QH15 dated February 19, 2025 of the National Assembly regulating the handling of a number of issues related to the arrangement of the state apparatus, the Law on Government Organization, and the Law on Organization of Local Government.

Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Duc Thang presented the Draft Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of 15 Laws in the fields of agriculture and environment. Photo: Quang Khanh

The group of contents on cutting and simplifying investment and business conditions and administrative procedures is the group of contents that need to be handled to implement the Party and Government's policy on reforming, cutting and simplifying administrative procedures and investment and business conditions, creating a favorable, healthy and fair business environment, taking people and businesses as the center and promoting innovation and creativity.

View of the meeting. Photo: Quang Khanh

The group of "bottlenecks" caused by legal regulations is the group that needs to be dealt with immediately to unblock resources for socio-economic development; at the same time, remove obstacles in state management according to the direction of the Politburo and the General Secretary.

Strong decentralization to localities is needed in animal feed production.

The review report presented by Chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Thanh Hai stated that the Committee agreed with the necessity of promulgating draft laws following shortened procedures; the dossiers of the draft laws were fully prepared, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents.

The Committee agrees with the draft Law amending and supplementing the provisions related to 3 groups of contents on decentralization and delegation of power in the fields of Agriculture and Environment. Reducing investment and business conditions and administrative procedures. Immediately resolving 20 bottlenecks due to legal provisions in the 15 Laws mentioned above.

Chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Thanh Hai presents the Verification Report. Photo: Quang Khanh

Regarding the Law on Animal Husbandry, the Committee proposed to strongly decentralize the authority to grant, re-grant, and revoke Certificates of eligibility for animal feed production (Clause 1, Article 39) to localities to suit actual conditions; ensuring compliance with Conclusion No. 183-KL/TW of the Politburo.

Regarding the Law on Veterinary Medicine, it is recommended to review the regulations on exemption from conformity declaration in the veterinary field (Clause 2, Article 78) to ensure flexibility in management but still attach specific responsibilities to state management agencies in controlling the quality of veterinary drugs before circulation.

Chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Thanh Hai presents the Verification Report. Photo: Quang Khanh

Clarify whether there are any alternative measures to control the quality of drugs after circulation after the abolition of the procedure for declaring conformity of veterinary drugs, and what impact it will have on drug quality control.

Regarding the Forestry Law, it is recommended to review the provisions in Clause 2, Article 19 on converting forest use purposes to other purposes to ensure suitability with reality and full compliance with legal provisions; properly implement Directive 13-CT/TW dated January 12, 2017 of the Secretariat on strengthening the Party's leadership in forest management, protection and development; and at the same time explain the concept of "forest area" to clearly identify forest statuses in implementation.

Delegates attending the meeting. Photo: Ho Long

Regarding the Law on Water Resources, it is recommended to clarify the scale and content of local adjustments to the reservoir and inter-reservoir operation process in the draft Law (Article 38) when assigning authority to the Minister of Agriculture and Environment to decide on approving adjustments and reporting the results to the Prime Minister; the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the coordination mechanism with relevant agencies in local adjustments to flood reduction and reduction operations for downstream areas are not currently specified in the draft.

Regarding the Law on Cultivation, it is recommended to carefully consider removing the content on the topsoil layer of land specialized for rice cultivation (Clause 10, Article 9). The Government should be assigned to provide guidance in the direction of retaining the nutritional value of crops, protecting the land fund for rice cultivation, national food security and the policy of flexibly using some areas of rice cultivation land for other purposes but not losing the necessary conditions for growing rice again...

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/xu-ly-ngay-duoc-20-diem-nghen-phap-luat-ve-nong-nghiep-va-moi-truong-10394260.html