Hanoi (VNA) - The 16th National Assembly (NA) continued its first extraordinary session in Hanoi on August 7, with lawmakers delving into group discussions on a slate of bills.
The legislative package includes a draft Law on Urban Development, a bill amending and supplementing several articles of 10 laws that govern administrative procedures and business conditions in agriculture and environment, and the draft Law amending and supplementing several articles of the Law on Radio Frequencies, the Law on Telecommunications, the Law on E-Transactions, and the Law on Technology Transfer.
During debate on the agriculture and environment bill, Hai Phong deputy Tran Lan Phuong endorsed slashing administrative procedures, simplifying business conditions, and expanding decentralisation to lower compliance costs and boost production and trade.
But she concurred with a verification report by the NA Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, warning that administrative reform must not weaken regulatory oversight.
Phuong highlighted measures that extend or remove expiration dates for certain licenses. Under the draft, decisions recognising fertilisers for circulation, plant protection product registration certificates and their renewals would be valid for 10 years, while certificates of eligibility to trade plant protection products would no longer expire. Article 12 would automatically add five years to certain certificates issued before May 18, 2026, and convert current valid trading certificates into indefinite permits.
Lang Son deputy Doan Thu Ha supported the need for the law but stressed that trimming procedures cannot mean shrinking management responsibility, and decentralisation must not lead to fragmented governance. Entities that self-declare must bear clear responsibility, and post-inspections must be backed by concrete data, criteria and sanctions.
She proposed that strategic minerals, rare earths, and mineral resources in border areas or tied to national defence-security require mandatory input from relevant agencies. Any transfer of authority should also include all records, geological data, environmental rehabilitation deposits and financial obligations.
For mines that span two or more provinces, Ha said the locality bearing the heaviest environmental burden, including impacts on water, waste disposal sites and residential areas, should be given priority, and deadlines for local consultations and mechanisms to settle inter-provincial disputes should be set.
On the two-tier local administration model and digital transformation, Ha argued that provincial-level authorities should serve as the hub for decision-making, database operations and legal accountability. Commune-level authorities should monitor local areas, detect violations, gather public feedback and coordinate post-inspections, but must be barred from imposing extra paperwork, procedures or conditions.
She further recommended that each administrative procedure funnel through a single receiving agency, one electronic dossier and one final result, and that state agencies share data among themselves so that citizens and businesses are not forced to repeatedly provide information already stored in government databases.
In the same discussions, Dien Bien deputy Vu A Bang called for revising the current rules on the inspection of terrestrial animal slaughter under Articles 74 and 75 of the Law on Animal Health.
On revisions to the Law on Water Resources, Bang backed simplifying inter-basin water transfer procedures but pushed for new safeguards that put domestic water supply first, protect water security, and ensure the safety of water extraction and use infrastructure, particularly irrigation works, hydropower plants and residential water systems./.
VNA
