NA deputies look into law on geology and minerals
The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee offered opinions on revisions to the draft Law on Geology and Minerals at its 5th thematic session on law building on August 12 morning.
After being revised and amended, the draft law consists of 12 chapters and 117 articles, with 72 articles revised compared to the version presented at the 15th NA's 7th session.
The NA Committee for Science, Technology and Environment hosted working sessions with representatives from ministries, sectors, and localities to discuss the law and listen to opinions.
Addressing the meeting, NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man underlined the need to license the exploitation of minerals, common construction materials, and fill materials in planned areas, saying that it is necessary to clearly distinguish between planning, exploration, and exploitation.
He asked for further consideration of the two differing options regarding Articles 15 and 16 of the draft law.
Regarding the responsibility for mineral planning (Article 15), Man emphasised the necessity to carefully assess the impact of new policies if the responsibility for mineral planning is shifted from the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to a single agency being the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
For the adjustment of mineral planning (Article 16), the NA Chairman demanded representatives from state management agencies to provide opinions on whether it is feasible to have specific regulations for the mineral sector within the draft law or whether this issue should be discussed during the amendment and supplementation of the Law on Planning.
Drafting and verifying agencies must fully incorporate the Politburo's directions as expressed in Resolution No. 10-NQ/TW dated in 2022 on strategic orientations for geology, minerals and mining industry until 2030, with a vision to 2045, the NA leader stressed. He noted that this serves as a solid foundation for the Party's directions to be formalised into law by the NA.
He also underlined the requirement to strictly implement the Politburo’s Regulation 178-QD/TW on controlling power, preventing and combating corruption and negative phenomena in law-making, saying that drafting and verifying agencies must review whether there are interest groups in drafting laws or not.
