Law 146/2025/QH15 – amending 15 agriculture and environment laws

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as amended and supplemented by certain provisions according to Resolution No. 203/2025/QH15;

The National Assembly promulgated the Law amending and supplementing certain articles of 15 laws in the fields of agriculture and environment, including the Law on Environmental Protection No. 72/2020/QH14, which has been amended and supplemented with certain articles according to Law No. 11/2022/QH15, Law No. 16/2023/QH15, Law No. 18/2023/QH15, Law No. 47/2024/QH15, and Law No. 54/2024/QH15; the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine No. 41/2013/QH13, which has been amended and supplemented with certain articles according to Law No. 35/2018/QH14; the Law on Animal Husbandry No. 32/2018/QH14; the Law on Biodiversity No. 20/2008/QH12, which has been amended and supplemented with certain articles according to Law No. 35/2018/QH14; the Law on Dikes No. 79/2006/QH11, which has been amended and supplemented with certain articles according to Law No. 15/2008/QH12, Law No. 35/2018/QH14, Law No. 60/2020/QH14, Law No. 18/2023/QH15, Law No. 47/2024/QH15, and Law No. 84/2025/QH15; the Law on Surveying and Mapping No. 27/2018/QH14, which has been amended and supplemented with certain articles according to Law No. 84/2025/QH15; The Meteorology and Hydrology Law No. 90/2015/QH13 has been amended and supplemented with certain provisions according to Law No. 35/2018/QH14 and Law No. 64/2020/QH14; the Forestry Law No. 16/2017/QH14 has been amended and supplemented with certain provisions according to Law No. 16/2023/QH15 and Law No. 31/2024/QH15; the Law on Disaster Prevention and Control No. 33/2013/QH13 has been amended and supplemented with certain provisions according to Law No. 60/2020/QH14, Law No. 18/2023/QH15, Law No. 47/2024/QH15 and Law No. 55/2024/QH15; the Water Resources Law No. 28/2023/QH15 has been amended and supplemented with certain provisions according to Law No. 84/2025/QH15 and Law No. 116/2025/QH15; the Law on Marine and Island Resources and Environment No. 82/2015/QH13 has been amended and supplemented with certain provisions according to Law No. 35/2018/QH14, Law No. 18/2023/QH15 and Law No. 61/2024/QH15; the Veterinary Law No. 79/2015/QH13 has been amended and supplemented with certain provisions according to Law No. 21/2017/QH14; The Water Resources Law No. 08/2017/QH14 has been amended and supplemented in some articles according to Law No. 35/2018/QH14, Law No. 59/2020/QH14, Law No. 72/2020/QH14, Law No. 16/2023/QH15, Law No. 28/2023/QH15, and Law No. 54/2024/QH15; the Fisheries Law No. 18/2017/QH14 has been amended and supplemented in some articles according to Law No. 31/2024/QH15 and Law No. 43/2024/QH15; the Crop Production Law No. 31/2018/QH14.

Article 1. Amendments and supplements to a number of provisions of the Law on Environmental Protection

1. Amend and supplement Clause 37, Article 3 as follows:

"37. Concentrated production, business, and service areas include industrial zones, export processing zones, concentrated digital technology zones, high-tech zones, and industrial production function areas of economic zones."

2. Amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 19 as follows:

"3. The provincial-level People's Committee has the following responsibilities:

a) Investigate, assess, identify, and delineate areas at risk of soil environmental pollution, contaminated soil areas in the locality, and determine the responsibility of organizations and individuals causing pollution;

b) Treat, renovate, and restore contaminated soil areas under the case specified in Clause 3, Article 15 of this Law;

c) Publicize information on contaminated soil areas in the locality; update it into the environmental information system and database as prescribed."

3. Amend and supplement point c, clause 1, Article 28 as follows:

“c) Environmentally sensitive factors include concentrated residential areas; water sources used for domestic water supply purposes; nature reserves, important wetlands as prescribed by the law on biodiversity and fisheries; types of forests as prescribed by the law on forestry; tangible cultural heritage, other natural heritage; requirements for relocation, resettlement, and other environmentally sensitive factors.”

4. Amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 30 as follows:

“2. Subjects specified in Clause 1 of this Article are not required to conduct environmental impact assessments in the following cases:

a) Emergency public investment projects as prescribed by the law on public investment;

b) Investment projects that are not required to conduct environmental impact assessments as prescribed by law, resolutions of the National Assembly.”

5. Amend and supplement Article 31 as follows:

“Article 31. Conducting environmental impact assessments

1. Environmental impact assessment is conducted by the investor of the project. The environmental impact assessment is carried out simultaneously with the preparation of the feasibility study report or documents equivalent to the feasibility study report of the investment project, sub-project, or investment phase of the project. The results of the environmental impact assessment are presented in the environmental impact assessment report.

2. Each investment project prepares one environmental impact assessment report. The government specifies in detail the implementation of environmental impact assessment for sub-projects or investment phases of the project as decided by the competent authority.

6. Amend and supplement Article 34 as follows:

"Article 34. Appraisal of the environmental impact assessment report"

1. The environmental impact assessment report must be evaluated and approved by the competent authority or person. The authority or person competent to evaluate the environmental impact assessment report is the authority or person competent to approve the results of the evaluation of the environmental impact assessment report.

2. For construction investment projects subject to evaluation by specialized construction agencies and appraisal councils according to the law on construction, the project owner may simultaneously submit the dossier requesting appraisal of the environmental impact assessment report along with the dossier requesting appraisal of the feasibility study report; the timing of submission is decided by the project owner but must ensure that the decision approving the results of the environmental impact assessment report evaluation is issued before the project approval or construction investment decision of the project.

3. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall provide detailed regulations on the dossier, deadlines, content, organization of appraisal, and approval of the appraisal results of the environmental impact assessment report.

7. Amend and supplement Article 35 as follows:

“Article 35. Authority for appraising environmental impact assessment reports

1. Except as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall organize the appraisal of environmental impact assessment reports for Group I investment projects prescribed in Clause 3, Article 28 of this Law; Group II investment projects specified at points c, d, đ, and e, Clause 4, Article 28 of this Law that are located in the territory of two or more provincial-level administrative units or located in maritime areas where the administrative management responsibility of the provincial People's Committee has not been determined; at the same time, they must fall under one of the following cases:

a) Investment projects that are decided or approved in principle by the National Assembly or the Prime Minister, except for investment projects located in the area of two or more provincial-level administrative units assigned by the competent authority to one Provincial People's Committee as the competent authority under the investment law under the public-private partnership method or assigned to one Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to decide investment under the public investment law, or divided into sub-projects where such sub-projects are implemented only in the area of one provincial-level administrative unit;

b) Investment projects under the authority to grant mineral exploitation licenses, water resource exploitation and use licenses, licenses for sea dumping, and decisions to assign sea areas by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment;

c) Investment projects for the construction and operation of infrastructure for production, business, and centralized service areas;

d) Investment projects with a large scale of land use or land with large water surface, except for hydropower projects, projects constructing traffic infrastructure or power transmission lines or telecommunication infrastructure, and projects that only have one or more objectives such as planting annual crops, perennial crops, or cultivating and caring for agricultural seedlings;

d) Investment projects in concentrated production, business, or service areas, or industrial clusters that have been established according to the law and fall into one of the following cases: projects implementing hazardous waste treatment services; projects using imported scrap as production materials; new investment projects or expansion investment projects of operational establishments that are exempt from connection according to the law and have wastewater flow subject to mandatory periodic monitoring or higher;

e) Investment projects located outside concentrated production, business, and service areas, and industrial clusters, and belonging to types of production, business, and services with a high risk of causing environmental pollution with large capacity, except for livestock farming projects and investment projects for operating livestock and poultry slaughterhouses.

2. The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security shall organize the appraisal of environmental impact assessment reports for investment projects classified as state secrets regarding national defense and security according to the procedures and processes stipulated by the Minister of National Defense and the Minister of Public Security.

3. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall organize the appraisal of the environmental impact assessment report for investment projects in the area, except for the subjects stipulated in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article. Ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall be responsible for coordinating with the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee where the project is located in the process of appraising the environmental impact assessment report for investment projects under their authority to decide on investment policy or investment decisions.

4. The Government shall regulate the authority to appraise environmental impact assessment reports of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee in cases where the investment project is located in the area of 02 or more provincial administrative units, or an investment project is located in a sea area where the administrative management responsibility of the Provincial People's Committee has not been determined, and the coordination mechanism with the relevant localities.

8. Amend and supplement some points of Clause 1, Article 36 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point b as follows:"

“b) Approve the mine development plan for the oil and gas exploitation project;”;

b) Amend and supplement point d as follows:

"d) Approve the project, make investment decisions for construction investment projects."

9. Amend and supplement certain clauses of Article 39 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement clause 1 as follows:

"1. Investment projects of group I, group II, group III and in one of the following cases:

a) Generate wastewater or dust, exhaust gases discharged into the environment that must be treated when officially operational according to Government regulations;

b) Import scrap from abroad as production materials or carry out hazardous waste treatment services."

b) Amend and supplement clause 3 as follows:

"3. Subjects specified in clause 1 of this Article do not need an environmental permit in one of the following cases:

a) Emergency public investment projects as prescribed by the law on public investment;

b) Investment projects that do not require an environmental permit according to the law, resolutions of the National Assembly."

10. Amend and supplement certain points of clause 3, Article 40 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point a as follows:

“a) Having works and measures for collecting, treating wastewater, dust, emissions, reducing noise and vibration that meet requirements;”;

b) Amend and supplement point d as follows:

“d) Having an environmental management and monitoring program, a plan for prevention and response to environmental incidents; equipment and works for prevention and response to environmental incidents, environmental monitoring;”.

11. Amend and supplement Article 41 as follows:

“Article 41. Authority to grant environmental permits

1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall grant environmental permits for the following subjects, except as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article:

a) The subjects specified in Article 39 of this Law fall under the authority to approve the results of the environmental impact assessment report appraisal by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment as prescribed in Article 35 of this Law, except for cases where the environmental impact assessment report has been approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in accordance with legal regulations before January 1, 2022;

b) Facilities that import scrap from abroad as production materials; facilities that provide hazardous waste treatment services.

2. The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security shall issue environmental permits for investment projects and facilities that are state secrets concerning national defense and security according to the procedures stipulated by the Minister of National Defense and the Minister of Public Security.

3. The Chairman of the provincial People's Committee shall issue environmental permits for subjects specified in Article 39 of this Law, except in the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

4. The Government shall regulate the authority of the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee to issue environmental permits for cases where investment projects or facilities are located in the territory of two or more provincial administrative units, or investment projects or facilities are located in sea areas where the administrative management responsibility of the provincial People's Committee has not been determined and the coordination mechanism with relevant localities.

12. Amend and supplement certain clauses and points of Article 42 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point a, clause 1 as follows:

“a) Application dossier for an environmental permit;”;

b) Amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

“5. In the case of a change in the name of the investment project, facility, concentrated production, business, or service area, industrial cluster; change of the investor, facility, or other changes not falling under the cases of adjustment or reissuance of the environmental permit, the investor or facility is responsible for continuing to comply with the environmental permit and integrating it into the periodic environmental protection report of the investment project or facility.”

13. Amend and supplement Article 43 as follows:

"Article 43. Appraisal for granting an environmental permit

1. The issuance of an environmental permit is carried out based on the appraisal of the environmental permit proposal report.

2. Investment projects, establishments, concentrated production, business, and service areas, or industrial clusters that are subject to an environmental permit and conduct radiation work, in addition to complying with the provisions of this Law, must also comply with the regulations of the law on atomic energy.

3. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall specify in detail the dossiers, time limits, content, and organization for appraising and issuing environmental permits.

14. Amendments and supplements to certain clauses of Article 49 are as follows:

a) Amend and supplement item 2 as follows:

"2. Subjects prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article are not required to carry out environmental registration in the following cases:

a) Investment projects or establishments that are classified as state secrets in terms of national defense and security;

b) Investment projects, when put into operation and production, business, or service facilities, that do not generate waste or only generate a small amount of waste, which is treated by on-site treatment facilities or managed according to local government regulations;

c) Investment projects that are not required to register for environmental purposes under the law or resolutions of the National Assembly;

d) Other subjects.";

b) Amend and supplement clause 8 as follows:

"8. The Government shall stipulate in detail points b and d of Clause 2 of this Article."

15. Amend and supplement some clauses and points of Article 51 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point a, clause 1 as follows:

"a) The system for collecting and draining rainwater; the system for collecting, draining, and treating centralized wastewater to ensure that treated wastewater meets environmental protection requirements. Concentrated production, business, and service areas may jointly use the centralized wastewater treatment system;"

b) Add Clause 4a after Clause 4 as follows:

“4a. Concentrated production, business, and service areas that were operational before January 1, 2022, and did not have a centralized wastewater treatment system as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article, and the investment projects or secondary facilities operating in those concentrated production, business, and service areas that already have a wastewater treatment system meeting environmental protection requirements as prescribed are exempt from the requirement to have a centralized wastewater treatment system according to the decision of the provincial People's Committee. Investment projects in concentrated production, business, and service areas specified in this clause must have a water collection, drainage, and wastewater treatment system discharged into the environment that meets environmental protection requirements as prescribed.”

16. Amend and supplement some clauses and points of Article 52 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement clause 1 as follows:

“1. Industrial clusters must have environmental protection infrastructure in accordance with the provisions of Clause 1, Article 51 of this Law, except for special cases as prescribed by the Government.”

b) Amend and supplement point a of Clause 2 as follows:

"a) Complete the environmental protection infrastructure works prescribed in Clause 1, Article 51 of this Law according to the plan and roadmap decided by the Provincial People's Committee;";

c) Amend and supplement point c of Clause 3 as follows:

"c) New projects, expansion projects, or capacity-increasing projects generating wastewater are only allowed to be accepted when the project owner commits to connecting the wastewater to the centralized collection, drainage, and treatment system of the industrial cluster and the centralized wastewater treatment system capable of receiving wastewater at the time the project is put into operation;";

d) Amend and supplement point b of Clause 6 as follows:

“b) Issue plans and investment roadmaps for the construction of wastewater collection and treatment systems for industrial clusters as stipulated in point a, clause 2 of this Article, or decide on the exemption from the requirement to have a wastewater collection, drainage, and treatment system as stipulated in clause 1, Article 51 of this Law in cases where land cannot be allocated for the construction of the wastewater collection and treatment system; issue regulations to encourage and organize the socialization of investment, construction, business, and operation of environmental protection infrastructure for industrial clusters;”;

d) Add point d after point c, clause 6 as follows:

“d) Invest in the construction, management, and operation of environmental protection infrastructure for industrial clusters in cases where there is no investor to construct and operate industrial cluster infrastructure.”

17. Amend and supplement point b, clause 6, Article 56 as follows:

“b) Submit to the Provincial People's Council for arranging the budget for the environmental protection activities of craft villages;”.

18. Amend and supplement paragraph 2 of Article 58 as follows:

“2. The responsibilities for rural environmental protection are prescribed as follows:

a) The commune-level People's Committee manages production, business, and service activities to ensure compliance with environmental protection regulations according to the approved planning; organizes statistics and manages activities of classification, collection, transportation, and treatment of solid waste arising from agricultural, handicraft, and household activities in the area according to waste management regulations; invests in and upgrades the drainage system and wastewater treatment according to legal regulations; organizes monitoring and evaluation of environmental quality changes; zones, treats, restores, and improves environmental quality at polluted sites and areas in rural localities; organizes activities to maintain sanitation, improve rural landscapes; sets regulations on self-managed environmental protection activities in rural areas;

b) The provincial People's Committee directs and allocates resources to implement requirements and criteria for rural environmental protection; directs and organizes the treatment of waste types arising in rural areas; submits to the provincial People's Council for issuance, and guides the application of mechanisms and policies of preferential treatment and support for waste treatment activities, landscape construction, and rural environmental protection;

c) The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment guides the implementation of requirements and criteria for rural environmental protection, measures for the collection and appropriate treatment of waste, monitoring changes in environmental quality, addressing pollution, and restoring and rehabilitating rural environmental quality; guides the collection and treatment of livestock waste and agricultural by-products for reuse for other purposes; develops and organizes the implementation of programs, plans, projects, mechanisms, and policies for rural development associated with the objectives of environmental protection and climate change response;

d) The Minister of Agriculture and Environment promulgates criteria for environmental protection in rural construction and development.”

19. Add Clause 4 after Clause 3 of Article 59 as follows:

“4. The provincial-level People's Committee organizes the management of public sanitation; regulates the economic-technical norms for public sanitation; sets the prices of public sanitation services in the area according to the provisions of the law on prices.”

20. Amend and supplement Clause 7, Article 61 as follows:

“7. Provincial People's Committees are responsible for directing and organizing the management of dredged sludge from canals, ditches, and irrigation works under the local management authority to meet environmental protection requirements.”

21. Amend and supplement certain clauses of Article 71 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement clause 1 as follows:

“1. Imported scrap from foreign countries into Vietnam must meet the following requirements:

a) Comply with national technical regulations on the environment for scrap imported from abroad as production materials;

b) Be included in the list of scrap allowed to be imported from abroad as production materials issued by the Prime Minister;

c) Ensure the ratio and roadmap for limiting the import of scrap from abroad as production materials.”;

b) Amend and supplement clause 3 as follows:

“3. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on this Article.”

22. Amend and supplement Clause 7 of Article 72 as follows:

“7. The provincial-level People's Committee is responsible for managing waste in the locality; issuing regulations on waste management and submitting to the provincial People's Council to issue incentive and support policies for waste management activities in accordance with the law.”

23. Amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 75 as follows:

“2. The provincial-level People's Committee decides on the specific classification of municipal solid waste specified in Point c, Clause 1 of this Article in the locality according to the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment; submits to the provincial People's Council to decide on policies encouraging separate classification of hazardous waste within municipal solid waste generated from households and individuals.”

24. Amend and supplement several clauses of Article 79 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

“5. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment provides technical guidance on the classification of household solid waste; guides the implementation of the regulation in Clause 1 of this Article.”;

b) Amend and supplement Clause 7 as follows:

“7. The provincial People's Committee shall decide the roadmap for implementing the regulation in Clause 1 of this Article and Clause 1 of Article 75 of this Law in accordance with the local practical conditions; stipulate the economic-technical norms for the collection, transportation, and treatment of household solid waste in the locality.”.

25. Amend Point c, Clause 5, Article 81 as follows:

“c) Means of transporting normal industrial solid waste must operate according to the routes and times prescribed by the provincial People's Committee.”.

26. Amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 83 as follows:

“3. Hazardous waste during transportation must be stored and transported using appropriate equipment and means to a waste treatment facility. Hazardous waste transport vehicles must operate according to the routes and times prescribed by the provincial People's Committee.”

27. Amend and supplement clauses 3 and 4 of Article 84 as follows:

“3. Investment projects and facilities performing hazardous waste treatment services must meet the following requirements:

a) Comply with the Environmental Protection Plan or plans containing content on hazardous waste treatment, except in cases where the facility co-treats hazardous waste or certain types of hazardous waste recycling as prescribed by the Government;

b) Ensure environmental safety distances as prescribed;

c) Have an environmental permit;

d) Provide an environmental protection deposit as prescribed in Article 137 of this Law in cases of landfill activities.

4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment issues criteria for hazardous waste treatment technology.

28. Amend and supplement points c and d of clause 5, Article 86 as follows:

“c) Submit to the provincial People's Council for the issuance of a roadmap and support policies to enable organizations and households in urban areas and concentrated residential areas to construct works and install on-site wastewater treatment equipment that meet environmental protection requirements before discharging into receiving sources in cases where land is not allocated to build a collection and treatment system in urban areas or concentrated residential areas formed before January 1, 2022; d) Submit to the provincial People's Council for the issuance of an implementation roadmap and support policies for on-site collection and treatment of domestic wastewater generated by organizations and households in non-concentrated residential areas.”

29. Amend and supplement certain clauses and points of Article 90 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point b of clause 3 as follows:

“b) Submit to the Prime Minister for issuing the National Plan on Climate Change Adaptation and periodically review and update it every five years; the national-level monitoring and evaluation system for climate change adaptation activities; the criteria for identifying investment projects and tasks for climate change adaptation under the approval authority of the Prime Minister;”

b) Add clause 5 after clause 4 as follows:

“5. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall issue criteria for assessing climate risks.”

30. Amend and supplement point a, clause 1, Article 111 as follows:

“a) Concentrated production, business, and service areas, industrial clusters with an average wastewater discharge volume or higher into the environment;”

31. Amend and supplement clause 2, Article 125 as follows:

"2. The commune-level civil defense command shall coordinate with the commune-level People's Committee where the incident occurs to directly verify, organize timely response to the incident, and report to the provincial-level People's Committee to announce the environmental incident or notify the competent authority to organize a response in accordance with the provisions of Clause 1, Article 123 of this Law."

32. Amendments and supplements to certain clauses of Article 127 are as follows:

a) Amend and supplement item 2 as follows:

"2. Specialized agencies under the provincial and commune-level People's Committees, according to assigned functions, duties, and powers, are responsible for advising the corresponding People's Committee and civil defense command in building and issuing environmental incident response plans; guiding the implementation of preparatory activities and organizing response to environmental incidents in the locality."

b) Amend and supplement clause 4 as follows:

"4. Specialized agencies on environmental protection at the provincial and commune levels are responsible for advising the corresponding People's Committee in carrying out environmental restoration after an environmental incident in the locality."

33. Amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 151 as follows:

"1. The Vietnam Environmental Protection Fund and provincial environmental protection funds are non-budgetary state financial funds, established at the central level, provinces, and centrally-run cities to provide preferential loans, receive deposits, sponsor, support, and contribute financially to environmental protection activities.

The State encourages enterprises, organizations, and individuals to establish environmental protection funds."

34. Amend and supplement Article 160 as follows:

"Article 160. Specialized inspection, environmental protection inspection, and auditing in the environmental sector

1. The responsibility for directing and organizing the implementation of specialized inspection and environmental protection inspection is prescribed as follows:

a) The Minister of Agriculture and Environment directs and organizes specialized inspections on environmental protection nationwide; directs the coordination with inspection agencies in inspection activities on environmental protection in accordance with the law on inspection;

b) The Minister of Defense directs and organizes inspections and supervision of environmental protection for investment projects and facilities that are state secrets in defense;

c) The Minister of Public Security directs and organizes inspections and supervision of environmental protection for investment projects and facilities that are state secrets in security; directs the Environmental Crime Prevention Police force to inspect environmental protection in accordance with the provisions of the law;

d) The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall organize specialized inspections and environmental protection inspections in the locality; direct participation in coordinating specialized inspections and environmental protection inspections for cases specified in point a of this clause or as requested by the competent authority;

d) The Chairman of the Commune-level People's Committee shall organize specialized inspections on environmental protection in the locality; direct participation in coordinating specialized inspections and environmental protection inspections for cases specified in point d of this clause or as requested by the competent authority.

2. The authority, organization, and activities of environmental protection inspections shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the law on inspection, except in the case of unscheduled environmental protection inspections that are not announced in advance when necessary.

3. Specialized inspections on environmental protection are carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on inspection, examination, and the following specific regulations:

a) Unannounced inspections by the state management agency on environmental protection are conducted when there is a basis to believe that an organization or individual shows signs of violating environmental protection laws or by the decision of the Minister of Agriculture and Environment or the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, except in cases of inspections to handle administrative procedures stipulated in this Law;

b) During the inspection process, when it is deemed necessary to have an assessment regarding matters related to professional and technical content as a basis for concluding, the Head of the specialized inspection team shall propose to the person who decided on the inspection to request an organization with functions to appraise, verify, monitor, measure, and analyze environmental samples.

c) The Environmental Crime Prevention Police force conducts inspections of organizations and individuals when there are signs of criminal activity or violations of laws related to environmental crime; when there are denunciations, reports of crime, motions for prosecution, or reports and reflections on legal violations related to environmental crime, and informs the state environmental management agency at the same level for coordination; coordinates specialized inspections on environmental protection in other cases involving organizations and individuals according to a plan approved by the Minister of Agriculture and Environment or the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee. Annually, send a written notification of the inspection results and handling of legal violations regarding environmental protection to the state environmental management agency at the same level for aggregation and monitoring.

4. Specialized inspection activities and environmental protection inspections must ensure no overlap, and must not affect the normal production, business, and service activities of organizations and individuals; there must be coordination with state management agencies on environmental protection, the Crime Prevention and Environmental Police forces, and other relevant agencies.

5. The State Audit carries out audits in the environmental field in accordance with the provisions of the Law on State Audit and other relevant legal regulations.

6. The Government shall detail the specialized inspection activities and inspections on environmental protection as provided in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article.

35. Amend and supplement paragraph 3 of Article 168 as follows:

"3. The commune-level People's Committee has the following responsibilities:

a) Develop, promulgate, or submit to the competent authority for promulgation legal normative documents, plans, programs, schemes, and projects on local environmental protection;

b) Direct, guide, inspect, and organize the implementation of pollution source control; prevent and respond to environmental incidents in the area according to legal regulations; organize the management of waste sources in the area according to assignment and delegation; be responsible to the Provincial People's Committee for occurrences of environmental pollution in the area;

c) Receive environmental registrations; organize monitoring, supervision, warning, environmental quality management, and waste management in the area according to authority or delegation from the Provincial People's Committee; restore and rehabilitate the environment; conserve nature and biodiversity;

d) Inspect and handle violations of environmental protection laws according to authority or refer to competent authorities for handling as prescribed by law; resolve complaints, denunciations, reflections, and recommendations regarding environmental protection;

d) Communication, dissemination of knowledge, propaganda of laws on environmental protection; education, raising awareness and consciousness about environmental protection in the community; guiding residential communities in the area to incorporate environmental protection content into village rules, regulations, building new rural areas, and cultural families;

e) Organize the collection of environmental information, environmental reporting according to legal provisions;

g) Mobilize and use resources for environmental protection work according to legal provisions; submit to the People's Council at the same level or the competent authority to allocate funds to carry out environmental protection tasks according to the state budget law;

h) Perform other environmental protection tasks assigned by the Provincial People's Committee.”

36. Abolish certain clauses, points, and phrases:

a) Abolish point b and point c of clause 1 of Article 19; clause 1 of Article 44; point a of clause 5 of Article 52; clauses 5 and 7 of Article 85; clause 4 of Article 102; clause 4 of Article 107; point b of clause 1 of Article 109; clause 2 of Article 168; point c of clause 2 of Article 131;

b) Remove the phrase “re-issuance,” from the title of Article 44; point b of clause 1 of Article 47; clause 1 of Article 48; clause 2 of Article 164; clause 2 of Article 166; point b of clause 1 of Article 168;

c) Remove the phrase “inspection,” from clause 13 of Article 166.

37. Replace some phrases in the following articles, clauses, and points:

a) Replace the phrase “Provincial People's Committee and District People's Committee” with the phrase “Provincial People's Committee” in clause 3 of Article 45;

b) Replace the phrase "District-level People's Committee, Commune-level People's Committee" with the phrase "Commune-level People's Committee" in point a and point b of Clause 2, Article 36; point a, Clause 6, Article 52;

c) Replace the phrase "district level, commune level" with the phrase "commune level" in point c, Clause 2, Article 122;

d) Replace the phrase "district level" with the phrase "provincial level" in point a and point b, Clause 2, Article 131;

dd) Replace the phrase "district level" with the phrase "commune level" in point l, Clause 3, Article 52; Clause 5, Article 52; Clause 5, Article 56; point a, Clause 1, Article 118; points b and c, Clause 1, Article 123; Clause 2, points b and c, Clause 4 and point b, Clause 7, Article 124; Clause 1, points a and b, Clause 4, Article 125; Clause 2, Article 126;

e) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 8; Clause 7 of Article 10; Clause 2 of Article 14; Clause 1 of Article 19; Clause 4 of Article 22; Clause 3 of Article 23; Clause 2 of Article 24; Clause 5 of Article 26; Clause 3 of Article 27; Clause 2 of Article 32; Clause 2 of Article 36; Clause 5 of Article 40; Clause 9 of Article 49; Clause 5 of Article 53; Clause 3 of Article 54; Clause 4 of Article 62; Clause 8 of Article 67; Clause 2 of Article 69; Clause 6 of Article 72; Clause 4 of Article 74; Clause 2 of Article 76; Clause 4 of Article 77; Clause 5 of Article 78; Clause 4 of Article 80; Clause 4 of Article 81; Clause 5 of Article 83; Clause 6 of Article 86; Clause 3 and Clause 4 of Article 90; Clauses 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Article 91; Clause 3 and Clause 6 of Article 92; Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 94; Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 95; Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 96; Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 102; Clause 2 of Article 104; Clause 3 of Article 105; Clause 1 and Clause 6 of Article 109; Point b of Clause 5 and Clause 8 of Article 111; point b of clause 5 and clause 8 of Article 112; clause 1 of Article 113; clauses 2 and 3 of Article 114; clauses 1 and 2 of Article 115; point b of clause 2 of Article 116; clauses 3 and 4 of Article 117; clauses 1 and 5 of Article 118; clause 5 of Article 119; clauses 2, 4 and 5 of Article 120; point c of clause 2 and clause 7 of Article 126; clause 3 of Article 127; point d of clause 2 of Article 131; clause 3 of Article 136; clauses 8, 9 and 10 of Article 139; clause 6 of Article 148; clause 3 of Article 153; clauses 2 and 3 of Article 154; clause 4 of Article 156; Article 166; clause 3 of Article 167; point d of clause 1 of Article 168; clause 1 of Article 169;

g) Replace the phrase "Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development" with the phrase "Ministry of Agriculture and Environment" in Clause 3, Article 109;

h) Replace the phrase "Ministry of Transport" with the phrase "Ministry of Construction" in Clause 8, Article 65; point b, Clause 2, Article 102;

i) Replace the phrase “National Environmental Protection Planning” with the phrase “Environmental Protection Planning” in Clause 4, Article 3; Clause 1, Article 9; Clause 1, Article 13; Clause 2, Article 21; Clause 1, Article 22; Article 23; Item d, Clause 2, Article 27; Item a, Clause 3, Article 29; Item b, Clause 1, Article 32; Items c and e, Clause 1, Article 42.

k) Replace the phrase “Chairman of the National Committee for Incident, Disaster Response and Search and Rescue” with the phrase “Head of the National Civil Defense Steering Committee” in Item d, Clause 4, Article 125.

Article 2. Amendments and supplementation of certain provisions of the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine

1. Amend and supplement Article 9 as follows:

“Article 9. System of specialized agencies for plant protection and quarantine

1. The system of specialized agencies for plant protection and quarantine is organized from the central level to the provincial level.

2. At the commune level, personnel are arranged to carry out plant protection and quarantine tasks in the locality.”

2. Amend and supplement Clause 5 and add Clause 5a after Clause 5 of Article 13 as follows:

"5. Importing harmful organisms into Vietnam, breeding harmful organisms, except for the case of importing harmful organisms for scientific research purposes.

5a. Bringing soil into Vietnam, except for importing plants with soil balls according to the Government's regulations and importing soil for scientific research purposes."

3. Amend and supplement Clause 2 of Article 59 as follows:

"2. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on the conditions, procedures, formalities, and authority for recognizing organizations as eligible to conduct pesticide trials."

4. Amend and supplement Clause 3 of Article 61 as follows:

"3. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on the conditions, procedures, formalities, and authority for granting, reissuing, and revoking certificates of eligibility for pesticide production."

5. Amend and supplement Clause 2 of Article 63 as follows:

“2. The government shall stipulate in detail the conditions, order, procedures, and authority for granting, reissuing, and revoking the Certificate of Eligibility for Trading Plant Protection Products.”

6. Amend and supplement Clause 5, Article 67 as follows:

“5. The Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee has the authority to grant the Import License for Plant Protection Products.

The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall regulate the order and procedures for granting the Import License for Plant Protection Products.”

7. Amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 75 as follows:

“3. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall regulate the collection and disposal of plant protection product packaging after use.”

8. Abolish certain articles, clauses, points, and phrases as follows:

a) Abolish Article 20; point d of Clause 1, Clause 2 of Article 23; points b and c of Clause 1 of Article 28; point c of Clause 1 of Article 37; points b and đ of Clause 1 of Article 38; points d and e of Clause 2 of Article 39; point b of Clause 1 of Article 51; point c of Clause 2 of Article 52; point a of Clause 1, point a of Clause 3 of Article 53; points c and d of Clause 1 of Article 61; Article 65; Clause 2 of Article 66; point b of Clause 4 of Article 67; Clause 4 of Article 75;

b) Remove the phrase “Inspection,” in point m of Clause 2 of Article 7; remove the phrase “preside in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” in point d of Clause 3 of Article 7;

c) Remove the phrase “, the People's Committees of districts, towns, and provincial cities (hereinafter collectively referred to as district-level People's Committees)” at the beginning of Clause 1 of Article 8;

d) Remove the phrase “district-level,” at the beginning of Clause 3 of Article 18;

d) Remove the phrase “ensuring health according to regulations;” in point a, clause 2, Article 37; remove the phrase “and issuing professional cards; ensuring health according to regulations” in point b, clause 2, Article 37;

e) Remove the phrase “, Health Certificate” in point d, clause 1, Article 38; remove the phrase “, except in the case of loss” in point b, clause 2, Article 39, point c, clause 2, Article 53, point b, clause 2, Article 57;

g) Remove the phrase “or Professional Card” in point c, clause 2, Article 39;

h) Remove the word “lost,” and the phrase “, damaged” in point a, clause 1, Article 39, clause 1, Article 57;

i) Remove the phrase “Owner of the drug trading establishment and” in point c, clause 1, Article 63; remove the phrase “for persons with professional cards to handle objects subject to plant quarantine or” in point e, clause 2, Article 64.

9. Replace certain words and phrases in the following clauses and points:

a) Replace the word “district” with “commune” in point đ, clause 1, Article 8; replace the phrase “town” with the phrase “special zone” in clause 2, Article 8;

b) Replace the phrase 'Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development' with the phrase 'Government' in Clause 3, Article 37;

c) Replace the phrase “06 months” with the phrase “04 months” in point b, clause 2, Article 51; replace the phrase “15 days” with the phrase “10 days” in point b, clause 3, Article 52;

d) Replace the phrase “30 days” with the phrase “27 days” in point b, clause 2, Article 56;

d) Replace the phrase “10 days” with the phrase “05 days” in point b, clause 3, Article 57;

e) Replace the phrases “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development”, “Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in point a of clause 3 of Article 6; clauses 2 and 3 of Article 7; clause 2 of Article 17; clause 1, points e and g of clause 2 of Article 18; clauses 1 and 2 of Article 25; clause 4 of Article 27; clauses 2 and 3 of Article 29; clause 4 of Article 30; clause 3 of Article 33; clause 5 of Article 34; clause 6 of Article 43; clause 2 of Article 46; clause 2 of Article 48; clause 3 of Article 49; point b of clause 2 of Article 51; clause 3 of Article 55; point c of clause 1 of Article 58; point d of clause 2 of Article 67; clause 5 of Article 69; clause 3 of Article 71; point đ of clause 2 of Article 72; clause 3 of Article 73;

g) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Information and Communications” with the phrase “Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism” at point b, clause 3, Article 6.

Article 3. Amendments and supplements to certain provisions of the Livestock Law

1. Amend and supplement Clause 4, Article 11 as follows:

“4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall regulate the updating, exploitation, and management of the national livestock database, regulate the identification number of livestock establishments, and trace the origin of livestock products.”

2. Amend and supplement Clause 4, Article 14 as follows:

“4. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall take the lead, in coordination with the Ministry of Science and Technology and other relevant ministries and ministerial-level agencies, to submit to the Government regulations on the collection, preservation, exploitation, and development of livestock genetic resources under the management scope of the agriculture and environment sector.”

3. Amend and supplement certain clauses of Article 15 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement item 2 as follows:

“2. The international exchange of livestock genetic resources listed in the catalog of livestock breeds prohibited from export for the purposes of scientific research, exhibitions, and advertising must be approved by the Minister of Agriculture and Environment.

The exchange of genetic resources of rare and precious livestock breeds of Vietnam with a third party must be approved by the Minister of Agriculture and Environment.";

b) Add clause 6 after clause 5 as follows:

"6. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall regulate the order and procedures for approving the international exchange of genetic resources of livestock breeds listed in the Catalogue of livestock breeds prohibited for export for the purposes of scientific research, exhibitions, and advertising; the order and procedures for approving the exchange of genetic resources of rare and precious livestock breeds of Vietnam with a third party."

4. Amend and supplement clause 4, Article 20 as follows:

"4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall regulate the order and procedures for importing breeding males, semen, and livestock embryos."

5. Amend and supplement clause 2, Article 21 as follows:

"2. The export or international exchange of breeding animals, breeding animal products listed in the Catalogue of breeding animals prohibited from export for the purposes of scientific research, exhibitions, and advertising must be approved by the Minister of Agriculture and Environment.

The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall stipulate the order and procedures for approving the export or international exchange of breeding animals and breeding animal products listed in the Catalogue of breeding animals prohibited from export for the purposes of scientific research, exhibitions, and advertising."

6. Amend and supplement clauses 3 and 4 of Article 26 as follows:

"3. Organizations and individuals wishing to have a new breed or line of livestock recognized must conduct trials in accordance with the regulations on testing livestock breeds at facilities eligible for livestock breed trials.

4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall promulgate regulations on testing livestock breeds."

7. Amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 27 as follows:

"1. The conditions specified at points a, đ, and e, Clause 1, Article 55 of this Law."

8. Amend and supplement Article 30 as follows:

"Article 30. Recognition of new livestock breeds

1. The recognition of new livestock breeds must be based on trial results or the results of scientific and technological tasks at the ministerial or national level that have been recognized or approved by the competent authority.

2. Organizations and individuals wishing to have a new livestock breed recognized must follow the procedures for recognition of new livestock breeds as prescribed by the Minister of Agriculture and Environment."

9. Amend and supplement Article 33 as follows:

"Article 33. Announcement, re-announcement, and change of information of complete compound feed, concentrated feed, and supplementary feed products

1. Announcement of animal feed product information:

a) Complete compound feed and concentrated feed products produced or traded by organizations or individuals must self-declare information on the Electronic Information Portal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment;

b) Supplementary feed products must be appraised to announce information on the Electronic Information Portal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

The circulation period of supplementary feed products is 5 years from the date the product information is announced.

2. Re-announcement of supplementary feed product information:

Within 6 months before the expiration of the circulation period, organizations or individuals in need may re-announce information on the Electronic Information Portal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

3. Change of information of animal feed products:

a) Changing information of complete compound feed and concentrated feed products:

In the case of changes in the manufacturing facility address or product quality, organizations or individuals must re-declare the product information on the Electronic Portal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment in accordance with the regulations on declaration of information for complete compound feed and concentrated feed products. In the case of other information changes, organizations or individuals can update the information themselves on the Electronic Portal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

b) Changing information of supplement feed products:

In the case of changes in the information of supplement feed products regarding the name, address, phone number, fax number, email address of the registering organization or individual, or product packaging specifications, organizations or individuals can update the information themselves on the Electronic Portal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

In the case of changing information about dietary supplement products regarding the name of the manufacturer, address of the production facility, product name, applied standard declaration code, form, color of the product, usage instructions, product expiration date, components of the ingredients making up the product (product ingredients that do not alter the nature, function, quality indicators, or safety indicators of the announced product), organizations or individuals must request to change the information on the Electronic Information Portal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

4. The Government shall stipulate the details of this Article.

10. Amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 36, as follows:

"1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall announce and post on the electronic information portal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment the list of traditional feed products and single ingredients."

11. Amend and supplement Clause 4, Article 37 as follows:

"4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall issue the list of chemicals, biological products, microorganisms prohibited for use in animal feed, and the list of ingredients permitted for use as animal feed; issue regulations on the testing of animal feed."

12. Amend and supplement certain clauses and points of Article 39 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement clause 1 as follows:

"1. The Chairman of the Provincial-level People's Committee shall issue, reissue, and revoke the Certificate of Eligibility for Livestock Feed Production for livestock feed production establishments in the locality. In cases where the importing country has other requirements, the authority to issue, reissue, and revoke the Certificate of Eligibility for Livestock Feed Production for livestock feed production establishments shall be conducted in accordance with the government's regulations.";

b) Add points d and đ after point c of clause 3 as follows:

"d) Livestock feed production establishments that do not comply with the requirements for monitoring the maintenance of production conditions by the competent authority granting the Certificate of Eligibility for Livestock Feed Production;

đ) At the request of organizations or individuals granted the Certificate of Eligibility for Livestock Feed Production.";

c) Amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

"4. The government shall stipulate the order and procedures for issuing, reissuing, and revoking the Certificate of Eligibility for Livestock Feed Production."

13. Amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 41 as follows:

"3. Organizations and individuals are only allowed to import animal feed that has been publicly announced on the Electronic Information Portal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

In the case of importing animal feed that has not been publicly announced as prescribed for introduction at fairs, exhibitions, adaptive breeding, research, testing, analysis at laboratories, or for production and processing for export purposes, permission must be obtained from the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee."

14. Amend and supplement point c, clause 2, Article 48 as follows:

"c) Only use types of products and feed ingredients that ensure product quality, in accordance with the provisions of the law on animal husbandry."

15. Amend and supplement clauses 4 and 5, Article 53 as follows:

“4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall base on socio-economic conditions, livestock development strategies, livestock technology, and ecological environment to regulate livestock density for each region.

5. The Provincial People's Committee shall base on the region's livestock density, livestock development strategies, livestock technology, and ecological environment to regulate livestock density in the local area.”

16. Amend and supplement clause 2 of Article 68 as follows:

“2. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall issue the List of other animals allowed for breeding; regulate the breeding of other animals included in the List of other animals allowed for breeding.”

17. Amend and supplement several clauses and points of Article 80 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point h of clause 1 as follows:

“h) Submit to the provincial People's Council for a decision on areas where livestock farming is not allowed, a decision on swiftlet farming zones, and policies to support the relocation of livestock facilities out of areas where livestock farming is not permitted.”;

b) Add points d, đ, and e after point c of clause 3 as follows:

“d) Allocate land, lease land, create land funds within authority to develop livestock farming and grow feedstock crops for livestock;

d) Organize management and development of livestock farming at the local level; collect statistics, evaluate, and support losses for livestock facilities after natural disasters and epidemics;

e) Inspect, resolve complaints and denunciations, and handle violations of livestock farming laws in the area within authority.”

18. Abolish the following articles, clauses, points and phrases:

a) Abolish Clause 4 Article 15; Article 16; Point d Clause 2 Article 22; Point a Clause 3 and Point c Clause 4 Article 23; Clause 1 and Clause 5 Article 32; Article 34 and Article 35; Point a Clause 3 Article 37; Point k Clause 1 Article 38; Points b and c Clause 1 Article 55; Clause 4 Article 59; Clause 2 Article 61; Points b, d and đ Clause 1 Article 63; Clause 2 Article 80;

b) Remove the phrase “town,” at Point b Clause 2 Article 4; Clause 1 Article 12;

c) Remove the phrase “inspection,” at Point h Clause 2 Article 79;

d) Remove the phrase "and publish conformity (if any)" in item a, clause 2, and item a, clause 5 of Article 43; remove the phrase "publish conformity," in item đ, clause 2 of Article 48; remove the phrase "and publish conformity" in item a, clause 1 of Article 62.

19. Replace certain phrases in the following articles, clauses, and items:

a) Replace the phrase "town, residential area" with "commune, ward, special zone, residential community" in item b, clause 2 of Article 4 and clause 1 of Article 12;

b) Replace the phrase "Government" with "Minister of Agriculture and Environment" in clause 3 of Article 19 and clause 2 of Article 52; replace the phrase "agriculture and rural development sector" with "agriculture and environment sector" in clause 1 of Article 5;

c) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 3 Article 5; Clause 2 Article 6; Clause 3 Article 8; Clause 1 Article 15; Clause 2 Article 20; Point a Clause 2 Article 23; Clause 3 Article 24; Clause 3 Article 28; Clause 4 Article 32; Clause 2 Article 36; Clause 4 Article 41; Clauses 1, 2, and 3 Article 44; Clause 2 Article 46; Clause 2 Article 47; Point đ Clause 2 Article 48; Point g Clause 2 Article 49; Clause 2 Article 54; Clause 3 Article 55; Point c Clause 1 Article 62; Clause 3 Article 65; Article 76; Clause 3 Article 78; Clauses 2 and 3 Article 79.

Article 4. Amendments and supplements to certain articles of the Biodiversity Law

1. Amend and supplement certain provisions of Article 3 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement Clause 27 as follows:

“27. Genetically modified organism is an organism carrying genetic material altered by genetic technology and containing new genetic material derived from other species or synthesized artificially but not similar to the composition or genetic structure of that species.”;

b) Add item 32 after item 31 as follows:

“32. Genetically edited organisms are organisms carrying genetic material altered by genetic technology and do not contain new genetic material derived from other species or derived from artificial synthesis but not similar to the genetic components or structure of that species.”

2. Amend and supplement Clause 7, Article 7 as follows:

“7. Import and develop invasive alien species, except in cases of import for scientific research purposes as prescribed by law.”

3. Amend and supplement Article 10 as follows:

"Article 10. Biodiversity conservation planning

The content, authority, procedures for drafting, appraisal, approval, publication, and adjustment of biodiversity conservation planning shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the law on planning.”

4. Amend and supplement point c, Clause 2, Article 22 as follows:

“c) Organize the appraisal of the project for the establishment of a national-level protected area and submit it to the competent authority for decision.”

5. Amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 23 as follows:

“1. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall decide to establish a national-level protected area with an area located in two or more provinces or centrally-run cities. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall decide to establish a national-level protected area with the entire area within the local management jurisdiction.”

6. Amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 27 as follows:

“2. Protected area management regulations:

a) The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall prescribe the content of the Protected Area Management Regulations;

b) The competent authority responsible for establishing the Protected Area shall be responsible for issuing the Protected Area Management Regulations under their jurisdiction.”

7. Amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 32 as follows:

“2. Buffer zone management is a part of the Protected Area Management Regulations.”

8. Amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 39 as follows:

"1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall organize a Council to appraise dossiers proposing to add to or remove from the List of endangered, precious, and rare species prioritized for protection."

9. Amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 40 as follows:

"1. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall decide on species to be added to or removed from the List of endangered, precious, and rare species prioritized for protection."

10. Amend and supplement Clause 4, Article 41 as follows:

"4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall provide detailed regulations on this Article."

11. Amend and supplement Clause 5, Article 42 as follows:

"5. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall provide detailed regulations on this Article."

12. Amend and supplement Clause 4, Article 47 as follows:

"4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall provide detailed regulations on this Article."

13. Amend and supplement Article 57 as follows:

"Article 57. Access to genetic resources

1. Subjects required to apply for a license to access genetic resources:

a) Foreign organizations and individuals accessing Vietnam's genetic resources;"

b) Domestic organizations and individuals accessing genetic resources for commercial purposes;

c) Domestic organizations and individuals taking genetic resources abroad for study and research purposes not for commercial purposes.

2. Cases where a permit to access genetic resources is not granted:

a) Genetic resources of species listed in the categories prohibited from export according to regulations;

b) The use of genetic resources carries the risk of harming human health, the environment, security, national defense, and national interests. 3. The government regulates access to genetic resources.

14. Amend and supplement the title of the Article and Clause 2 of Article 65 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement the title of the Article as follows:

"Article 65. Management of genetically modified organisms, genetic material of genetically modified organisms, and gene-edited organisms";

b) Amend and supplement clause 2 as follows:

"2. The Government shall provide specific regulations on the identification and management of genetically modified organisms, genetic material of genetically modified organisms, and gene-edited organisms."

15. Amend and supplement point a of Clause 3 of Article 73 as follows:

"a) Basic investigation, inventory, monitoring, statistics, management of information and data on biodiversity; building a database on biodiversity; control and eradication of invasive alien species; rescue and release back to their natural habitats species listed in the Red List of endangered, precious, and rare species prioritized for protection."

16. Abolish the following articles, clauses, points, and phrases:

a) Abolish Article 8; Article 11; Clause 1, Article 50; Article 52; Article 58; Article 59; Point a and Point đ, Clause 2, Article 73;

b) Remove the phrase "Section 1. NATIONAL STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION" in Chapter II;

c) Remove the phrase "Article 58 and" in point c, clause 1, Article 56; remove the phrase "provisions in Article 59 of this Law" in point b, clause 2, Article 56.

17. Replace certain phrases in the following articles, clauses, and points:

a) Replace the phrase "Government" with the phrase "Minister of Agriculture and Environment" in clause 2, Article 37; clause 2, Article 39; Article 46; clause 3, Article 63; clause 2, Article 67;

b) Replace the phrase "Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment" with the phrase "Ministry of Agriculture and Environment" in clause 2, Article 6; clause 1, Article 63; clauses 1 and 2, Article 68; clause 3, Article 69; clauses 4 and 5, Article 71; clause 3, Article 72;

c) Replace the phrase "Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development" with the phrase "Ministry of Agriculture and Environment" in clause 1, Article 48; clause 1, Article 49;

d) Replace the phrase "Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in charge of coordinating with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment" with the phrase "Ministry of Agriculture and Environment" in clause 2, Article 44;

d) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment presiding in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment presiding, in coordination with” in Clause 3, Article 50;

e) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 2, Article 50; Clause 1, Article 54;

g) Replace the phrase “natural resources and environment” with the phrase “agriculture and environment” in Clause 2, Article 62;

h) Replace the phrase “provincial-level People's Committee” with the phrase “Chairman of the provincial-level People's Committee” in Clause 1, Article 24; Clause 4, Article 42.

Article 5. Amendments and supplements to certain articles of the Dyke Law

1. Amend and supplement Clause 16, Article 3 as follows:

“16. A special project is a project related to dike safety, including defense, security, transportation, irrigation projects, underground projects serving socio-economic development, groundwater exploitation well systems; dike checkpoints, pumping stations, locks; power poles, telecommunication cable towers, hydrometeorological stations; historical-cultural relics, ancient quarters, ancient villages; clusters and residential lines in areas where communities live with floods and on islets.”

2. Amend and supplement the name of Section 1 of Chapter II as follows:

“Section 1

DIKE PLANNING AND FLOOD CONTROL OF RIVER SECTIONS WITH DIKES.”

3. Amend and supplement Articles 8, 9, 10, and 11 as follows:

“Article 8. Principles and bases for developing dike planning and flood control of river sections with dikes

1. The planning of dykes and flood prevention of rivers with dykes must comply with the basic principles in planning activities according to the provisions of the law on planning and the following principles:

a) In line with the national master plan; national defense and security objectives; national strategy on disaster prevention and control; water resources, irrigation and disaster prevention and control planning; regional planning; ensuring consistency within the dyke system;

b) Ensure the river stretch can withstand the design flood and the historical floods that have occurred;

c) Ensure suitability for each region across the country and the continuity of the dyke planning and flood control of rivers with dykes;

d) The sea dike must ensure protection against storms and rising sea levels according to the technical standards for sea dike design and must include the area for planting wave-breaking trees;

d) River dikes must ensure safety corresponding to the design flood level and have solutions to ensure dike safety during historic floods; there must be coordination between localities within the same basin, without affecting the dike planning and flood prevention of the river with dikes and the entire river system;

e) Do not raise existing dike lines, do not build new dike lines, and have proactive solutions to bring water into the polders when there is a flood from alert level II or higher.

2. Basis for planning dikes and flood prevention of a river with dikes includes:

a) Long-term flood forecasting;

b) Natural conditions, socio-economic conditions, and requirements to ensure defense and security;

c) Current status of the dike system;

d) National strategy on disaster prevention and control;

e) National master planning, national land use planning, water resource planning, irrigation and disaster prevention planning, and other relevant plans;

e) The situation of implementing dyke planning and flood control of the river section with existing dykes and forecasting the demand for construction, repair, upgrade, and reinforcement of dykes.

Article 9. Contents of dyke and flood control planning for river sections with dykes

Dyke and flood control planning for river sections with dykes is a detailed sectoral plan developed nationwide, with the main contents as follows:

1. Determine the orientation, objectives, and flood control assurance level of the river-dyke system that is planned and implemented;

2. Determine the design flood of the river section, including the design flood discharge and design flood water level for each planning period, and identify the flood warning water level to organize dyke protection;

3. Identify the tasks of the dyke section;

4. Determine the technical parameters of the dyke section;

5. Identify technical solutions of the plan, analyze and evaluate the role of each solution, including:

a) Construction of upstream reservoirs;

b) Plant upstream protective forests and plant wave-breaking trees to protect dikes;

c) Construct and repair dikes;

d) Determine the location of the dike line; the location and scale of infrastructure headworks along the dike;

d) Identify flood diversion areas, flood retardation, the possibility of diverting floods into other rivers; determine the operation sequence of flood diversion and retardation structures;

e) Clear the flow path;

g) Organize the management and protection of dikes;

6. Determine the land area allocated for construction, repair, upgrading, and reinforcement of dikes;

7. Anticipate the environmental impact of implementing the plan and propose measures to mitigate adverse environmental effects;

8. Solutions for organizing the implementation of the plan, arranged according to the priority of each stage;

9. Anticipate the priority items for implementation and the resources for execution.

Article 10. Adjust the dike planning and flood prevention of rivers with dikes

1. The planning of dikes and flood control for rivers with dikes must be reviewed when there are significant changes due to natural disasters, changes in national master planning, national defense and security objectives, national strategies for disaster prevention and control, water resources planning, irrigation and disaster prevention planning, and relevant regional planning.

2. The adjustment of dike and flood control planning for rivers with dikes must be carried out in accordance with the principles and bases prescribed in Article 8 of this Law.

Article 11. Responsibilities and authority for organizing the formulation, approval, and adjustment of dike and flood control planning for rivers with dikes.

1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment organizes the planning and adjustment of the dike and flood control planning of river sections with dikes nationwide.

2. The Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment approves the planning and adjustment of the dike and flood control planning of river sections with dikes.

3. The Government specifies in detail the organization of preparation, appraisal, approval, and adjustment of the dike and flood control planning of river sections with dikes.

4. Amend and supplement Article 13 as follows:

"Article 13. Publication and implementation of the dike and flood control planning of river sections with dikes

1. No later than fifteen days from the date the dike and flood control planning of river sections with dikes is approved, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall organize the publication of the dike and flood control planning of river sections with dikes. The form of planning publication shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on planning.

2. The implementation of dike planning and flood prevention for river sections with dikes is as follows:

a) The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall preside over and coordinate with Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and provincial People's Committees to organize the implementation of dike planning and flood prevention for river sections with dikes;

b) Provincial People's Committees are responsible for organizing the preparation and reviewing of flood prevention plans for river sections with dikes and plans for the development of the dike system under local management within the provincial planning as prescribed by the law on planning; they shall direct the marking of construction boundaries and the protected area of dikes;

c) Based on the dike planning and flood prevention plans for river sections with dikes approved by competent state agencies, Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and related provincial People's Committees shall direct and coordinate the implementation of the dike planning and flood prevention plans for river sections with dikes.

5. Amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 22 as follows:

“1. Investment in construction, repair, upgrading, and reinforcement of dikes must comply with the dike and flood control planning of the river section with dikes approved by the competent authority (if any), and the provisions of law on investment and construction.”

6. Amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 23 as follows:

“2. The dike protection corridor is stipulated as follows:

a) The dike protection corridor for special-grade, Grade I, Grade II, and Grade III dikes in areas where the dike passes through residential areas, urban areas, and tourist areas is measured from the dike foot outward 5 meters toward the fields and toward the river or sea; the dike protection corridor for other locations is measured from the dike foot outward 25 meters toward the fields, 20 meters toward the river for river dikes and estuary dikes, and 200 meters toward the sea for sea dikes;

b) The dike protection corridor for Grade IV and Grade V dikes is determined by the provincial People's Committee but must not be less than 5 meters measured from the dike foot outwards toward the field and the river or the sea.

7. Amend and supplement Clauses 2, 3, and 4 of Article 26 as follows:

"2. It is permitted to construct national defense and security works, transportation works, irrigation works, underground works serving socio-economic development, groundwater exploitation wells, pumping stations, locks, electricity poles, telecommunication cable poles, meteorological and hydrological stations.

3. It is permitted to construct works according to construction investment projects approved by the provincial People's Committee Chairman on content ensuring flood discharge and dike safety of the project.

The construction allowed to be built must simultaneously meet the following conditions:

a) Outside the scope of dike protection;

b) Consistent with water resources planning, irrigation and natural disaster prevention planning, dike and flood control planning of the river with dikes, provincial planning, land use planning, planning according to the law on urban and rural planning that has been approved by the competent state authority;

c) The construction of the works must not reduce the design flood flow beyond the permissible limit; must not increase the design flood level beyond the permissible limit; must not affect the flow of neighboring, upstream, and downstream areas; d) Comply with technical standards on dike construction.

4. The provincial-level People's Committee is responsible for directing the preparation of construction investment projects; obtaining opinions from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment on the content ensuring flood discharge and dike safety of the construction investment project as stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article before the Chairman of the provincial-level People's Committee approves the content ensuring flood discharge and dike safety.

8. Amend and supplement some clauses and points of Article 27 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement clause 1 as follows:

"1. Based on water resources, irrigation, and disaster prevention planning, dike and flood control planning of the river with dikes, and provincial planning approved by the competent state authority, the provincial-level People's Committee is responsible for organizing the development and adjustment of land use planning, planning in accordance with the laws on urban and rural planning related to the scope of dike protection and riverbanks, sandbanks, or islets for submission to the competent authority for approval or approval under its authority."

b) Amend and supplement point c of clause 2 as follows:

"c) Existing works and houses that conform to the planning can be repaired, renovated, upgraded, or newly constructed. As for the areas of land interspersed between existing works and houses in riverbanks, sandbanks, or islets, they will be considered for use when meeting flood control and dike safety requirements.";

c) Amend and supplement clause 5 as follows:

"5. The Government shall provide detailed regulations for clauses 2 and 4 of this Article.".

9. Amend and supplement certain points of clause 2, Article 35 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point c as follows:

“c) The Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, the Head of the Commune Civil Defense Command, has the authority to promptly mobilize the forces, materials, and means of the locality, of organizations, and individuals in the area to carry out rescue operations, ensure the safety of dikes, and handle dike incidents in the initial hours; in cases exceeding their capacity, they must report to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee for a decision on mobilization;”

b) Amend and supplement point đ as follows:

“đ) In urgent cases of flood, storm, or other natural disaster prevention and control where land needs to be requisitioned, it shall be carried out in accordance with land law regulations.”

10. Amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 36 as follows:

"2. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is responsible to the Government for directing the dike protection and meteorological and hydrological forecasting work.”

11. Amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 37 as follows:

“3. The people's dike management forces are established by the Provincial-level People's Committee, are not part of the state apparatus, are organized according to each commune, ward, or special district along the dike, and are directly managed by the Commune-level People's Committee. The organizational structure, sources of funding, and remuneration policies for the people's dike management forces are stipulated by the Provincial-level People's Committee in accordance with guidance from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment on organizational structure, and from the Ministry of Finance on sources of funding and remuneration policies.”

12. Amendments and supplements to Article 42 are as follows:

“Article 42. State management responsibilities for dikes of the Government, Ministries, and ministerial-level agencies

1. The Government unifies state management of dikes.

2. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is responsible to the Government for executing state management of dikes, with the following tasks and powers:

a) Preside over and coordinate with Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and provincial-level People's Committees in organizing the preparation and implementation of water resources, irrigation, and disaster prevention planning, embankment and flood control planning for river sections with dykes, investment plans for construction, maintenance, upgrading, reinforcement, protection, and use of dykes and dyke protection areas;

b) Issue, within their authority, legal normative documents on dykes and regulations on design flood levels for each dyke section;

c) Organize the implementation of meteorological and hydrological forecasting; direct and guide the preparation of land use plans within dyke protection corridors, dyke protection embankments, sluices across dykes, and riverbanks in accordance with this Law, planning laws, and land laws;

d) Aggregate and manage information and data on dykes nationwide; organize scientific research and technology development regarding the construction and protection of dykes;

d) Decide within its authority or submit to the Prime Minister for decision regarding the mobilization of forces, materials, and means to protect dikes, and to overcome the consequences caused by floods, high water, and storms affecting dike systems;

e) Build and develop international cooperation in the field of dike management;

g) Direct and guide provincial-level People's Committees to organize people's dike management forces;

h) Preside over and coordinate with Ministries and ministerial-level agencies, and instruct localities to propagate, disseminate, and educate the law on dike management;

i) Organize inspections of the implementation of dike management laws and handle violations of dike management laws; preside over and coordinate with Ministries and ministerial-level agencies to guide and inspect sand, stone, and gravel exploitation in rivers; direct provincial-level People's Committees to prevent illegal mining of mineral resources that jeopardizes dike safety;

k) Implement legal regulations on complaints and denunciations.

3. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take the lead, in coordination with other Ministries, agencies at ministerial level, and the Provincial People's Committees, in directing the development and implementation of plans to ensure the safety of hydropower works, and in directing the operation of hydropower reservoirs in accordance with national technical regulations on hydropower reservoir operation.

4. The Ministry of Construction shall take the lead, in coordination with other Ministries, agencies at ministerial level, and the Provincial People's Committees, in the following matters:

a) Planning inland waterway infrastructure, constructing bridges across rivers to ensure the river's flood discharge capacity, facilities serving waterway transportation, and renovating dikes combined with building transportation roads;

b) Preparing backup means and materials to ensure traffic safety in support of dyke protection work during flood, inundation, and storm seasons;

c) Guide the formulation and implementation of state management on urban and rural planning, issue technical standards for construction works on riverbanks as stipulated in Article 26 of this Law, and renovate, repair, upgrade, and construct houses and works as stipulated in Article 27 of this Law.

5. The Ministry of Finance has the following tasks and powers:

a) Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to ensure timely funding allocation for engineering solutions to cope with floods exceeding design flood levels or emergency flood situations. Allocate a separate investment item for projects on construction, refurbishment, maintenance, upgrading, and reinforcement of dikes, management and protection of dikes, dike protection, flood-prone areas, flood storage and diversion areas, and flood retardation.

b) Preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, ministries, and ministerial-level agencies to advise and guide compensation for organizations and individuals whose land is recovered or requisitioned to serve the construction, maintenance, upgrading, and consolidation of dikes and flood, storm, and flood prevention works; to develop and issue, within their authority, or submit to the competent state agency for issuance, mechanisms and policies for dike patrol forces, dike households, and compensation policies for damage to materials and means mobilized for dike support.

6. The Ministry of National Defense is responsible for coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to direct and inspect the organization of forces, means, plans, and deployment of dike support forces.

7. The Ministry of Public Security is responsible for coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to direct and guide the police force in developing and implementing plans to ensure order and security in critical dike areas and flood diversion areas, slowing down floods during the flood and storm seasons; inspecting, preventing, and handling legal violations related to dikes.

8. Ministries and ministerial-level agencies within the scope of their functions, tasks, and powers are responsible for implementing the provisions of this Law and coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment in the protection and use of dikes.

13. Amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 43 as follows:

"3. The commune-level People's Committee has the following tasks and powers:

a) Organize the management, protection, maintenance, upgrading, and reinforcement of dikes and embankments in the locality;

b) Coordinate with relevant agencies in implementing the plan for developing the dyke system, the plan for flood prevention and control of rivers with dykes in the locality within the provincial planning, investment, construction, repair, upgrade, reinforcement, protection, and use of dykes and dyke management;

c) Compile and manage information and data on dykes in the locality;

d) Organize and mobilize the local labor force as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 24, and the people's dyke management force as prescribed in Article 41 of this Law; coordinate with the dyke management professional force to patrol, guard, and protect dykes during flood, inundation, and storm seasons on the dyke sections in the area;

d) Decide within their authority or submit to the competent state authority for decision regarding the mobilization of forces, materials, and means to assist in dyke management and overcome the consequences caused by floods, inundation, and storms to the dykes;

e) Organize propaganda, dissemination, and legal education about dikes in the locality;

g) Organize inspections on the implementation of the law on dike management; resolve complaints, denunciations, reflections, and petitions regarding dikes at the local level in accordance with the law within their authority;

h) Prevent acts of violation of the law on dike management;

i) Handle violations of the law on dike management within their authority; in cases beyond their authority, report to the competent state agency for handling.

14. Amend and supplement Article 48 as follows:

"Article 48. Detailed provisions and guidance on implementation

The Government shall provide detailed provisions and guidance on the implementation of Articles 4; 6; 11; 26; Clause 2 and Clause 4 of Article 27; Clause 2 of Article 37 and Article 46 of this Law."

15. Repeal certain sections, articles, clauses, points, and phrases as follows:

a) Repeal Article 12; Section 2 of Chapter II; point b of Clause 2 of Article 35; Clause 3 of Article 36; Clause 2 of Article 43;

b) Remove the phrase "INSPECTION," in the title of Chapter VII.

16. Replace certain phrases in articles, clauses, and points as follows:

a) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 3, Article 20; Clause 2, Article 25; Clause 2, Article 28; Article 31; Clause 3, Article 39;

b) Replace the phrase “provincial People's Committee” with the phrase “Chairman of the provincial People's Committee” in Clauses 1, 2, and 3, Article 25; Clause 5, Article 26;

c) Replace the phrase “flood prevention and control planning of river sections with dikes, dike planning” in Article 1; Clause 3, Article 5 and the phrase “dike planning, flood prevention and control planning of river sections with dikes” in Point a, Clause 1, Article 43 with the phrase “dike planning and flood prevention and control of river sections with dikes”;

d) Replace the phrase “disaster prevention and control and irrigation planning” with the phrase “water resources, irrigation, and disaster prevention and control planning” in Clause 3, Article 5;

d) Replace the phrase “planning” with the phrase “dike planning and flood prevention of the river section with dikes” in Clause 2, Article 6; replace the phrase “groundwater” with the phrase “subsurface water” in Point d, Clause 1, Article 25;

e) Replace the phrase “district level” with the phrase “commune level” in Point b, Clause 1, Article 43.

Article 6. Amendments and supplements to certain provisions of the Law on Surveying and Mapping

1. Amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 25 as follows:

“1. A cadastral map is a map showing land plots and related geographical objects, established according to the commune-level administrative unit and confirmed by the competent state authority.”

2. Amend and supplement Clauses 3, 4, and 5, Article 36 as follows:

“3. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall approve, construct, operate, and maintain the works specified in Clause 2, Article 35 of this Law.

4. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and provincial-level People's Committees shall approve projects and construction and operation tasks of works specified at points a and b, Clause 3, Article 35 of this Law after coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment; organize the construction, operation, and maintenance of works within their approval authority.

5. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and provincial-level People's Committees shall approve projects and construction and operation tasks of works specified at point c, Clause 3, Article 35 of this Law after obtaining opinions from the relevant ministries; organize the construction, operation, and maintenance of works within their approval authority.

3. Amend and supplement point h, Clause 2, Article 57 as follows:

“h) Appraising the necessity, scope, and technical and technological solutions of survey and mapping contents in projects and tasks using central budget funds, which are implemented by Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, or government agencies; appraising the scope and technical and technological solutions for basic survey and mapping projects and tasks implemented by provincial People's Committees;”.

4. Amend and supplement certain clauses and points of Article 58 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point a, clause 1 as follows:

“a) Implement state management of surveying and mapping activities within the scope of management; issue under its authority or submit to competent state agencies to promulgate legal normative documents on surveying and mapping; direct the organization and implementation of surveying and mapping tasks in accordance with the provisions of this Law and relevant legislation; propagate, disseminate, and educate about the law; organize guidance, inspection, and monitoring of the implementation of laws on surveying and mapping in the locality;”

b) Add point a1 after point a of clause 1 as follows:

“a1) Appraise projects and tasks of basic surveying and mapping organized by the Provincial People's Committee, except for content concerning scope, technical and technological solutions; appraise projects and tasks of specialized surveying and mapping organized by localities;”

c) Amend and supplement clause 3 as follows:

“3. The commune-level People's Committee, within the scope of its tasks and powers, has the following responsibilities:

a) Propagate, disseminate, and educate about the law, monitor the implementation of laws on surveying and mapping in the locality;

b) Inspect, handle legal violations, resolve complaints and denunciations concerning surveying and mapping within their authority;

c) Participate in the management of survey markers according to the decentralization by the provincial People's Committee;

d) Protect survey markers according to the decentralization by the provincial People's Committee;

e) Perform other state management tasks on surveying and mapping according to the decentralization or authorization of higher-level state management agencies.

5. Abolish the following clauses and phrases:

a) Abolish Clause 2 of Article 58, Clause 1 of Article 59;

b) Remove the phrase “submit to the Prime Minister” in Clause 4 of Article 11;

c) Remove the phrase “the necessity,” in Point d, Clause 2 of Article 16;

d) Remove the phrase “district level,” in Point b, Clause 4 of Article 19;

e) Remove the phrase “Inspectorate,” in the title of Article 59.

6. Replace certain phrases in the following clauses and points:

a) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 4 Article 11; Clause 2 Article 12; Clauses 3 and 5 Article 13; Clauses 2 and 3 Article 14; Clause 1 and Points d, đ Clause 2 Article 16; Clause 3 Article 17; Clauses 2, 3, and 4 Article 18; Clause 3 Article 19; Clause 1 and Clause 2 Article 21; Clauses 2 and 3 Article 26; Clause 2 Article 31; Clause 3 Article 33; Clause 6 Article 34; Point a Clause 4 Article 38; Clauses 4 and 5 Article 40; Clause 3 Article 44; Clause 1 Article 50; Clause 7 Article 51; Clause 2 Article 52; Point a Clause 5 Article 53; Clause 1 Article 54; Clause 2, Point g Clause 3, and Points a, đ Clause 4 Article 57, and Point h Clause 1 Article 58;

b) Replace the phrase "Ministry of Transport" with the phrase "Ministry of Construction" in Clause 5, Article 27 and Clause 4, Article 28;

c) Replace the phrase 'resources and environment' with the phrase 'agriculture and environment' in clause 2, Article 4; point b, clause 5, Article 53; and clause 2, Article 54;

d) Replace the phrase 'district level' with the phrase 'commune level' in point c, clause 1 and clause 3, Article 26.

Article 7. Amendments and Supplements to Certain Provisions of the Meteorology and Hydrology Law

1. Amend and supplement Article 11 as follows:

"Article 11. Planning of the Meteorological and Hydrological Station Network

1. Planning of the meteorological and hydrological station network is an industry-level plan.

2. The development of the meteorological and hydrological station network plan must comply with legal regulations on planning and the following principles:

a) Ensuring that observations across the network reflect spatial and temporal developments of the meteorological and hydrological elements that need to be monitored; meeting the purposes of exploiting and using meteorological and hydrological information and data, serving to ensure the national baseline dataset on weather and climate, forecasting and warning activities for meteorology and hydrology, determining, assessing, and zoning risks of meteorological and hydrological natural disasters, monitoring and supervising meteorological and hydrological natural disasters, and climate change; ensuring national defense, security, and socio-economic development;

b) Ensure consistency and synchronization, meeting the requirements of data sharing between monitoring networks, using resources efficiently, and saving the state budget.

3. The basis for developing the meteorological and hydrological station network plan includes the bases prescribed by law on planning and the following bases:

a) The national strategy on climate change, disaster prevention and control, water resources, development of information and communication technology; national land use planning, national marine spatial planning, information and communication infrastructure, and other relevant strategies and plans;

b) Results of implementing the strategy for the development of the meteorology and hydrology sector, the national strategy on climate change, planning of the meteorological and hydrological station network in the previous period, results of activities to identify, assess, and zone hydrometeorological disaster risks, and the need to exploit and use meteorological and hydrological information and data for related sectors, industries, and localities;

c) Scientific and technological advances in observation, measurement, communication, forecasting, hydrometeorological warning, and climate change monitoring.

4. The planning period, planning content, and adjustments to the planning of the meteorological and hydrological station network shall comply with the provisions of the law on planning.

5. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall organize the formulation, appraisal, approval, and announcement of the meteorological and hydrological station network plan in accordance with the provisions of the law on planning.”

2. Amend and supplement clause 1, Article 14 as follows:

“1. Establish stations under the national hydrometeorological station network:

a) The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment decides to establish stations under the national hydrometeorological station network according to the hydrometeorological station network planning;

b) In special cases, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment decides to establish stations that are not yet included in the meteorological and hydrological station network plan to meet the requirements of disaster prevention and control or to meet the defense and security requirements as requested by the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Security.

3. Amend and supplement certain clauses of Article 44 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement clause 1 as follows:

"1. Agencies and organizations that need to influence the weather shall formulate a plan to influence the weather and submit it to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment or the provincial People's Committee for appraisal according to their authority.";

b) Amend and supplement clauses 4, 5, 6, and 7 as follows:

"4. The agency in charge of appraising and approving the weather influence plan shall seek opinions as follows:"

a) The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is responsible for obtaining opinions from the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the provincial-level People's Committees directly affected by the weather modification plan during the appraisal and approval of the weather modification plan within its authority;

b) The provincial-level People's Committees are responsible for obtaining opinions from the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment during the appraisal and approval of the weather modification plan within their authority.

5. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall approve weather modification plans on the scale of two or more provincial-level administrative units for the cases prescribed in Article 42 of this Law.

6. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall approve the weather modification plan within the administrative boundaries of the province or centrally-run city for cases specified in Article 42 of this Law.

7. The person authorized to approve the weather modification plan shall preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and other relevant agencies to supervise the implementation of weather modification.

4. Amend and supplement clauses 3 and 4 of Article 51 as follows:

"3. Develop and promulgate according to authority and organize the implementation of legal normative documents, technical standards, professional procedures, and economic-technical norms on hydrometeorology, climate change monitoring, and on the construction, management, and operation of disaster prevention and control works under climate change conditions."

4. Manage and implement the planning of the meteorological and hydrological station network in accordance with the provisions of the law on planning; organize the protection of works and technical corridors of meteorological and hydrological works belonging to the network of meteorological and hydrological stations.

5. Amend and supplement points d and đ of Clause 2, Article 52 as follows:

d) The Minister of Science and Technology shall preside, in coordination with the Minister of Agriculture and Environment, in organizing the planning and prioritizing the allocation of frequencies to serve meteorological and hydrological work, monitoring climate change as prescribed by this Law and the law on radio frequencies; develop strategies for the synchronized development of telecommunications and information technology infrastructure and planning of information and communication infrastructure suitable for meteorological and hydrological activities; direct the publication of meteorological and hydrological information and data, and climate change monitoring in mass media means as prescribed by this Law and the press law; coordinate the management and supervision of activities affecting the weather;

d) The Minister of Construction shall preside and coordinate with the Minister of Agriculture and Environment to organize guidance for agencies, organizations, and individuals in exploiting and providing meteorological and hydrological information and data, forecasts, meteorological and hydrological warnings, and climate change scenarios within their management scope; issue regulations on the use and exchange of domestic and international meteorological information and data to serve forecast and warning activities that meet the management requirements of services ensuring civil aviation flight operations; issue technical standards for providing aviation meteorological services in accordance with the provisions of this Law and civil aviation law; issue technical standards for construction suitable to meteorological, hydrological conditions, and climate change;”.

6. Add several points to the clauses of Article 53 as follows:

a) Add point i1 after point i of clause 1 as follows:

“i1) Organize the appraisal and supervision of the implementation of weather modification activities within the administrative boundaries of provinces and centrally-run cities according to their authority;”;

b) Add points e and g after point d of clause 3 as follows:

“e) Monitor the implementation of laws on meteorology and hydrology by agencies, organizations, and individuals in the area;

g) Monitor, evaluate, exploit, and use meteorological and hydrological forecast and warning information to serve socio-economic development and disaster prevention in the area.”.

7. Abolish point c of clause 4 of Article 25; points a, g, and h of clause 2 of Article 52; and clause 2 of Article 53.

8. Replace the phrase “Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 1, Article 6; Point b, Clause 1, Article 7; Clause 2, Article 10; Point b, Clause 6, Article 12; Point b, Clause 2, Article 13; Point c, Clause 2, Article 14; Point c, Clause 3, Article 14; Clause 4, Article 14; Points a and b, Clause 5, Article 14; Point a, Clause 2, Article 16; Point a, Clause 3, Article 17; Clause 2, Article 18; Clause 3, Article 22; Clause 1, Article 24; Point a, Clause 5, Article 25; Clause 5, Article 30; Clause 2, Article 31; Clause 8, Article 33; Clause 8, Article 44; Article 47; the title of Article 51; Clause 1 and Points b, c, e, i, and k, Clause 2, Article 52; and Point o, Clause 1, Article 53.

Article 8. Amendments and supplements to certain provisions of the Forestry Law

1. Add Article 9a after Article 9 as follows:

“Article 9a. Forestry Planning

The content, authority, procedure for formulation, appraisal, approval, publication, and adjustment of forestry planning shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the law on planning.”

2. Amend and supplement certain clauses of Article 14 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement clause 1 as follows:

"1. In accordance with forestry planning or provincial planning or land use planning as prescribed by land law.

Forests shall only be allocated, leased, or converted to other purposes for areas that meet the criteria to be classified as forests.";

b) Amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

"5. Ensure consistency and synchronization with land allocation, land lease, land use conversion, and land recovery."

Cases where it is not necessary to carry out the procedures for land use purpose conversion under the provisions of the land law for land with production forest being planted forest are not required to undergo the procedures for converting forest use to other purposes but must plant replacement forest.

3. Amend and supplement Clause 2 and add Clause 3 after Clause 2 of Article 18 as follows:

"2. The authority to decide on forest type conversion is regulated as follows:

a) The Minister of Agriculture and Environment decides on the reclassification of forests for the forest areas managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment;

b) The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee decides on the reclassification of forests not covered by point a of this clause.

3. The Government shall detail the provisions of this Article.

4. Amend and supplement Article 19 as follows:

“Article 19. Conversion of forest land to other purposes, temporary use of forest

1. Conditions for converting forest land to other purposes:

a) In line with forestry planning, provincial planning, or land use planning as prescribed by land law;

b) Approved by the competent state agency in charge of deciding to convert forest land to other purposes in accordance with clause 1, Article 20 of this Law;

c) Fulfilled the obligations of paying for replacement forest planting.

2. For forest areas that have been approved by the competent authority for policy decisions or decisions to convert forest use to other purposes for project implementation but the project does not require the use of these areas or only uses part of the forest area that has been approved for policy decisions or decisions to convert forest use to other purposes, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee or the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee must return these forest areas to their previous forest type for management in accordance with the provisions of forestry law.

3. Infrastructure works serving forest protection and development specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Article 51 of this Law are not required to follow the procedures for converting forest use to other purposes.

4. Temporary forest use is the use of forests to carry out temporary works serving the construction of projects for socio-economic development for national and public benefit approved by the competent authority. Temporary forest use is carried out according to the following provisions:

a) The area temporarily used for forest shall not be converted to other land-use purposes;

b) The project investor shall prepare a plan for temporary forest use for approval by the competent authority and fulfill the obligation to reforest in the area of temporary forest use.

In the case where the planted forest is a production forest owned by an organization, household, individual, or local community, it is not necessary to prepare a plan for temporary forest use, but the project investor must reach an agreement with the organization, household, individual, or local community regarding the temporary forest use and reforestation.

5. Amend and supplement Article 20 as follows:

Article 20. The policy on converting forest use to other purposes

1. Authority to decide on the policy of converting forest use purposes to other purposes:

a) The provincial People's Council decides on the policy, adjusts the policy of converting forest use purposes to other purposes, except in cases specified in point b of this clause;

b) In the case of projects under the authority of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, or approved by the provincial People's Council, the approval or decision on investment policy according to the provisions of the Investment Law, the Public Investment Law, the Law on Investment under the Public-Private Partnership mode, and the Petroleum Law shall simultaneously serve as the policy to convert forest use purposes to other purposes.

2. After 24 months from the date the project is decided to change the purpose of forest use to another purpose, but the competent authority has not yet decided to change the purpose of forest use to another purpose, the procedure for deciding the policy on changing the purpose of forest use to another purpose must be carried out again.

6. Amend and supplement Article 21 as follows:

"Article 21. Replacement afforestation

1. Cases required to pay for replacement afforestation:

a) There is a change in the purpose of forest use to another purpose;

b) There is a change in the purpose of using forestry land after clear-cut logging of planted forests or a change in the purpose of using land with planted forests that do not yet meet the criteria to become forest;

c) Cases not required to follow the procedure for changing the purpose of land use and changing the purpose of forest use to another purpose for production forests that are planted forests as stipulated in Clause 5 Article 14 of this Law."

2. Area subject to payment for replacement afforestation:

a) Equal to three times the area of forest converted to other uses for natural forests as prescribed in point a, clause 1 of this Article;

b) Equal to the area of forest converted to other uses for planted forests as prescribed in point a, clause 1 of this Article;

c) Equal to the area of forest land converted to other uses as prescribed in point b, clause 1 of this Article;

d) Equal to the area of production forest which is planted forest as prescribed in point c, clause 1 of this Article.

3. The amount of money for replacement afforestation that the project investor must pay is equal to the area specified in clause 2 of this Article multiplied by the unit price for replacement afforestation decided by the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee.

4. The amount for replacement afforestation shall be paid to the Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall approve the plan, decide on the unit to implement it, and decide on the use of the replacement afforestation funds for planting forests, enclosing areas to promote natural regeneration, and other silvicultural measures within the province within 12 months from the time the project investor completes the obligation to pay the replacement afforestation funds.

5. In cases where the locality where the project investor pays the replacement afforestation fee does not have a plan to use up the total amount of the replacement afforestation money within 12 months in the province from the time the project investor fulfills the obligation to pay the replacement afforestation fee, the remaining amount without a usage plan must be transferred to carry out afforestation in another locality. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall propose to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for consideration and arrangement to implement afforestation in another locality. After approval, the provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund where the replacement afforestation fee was collected shall transfer the remaining amount to the provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund of the receiving locality to implement afforestation.

6. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall stipulate the detailed regulations of this Article.

7. Amend and supplement Article 23 as follows:

Article 23. Authority to allocate forests, lease forests, convert forest use purposes to other purposes, reclaim forests, and temporarily use forests

1. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee has the following authority:

a) Decide on the conversion of forest use purposes to other purposes for organizations;

b) Decide on the approval of plans for temporary forest use;

c) Decide on the allocation of forests, leasing of forests, and reclamation of forests in cases where land allocation, land leasing, or land reclamation falls under the authority of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

2. The chairman of the commune-level People's Committee has the following powers: a) Decide

benefit, residential community, except in cases prescribed in point c, clause 1 of this Article;

b) Decision to change the purpose of forest use to another purpose for individuals.

3. In cases of converting forest use purposes to other purposes that fall under both the authority specified in point a, clause 1 and point b, clause 2 of this Article, the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee shall decide on the conversion of forest use purposes to other purposes.

4. The government shall detail the regulation on forest allocation, forest lease, conversion of forest use purpose to other purposes, temporary forest use, and forest recovery.

8. Amend and supplement Article 25 as follows:

"Article 25. Authority to establish and adjust special-use forests and protection forests

1. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment decides on the establishment, boundary adjustment, and area of special-use forests and protection forests located in the territories of two or more provinces or centrally-run cities.

2. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee decides on the establishment, boundary adjustment, and area of special-use forests and protection forests in the locality that are not covered under the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article.

3. The establishment and adjustment of special-use forests and protection forests shall be carried out according to the Forest Management Regulations.

9. Add Article 26a after Article 26 as follows:

"Article 26a. Liquidation of Planted Forests

1. Subjects of planted forests eligible for liquidation:

a) Planted forests owned by the entire people;

b) Planted forests of forest owners who are state organizations invested with funds for replacing forest planting.

2. Cases of liquidation of planted forests:

a) Due to natural disasters as prescribed by the law on disaster prevention and control;

b) Due to epidemics and forest pests;

c) Due to other objective reasons.

3. Authority to decide on the liquidation of planted forests:

a) The minister, head of the central agency decides on the liquidation of planted forests under the management scope of the Ministry or central agency;

b) The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee decides on the liquidation of planted forests under the management scope of the local authority.

4. The Government shall stipulate the details of this Article.

10. Amend and supplement Article 38 as follows:

"Article 38. Protection of forest plants and forest animals

1. Forest plants and forest animals include:

a) Endangered, precious, and rare forest plants and forest animals;

b) Common forest plants and forest animals.

2. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall stipulate the List, management regime, protection of forest plants, endangered, precious, rare forest animals, and implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; the sequence and procedures for exploiting species of forest plants, forest animals, and species of forest plants and forest animals listed in the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; rescue and release of forest animals.

11. Amend and supplement Article 44 as follows:

"Article 44. Development of forestry crop varieties

1. Establish a system of seed gardens and seed forests to preserve genetic resources, provide high-quality seed materials."

2. Develop and upgrade forestry crop breeding stocks; preserve, produce, and supply basic seeds, restore basic varieties; stipulate the list of main forestry crop species; procedures and processes for recognition of varieties, seed sources, and export and import of forestry crop seeds; for main forestry crop species, only materials or seedlings harvested or propagated from recognized varieties and seed sources are allowed for production.

3. Improve genetic quality, select, and create new varieties with high yield, high quality, good resistance, meeting the requirements of forestry product business and adapting to climate change.

4. Research and apply scientific and technical advances in selecting, creating, and propagating forestry crops for high yield and quality; conserve genetic resources; manage the quality of production and trading of forestry crop seeds.

5. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall provide detailed regulations on this Article."

12. Amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 49 as follows:

“2. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall provide detailed regulations on the breeding and cultivation of forest plant species, endangered, precious, and rare forest animal species; forest animal and plant species listed in the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; and the breeding of common forest animal species.”

13. Amend and supplement certain clauses and points of Article 63 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement the opening paragraph of Clause 2 as follows:

“2. The subjects responsible for paying for forest environmental services are regulated as follows:”;

b) Amend and supplement point đ of Clause 2 as follows:

“đ) Organizations and individuals with a demand to use the results of greenhouse gas emission reduction, forest carbon credits;”;

c) Amend and supplement clause 5 as follows:

“5. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on forest environmental services.”

14. Amend and supplement point e of Clause 1 of Article 72 as follows:

“e) The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall provide detailed regulations on points c and d of this clause.”

15. Add Clause 8 after Clause 7 of Article 92 as follows:

“8. The management and use of financial resources stipulated in Clauses 3, 4, and 5 of this Article shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Government.”

16. Amend and supplement certain points of Clause 2 Article 101 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point d as follows:

“d) Decide on the establishment and adjustment of protection forests and special-use forests located in areas of two or more provinces or centrally-affiliated cities;”;

b) Amend and supplement point g as follows:

“g) Guide and inspect forest surveys, forest inventories, monitor forest developments and prepare forest management dossiers; establish and manage forest databases; monitor and evaluate forest resources; regulate the coding of planted forests;”.

17. Amend and supplement certain clauses and points of Article 102 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point h and add point h1 after point h of Clause 1 as follows:

“h) Determine the forest pricing framework in the province;

h1) Implement measures to prevent wild animals from harming people and property; support for damages as regulated by the People's Council at the same level;

b) Add item l1 after point l of clause 1 as follows:

"l1) Review the existing natural forest area to identify special-use forests, protection forests, and production forests to be managed according to regulations;";

c) Amend and supplement clause 3 as follows:

"3. The commune-level People's Committee has the following responsibilities:

a) Issue under its authority or submit to the competent state agency for issuing legal normative documents on forestry, decide on programs and projects on forest protection, sustainable forestry development, combined forestry, agriculture, and fishery production, swidden cultivation, and organize implementation at the local level;

b) Organize the implementation of legal normative documents on forestry, programs, and projects for sustainable forestry development at the local level;

c) Organize the implementation of forest classification and demarcation of forest boundaries at the local level according to legal regulations;

d) Establish forest management records; organize replacement forest planting; organize forest allocation, forest leasing, conversion of forest use purpose to other purposes, and forest reclamation in accordance with the provisions of the law;

đ) Organize forest surveys, forest inventories, and monitor forest development locally;

e) Organize forest management, protection, forest biodiversity conservation, forest fire prevention and fighting; prevent and combat acts that violate forestry laws in the locality;

g) Propagating, disseminating, and educating local populations on forestry laws;

h) Organize management and protection of State forest areas that have not been allocated or leased;

i) Guide local communities in building and implementing communal regulations and conventions on forest protection and development in the area in accordance with the provisions of the law;

k) Inspect and handle legal violations; resolve disputes, complaints, and denunciations in the forestry sector in the locality in accordance with the provisions of the law."

18. Amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 105 as follows:

“1. Forest rangers are organized at the central and provincial levels. Based on the requirements and tasks of managing and protecting forests, ensuring compliance with forestry laws, forest fire prevention and fighting, forest development, forest utilization, processing, and trade of forest products at the local level, the provincial forest rangers advise the competent authorities to organize forest rangers in communes or inter-commune areas.”

19. Abolish Chapter II; Clause 5 Article 95; Point d Clause 1, Clause 2 Article 102 and Clause 2 Article 105.

20. Remove certain words and phrases in the following articles, clauses, and points:

a) Remove the phrase “Household,” at point c clause 2, point a clause 3 of Article 16 and Article 17;

b) Remove the word “district,” in Clause 2 Article 35;

c) Remove the phrase “due to the conversion of forest land to other purposes” in Clause 4 Article 92 and point c clause 4 of Article 95;

d) Remove the phrase “Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment,” in Clause 3 Article 101;

e) Remove the phrase “Inspection,” at point q clause 2 Article 101.

21. Replace certain words and phrases in the following clauses and points:

a) Replace the phrase "Prime Minister" with the phrase "Minister of Agriculture and Environment" in Clause 1, Article 31;

b) Replace the phrase "Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development" with the phrase "Ministry of Agriculture and Environment" in Clause 6, Article 5; Clause 2, Article 6; Clause 5, Article 27; Clause 4, Article 28; Clause 2, Article 32; Point a, Clause 2 and Clause 3, Article 33; Clause 6, Article 34; Clause 3, Article 35; Clause 3, Article 36; Clause 3, Article 40; Clause 5, Article 42; Clause 2, Article 45; Point c, Clause 2, Article 72; Clause 3, Article 90; Point a, Clause 3, Article 95; Clause 2, Article 98; Clause 2 and Clause 3, Article 101;

c) Replace the word "district" with the word "commune" in Clause 1, Article 15; Clause 4, Article 34; Point b, Clause 1, Article 58; Clause 2, Article 100; replace the phrase "town" with the phrase "special zone" in Point d, Clause 1, Article 81 and Point d, Clause 1, Article 82.

Article 9. Amend and supplement certain provisions of the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control

1. Amend and supplement Clause 3 and Clause 4 of Article 9 as follows:

"3. The state budget contingency shall be used for disaster prevention, response, and consequence mitigation in accordance with the law on state budget.

4. The financial reserve fund shall be used to perform tasks of disaster prevention, response, and consequence mitigation arising outside the budget estimate, which, after budget reallocation and use of the budget contingency, still do not have sufficient funding under the provisions of the law on state budget."

2. Amend and supplement Clause 5 of Article 13 as follows:

"5. Develop, approve, and implement plans for water resources, irrigation, and disaster prevention and response; review and plan for the relocation of residents in areas with very high disaster risk."

3. Amend and supplement certain clauses and points of Article 15 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement item 2 as follows:

"2. The commune-level natural disaster prevention and control plan includes the following main contents:

a) Annual assessment and update on demographic characteristics, socio-economic conditions, and infrastructure within the management scope;

b) The local natural disaster situation;

c) Identify the content and measures for disaster prevention and control suitable for each type of disaster and the disaster risk level frequently occurring in the locality, paying attention to vulnerable groups, including constructing local disaster prevention and control works according to the ladder of management; organizing information and propaganda to raise community awareness about disaster prevention and control; identifying hazardous areas; developing response plans for disaster risk levels and specific types of disasters; organizing on-duty monitoring, updating information on disaster developments; preparing evacuation sites; organizing training, practice, and drills on disaster prevention and control skills;

d) Prepare supplies, means, equipment, and necessities for disaster prevention and control activities; specialized equipment for disaster prevention and control command and management activities;

d) Integrate disaster prevention and control content into socio-economic development planning and plans;

e) Propose resource requirements and determine annual and 5-year timelines to implement the disaster prevention and control plan at the local level;

g) Define the responsibilities for organizing the implementation of the disaster prevention and control plan.";

b) Amend and supplement point a of clause 7 as follows:

"a) The commune-level People's Committee organizes the development and approval of the commune-level disaster prevention and control plan, reporting to the provincial People's Committee for aggregation and direction. The provincial People's Committee organizes the development and approval of the provincial-level disaster prevention and control plan, reporting to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the Ministry of Defense.";

4. Amend and supplement several clauses and points of Article 42 as follows:

a) Add points k, l, m, and n after point i of clause 2 as follows:

k) Issue, under their authority or submit to the competent authority for issuance, and direct the implementation of legal normative documents within their authority on disaster forecasting and warning work;

l) Develop plans and master plans and direct the implementation of meteorological, hydrological, and oceanographic forecasting;

m) Organize monitoring, collection, and processing of information, identify and assess disaster risks, map disaster risk zones, track and supervise disasters; perform forecasting and warning, and provide timely and accurate information on disasters related to meteorology, hydrology, and oceanography to the National Civil Defense Steering Committee and Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, relevant localities, and media according to regulations;

n) Organize research, apply scientific and technological advances; international cooperation in disaster forecasting and warning; provide professional training for those working in forecasting and warning; disseminate knowledge, experience, and laws concerning disaster forecasting and warning.

b) Amend and supplement clause 6 as follows:

"6. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall have the following responsibilities:

a) Issue within its authority or submit to the competent authority for issuance and direct the implementation of legal documents on ensuring information in disaster prevention and control;

b) Develop plans and direct the implementation of ensuring safety and smooth operation for the common information network;

c) Prepare backup specialized information equipment to serve disaster prevention and control in all disaster situations;

d) Inspect, resolve complaints and denunciations, and handle legal violations regarding disaster prevention and control within their authority.";

c) Add clause 6a after clause 6 as follows:

"6a. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has the following responsibilities:

a) Direct mass media agencies to carry out information and communication about disaster prevention and control;

b) Inspect, resolve complaints and denunciations, and handle legal violations regarding disaster prevention and control within their authority.";

d) Add points d, đ, and e after point c of clause 9 as follows:

"d) Issue within their authority or submit to the competent authority for issuance and direct the implementation of legal normative documents ensuring traffic safety in disaster prevention and control;"

d) Develop planning, plans, and direct implementation of transport development in accordance with disaster prevention and control strategies and plans;

e) Prepare forces, means, and materials for traffic rescue, ensuring transport safety when disasters occur.";

d) Add points d, đ, and e after point c of clause 10 as follows:

"d) Issue within authority or submit to competent authorities for issuance and direct implementation of legal normative documents on integrating disaster prevention and control content into the socio-economic development plans of the country, ministries, and localities;

đ) Allocate investment capital for disaster prevention and control works;

e) Integrate disaster prevention and control content into the socio-economic development plans of the country.";

e) Add points đ and e after point d of clause 13 as follows:

“d) Issue within authority or submit to the competent authority for issuance and direct the implementation of legal normative documents on social relief in dealing with the consequences of natural disasters;

e) Based on the damage situation and relief needs, propose support policies for localities to soon stabilize the lives of people in disaster-affected areas, and submit to the Prime Minister for decision.”;

g) Amend and supplement Clause 14 as follows:

“14. The Ministry of Home Affairs has the following responsibilities:

a) Guide the integration of gender in disaster prevention and control activities;

b) Inspect, resolve complaints and denunciations, and handle violations of the law on disaster prevention and control within its authority.”

5. Amend and supplement some clauses and points of Article 43 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement points d and đ of Clause 1 as follows:

d) Manage the implementation of planning in accordance with the laws on urban and rural planning for urban areas, rural residential points, and technical infrastructure works in the area;

d) Organize the implementation of disaster response plans in the area; organize the preparation of human resources, materials, means, equipment, essential supplies and conduct drills according to the approved plan;

b) Amend and supplement clause 2 as follows:

2. The commune-level People's Committee has the following responsibilities:

a) Organize dissemination, propaganda, and implementation of this Law and related regulations on disaster prevention and control;

b) Develop, approve, and implement disaster prevention and control plans; integrate disaster prevention and control content into the local socio-economic development planning;

c) Construct, repair, upgrade, manage, and protect disaster prevention and control works in the area;

d) Organize the implementation of disaster response plans in the locality; organize the preparation of personnel, materials, means, equipment, essential goods, and conduct drills according to the approved plan;

d) Inspect, urge, and organize the implementation of food, essential goods, water treatment chemicals, medicines, epidemic prevention drugs, means, materials, and equipment reserves in accordance with the four-on-the-spot principle to actively respond when disasters occur;

e) Organize on-duty and command activities for disaster prevention, response, and consequence mitigation; compile, aggregate, and assess damages caused by disasters in the locality;

g) Direct and organize the implementation of measures to protect production when disasters occur to reduce damage and quickly restore production;

h) Receive, manage, and distribute emergency relief funds and goods from the State, organizations, and the community to stabilize livelihoods, restore production, and overcome the consequences of natural disasters in accordance with the law;

i) Manage the implementation of planning according to the law on urban and rural planning for urban areas, rural residential points, and technical infrastructure works in the locality;

k) Inspect, resolve complaints and denunciations, and handle violations of the law on disaster prevention and control within the authority."

6. Abolish the following clauses and phrases:

a) Abolish clause 3 of Article 15; clauses 3, 7, and 11 of Article 42;

b) Remove the phrase "district level and" in clause 1 of Article 28; remove the phrase "and district level" in clause 1 of Article 43;

c) Remove the phrase "inspection," in point i of clause 2, point d of clause 8, point c of clause 9, point c of clause 10, point c of clause 12, point d of clause 13 of Article 42.

7. Replace some phrases in the following clauses and points:

a) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 1, Article 10; Clause 3, Article 13a; Clause 4, Article 14; points b and c, Clause 7, Article 15; Clause 3, Article 18a; point d, Clause 3, Article 21; point a, Clause 3, Article 24; Clauses 3, 5, 6, and 7, Article 31; point b, Clause 2, Article 33; Clause 1, Article 40; Clause 2, Article 42;

b) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 2, Article 17; point a, Clause 3, Article 24; Clause 3, Article 40;

c) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Planning and Investment” with the phrase “Ministry of Finance” in point c, Clause 3, and Clause 4, Article 16; Clause 7, Article 31;

d) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Information and Communications” with the phrase “Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism” in point b, Clause 3, Article 21;

e) Replace the phrase “District-level People's Committee” with the phrase “Commune-level People's Committee” in point c, Clause 2, Article 33.

Article 10. Amendments and supplements to certain provisions of the Water Resources Law

1. Amend and supplement Clause 5, Article 8 as follows:

"5. Encroachment upon, filling of rivers, streams, canals, ditches without remedial measures, except where the law provides otherwise; placing obstacles, barriers, constructing architectural works, planting trees that hinder flood drainage and water traffic in rivers, streams, reservoirs, canals, ditches without remedial measures."

2. Amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 12 as follows:

"1. Water resources planning includes:

a) Water resources, irrigation, and disaster prevention and control planning are sectoral planning carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on planning. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment organizes the preparation of water resources, irrigation, and disaster prevention and control planning;"

b) Integrated planning of water resources and irrigation infrastructure for inter-provincial river basins is a sectoral detailed plan, specifying water resources planning, irrigation, and disaster prevention and control.

3. Amend and supplement some clauses of Article 17 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement clause 1 as follows:

“1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall take the lead, in coordination with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Construction, and ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and relevant provincial People's Committees, in organizing the formulation and approval of the integrated planning of water resources and irrigation infrastructure for inter-provincial river basins.”;

b) Amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

“5. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on the content, formulation, appraisal, approval, and adjustment of the integrated planning of water resources and irrigation infrastructure for inter-provincial river basins; and stipulate the list of inter-provincial river basins that must have planning.”

4. Amend and supplement Clause 6 of Article 26 as follows:

“6. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall determine and organize the announcement of the sanitation protection zones of domestic water intake areas based on the proposals of organizations and individuals exploiting water resources for domestic use in accordance with the regulations of the Minister of Agriculture and Environment.

In cases where the sanitation protection zones of domestic water intake areas are located in the territories of two or more provinces or centrally governed cities, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee where the water extraction works are located shall take the lead, coordinating with the relevant provinces to agree on the scope and announce the sanitation protection zones of the domestic water intake areas of the works.”

5. Amendment and supplementation of certain clauses of Article 38 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement Clauses 7 and 8 as follows:

“7. The responsibility for developing reservoir operation procedures and inter-reservoir operation procedures is regulated as follows:

a) The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall take the lead, in coordination with Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and relevant provincial People's Committees, in organizing the development and adjustment of inter-reservoir operation procedures in river basins, and submit them to the Prime Minister for approval, except in cases specified in Clause 9a of this Article.

In the event that a Ministry, ministerial-level agency, provincial People's Committee, or reservoir and dam management and operation organization proposes to adjust the inter-reservoir operation procedures, an adjustment plan must be developed and sent to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for appraisal and submission to the Prime Minister for approval, except in cases specified in Clause 9a of this Article;

b) Organizations managing and operating dams and reservoirs are responsible for developing and adjusting reservoir operation procedures and submitting them to the competent authority for approval in accordance with the law on dam and reservoir safety management, and they must comply with the inter-reservoir operation procedures.

8. When the technical infrastructure ensures compliance with the conditions and operational requirements of reservoirs and inter-reservoirs in real time, the formulation and adjustment of the real-time inter-reservoir operation process are carried out as follows:

a) The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment organizes the development or adjustment of the real-time inter-reservoir operation process and submits it to the Prime Minister for approval, except as provided in Clause 9a of this Article.

In cases where ministries, ministerial-level agencies, provincial People's Committees, or organizations managing and operating dams and reservoirs propose adjustments to the real-time inter-reservoir operation process, they shall develop an adjustment plan and submit it to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for appraisal, then submit it to the Prime Minister for approval, except as provided in Clause 9a of this Article;

b) The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the provincial People's Committees, within the scope of their duties and powers, shall review and approve the procedures or adjust the real-time reservoir operation procedures upon the proposal of the organization managing and operating the dam and reservoir;

c) Encourage organizations managing and operating dams and reservoirs to develop and apply standards, research, transfer, and apply advanced science and technology to operate reservoirs in real time, improving the efficiency of exploitation and use of water resources, ensuring safety, and supplying water to downstream areas.”;

b) Add clause 9a after clause 9 as follows:

"9a. In cases of locally adjusting the operation process of inter-reservoir systems without fundamentally changing the operating principles of this process, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall decide on the approval of the adjustment after consulting the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Construction, and relevant ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and the People's Committees of the related provinces, and report the implementation results to the Prime Minister.";

c) Amend and supplement Clause 10 as follows:

"10. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on this Article."

6. Amend and supplement points a and b of Clause 1, Article 51 as follows:

“a) The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall organize the development and operation of a water resources monitoring network for inter-provincial surface water sources, transboundary surface water sources, and groundwater sources distributed across inter-provincial areas, as well as monitor meteorology, hydrology, and water environmental quality. The construction of the water resources monitoring network must be carried out according to the integrated water resources planning and inter-provincial river basin irrigation infrastructure planning;

b) The Provincial People's Committee shall organize the development and operation of a water resources monitoring network for intra-provincial surface water sources and groundwater sources within the province that do not overlap with the groundwater monitoring network developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. The construction of the water resources monitoring network must be carried out according to the provincial planning;”.

7. Amend and supplement Article 53 as follows:

“Article 53. Declaration, registration, licensing for exploration, exploitation, and use of water resources

1. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall grant, extend, adjust, reissue, approve the return of, suspend, revoke permits for groundwater exploitation, exploration licenses for groundwater for projects with large-scale water exploitation; water exploitation projects that have inter-regional or inter-provincial impacts.

2. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall grant, extend, adjust, reissue, approve the return of, suspend, revoke permits for groundwater exploitation, exploration licenses for groundwater that are not within the cases prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. The Chairman of the Commune People's Committee shall organize the registration of groundwater exploitation; receive declarations of groundwater exploitation by households for domestic use.

4. The Government shall detail the declaration, registration, licensing for exploration, exploitation, and use of water resources."

8. Amend and supplement Clause 6 of Article 63 as follows;

6. Lakes, ponds, swamps, and lagoons that have the functions of regulating, supplying water, preventing flooding, creating landscapes, environments, and protecting and preserving religious, belief activities, cultural values, and biodiversity must be listed, and the lakes, ponds, swamps, and lagoons that must not be filled in must be published for management and protection.

The provincial-level People's Committee shall establish, announce, and adjust the list of lakes, ponds, swamps, and lagoons that are not allowed to be filled in the area.

9. Add point d1 after point d of Clause 3, Article 80 as follows:

"d1) Organize response and remediation to water pollution incidents; monitor, detect, and participate in resolving water pollution incidents according to authority; organize the implementation of measures to prevent, control, and mitigate the harm caused by water."

10. Abolish the following articles, clauses, points, and phrases:

a) Abolish Clause 4, Article 9; point d, Clause 1, Article 10; Article 16; point c, Clause 1, Clauses 3, 4, and 5, Article 19; point b, Clause 2, Article 26; Articles 54, 55, 56, and 57; Clause 2, Article 80; Clause 3, Article 83; Clauses 1 and 3, Article 84;

b) Remove the phrase "and the regulations on establishing, appraising, approving, and adjusting the overall plan for basic water resources surveys" in Clause 5, Article 9.

c) Remove the phrase ", master planning of basic water resources investigation" in Clause 1, Article 11; Point b, Clause 1, Article 80;

d) Remove the phrase "District People's Committee or" in Point d, Clause 6, Article 23;

dd) Remove the phrase "district level," in Point d, Clause 2, Article 26; Clause 3, Article 26;

e) Remove the phrase "Ministry of Transport," in Clause 9, Article 63; remove the phrase ", Ministry of Transport" in Clause 5, Article 66;

g) Remove the phrase "inspection," in Point dd, Point k, Clause 2, Article 79 and the name of Chapter IX;

h) Remove the phrase "Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development," in Point a, Clause 2, Article 36; Clause 2, Article 58 and Clause 6, Article 64;

i) Remove the phrase ", Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment" in Clause 8, Article 50; remove the phrase "Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment," in Point c, Clause 2, Article 84.

11. Replace some phrases in the following articles, clauses, and points:

a) Replace the phrase "District People's Committee" with the phrase "Provincial People's Committee" in Point d, Clause 3, Article 80;

b) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 3 Article 6; Clause 5 Article 7; Clause 1 and Point e Clause 3 Article 9; Clause 3 Article 10; Clause 4 Article 11; Clause 3 Article 12; Clause 2 Article 15; Clause 4 Article 17; Clause 1 and Clause 4 Article 18; Clauses 4 and 5 Article 22; Clauses 5, 6, 7 and 9 Article 24; Clause 8 Article 31; Clauses 2, 3 and 6 Article 34; Clauses 3, 5 and 7 Article 35; Clause 1 and Point a Clause 2 Article 36; Clause 9 Article 38; Clause 3 Article 39; Point d Clause 1 and Point c Clause 2 Article 51; Clause 2 Article 58; Clause 7 Article 63; Clause 6 Article 64; Clause 4 Article 71; Clauses 2 and 3 Article 77; Clauses 2, 6, 7 and 9 Article 79; Point g Clause 1 Article 80; Clause 2 Article 81 and Point a Clause 4 and Clause 5 Article 83;

c) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in clause 4 of Article 27; clause 6 of Article 35; item b of clause 2 of Article 36; clause 3 of Article 43; clause 2 of Article 44; clause 8 of Article 50; clause 5 of Article 66; and clause 3 of Article 79;

d) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Planning and Investment” with the phrase “Ministry of Finance” in clause 4 of Article 71;

d) Replace the phrase “water resources planning” with the phrase “planning of water resources, irrigation, and disaster prevention and control” in clause 8 of Article 3; clause 1 of Article 13; and item a of clause 2 of Article 19;

e) Replace the phrase “inter-provincial river basin integrated planning” with the phrase “integrated water resources and irrigation infrastructure planning of inter-provincial river basins” in Articles 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, and 19; Clause 5 Article 22; Clause 5 Article 24; Point b Clause 1 and Clause 5 Article 35; and Point g Clause 1 Article 81;

g) Replace the phrase “task” with the phrase “outline” in Clause 5 Article 13; Article 15;

h) Replace the phrase “planning of technical and specialized nature” with the phrase “detailed sectoral planning” in Clause 8 Article 3; Clause 3 Article 12; Clause 3 Article 14; Point a Clause 2 Article 24; Point a Clause 1 Article 30; Point a Clause 1 Article 41; Clause 1 Article 50; and Point b Clause 4 Article 81;

i) Replace the phrase “national sectoral planning” with the phrase “sectoral planning” in Clause 8 Article 3; Point a Clause 2 Article 19; Points b and i Clause 4 Article 81.

Article 11. Amendments and supplements to certain articles of the Law on Marine and Island Resources and Environment

1. Amendment and supplementation of Clause 1 and Clause 2, Article 14 as follows:

"1. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated agencies, and provincial or centrally-governed city People's Committees, based on the need for basic surveys of marine and island resources and environment in their sectors, fields, and localities, and in accordance with Clause 2, Article 13 of this Law, propose projects, schemes, and tasks to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for aggregation and development of the Key Program for Basic Surveys of Marine and Island Resources and Environment.

The Minister of Agriculture and Environment approves and adjusts the Key Program for Basic Surveys of Marine and Island Resources and Environment."

2. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities shall have an organizational board to implement projects, schemes, and tasks under the approved Key Program for basic investigation of marine and island resources and the environment.

2. Amend and supplement clauses 2 and 3; add clause 3a after clause 3 of Article 19 as follows:

"2. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall grant, extend, modify, supplement, suspend, and revoke decisions on granting scientific research permits to foreign organizations and individuals conducted in the following maritime areas:

a) Maritime areas spanning two or more centrally-run provinces or cities;

b) Maritime areas with part of the area within the administrative management boundaries at the provincial level and part of the area outside the administrative management boundaries at the provincial level;

c) Maritime areas located outside the administrative management boundaries of provinces and centrally-run cities;"

d) Sea areas with a scope entirely or partially located beyond the 6-nautical-mile sea zone measured from the average lowest tide line over many years of the mainland or the largest island of special zones in cases where the administrative management boundaries at sea of the province or centrally-run city have not been determined.

3. The Chairman of the People's Committee of provinces and centrally-run cities with sea areas shall grant, extend, amend, supplement, suspend, or revoke decisions on granting scientific research permits to foreign organizations and individuals to conduct scientific research in the following sea areas:

a) Sea areas within the administrative management boundaries at sea of the province or centrally-run city;

b) The sea area located entirely within a territorial sea of 6 nautical miles measured from the average lowest tide line of the mainland or the largest island of special economic zones in case the administrative management boundaries at sea of provinces or centrally-run cities have not been determined.

3a. The granting, renewal, modification, or supplementation of decisions on scientific research permits for foreign organizations and individuals shall be carried out after obtaining opinions from the relevant sectoral management ministries and reaching agreement with the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

After granting, renewing, modifying, supplementing, suspending, or revoking a scientific research permit decision, the Minister of Agriculture and Environment and the Chairperson of the People's Committee of provinces or centrally-run cities with coastlines are responsible for informing the relevant Ministry, ministerial-level agencies, and other related agencies to coordinate management.

3. Amend and supplement Article 29 as follows:

"Article 29. Formulation, appraisal, approval, publication, implementation, evaluation, and adjustment of the master plan for the exploitation and sustainable use of coastal resources

The content, authority, formulation, appraisal, approval, publication, implementation, evaluation, and adjustment of the master plan for the exploitation and sustainable use of coastal resources shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on planning."

4. Amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 36 as follows:

“1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall preside over and coordinate with ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and the People's Committees of coastal provinces and centrally-run cities in developing and adjusting integrated coastal resource management programs with a scope of two or more provinces or centrally-run cities. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall approve and adjust the integrated coastal resource management programs with a scope of two or more provinces or centrally-run cities.”

5. Amend and supplement point d, clause 5, Article 41 as follows:

“d) Other cases approved by the Chairman of the People's Committee of coastal provinces and centrally-run cities.”

6. Amend and supplement clause 4, Article 49 as follows:

“4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall detail the criteria for classifying regions by marine and island environmental pollution risk.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall take the lead, in coordination with relevant ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities with coastlines, in creating maps that delineate the risk zones of marine and island environmental pollution. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall approve the maps that delineate the risk zones of marine and island environmental pollution.

7. Amend and supplement certain clauses and points of Article 56 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point a of clause 2 as follows:

"a) Take the lead, in coordination with relevant ministries and ministerial-level agencies, in issuing or submitting to the competent authority for issuance of documents on remediation and resolution of consequences of oil or chemical spills at sea;"

b) Amend and supplement clause 4 as follows:

“4. The Ministry of National Defense shall take the lead, in coordination with ministries and ministerial-level agencies concerned, in drafting and submitting to the Prime Minister for issuance the Regulation on activities to respond to oil spills at sea; take the lead, in coordination with ministries and ministerial-level agencies concerned, in issuing or submitting to the competent authority for issuance documents on monitoring and assessing the risks of oil and chemical spills at sea.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall preside over and coordinate with ministries and ministerial-level agencies involved to develop and submit to the Prime Minister for promulgation the Regulation on chemical incident response activities at sea.

8. Amend and supplement certain clauses and points of Article 59 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point d, clause 1 as follows:

"d) Transport means, methods of dumping; content and environmental protection requirements;";

b) Amend and supplement clause 2 as follows:

"2. The validity period of the marine dumping permit shall be considered based on the materials to be dumped, the scale, nature of the dumping activity, and the marine area to be used for dumping, but shall not exceed 3 years and may be extended once for no more than 2 years."

9. Amend and supplement Article 60 as follows:

"Article 60. Issuance, extension, amendment, supplementation, permission for return, and revocation of marine dumping permits.

1. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall issue, extend, amend, supplement, allow the return, and revoke licenses for sea dumping in the following maritime areas:

a) Maritime areas spanning two or more centrally-run provinces or cities;

b) Maritime areas with part of the area within the administrative management boundaries at the provincial level and part of the area outside the administrative management boundaries at the provincial level;

c) Maritime areas outside the administrative management boundaries at sea of a provincial level;

d) Maritime areas with part or all of their area located beyond the 6-nautical-mile zone measured from the lowest average low tide line over many years of the mainland or the largest island of the special zones, in cases where the administrative management boundaries at sea of provinces or centrally-run cities have not been determined.

2. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee with a coastline shall issue, extend, amend, supplement, allow the return, and revoke licenses for sea dumping in the following maritime areas:

a) Sea areas within the administrative management boundaries at sea of the province or centrally-run city;

b) The sea area located entirely within a territorial sea of 6 nautical miles measured from the average lowest tide line of the mainland or the largest island of special economic zones in case the administrative management boundaries at sea of provinces or centrally-run cities have not been determined.

3. Organizations and individuals preparing dossiers to request a marine dumping permit do not need to prepare a dossier to request the allocation of marine areas for dumping. The competent authority or person who appraises and grants the marine dumping permit shall consider the allocation of marine areas for dumping simultaneously during the appraisal process of granting the marine dumping permit.

4. For projects that only involve dredging activities and marine disposal, organizations and individuals preparing the application for a marine disposal permit are not required to carry out the environmental impact assessment appraisal procedure for the project and are not required to prepare an application for allocation of the marine area for disposal. The content of the environmental impact assessment and the allocation of marine areas for the project is presented in the application for a marine disposal permit. The agency or person with authority to appraise and issue the marine disposal permit considers the content and requirements for environmental protection; considers the allocation of marine areas for disposal simultaneously during the appraisal process for issuing the marine disposal permit.

5. The Government shall stipulate in detail the procedures for granting, renewing, amending, supplementing, allowing the return of, and revoking marine disposal permits.

10. Amend and supplement point a of clause 2, Article 61 as follows:

“a) Comply with the legal regulations on the management of marine and island resources and environment; strictly follow the content of the marine dumping permit; fully implement the legal provisions on environmental protection and the contents and requirements on environmental protection as stipulated in the marine dumping permit.”

11. Amend and supplement Clause 3 of Article 65 as follows:

“3. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall take the lead, in coordination with relevant ministries and ministerial-level agencies and the People's Committees of centrally-run provinces and cities with coastlines, to establish a system for monitoring and comprehensively supervising marine and island resources and environment. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall approve the system for monitoring and comprehensively supervising marine and island resources and environment.”

12. Amend and supplement points b, c, and d of Clause 2, Article 73 as follows:

“b) Develop and submit to the Government for approval, and organize the implementation of strategies for exploitation, sustainable use of resources, and protection of marine and island environment; develop, approve, and adjust integrated management programs for coastal resources covering at least two centrally-run provinces or cities;

c) Develop, approve, adjust, and organize the implementation of key programs for basic investigation of marine and island resources and environment; coordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology to synthesize, develop, and commission the implementation of topics, projects, and tasks under the national-level science and technology program on marine and island resources and environment;

d) Issue, renew, amend, supplement, allow the return of, or revoke sea dumping licenses within its authority; issue, renew, amend, supplement, suspend, or revoke scientific research activity permits for foreign organizations and individuals to conduct in Vietnamese waters within its authority.

13. Amend and supplement certain clauses and points of Article 74 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point d, clause 1 as follows:

“d) Grant, extend, amend, supplement, allow return, and revoke Licenses for sea dumping under their authority; grant, extend, amend, supplement, suspend, and revoke licenses for scientific research activities for foreign organizations and individuals conducted in Vietnamese waters under their authority;”

b) Amend and supplement clause 3 as follows:

“3. The commune-level People's Committee with a coastline, within the scope of its duties and powers, has the following responsibilities:

a) Organize the implementation of legal normative documents on integrated management of resources and protection of the marine and island environment;

b) Protect the coastal protection corridor within the local management scope; coordinate with agencies and organizations to protect the monitoring and supervision system of marine and island resources and environment located in the management area; participate in responding to and mitigating oil and chemical spills at sea; monitor, detect, and participate in resolving marine environmental incidents, and coastal erosion and collapse;

c) Propagate information about the sea and islands; disseminate and educate about the law concerning integrated management of marine resources and environmental protection of the sea and islands;

d) Periodically compile and report to the Provincial People's Committee on the situation of integrated management of marine resources and environmental protection of the sea and islands;

d) Implement measures to protect marine and island resources that have not been exploited or used in accordance with the provisions of the law.

14. Abolish the following articles and phrases:

a) Abolish Articles 27, 28, 30, 31, and 32; Clause 2, Article 74;

b) Remove the phrase “Inspection,” at Point k, Clause 2, Article 73.

15. Replace some phrases in the following articles, clauses, and points:

a) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 1, Article 11; Clause 3, Article 13; Clause 3, Article 14; Article 16; Clause 3, Article 18; points g, h, and i, Clause 2, Article 20; Article 21; Clause 2, Article 36; Clause 1, Article 38; Clause 4, Article 40; Article 44; Clause 3, Article 46; Article 47; Clause 2, Article 48; Clauses 2 and 3, Article 50; Clause 2, Article 56; Article 66; Clause 3, Article 67; Clause 3, Article 68; Clause 3, Article 69; Clauses 2 and 3, Article 72; Clause 2, points c, e, g, and i, Clause 3, Article 73; point k, Clause 1, Article 74; Article 77 and Clause 1, Article 79;

b) Replace the phrase “toxic chemicals” with the phrase “chemicals” in Clause 12 and Clause 13 of Article 3; Point c, Clause 2, Article 20; the title of Chapter VI; the title of Section 2, Chapter VI; Article 52; the title of Article 53, Clause 1, Article 53; the title of Article 55; the title of Article 56, Point b, Clause 2 and Clauses 5, 6, and 7 of Article 56; Point g, Clause 2 and Point e, Clause 3 of Article 73; Point g, Clause 1 of Article 74 and Point đ, Clause 2 of Article 76;

c) Replace the phrase “toxic chemicals” with the phrase “poisons, hazardous chemicals” in Point c, Clause 2, Article 20.

Article 12. Amendments and supplements to certain provisions of the Law on Veterinary

1. Amend and supplement Article 6 as follows:

“Article 6. System of veterinary management agencies

1. The system of veterinary management agencies is organized from the central to the provincial level.

2. At the commune level, commune veterinarians shall be arranged to manage livestock farming and veterinary activities in the area.”.

2. Amend and supplement Clause 5, Article 8 as follows:

“5. The Minister of Science and Technology is responsible for coordinating with the Minister of Agriculture and Environment in managing scientific research, technology development and transfer, and in developing standards and technical regulations related to the field of veterinary medicine in accordance with the laws on standards and technical regulations.”

3. Amend and supplement the opening paragraph of Clause 3 and Point d of Clause 3, Article 9 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement the opening paragraph of Clause 3 as follows:

“3. The commune-level People’s Committee is responsible for the following:”;

b) Amend and supplement Point d of Clause 3 as follows:

“d) Organize forecasting and warning of animal diseases; allocate funds and organize the prevention and control of animal diseases; compile statistics, assess, and support losses for livestock and aquaculture farmers after animal disease outbreaks; compile veterinary statistics;”.

4. Amend and supplement certain clauses of Article 19 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement Point c, Clause 2 as follows:

“c) Report to the commune-level People's Committee.”;

b) Amend and supplement the opening paragraph of Clause 3 as follows:

“3. When the commune-level People's Committee receives a notice of animals being sick, dead, or showing signs of infectious disease, it is responsible for directing and organizing the implementation of the following tasks:”;

c) Amend and supplement Point d of Clause 3 as follows:

“d) Report to the provincial People's Committee and the provincial-level veterinary management authority.”

5. Amend and supplement Point b of Clause 3, Article 25 as follows:

“b) Direct the commune veterinary officers, relevant organizations, and individuals to inspect and supervise the owners of livestock and farming establishments in implementing the isolation of sick animals, compile statistics on the number of sick animals and animals susceptible to animal diseases; coordinate with the provincial veterinary management authority to collect disease specimens; determine the animal disease outbreak, announce it through local media, and guide the implementation of veterinary hygiene measures in farming, slaughtering, transportation, and trading of animals and animal products; allocate funds for handling the animal disease outbreak; ".

6. Amend and supplement clauses 4 and 5 of Article 26 as follows:

“4. The authority to announce an animal disease outbreak on land is as follows:

a) The Chairman of the Commune People’s Committee, based on the proposal of the commune-level specialized agency, decides to announce the animal disease outbreak when the conditions prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article are met and the disease occurs within the commune;

b) The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, based on the recommendation of the provincial veterinary specialized agency, shall decide to announce an animal disease when the conditions specified in Clause 2 of this Article are met and the disease occurs in two or more commune-level administrative units.

5. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment, based on the recommendation of the central veterinary management agency, shall decide to announce an animal disease when the conditions specified in Clause 2 of this Article are met and the disease occurs in two or more provincial-level administrative units; inspect, urge, and supervise the announcement of the disease by the Chairmen of the People's Committees at the commune and provincial levels.

7. Amend and supplement certain clauses and points of Article 27 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point a, Clause 3 as follows:

“a) Direct the commune-level People's Committee, provincial-level veterinary management agencies, relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals to implement measures for the prevention and control of animal diseases; mobilize local resources to prevent and control animal diseases; inspect and supervise the implementation of animal disease prevention and control measures;”;

b) Amend and supplement points đ and e of Clause 5 as follows:

“đ) Submit to the Chairman of the provincial-level People's Committee for a decision on funding, supplies, and resources support when the requirements for animal disease prevention and control exceed the local capacity;

e) Report to the Chairman of the provincial-level People's Committee on the results of animal disease prevention and control and the implementation of policies supporting disease prevention and control, mitigating consequences caused by the disease, and restoring livestock farming in the locality.”

8. Amend and supplement points đ, e, and g of Clause 4, Article 33 as follows:

"d) Organize the implementation of measures to prevent and control animal diseases according to the direction of the provincial People's Committee;

e) Submit to the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee for a decision on financial, material, and resource support when the requirements for preventing and controlling animal diseases exceed the local capacity;

g) Report to the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee on the results of preventing and controlling animal diseases and the implementation of policies supporting the prevention and control of animal diseases."

9. Amend and supplement some clauses and points of Article 35 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement points d and e of Clause 5 as follows:

“đ) Submit to the Chairman of the provincial-level People's Committee for a decision on funding, supplies, and resources support when the requirements for animal disease prevention and control exceed the local capacity;

e) Report to the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee and the provincial-level veterinary management agency on the results of animal disease prevention and control, as well as the implementation of policies supporting disease prevention and control, overcoming consequences caused by diseases, and restoring aquaculture in the locality.”;

b) Amend and supplement the opening paragraph of clause 7 as follows:

“7. Commune veterinary services have the following responsibilities:”;

c) Amend and supplement point d of clause 7 as follows:

“d) Collect disease samples according to the guidance of the provincial-level veterinary management agency.”

10. Amend and supplement point d of clause 1, Article 36 as follows:

“d) Have a written request for the announcement of the end of an animal disease from the provincial-level veterinary management agency, which is appraised and recognized by the central veterinary management agency.”

11. Amend and supplement point đ of clause 3, Article 37 as follows:

“d) Specific regulations on the content, order, and procedures for the quarantine of animals and animal products transported out of the provincial-level area; export, import, temporary import for re-export, temporary export for re-import, border gate transfer, bonded warehouse, transit through the territory of Vietnam; land animals participating in fairs, exhibitions, sports competitions, artistic performances; land animal products participating in fairs and exhibitions and animals and animal products carried by individuals; marking, assigning animal identification numbers, sealing means of transport, containers holding animals, and animal products subject to quarantine; transporting disease samples.”

12. Amend and supplement Article 39 as follows:

“Article 39. Quarantine of land animals and animal products transported out of the provincial-level area

1. Organizations and individuals when transporting animals and animal products as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 37 of this Law; animals and animal products originating from establishments recognized as disease-free or participating in disease surveillance programs or protected by vaccines and still immune, or animal products originating from primary processing or processing establishments that are periodically inspected for veterinary hygiene when transported out of the provincial area must register for quarantine with the provincial veterinary management authority.

2. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall regulate the content, order, and procedures for quarantining terrestrial animals and animal products transported out of the provincial area.

13. Add Clause 4 after Clause 3, Article 41, as follows:

"4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall regulate the content, order, and procedures for quarantining terrestrial animals and animal products for export."

14. Amend and supplement Article 46 as follows:

"Article 46. Quarantine of imported animals and terrestrial animal products

1. Organizations and individuals importing animals and animal products listed in the Catalogue of terrestrial animals and animal products subject to quarantine must register for animal and animal product quarantine with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

2. Based on the disease situation, disease surveillance management system, and veterinary hygiene monitoring of the exporting country, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall issue written guidance for relevant organizations and individuals to carry out quarantine of imported animals and animal products."

In the case of animals and animal products from countries or territories registering for import into Vietnam for the first time, or from countries or territories at high risk of epidemics, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment must conduct a risk analysis in accordance with the provisions of Article 43 of this Law.

3. Before animals and animal products arrive at the border gate, organizations and individuals must declare quarantine to the central veterinary authority. The central veterinary authority shall decide and notify the consignor of the location, time, and carry out quarantine in accordance with regulations.

4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall regulate the content, procedures, and process of quarantine for imported terrestrial animals and animal products.

15. Amend and supplement Article 49 as follows:

Article 49. Quarantine of animals and terrestrial animal products for temporary import for re-export, temporary export for re-import, checkpoint transfer, bonded warehouse, and transit through the territory of Vietnam

1. Organizations and individuals, when temporarily importing for re-export, temporarily exporting for re-import, transferring through checkpoints, bonded warehouses, or transiting through the territory of Vietnam, animals and terrestrial animal products listed in the Catalog of animals and terrestrial animal products subject to quarantine, must register the quarantine of animals and animal products with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

2. Based on the epidemic situation, the epidemic monitoring management system, and the veterinary hygiene surveillance of the exporting country, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment shall issue guidance for organizations and individuals to carry out the quarantine of animals and animal products for temporary import for re-export, temporary export for re-import, checkpoint transfer, bonded warehouse, and transit through the territory of Vietnam.

3. At the border gate, upon receiving a complete and valid dossier, the central veterinary sector management authority shall decide and notify the consignor to carry out quarantine in accordance with regulations.

4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall regulate the content, order, and procedures for the quarantine of animals and terrestrial animal products for temporary import for re-export, temporary export for re-import, border gate transfer, bonded warehouse, and transit through the territory of Vietnam.

16. Amend and supplement the title of Article 50 as follows:

"Article 50. Content of quarantine for animals and terrestrial animal products for temporary import for re-export, temporary export for re-import, border gate transfer, bonded warehouse, and transit through the territory of Vietnam."

17. Amend and supplement point d, clause 3, Article 53 as follows:

“d) Specific regulations on the content, sequence, and procedures for the quarantine of animals and aquatic animal products transported out of provincial areas, exported, imported, temporarily imported and re-exported, temporarily exported and re-imported, transferred through border gates, bonded warehouses, transiting through the territory of Vietnam; quarantine of aquatic animals participating in fairs, exhibitions, sports competitions, artistic performances; quarantine of aquatic animal products participating in fairs and exhibitions; transportation of aquatic disease specimens.”

18. Amend and supplement Article 55 as follows:

“Article 55. Quarantine of animals and aquatic animal products transported out of provincial areas

1. Organizations and individuals transporting animals, aquatic animal products specified in Clause 1, Article 53 of this Law; breeding aquatic animals originating from a disease-free facility or participating in a disease surveillance program when transported out of the provincial area must register for quarantine with the provincial veterinary authority.

2. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall prescribe the content, order, and procedures for the quarantine of animals and aquatic animal products transported out of the provincial area.

19. Amend and supplement Article 56 as follows:

"Article 56. Quarantine of animals and aquatic animal products for export not used as food

1. Animals and aquatic animal products for export not used as food, which are listed in the Catalogue of animals and aquatic animal products subject to quarantine before export, shall be issued a quarantine certificate according to the requirements of the importing country or the consignor; in cases where the importing country or consignor does not require quarantine, the quarantine shall be conducted in accordance with the regulations on the quarantine of animals and aquatic animal products transported out of the provincial area."

2. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall stipulate the content, sequence, and procedures for the quarantine of animals and aquatic animal products for export that are not intended for food.

20. Amend and supplement Article 57 as follows:

"Article 57. Quarantine of animals and aquatic animal products for export intended for food

1. Before exporting animals or aquatic animal products intended for food that are listed in the Catalogue of animals and aquatic animal products subject to quarantine, organizations and individuals must register for quarantine with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

2. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall stipulate the content, sequence, and procedures for the quarantine of animals and aquatic animal products for export intended for food."

21. Amend and supplement Article 58 as follows:

Article 58. Quarantine of animals, aquatic animal products imported, temporarily imported for re-export, temporarily exported for re-import, transferred through border gates, bonded warehouses, transit through the territory of Vietnam; aquatic animals participating in fairs, exhibitions, sports competitions, artistic performances; aquatic animal products participating in fairs, exhibitions; transportation of aquatic disease samples.

Quarantine of animals, aquatic animal products imported, temporarily imported for re-export, temporarily exported for re-import, transferred through border gates, bonded warehouses, transit through the territory of Vietnam; aquatic animals participating in fairs, exhibitions, sports competitions, artistic performances; aquatic animal products participating in fairs, exhibitions; transportation of aquatic disease samples shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Articles 44, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, and 52 of this Law.

22. Amend and supplement Clause 3 of Article 76 as follows:

"3. The commune-level People's Committee has the following responsibilities:

a) Coordinate with competent authorities to organize the construction and implementation of a network of centralized animal slaughtering facilities;

b) Manage the activities of animal slaughtering facilities; the preliminary processing, processing, transportation, and trading of animals and animal products, as well as veterinary hygiene in the locality;

c) Direct and organize veterinary inspections, handle complaints and denunciations, and deal with violations of veterinary law within their authority.

23. Amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 78 as follows:

"1. Veterinary drugs circulated in Vietnam must ensure quality according to technical requirements in the national technical regulations on veterinary drugs and be granted a Certificate of Veterinary Drug Circulation in Vietnam.

2. Veterinary drugs that already have a valid Certificate of Veterinary Drug Circulation in Vietnam are exempt from the conformity announcement requirement."

24. Amend and supplement Article 80 as follows:

"Article 80. Registration for circulation of veterinary drugs"

1. Organizations and individuals that produce or import veterinary drugs must register the circulation of veterinary drugs with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment in the following cases:

a) Veterinary drugs newly manufactured domestically;

b) Veterinary drugs imported for the first time into Vietnam for trading or manufacturing.

2. The certificate of circulation of veterinary drugs in Vietnam is valid for a period of 5 years.

3. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall prescribe the order and procedures for granting the certificate of circulation of veterinary drugs in Vietnam.

25. Amend and supplement Article 81 as follows:

"Article 81. Extension of the certificate of circulation of veterinary drugs

1. Within 3 months prior to the expiration date of the veterinary drug circulation certificate, organizations or individuals who wish to extend it must submit an application for extension.

2. The extended certificate of circulation of veterinary drugs is valid for a period of 5 years.

3. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall prescribe the order and procedures for extending the certificate of circulation of veterinary drugs in Vietnam."

26. Amend and supplement Article 82 as follows:

"Article 82. Reissuance of the certificate of circulation of veterinary drugs"

1. The Veterinary Drug Circulation Certificate shall be reissued in the following cases:

a) Changing the composition, formula, dosage form, route of administration, dosage, or therapeutic indications of veterinary drugs; changing the production methods or processes that affect product quality; reassessing the quality, efficacy, and safety of veterinary drugs in accordance with regulations;

b) Errors; changes in product information that do not affect the quality of veterinary drugs or information related to the organization or individual producing or registering the circulation of veterinary drugs.

2. The re-registration for the issuance of the Veterinary Drug Circulation Certificate in the case specified in point a, clause 1 of this Article shall be conducted as a new registration.

3. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall stipulate the procedures for re-issuance of the Veterinary Drug Circulation Certificate in Vietnam.

27. Amend and supplement Article 85 as follows:

"Article 85. Issuance of Veterinary Drug Testing Permits"

1. Organizations and individuals register for the issuance of a veterinary drug trial permit with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

2. The veterinary drug trial permit is valid for a duration of 5 years.

3. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall regulate the order and procedures for issuing the veterinary drug trial permit.

28. Amend and supplement Article 86 as follows:

"Article 86. Re-issuance of veterinary drug trial permits

1. The veterinary drug trial permit shall be re-issued in cases of errors or changes in the name of the veterinary drug, or information of the organization or individual registering for the veterinary drug trial.

2. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall regulate the order and procedures for re-issuing the veterinary drug trial permit."

29. Amend and supplement point a, clause 1, Article 91 as follows:

"a) Production, trading, and business of veterinary drugs that have been granted a veterinary drug circulation certificate in Vietnam;"

30. Amend and supplement clause 1, Article 94 as follows:

“1. Meeting all the conditions prescribed in Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 92 of this Law;”

31. Amend and supplement Point d, Clause 1, Article 95 as follows:

“d) Being allowed to import, trade, and conduct business in veterinary drugs that have a circulation certificate in Vietnam and other rights as prescribed by law.”

32. Amend and supplement Article 96 as follows:

“Article 96. Issuance, re-issuance, renewal, and revocation of certificates of eligibility for veterinary drug production

1. The Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee shall issue, re-issue, renew, and revoke certificates of eligibility for veterinary drug production, except for production of veterinary pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines.

2. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall issue, re-issue, renew, and revoke certificates of eligibility for the production of veterinary pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines.

3. The certificate of eligibility for veterinary drug production will be revoked in the following cases:

a) The Certificate of Eligibility for Veterinary Drug Production is erased or its contents are altered;

b) No longer engaging in veterinary drug production;

c) Committing other violations as prescribed by law that require the revocation of the certificate of eligibility for veterinary drug production.

4. The government shall stipulate the issuance, reissuance, renewal, and revocation of the certificate of eligibility for veterinary drug production.

33. Amend and supplement Article 97 as follows:

"Article 97. Issuance, reissuance, renewal, and revocation of the certificate of eligibility for veterinary drug trading

1. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall issue, reissue, renew, and revoke the certificate of eligibility for veterinary drug trading.

2. The certificate of eligibility for veterinary drug trading shall be revoked in the following cases:

a) The Certificate of Eligibility for Veterinary Drug Trading has been erased or its contents altered;

b) No longer engaging in veterinary drug trading;

c) Committing other violations as prescribed by law that require the revocation of the certificate of eligibility for veterinary drug trading.

3. The government regulates the issuance, re-issuance, renewal, and revocation of the Certificate of Eligibility for Veterinary Drug Trading.

34. Amend and supplement Article 98 as follows:

"Article 98. Issuance, re-issuance, renewal, and revocation of the Certificate of Eligibility for Importing Veterinary Drugs

1. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall issue, re-issue, renew, and revoke the Certificate of Eligibility for Importing Veterinary Drugs.

2. The Certificate of Eligibility for Importing Veterinary Drugs shall be revoked in the following cases:

a) The Certificate of Eligibility for Importing Veterinary Drugs is erased or its contents are altered;

b) No longer engaged in importing veterinary drugs;

c) Engaging in other violations for which the law requires the revocation of the Certificate of Eligibility for Importing Veterinary Drugs.

3. The government regulates the issuance, re-issuance, renewal, and revocation of the Certificate of Eligibility for Importing Veterinary Drugs."

35. Amend and supplement certain clauses of Article 100 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement clause 4 as follows:

"4. Organizations and individuals importing vaccines and microorganisms prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, and veterinary drugs and veterinary drug ingredients prescribed in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article, shall register the import of veterinary drugs and veterinary drug ingredients with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall prescribe the procedures for registering the import of veterinary drugs and veterinary drug ingredients.";

b) Amend and supplement clause 6 as follows:

"6. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall organize the inspection of the quality of imported veterinary drugs at the border gate in accordance with the provisions of law."

36. Amend and supplement Article 109 as follows:

"Article 109. Issuance, reissuance, and renewal of veterinary practice certificate

1. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall issue, reissue, and renew the veterinary practice certificate as prescribed in Article 107 of this Law.

2. The veterinary practice certificate is valid for 5 years.

3. The Government shall stipulate the order and procedures for the issuance, reissuance, and renewal of the veterinary practice certificate."

37. Repeal the following articles, clauses, points, and phrases:

a) Repeal Clause 10 Article 8; Clause 2 Article 9; Clause 4 Article 25; Clause 4 Article 27; Clause 5 Article 33; Clause 4 Article 35; Article 42; Article 45; Article 48; Clause 4 Article 62; Point b Clause 2 Article 73; Clause 2 Article 76; Point b Clause 4 Article 78; Clause 2 Article 88; Clause 1, Clause 6 Article 90; Clause 1 Article 92; Clause 2 Article 99; Point b Clause 1 Article 108 and Article 110;

b) Remove the phrase “inspection,” in Point i Clause 2 Article 8.

38. Replace some phrases in the following articles, clauses, and points:

a) Replace the phrase “commune, ward, township veterinary staff” with the phrase “commune veterinary” in point h, clause 2, Article 8; replace the phrase “communal veterinary staff” with the phrase “commune veterinary” in clauses 1 and 2, Article 19; clause 2, Article 20; point d, clause 1 and clause 2, Article 25; clause 8, point b, clause 9, Article 27; point d, clause 1, clause 2 and point a, clause 4, Article 33;

b) Replace the phrase “Department of Veterinary” with the phrase “Central veterinary management agency” in clause 2, Article 11; clause 6, Article 27; clause 2, Article 41; clauses 2 and 3, Article 43; clause 4, Article 44; clauses 1 and 2, Article 47; clauses 1, 2 and 3, Article 50; clause 1, Article 52; Article 59; clause 1, Article 60; clause 4, Article 75; clause 2, Article 83; clause 2, Article 84; clause 2, Article 87; clause 1, Article 100; clause 5, Article 103 and point a, clause 4, Article 105;

c) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Information and Communications” with the phrase “Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism” in clause 9, Article 8;

d) Replace the phrase "Ministry of Transport" with the phrase "Ministry of Construction" in Clause 11, Article 8;

đ) Replace the phrase "Department of Agriculture and Rural Development" with the phrase "Department of Agriculture and Environment" in Clause 2, Article 114;

e) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in point a, clause 3, Article 7; Article 8; clause 2, Article 11; clause 6, Article 15; clause 3, Article 17; clauses 4 and 5, Article 18; clause 4, Article 19; clause 1, Article 20; point a, clause 1, clause 2, Article 22; clause 6, Article 26; point c, clauses 1 and 2, points d and đ, clause 3, Article 27; clause 2, Article 28; clauses 2 and 8, Article 30; clause 1, Article 31; clause 4, Article 32; clause 2, points đ and e, clause 3, Article 35; clause 3, Article 37; clauses 3 and 4, Article 40; clause 3, Article 53; clause 1, Article 61; Article 74; clause 4, Article 78; clause 1, Article 84; point c, clause 1, Article 87; point b, clause 3, Article 100; clause 5, Article 101; clauses 2 and 4, Article 114.

Article 13. Amendments and supplements to certain provisions of the Irrigation Law

1. Amend and supplement clause 1, Article 21 as follows:

“1. For irrigation works using state capital, the responsibility for managing irrigation works is defined as follows:

a) The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment manages irrigation works of special importance;

b) The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the Provincial People's Committee manage irrigation works whose exploitation and protection involve 2 or more provincial administrative units according to the list prescribed by the Minister of Agriculture and Environment;

c) The Provincial People's Committee manages or delegates the management to the Commune People's Committee for irrigation works in the area based on the specific conditions of each locality, except for the cases specified in points a and b of this clause.”

2. Amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 24 as follows:

“3. The authority to approve and publicly announce the operation process of irrigation works is defined as follows:

a) The Minister of Agriculture and Environment approves and publicly announces the operation procedures of particularly important irrigation works, irrigation works whose exploitation and protection involve 2 or more provincial-level administrative units;

b) The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee implements or delegates to the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee to approve and publicly announce the operation procedures of irrigation works in the locality, except for the irrigation works specified in point a of this clause and clause 4 of this Article.

3. Amend and supplement certain provisions of Article 41 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement clause 3 as follows:

"3. The Chairperson of the Provincial People's Committee shall approve the plan to protect irrigation works or delegate the Chairperson of the Commune People's Committee to approve the plan to protect irrigation works in the local area, except for irrigation works stipulated in Clause 4 of this Article.";

b) Add clause 5 after clause 4 as follows:

"5. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on this Article."

4. Amend and supplement Clause 2 of Article 44 as follows:

"2. The Chairperson of the Provincial People's Committee shall implement or delegate the Chairperson of the Commune People's Committee to issue permits for activities within the protection scope of irrigation works."

5. Amend and supplement certain provisions of Article 52 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement clause 1 as follows:

“1. The transfer or recovery of management rights and exploitation of small irrigation works and intra-field irrigation works funded by state capital shall be decided by the owner of the works in the form of transfer or recovery in their original state, ensuring compliance with the provisions of the law on irrigation and related laws.”;

b) Add Clause 4 after Clause 3 as follows:

“4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall stipulate the details of this Article.”.

6. Amend and supplement Clause 3 of Article 57 as follows:

"3. The commune-level People's Committee has the following responsibilities:

a) Organize the implementation of legal documents on irrigation;

b) Organize the implementation of irrigation development plans according to the master plan approved by the competent authority;

c) Direct the activities of organizations and individuals managing, exploiting, and protecting irrigation works in the area;

d) Organize the implementation of the tasks of grassroots irrigation organizations in cases where such organizations have not yet been established;

d) Mobilize local resources according to the provisions of the law to organize handling when irrigation works encounter incidents;

e) Organize statistics, build and manage a database on irrigation;

g) Disseminate and educate the law on irrigation;

h) Inspect the implementation of permits for activities within the protection scope of irrigation works;

i) Submit periodic and ad hoc reports on irrigation activities in the area;

k) Inspect, handle legal violations; receive citizens, resolve complaints and denunciations regarding irrigation.

7. Abolish the following articles, clauses and phrases:

a) Abolish Articles 11, 12, 13, 14 and 34; Clause 4 Article 42; point g Clause 2 Article 56 and Clause 2 Article 57;

b) Remove the phrase ", planning" in Article 1 and the title of Chapter II;

c) Remove the phrase "District People's Committee," in Clause 3 Article 48;

d) Remove the phrase "Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment," in point c Clause 2 Article 56;

đ) Remove the phrase "Inspectorate," in point p Clause 2 Article 56.

8. Replace certain phrases in the following sections and points:

a) Replace the phrase 'water resources planning' with the phrase 'planning in accordance with the provisions of the law on planning' at point a, clause 1, Article 17;

b) Replace the phrase “approved irrigation planning” with the phrase “sector planning, regional planning, detailed sector planning, provincial planning related to irrigation” in Clause 1, Article 47;

c) Replace the phrase “water resources planning” with the phrase “planning related to water resources” in Clause 2, Article 2, Point a, Clause 1, Article 5; replace the phrase “water resources planning” with the phrase “detailed sector planning, provincial planning related to water resources, urban and rural planning” in Clause 1, Article 49; replace the phrase “disaster prevention and control and water resources planning, water resources planning” with the phrase “planning related to water resources” in Point a, Clause 2, Article 56; replace the phrase “national sector planning” with the phrase “sector planning” in Point d, Clause 2, Article 56;

d) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 11, Article 2; Clause 3, Point a, Clause 4, Article 9; Clause 3, Article 10; Clause 5, Article 24; Clause 3, Article 33; Clause 2, Article 35; Point d, Clause 2, Article 42; Clause 3, Article 43; Point b, Clause 3, Clause 5, Article 45; Clause 6, Article 50; Clauses 2 and 3, Article 56; and Point k, Clause 1, Article 57.

Article 14. Amendment and supplementation of some provisions of the Law on Fisheries

1. Amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 11 as follows:

“3. The content, authority, formulation, appraisal, approval, announcement, implementation, evaluation, and adjustment of the planning for the protection and exploitation of aquatic resources shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on planning.”

2. Amend and supplement Clause 4 and Point a, Clause 5, Article 13 as follows:

“4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment has the authority:

a) Regulations on criteria for identifying prohibited fishing occupations and gear, and temporarily prohibited fishing areas;

b) Issuing the List of occupations and fishing gear prohibited from use in offshore fishing;

c) Issuing the List of temporarily prohibited fishing areas in offshore zones, areas covering both nearshore and offshore zones; nearshore and inland areas within the scope of two or more provinces or centrally governed cities.

5. Provincial People's Committees have the following responsibilities:

a) Issuing the List of occupations and fishing gear prohibited from use in nearshore, nearshore transitional, and inland fishing, and the List of temporarily prohibited fishing areas in nearshore, nearshore transitional, and inland zones based on criteria for identifying prohibited occupations, gear, and temporarily prohibited fishing areas as issued by the Minister of Agriculture and the Environment.”

3. Amend and supplement Clause 3, Clause 4, and add Clause 5 after Clause 4 of Article 16 as follows:

3. Establishment of national-level marine protected areas:

a) The Minister of Agriculture and Environment decides to establish marine protected areas with an area belonging to the territory of two or more provinces or centrally governed cities; marine protected areas with an area located outside the administrative management boundaries at sea of the provinces or centrally governed cities;

b) The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee decides to establish marine protected areas located within the administrative management boundaries at sea of the province or centrally governed city; marine protected areas with part of the area located within the administrative management boundaries at sea of the province and part of the area located outside the administrative management boundaries at sea of the province.

4. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment issues regulations on the management of marine protected areas.

5. The competent authority establishing a marine protected area is responsible for promulgating the Management Regulations of the marine protected area within its jurisdiction.

4. Amend and supplement Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 17 as follows:

“2. The authority to issue the List of Fisheries Resource Protection Areas is regulated as follows:

a) The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall issue the List of Fisheries Resource Protection Areas in the territories of two or more provinces or centrally-run cities;

b) The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall issue the List of Fisheries Resource Protection Areas in coastal areas, estuarine areas, and inland areas under their management.

3. The Provincial People's Committee shall organize the management of fisheries resource protection areas specified in point b, clause 2 of this Article; and coordinate to unify the management organization of fisheries resource protection areas specified in point a, clause 2 of this Article.”

5. Amend and supplement some clauses and points of Article 23 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point b, clause 1 as follows:

“b) Allowed to announce the applicable standards according to regulations;”;

b) Amend and supplement point a of Clause 2 as follows:

“a) Regulations on the breeding period of parent aquatic species; issue the List of aquatic species permitted for business in Vietnam;”.

6. Amend and supplement some clauses and points of Article 28 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point a of clause 2 as follows:

“a) Have technical staff with a university degree or higher in aquaculture, aquatic pathology, or biology;”;

b) Amend and supplement clause 4 as follows:

“4. The Government shall specify Clause 2 of this Article in detail and the contents, procedures, and testing of aquatic species. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall regulate the naming of aquatic species.”

7. Amend and supplement some clauses and points of Article 31 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement point a, clause 1 as follows:

“a) Be allowed to announce applicable standards according to regulations;”;

b) Amend and supplement point a of Clause 2 as follows:

“a) Issue national technical regulations on aquaculture feed and aquaculture environmental treatment products in accordance with regulations;”.

8. Amend and supplement Point b, Clause 1 of Article 37 as follows:

“b) Implement the announcement of applicable standards according to regulations;”.

9. Amend and supplement Clause 3 and add Clause 4 after Clause 3 of Article 40 as follows:

“3. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall regulate the procedures and formalities for certifying the origin of aquatic species as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

4. Breeding, growing, and artificial planting of aquatic species listed in the Annex of the international convention on trade in endangered wild fauna and flora; endangered, precious, and rare aquatic species shall be carried out in accordance with the regulations of the Minister of Agriculture and Environment.”

10. Amend and supplement Article 44 as follows:

“Article 44. Allocation of marine areas for aquaculture

1. Organizations and individuals engaged in marine aquaculture must have an aquaculture plan or project and be authorized by the competent authority to be allocated the marine area for aquaculture.

2. The allocation of marine areas for aquaculture must comply with the national marine spatial planning, the overall planning for exploitation and sustainable use of coastal resources, provincial planning; regulations of the law on fisheries, seas, and islands; and ensure security and national defense.

3. Cases exempted from payment for the use of marine areas for aquaculture:

a) Vietnamese individuals who switch from coastal fishing to aquaculture as decided by a competent state agency, and the aquaculture area is located within the 3-nautical-mile sea zone measured from the average lowest tide line over many years of the mainland or islands;

b) Vietnamese individuals who normally reside in the commune-level area where their main livelihood depends on income from aquaculture, and the aquaculture area is located within the sea area of 03 nautical miles measured from the average lowest tide line over many years of the mainland or islands.

4. The term for allocating sea areas for aquaculture shall not exceed 50 years, calculated from the effective date of the decision to allocate the sea area. Upon expiration of the allocation term, organizations or individuals who wish to continue using the allocated sea area for aquaculture shall have their request for extension considered by the State; extensions may be granted multiple times, but the total extension period shall not exceed 20 years.

5. The Government shall provide detailed regulations on this Article.

11. Amend and supplement clause 2 of Article 46 as follows:

“2. Individuals assigned marine areas for aquaculture in accordance with Clause 3, Article 44 of this Law have the rights provided for in Clause 1 of this Article and have the right to mortgage their own assets attached to the assigned marine area at credit institutions in accordance with the law.”.

12. Amend and supplement some clauses and points of Article 50 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement item 2 as follows:

“2. The Government shall stipulate the conditions for granting a fisheries exploitation license.”;

b) Amend and supplement point d and add point đ after point d, Clause 5 as follows:

“d) No longer meeting the conditions for granting a fisheries exploitation license as stipulated by the Government;

đ) Other cases as prescribed by the Government.”

13. Amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 55 as follows:

“2. Having an Investment Registration Certificate issued by a competent state agency, or a cooperation project on fisheries exploitation approved by the Minister of Agriculture and Environment, or a cooperation project on investigating and assessing fishery resources, technical training, technology transfer in the field of fisheries, purchasing and transporting fisheries in Vietnam’s sea areas approved by the Minister of Agriculture and Environment or the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

The approval of projects on fisheries exploitation in Vietnam’s sea areas must be based on the quotas of Fisheries Exploitation Licenses, fisheries that are not on the list of prohibited fishing methods, and vessels that are not listed in the registry of vessels engaged in illegal fishing activities established and announced by the competent authority of Vietnam, a regional fisheries management organization, or a recognized international organization.”

14. Amend and supplement Article 63 as follows:

“Article 63. Conditions for facilities for building and converting fishing vessels

1. Have suitable material facilities, equipment, and personnel.

2. Have a quality management system and technological processes that meet the requirements.”

15. Amend and supplement certain clauses of Article 69 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement clause 1 as follows:

“1. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall issue, reissue, and revoke Certificates of eligibility for fishing vessel inspection facilities for inspection facilities under the management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. The Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee shall issue, reissue, and revoke Certificates of eligibility for fishing vessel inspection facilities for inspection facilities in their management area. The competent authority issuing the Certificates of eligibility for fishing vessel inspection facilities shall conduct inspections to maintain the conditions of the fishing vessel inspection facilities every 24 months.”

b) Amend and supplement clause 4 as follows:

“4. The Government shall regulate the procedures for recognizing facilities eligible for fishing vessel inspection. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall promulgate national technical standards on the classification and construction of fishing vessels and fisheries service vessels; regulate the standards, training, and professional development of fishing vessel inspectors; and issue or revoke inspector cards and technical stamps for fishing vessel inspectors.”

16. Amend and supplement Article 72 as follows:

“Article 72. Deregistration of fishing vessels

The Government shall regulate the cases of fishing vessel deregistration. When deregistering, the competent authority shall revoke the Fishing Vessel Registration Certificate, remove the vessel's name from the national fishing vessel register, and issue a Deregistration Certificate to the vessel owner.”

17. Amend and supplement Clause 3 of Article 77 as follows:

"3. The content, authority, formulation, appraisal, approval, publication, implementation, evaluation, and adjustment of the planning of the fishing port system and storm shelter anchorage areas for fishing vessels shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on planning."

18. Amend and supplement Article 78 as follows:

"Article 78. Classification, opening, and closing of fishing ports

1. Classification of fishing ports

a) Type I fishing port;

b) Type II fishing port;

c) Type III fishing port.

2. The Minister of Agriculture and Environment shall prescribe in detail the criteria for Type I, Type II, and Type III fishing ports and the conditions, authority, procedures, and processes for opening and closing fishing ports."

19. Supplement the following phrases in certain articles, clauses, and points:

a) Add the phrase ", innovation" after the phrase "Development of science and technology" in point a, clause 2, Article 6; after the phrase "technology development" in clause 3, Article 8; and point e, clause 2, Article 101;

b) Add the phrase ", develop technology and innovate" after the phrase "application of science and technology" in point a, clause 1, Article 14;

c) Add the phrase 'and the regulations of the Government' after the phrase 'according to the requirements of the importing country' in Clause 1, Article 66.

20. Abolish the following articles, clauses, points, and phrases:

a) Abolish Clause 2 of Article 11; Clause 3 of Article 38; Article 39 and Article 79;

b) Remove the phrase "submit to the Prime Minister" in point a, Clause 3 of Article 12 and point a, Clause 3 of Article 13;

c) Remove the phrase "submit to the Government" in item b, clause 3, Article 13;

d) Remove the phrase "; content, order, and procedure for permitting marine aquaculture" in clause 5, Article 38;

dd) Remove the phrase "inspection," in item a, clause 1, item a, clause 2, Article 88; item a, clause 3, Article 90; and item l, clause 2, Article 101;

e) Remove the phrase "based on the approval of the Prime Minister" in item c, clause 3, Article 27 and item c, clause 3, Article 98;

g) Remove the phrase "district-level and" at the beginning of Clause 2, Article 102.

21. Replace certain words and phrases in the following clauses and points:

a) Replace the word "district" with the word "commune" in points a and b, Clause 2, Article 10;

b) Replace the phrase "Government" with the phrase "Minister of Agriculture and Environment" in Clause 10, Article 10; Clause 5, Article 27; Clause 5, Article 36; point k, Clause 2, Article 57; Clause 4, Article 66; Clause 7, Article 98; and Clause 3, Article 99;

c) Replace the phrase "Prime Minister" with the phrase "Minister of Agriculture and Environment" in point b, Clause 5, Article 13 and Clause 4, Article 38;

d) Replace the phrase "Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development" with the phrase "Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee" in Clause 2, Article 27; Clause 2, Article 36; Clauses 2 and 3, Article 66;

d) Replace the phrase "Provincial State Management Agency for Fisheries" with "Commune People’s Committee" in Clause 2, Article 40;

e) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 3 Article 9; Clause 3, Point a Clause 4, Clause 5 Article 12; Clause 3 Article 13; Clause 2 Article 14; Clause 2 Article 16; Clause 4 Article 17; Clause 1 Article 19; Point a Clause 2 Article 21; Clause 2 Article 23; Point a Clause 1 Article 25; Point c Clause 3, Clause 4 Article 27; Clause 2 Article 29; Point c Clause 1, Clause 2 Article 31; Point a Clause 1 Article 34; Clause 4 Article 36; Point đ Clause 1, Point c Clause 2 Article 37; Clause 2 Article 48; Point đ Clause 1, Clause 2, Clause 4 Article 49; Clause 7 Article 50; Clause 2 Article 51; Point c, Point h Clause 2 Article 52; Clause 1 Article 53; Clause 1, Clause 4 Article 54; Clause 6 Article 56; Points b, d, đ, and i Clause 2 Article 57; Point a Clause 2, Clause 3 Article 58; Point b Clause 2 Article 59; Clause 3 Article 60; Clause 4 Article 61; Point đ Clause 2 Article 65; Clause 4 Article 67; Point g Clause 1 Article 70; Clause 5 Article 71; Clause 4 Article 73; Clause 4 of Article 74; point g of Clause 3 of Article 75; Clause 4 of Article 76; point g of Clause 2 of Article 81; Clause 1 of Article 83; Clauses 1 and 3 of Article 86; Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 91; Clause 3 of Article 93; point a of Clause 1 of Article 95; point c of Clause 3, Clauses 4, 5, and 6 of Article 98; Clause 4 of Article 100; Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 101.

Article 15. Amendments and supplements to certain articles of the Crop Production Law

1. Amend and supplement Clause 3, Article 9 as follows:

"3. Producing and trading crop seeds that do not meet production and trading conditions; trading fertilizers that do not meet trading conditions; producing fertilizers that do not meet production conditions or have not been granted a certificate of sufficient conditions for fertilizer production."

2. Amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 15 as follows:

"2. The decision to recognize the circulation of annual crop seeds is valid for 20 years, perennial crop seeds are valid for 25 years, and can be extended."

3. Amend and supplement Clause 4, Article 29 as follows:

"4. The Minister of Agriculture and the Environment shall regulate the procedures and processes for state inspection of the quality of imported crop seeds; procedures and processes for granting import licenses for crop seeds."

4. Amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 40 as follows:

"1. Organizations conducting fertilizer trials must ensure the following conditions:

a) There is a sufficient number of personnel to conduct the trials, not including the person directly in charge of the trials, with a university degree or higher in one of the specialties of crop production, plant protection, soil agrochemistry, soil science, agronomy, chemistry, biology, and must participate in fertilizer trial training according to the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment;

b) There are adequate facilities and equipment in accordance with national standards for fertilizer trials.

5. Amend and supplement Article 42 as follows:

"Article 42. Conditions for fertilizer trading

Organizations and individuals trading fertilizers must ensure the following conditions:

1. Have a legal and clear business location;

2. Persons directly engaged in fertilizer trading must be trained and provided with professional development in fertilizers according to the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, except in cases where they already have at least an intermediate level in one of the specialized fields of crop cultivation, plant protection, soil agrochemistry, soil science, agronomy, chemistry, or biology.

6. Amend and supplement Article 64 as follows:

"Article 64. Planting area code, packaging facility code"

1. The planting area code and the packaging facility code are identification codes granted to planting areas and crop product packaging facilities to monitor, control production status, and trace origin.

2. The State encourages, facilitates, and has preferential policies to support organizations and individuals in registering for planting area codes and packaging facility codes.

3. The Government regulates planting area codes and packaging facility codes.

7. Abolish the following articles, clauses, points, and phrases:

a) Abolish Clause 10 of Article 9; Point a of Clause 3 of Article 15; Point a of Clause 1 and Clause 3 of Article 22; Clause 3 of Article 25; Clause 5 of Article 29; Points c and d of Clause 2 of Article 41; Point h of Clause 2 of Article 44; Clause 2 of Article 45; Articles 49 and 57;

b) Remove the phrase 'infrastructure,' in Point b of Clause 1 of Article 22;

c) Remove the phrase 'Inspection,' in Point g of Clause 2 of Article 82;

d) Remove the phrase 'District People's Committee,' in Clause 2 of Article 83.

8. Replace certain phrases in the following sections and points:

a) Replace the phrase “Government” with the phrase “Minister of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 2 Article 12; Clause 8 Article 15; Clause 3 Article 16; Clause 3 Article 17; Clause 7 Article 24; Clause 3 Article 27; Clause 3 Article 28; Clause 5 Article 36; Clause 4 Article 37; Clause 3 Article 38; Clause 3 Article 44; Clause 4 Article 45;

b) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” with the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Environment” in Clause 3 Article 5; Clause 3 Article 7; Clause 4 Article 8; Clause 6 Article 13; Clause 4 Article 20; Clause 3 Article 26; Clause 3 Article 29; Clause 2 Article 46; Point i Clause 2 Article 52; Clause 3 Article 54; Clause 3 Article 59; Clause 2 Article 70; Clause 3 Article 71; Clause 3 Article 76; Clauses 2 and 3 Article 82;

c) Replace the phrase “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” with the phrase “Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee” in Clause 2 Article 28 and Clause 2 Article 29.

Article 16. Implementation provisions

1. This Law takes effect from January 1, 2026, except for the cases specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article and the relevant provisions in Article 17 of this Law.

2. The preparation of integrated water resources planning and inter-provincial river basin irrigation infrastructure specified in Point a, Clause 3, Article 10 of this Law shall be carried out from January 1, 2027.

3. Clause 4, Article 40 of the Fisheries Law No. 18/2017/QH14 has been amended and supplemented according to Law No. 31/2024/QH15 and Law No. 43/2024/QH15, as amended and supplemented in Clause 9, Article 14 of this Law, and takes effect from July 1, 2026.

4. Abolish point a, clause 4, Article 182 of the Land Law No. 31/2024/QH15 as amended and supplemented by certain articles under Law No. 43/2024/QH15, Law No. 47/2024/QH15, Law No. 58/2024/QH15, Law No. 71/2025/QH15, Law No. 84/2025/QH15, Law No. 93/2025/QH15, Law No. 95/2025/QH15, Law No. 116/2025/QH15 and Law No. 130/2025/QH15.

Article 17. Transitional Provisions

1. Legal normative documents and administrative documents issued by state agencies and competent authorities before January 1, 2026, shall continue to be effective until the state agency or competent authority issues replacement provisions in accordance with this Law.

2. The provisions on administrative procedures being implemented under the laws amended and supplemented by this Law shall continue to be executed until the state agency or competent authority issues replacement provisions in accordance with this Law.

3. Documents, permits, and certificates that are the result of administrative procedure resolution issued by competent authorities or persons before January 1, 2026, and have not yet expired or reached their term, shall continue to be applied and used according to the duration stated on those documents, permits, or certificates.

In the case that organizations or individuals need to amend, supplement, reissue, or extend documents, permits, or certificates, they shall send a written request to the competent authority or person as stipulated in this Law for resolution.

4. Organizations and individuals that have had their dossiers received by state agencies or competent authorities for the handling of administrative procedures before January 1, 2026, but have not yet obtained results, shall continue to be resolved in accordance with the laws in force at the time of receipt, except in cases where organizations or individuals request to comply with the provisions of this Law.

5. Before June 30, 2026, the agency or authorized person is responsible for transferring completed or ongoing dossiers or data related to administrative procedures to the agency or authorized person who is granted authority in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

6. For the replacement forest planting funds in the provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund that do not have a spending plan before January 1, 2026, the Provincial People’s Committee shall review and implement in accordance with the provisions of Article 21 of the Law on Forestry No. 16/2017/QH14, as amended and supplemented by Law No. 16/2023/QH15, and Law No. 31/2024/QH15, as amended and supplemented in Clause 6, Article 8 of this Law.

7. Forest owners are households that have been allocated or leased forest land by the State before January 1, 2026, and may continue to implement this until the end of the allocation or lease period, exercising rights and fulfilling obligations in accordance with the provisions of Articles 81, 82, 83, 84, and 85 of the Forestry Law No. 16/2017/QH14, as amended and supplemented by Law No. 16/2023/QH15 and Law No. 31/2024/QH15.

8. In the case of special-use forests or protection forests that have economic-technical reports or projects establishing the forest area approved by the competent authority before January 1, 2019, it is not required to follow the procedures for establishing special-use forests or protection forests.

9. Marine protected areas that have been established or identified in the planning for the protection and exploitation of aquatic resources before January 1, 2026, shall continue to operate and be established until the administrative boundaries at sea are determined and a decision on the establishment of the marine protected area is made by the competent authority.

10. Decisions recognizing the circulation of plant varieties, decisions extending the recognition of circulation of plant varieties, decisions recognizing new plant varieties, and decisions recognizing genetically modified plant varieties by exception, which were issued by the competent authority before January 1, 2026, may continue to be used for 20 years for annual crops and 25 years for perennial crops from the date of issuance of the decision and may be extended in circulation recognition of plant varieties in accordance with the Law on Crop Production No. 31/2018/QH14, as amended and supplemented under the provisions of this Law.

11. Crop varieties that are already listed in the Catalog of crop varieties allowed for production and business but do not have a Decision recognizing a new crop variety may continue production and business for a period of 20 years for annual crop varieties and 25 years for perennial crop varieties, calculated from the date the Catalog of crop varieties allowed for production and business takes effect, and their circulation recognition is extended in accordance with the provisions of the Planting Law No. 31/2018/QH14, as amended and supplemented under the provisions of this Law.

12. Dyke planning, flood prevention and control planning of the river sections with dykes specified in items 8 and 9 of Appendix II of the Planning Law No. 21/2017/QH14, which have selected consulting organizations to develop the plans but have not been appraised or approved before January 1, 2026, shall continue to be implemented in accordance with the legal regulations at the time of selecting the consulting organizations to develop the plans and shall be carried out until replaced by dyke and flood prevention and control planning of the river sections with dykes as prescribed by this Law. The authority to approve the plans shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions on the authority to approve dyke and flood prevention and control planning of the river sections with dykes under this Law.

13. The central veterinary management agency shall conduct quality inspections of imported veterinary drugs, which are being carried out online on the National Single Window Portal until December 31, 2026.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall organize the inspection of the quality of imported veterinary drugs from January 1, 2027. In case a locality is connected to the National One-Stop Administrative Procedure Portal to conduct state inspection on the quality of imported veterinary drugs before December 31, 2026, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall organize the inspection of the quality of imported veterinary drugs from the date of connection.

14. The Government shall stipulate other transitional cases under the provisions of this Law.

This Law was passed by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 15th Legislature, 10th session, on December 11, 2025.

CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

(signed)

Tran Thanh Man