Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha suggested that the drafting agency absorb the opinions of relevant ministries and sectors to supplement and perfect the law project… – Photo: VGP/Nguyen Hoang
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The law project was discussed in groups and in the hall at the 7th session of the National Assembly, with 77 turns of NA deputies speaking in groups and 19 turns of NA deputies speaking in the hall. The majority of opinions agreed with the necessity of building and promulgating the law and basically agreed with the structure and much of the content of the draft law. The current draft law is structured with 12 chapters and 117 articles.
The Deputy Prime Minister requested that the delegates focus their discussions and thoroughly exchange views on scientific, practical, and management issues to preserve and protect mineral resources, ensuring a high level of consensus.
Solving difficulties and problems in practice
In that spirit, at the meeting, leaders and representatives of the functional ministries and sectors focused their discussions on the major issues of the draft law that still had differing opinions, including the scope of the law’s adjustment; mineral classification; mineral planning; mineral planning adjustments; mineral reserve evaluation council; mineral exploitation rights auction and non-auction areas; basic geological surveys; etc.
Regarding the specific contents that need to be absorbed and perfected in the draft law, Tran Quy Kien, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, thought that there should be a more scientific approach to the issues of responsibility for mineral planning; the scope related to auction and non-auction areas for mineral exploitation rights; overlaps between mineral planning and other types of planning; so that the scope of adjustment can be determined more accurately, ensuring the feasibility and unity of the draft law.
Specifically, the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) suggested that the draft propose two options for the responsibility of formulating mineral planning and analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each option to gather opinions from NA deputies: Assigning the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to formulate the Mineral Planning or assigning the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Construction to do so.
Regarding adjustments to mineral planning, the draft law has stipulated cases where planning adjustments are not required and cases where planning adjustments must be made in a simplified manner and in accordance with the law on minerals.
Absorbing the opinions of the NASC, the drafting agency stipulated that the National Mineral Reserve Evaluation Council recognizes the results of mineral exploration within the competence of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to grant licenses, with the participation of scientists and managers with in-depth expertise in the field of geology and minerals. This is an agency that has been formed for many years and operates independently of the state management agencies in the mineral resource sector.
Notably, regarding the proposal to solve difficulties and problems in the mineral planning practice in Binh Phuoc and Dak Nong (as mentioned by some delegations and NA deputies at the 7th session), a representative of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment informed that there are some problems in practice, such as overlaps between mineral planning and other types of planning that affect socio-economic development within the mineral planning area; multi-purpose land use; partial mine closure and quick handover of mined-out areas to localities for use; granting of mineral exploitation licenses for common construction minerals and filling materials within the planned mineral area; mineral recovery during the construction of projects and works located within the planned exploration and exploitation area…
Regarding Article 5 on “principles of basic geological and mineral surveys and mineral activities”; Article 10 on “prohibited acts”, and Article 28 on “mineral activity areas and mineral planning”, Phan Thi Thanh Hang, Deputy Director of the Forest Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), suggested that these articles be reviewed further to avoid overlaps and contradictions within these articles and in relation to other current legal provisions on the management of various types of resources.
At the meeting, leaders and representatives of the Ministries of Finance, Industry and Trade, Construction, and Planning and Investment discussed, analyzed, and clarified issues related to regulations on: Methods for determining, modes of collection, and settlement of mineral exploitation rights charges; principles for determining reimbursement for state-invested mineral potential evaluation and exploration costs, along with many other important contents on financial geology, minerals, and mineral exploitation rights auctions; planning and planning adjustments for minerals; geology, mineral, and mining industry strategies; mineral processing; etc.
Arranging sufficient budget for exploration and evaluation of large and strategic mineral reserves
Concluding the working session, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha suggested that the drafting agency absorb the opinions of relevant ministries and sectors to supplement and perfect the law project, while paying great attention to referring to and learning from international experiences, especially from advanced countries, in mineral resource management, following the principle of “clear management and user responsibilities”, avoiding “one task, two persons” and “not stipulating rigidly the issues and contents under the competence of the Government such as organizational apparatus and budget”
“The law should have provisions on the procedure for adjusting geological and mineral planning in a streamlined manner thanks to scientific and technological advances that improve investment efficiency and environmental protection, in line with the trends of the times… without changing the goals, scale, and implementation process of the planning,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted.
At the same time, the law must provide mechanisms and policies for allocating and arranging budgets for exploration, evaluation, and estimation of reserves of minerals with large reserves and strategic importance for socio-economic development, ensuring consistency with specialized laws on investment, budget, etc.
The Deputy Prime Minister also gave specific directions to the drafting agency of the law project regarding criteria for cases that must be auctioned and not auctioned for mineral exploitation rights; handling and resolving overlaps between mineral planning and other types of planning; using waste rocks and soil from mining activities as filling materials; prohibited acts; etc.
“The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment should closely coordinate, absorb, and fully explain the contributions of ministries, sectors, localities, and experts, focusing on perfecting the law project, ensuring its intelligence and quality, and when submitted to the National Assembly, the law project must achieve a high level of consensus,” said Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha.
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