Pham Diem
State and Law Institute of Vietnam
Important, wide-ranging and complicated as it is, the environmental question inevitably requires state administration in present days. In the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the State has enough practical conditions for performing this task as it is the owner of most natural resources, including land, forests, rivers, lakes and mineral resources, which all constitute important factors and components of the living environment. As the owner, the State has full power to formulate a regime of management, use and protection of those resources.
The State manages the environment with different methods, tools and means, including law, in order to direct human activities and harmonize the relationship between the environment and development in such a way that satisfies all human needs and at the same time ensure the quality of the living environment. Under Vietnam’s current law, the State administration of the environment covers two principal contents: the State administration of the environment and the system of State administration agencies in charge of the environment.
State administration of the environment
The first and foremost content of the State administration of the environment is the formulation of environmental strategies, policies and law, which serve as both guidelines and tools for the State to effectively manage the environment. An environmental strategy is formulated in close relation with the national socio-economic development strategy in each given historical period. It contains basic guidelines for the State’s specific environmental administration activities. On the basis of objectives and tasks set forth by strategies, the State makes environmental policies and law to govern specific activities of the environmental management process. Environmental policies cover various processes, including scientific research, organization of management, training of environmental experts, communication and education for improving public awareness of the environment, and various aspects such as exploitation, use, renewal, regeneration and protection of natural resources. Environmental strategies and policies are then translated into law and provided not only in the Environmental Protection Law but also in the Constitution, the Penal Code, the Civil Code, the Forest Protection and Development Law, the Land Law, the Mineral Law, etc.
As compared with the 1993 Environmental Protection Law, the 2005 Environmental Protection Law lays down more comprehensive and specific principles for policies on environmental protection. Accordingly, Vietnam’s environmental strategies, policies and law adhere to the following principles:
- Environmental protection must be in harmony with economic development and assure social advancement for national sustainable development; protection of the national environment must be connected with protection of the regional and global environment.
- Environmental protection is the cause of the whole society, the right and responsibility of state agencies, organizations, households and individuals.
- Environmental protection activities must be carried out regularly, taking prevention as the main task in combination with remedying environmental pollution, degradation and improving environmental quality.
- Environmental protection must accord with natural law, cultural and historical characteristics and suit the level of socio-economic development of the country in each period.
- Organizations, households or individuals that cause environmental pollution or degradation shall take remedies, pay damages and bear other liabilities as provided for by law.
Vietnam’s policies on environmental protection cover the following principal contents:
- Encouraging and creating favorable conditions for all organizations, population communities, households and individuals to participate in environmental protection activities.
- Stepping up propaganda, education and mobilization in combination with the application of administrative, economic and other measures to foster the sense of self-consciousness and discipline in environmental protection activities.
- Rationally and economically using natural resources, developing clean and renewable energies; stepping up recycling, reuse and reduction of wastes.
- Prioritizing the settlement of pressing environmental problems; concentrating on handling seriously polluting establishments; rehabilitating the environment in polluted and degraded areas; and attaching importance to the protection of the environment in urban centers and residential areas.
- Investment in environmental protection means development investment; diversifying investment sources for environmental protection and arranging separate funds for environmental activities in annual state budgets.
- Granting land and tax preferences and providing financial supports for environmental protection activities and environment-friendly products; harmonizing environmental protection with efficient use of environmental components for development.
- Intensifying human resource training, encouraging scientific and technological research, application and transfer of scientific and technological achievements in environmental protection; forming and developing the environmental industry.
- Expanding and raising the efficiency of international cooperation; fully realizing international commitments to environmental protection; encouraging organizations and individuals to participate in international cooperation in environmental protection.
Apart from the formulation of environmental strategies, policies and law, the State administration of the environment also covers other important contents:
* The State periodically assesses the environmental status and forecasts the environmental development. Adequate assessment of the environmental status and reliable forecasts for environmental development are extremely important for environmental administration activities. The State is unable to deal with environmental issues unless it is constantly informed of the actual status and development trend of the environment. Environmental assessment is a complete and specific quantitative and qualitative study of each environmental component in each locality and the whole country as well. The 2005 Environmental Protection Law devotes Chapter III to provide for the environmental assessment.
* The State promulgates national environmental standards, grants and withdraws environmental standard conformity certificates. The promulgation of environmental standards is significant to the State administration of the environment because those environmental standards serve as both technical tools and legal grounds for the State to manage the environment, and help competent State agencies accurately determine the quality of the environment, the extent of environmental pollution and identify polluters. Only by doing so can the State apply measures to prevent and remedy environmental pollution, handle in time environmental violations. In the 2005 Environmental Protection Law, environmental standards are provided in Chapter II.
* The State supervises, inspects and examines the observance of environmental law, handles violations of environmental law, settles disputes, complaints and denunciations against acts harmful to the environment. This content of the State administration of the environment is comprehensively and specifically provided in Chapter XIV of the 2005 Environmental Protection Law. In the spirit of the Law, the effectiveness of the State administration of the environment largely depends on the enforcement of environmental policies and law, of which activities of supervising, inspecting and examining the observance of environmental law, handling violations of environmental law, and settling disputes, complaints and denunciations against acts harmful to the environment constitute an integral part.
* The State undertakes international cooperation on environmental protection. According to the provisions of Chapter XII of the 2005 Environmental Protection Law, all international treaties that are beneficial to the protection of global environment, regional environment and national environment are given priority for consideration of signing or accession. To date, Vietnam has signed or acceded to more than 20 treaties on environmental protection, for instance: the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, etc. The Environmental Protection Law also encourages organizations and individuals to actively participate in international cooperation on environmental protection.
Agencies responsible for environment
Under Vietnamese law, the system of State administration agencies in charge of the environment in Vietnam consists of:
* The Government, minisTries and central branches:
The Government performs the unified state administration of the environment through the country.
The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry is a specialized agency answerable to the Government for the state administration of the environment.
Other ministries and branches are, within the scope of their respective powers, responsible for performing the tasks specified in the Environmental Protection Law and coordinating with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry in directing, guiding and inspecting the observance of the environmental protection law by entities under their management.
* People’s Committees:
The People’s Committees play a very important role in the environmental protection.
Yet, the 1993 Environmental Protection Law only spelt out the environmental protection duties and responsibilities of provincial/municipal People’s Committees. Meanwhile, the 2005 Environmental Protection Law expands and decentralizes those duties and responsibilities to the People’s Committees at all levels.
* Specialized agencies in charge of environmental protection:
The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry is the Government’s specialized agency in charge of environmental protection.
There always exists in each ministry or branch a specialized section in charge of environmental protection performing the environmental protection tasks within its assigned management domain.
Under the provincial/municipal or district People’s Committees are Natural Resources and Environment Services or Sections respectively. Meanwhile, People’s Committees of communes or wards have some staffs in charge of environmental protection. Those specialized services, sections or staffs assist their respective People’s Committees in managing the environment in their respective localities.
State corporations, economic groups, management boards of industrial parks, export processing zones, hi-tech parks and economic zones; and production, business or service establishments that discharge hazardous wastes or are prone to environment incidents must have professional sections or staffs in charge of environmental protection.
Particularly, the 2005 Environmental Protection Law clearly defines the responsibilities of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations for mobilizing mass organizations to participate in the environmental protection and supervise the implementation of the Environmental Protection Law.
It can be said that under the 2005 Environmental Protection Law, Vietnam’s environmental protection agencies have been structurally consolidated and developed from the central to grassroots levels and in all branches and sectors with their responsibilities and powers fully and clearly defined.-