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Updates: On May 11, 2023, MOIT published the second draft amendment of the Decree No.38/2014/ND-CP for public consultation. The draft was open for comments until May 31, 2023. (See ChemLinked coverage)
On June 9, 2022, Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) released a notice to consult on the draft amendments of the Decree No.38/2014/ND-CP on the Management of Chemicals Governed by the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (See Vietnam Government News).
The notice is attached with a summary report for the implementation in the past years, as well as a draft proposal of amendments to the Decree. The public consultation period ended on June 30.
It has been 8 years since Vietnam implemented the Decree No.38/2014/ND-CP dated May 6, 2014, which has achieved great progress in the prohibition of chemical weapons under the terms of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). However, there are still limitations and problems revealed during the enforcement in practice, which need to be further addressed by amending the Decree.
Dual-use chemicals relating to chemical weapons, in particular the Schedule 3 chemicals of Decree No.38/2014/ND-CP also have a wide variety of commercial applications, e.g., used as additives in the production of cosmetics, electronic components, adhesives, cooling solutions, etc. The management of dual-use chemicals in Vietnam calls for a balance between controls as per CWC and efforts to economic development. According to the summary report for the implementation of Decree No. 38/2014/ND-CP in the past years, the declaration system hasn’t been effectively enacted. In fact, the illicit trading of Schedule chemicals, mainly the Schedule 3 chemicals is rampant, resulting in serious consequences on chemical safety. In addition, it is necessary to review the provisions on import and export of dual-use chemicals and appropriately adjust them to minimize the discrepancies with other countries. Thus, the current management system needs improvement.
The draft proposal consists of 6 chapters of 49 articles. The main amendments include:
Adding exemptions for permit for trading, importing and exporting Schedule chemicals in accordance with the concentration limits set by the Chemical Weapons Convention
Exempting declaration requirements for some activities of Schedule 2 and 3 chemicals, e.g., “stockpiling” of Schedule 2 chemicals, and “processing”, “stockpiling”, “use” of Schedule 3 chemicals
Unifying the deadline for annual declaration of the activities of Schedule chemicals in the previous year and annual declaration of the plan for the following year as January 31
Simplify administrative procedures for import and export of Schedule chemicals. Schedule chemicals that have been granted import and export permits will not have to declare the import of chemicals and the permit issuance will be done through the National Single Window.
Supplementing provisions on assessment of actual conditions of chemical manufacturing facilities of Schedule chemicals. After being granted a permit, organizations and individuals must maintain conditions for production and trading of Schedule chemicals and are subject to an inspection and assessment of the maintenance of conditions which is carried out every 36 months.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to submit the proposal to the Government and the Prime Minister for review and approval in October 2022 and the revised Decree may come out before November 2023.
