Delegate Trinh Thi Tu Anh - Lam Dong delegation basically agreed with the content of the draft Law on Chemicals (amended) and the review report of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment.

Delegate Trinh Thi Tu Anh - National Assembly Delegation of Lam Dong province

According to the delegate, Article 6 of the draft law states 6 State policies in the chemical sector. The content of these policies is the main idea throughout the entire content stipulated in the draft law. The spirit and main content of the policies focus largely on economic development, promoting production, business and industrialization.

However, the delegate suggested that the issues of environmental protection, safety, health, and protection of human rights related to the chemical sector in the draft law need to continue to be reviewed to be regulated in a more appropriate and specific manner in the draft law.

“The issue of protecting health and safety, related human rights in the field of chemicals, environmental protection, the right to access transparent, complete and timely information, the right to request compensation and remedy of damages, the right to consult and participate in decisions on issues related to chemical management and control in the community need to be more clearly expressed, ensuring harmony with promoting economic development in chemical activities” – the delegate noted.

Second , Clause 1, Article 12 lists 6 areas identified as key chemical industries. Delegates proposed adding one more area, which is investing in chemical production complexes from recycled materials using advanced technology, with no secondary emissions.

Because, according to the provisions of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 and Articles 77 and 78 of Decree No. 08 of the Government detailing a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection, from January 1, 2024, enterprises manufacturing and importing tires, batteries, accumulators, lubricants and commercial packaging of certain products will have to fulfill their recycling responsibilities according to the prescribed mandatory recycling rate in order to move towards a green economy and a sustainable circular economy.

“This will motivate investors to carry out recycling projects, while promoting the development of the chemical industry in a secondary zero-emission economy,” said the delegate.

Third , regarding hazardous chemicals in products and goods in Chapter V, from Article 56 to Article 58, the delegate emphasized that Chapter V of the draft law was carefully and comprehensively drafted with the aim of keeping up with the trend of countries around the world in managing chemicals in products, especially consumer products that pose a risk of exposure to hazardous chemicals for users, in order to enhance protection of users' health and the environment, prevent the import into Vietnam of poor quality goods and products with high levels of hazardous chemicals that have been restricted in other countries around the world, reduce the risk of emissions into the environment and waste products after use containing large amounts of hazardous chemicals.

However, Clause 3, Article 57 stipulates that "organizations and individuals producing chemical products and goods containing hazardous substances specified in Clause 2, Article 56 of this Law are obliged to comply with regulations on the use, storage, transportation, disposal and treatment of chemicals". Delegates said that it is necessary to specify which provisions of this Law, that is, Clause 1 and Clause 2, Article 19, which refer to the transportation of hazardous chemicals; or Point b, Clause 1, Article 20, which refers to the storage of hazardous chemicals.

Apart from the above two provisions, there are no provisions on the use, disposal and treatment of hazardous chemicals, only provisions on the use, disposal and treatment of chemicals. So, will the use, disposal and treatment of hazardous chemicals be carried out in the same way as the provisions on the disposal of chemicals? At the same time, it is also necessary to consider and review this provision in relation to the provisions of the Law on Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue, which will be passed by the National Assembly at this session.

Fourth , on the responsibility for coordinating the prevention and response to chemical incidents. Clause 1, Article 70 of the draft law stipulates the classification of chemical incidents. Delegates noted that this classification is only based on geographical scope and there is little scientific basis for clear assessment and classification.

According to international practice, chemical incident classification according to ISO 3310-0 is often carried out according to the following criteria: The level of chemical hazard, the amount of chemical leaked, the rate of dispersion, the level of exposure, the impact on the environment, and the socio-economic consequences.

Therefore, the delegate suggested that the Drafting Committee consider classifying chemical incidents in a more scientific and clear manner to assess the severity, scale and impact of chemical incidents, thereby proposing timely response measures, handling them according to the chemical incident response method prescribed in Article 70 or according to the method of overcoming the consequences of chemical incidents prescribed in Point d, Clause 1, Article 71.

Delegate Nguyen Hai Dung from Nam Dinh delegation shared that the draft law supplements regulations on incentives and special investment support for projects in the key chemical industry sector. This is a new and important point of the draft law.

The key chemical industry sectors listed in Clause 1, Article 12 of the draft law include sectors that contribute to ensuring food security such as high-content fertilizers, ensuring health security, self-sufficiency in situations of epidemics as well as pharmaceuticals, ensuring raw materials for domestic production sectors such as basic chemicals, technical rubber petrochemicals or sectors that promote sustainable development towards a circular economy such as the production of hydrogen chemicals, green ammonia, specialized industrial zones and clusters.

Delegate Tran Thi Hong Thanh - Ninh Binh delegation said that Chapter VI of the draft Law has stipulated the contents on requirements for ensuring safety in chemical activities in Section 1, and on preventing and responding to chemical incidents in Section 2. The draft law basically inherits the provisions of the 2007 Chemical Law and the decree guiding the implementation of the law on plans and measures to prevent and respond to chemical incidents of organizations and individuals.

However, in the context of rapid technological development and the shift of the energy structure from traditional energy sources to clean energy sources, when developing the chemical safety chapter in the draft law, it is necessary to consider the specificity of some chemical processes producing energy carriers such as blue ammonia and blue hydrogen to ensure full identification of target cases, especially target cases that may arise in the future.

Specifically, it is necessary to clarify whether the above energy carriers will be subject to compliance under the draft law or under another energy law.

Also related to the energy sector, lithium batteries are now commonly used for bicycles and electric motorbikes. If a fire occurs, it will be very difficult to extinguish with conventional fire extinguishers, and using water to extinguish the fire can also cause an explosion.

“Based on that reality, it is proposed that the draft law needs to determine whether lithium battery fire prevention and response to fire incidents related to lithium batteries are subject to the draft law's chemical incident prevention and response or not, as a basis for issuing appropriate regulations,” said delegate Tran Thi Hong Thanh.