Proposal to regulate revenue from mineral exploitation to serve social security in localities with mines

On June 20, in the 7th Session program, the 15th National Assembly discussed in groups the draft Law on Geology and Minerals and the draft Law on Urban and Rural Planning.

The National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province discussed in Group 3 with the National Assembly Delegations of Bac Kan and Quang Ngai provinces. Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of the province chaired and directed the discussion.

REMOVING PROBLEMS IN PRACTICE

Speaking at the discussion, delegate Thai Thi An Chung agreed that this amendment to the Law on Minerals has added content related to regulations on geology because these two fields have a close relationship with each other.

Regarding the authority to recognize mineral exploration and exploitation, delegates said that this draft law has unified the authority to recognize mineral exploration and exploitation results transferred to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, which is responsible to the Government. Unlike before, there was also a Council for evaluating mineral exploration results, and based on the results of the Council, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment submitted to the Prime Minister.

"To make the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment fully responsible to the Government for managing mineral activities, it will be responsible for appraising and recognizing mineral exploration results, and responsible for managing licensing and approving mineral exploration projects," analyzed the Deputy Head of the Nghe An National Assembly Delegation.

Regarding the mineral exploitation rights fee, there are two views on whether to collect it or not. Expressing her opinion on this content, delegate Thai Thi An Chung agreed with the Government's view: minerals are non-renewable resources, public assets owned by the entire people represented by the State, therefore, investors must pay fees when exercising the exploitation rights; at the same time, this is public property and according to the Law on Management and Use of Public Assets, there are also regulations;... Therefore, continuing to collect mineral exploitation fees is appropriate, contributing to the state budget.

Regarding the method of determining and collecting the mineral exploitation rights fee, delegate Thai Thi An Chung said that in this draft law, the regulation has resolved the current practical difficulties, according to which enterprises will be paid annually, thus reducing financial pressure at the initial implementation time. The settlement of mineral exploitation rights fee based on actual output will also help resolve the difference between exploration reserves and actual output.

"Previously, we often calculated revenue based on exploration reserves, but exploration reserves were often inaccurate and the exploitation process also depended on capacity," the delegate analyzed.

Mr. Tran Nhat Minh - National Assembly member in charge of Nghe An delegation agreed with the necessity of promulgating the Law on Geology and Minerals: Regarding prohibited acts in geological activities, the delegate said that the draft regulation "other acts as prescribed by law" is still general, not in accordance with the principle that citizens are allowed to do everything that is not prohibited by law.

Thereby, he suggested that the drafting committee continue to review legal regulations to fully and specifically supplement prohibited acts in geological and mineral activities.

Regarding the management and protection of minerals in national mineral reserve areas, the draft stipulates that "investors who take advantage of the implementation of investment projects to illegally exploit minerals in national mineral reserve areas shall be punished according to the provisions of law on handling administrative violations in the field of minerals".

The delegate of Nghe An delegation commented that the above regulation is not complete, not taking into account whether the exploitation seriously damages the interests of the State, the rights and legitimate interests of other organizations and individuals, and whether compensation must be paid or not? Or in the case of serious violations of the law by the investor and such acts constitute criminal offenses according to the provisions of the Penal Code, will they be prosecuted for criminal liability or not? Therefore, it is recommended that the drafting agency review and study to have stricter regulations.

The draft Law on Geology and Minerals consists of 117 articles, but according to preliminary statistics, delegate Tran Nhat Minh said that there are more than 50 articles and clauses assigned to the Government for detailed regulations and a number of other clauses assigned to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for detailed guidance.

He said that such a ratio is unreasonable, so he suggested that the drafting agency review and revise to minimize the assignment of detailed regulations to the Government; at the same time, it is necessary to specify to the maximum extent the contents assigned to the Government in the draft law.

REGULATION OF REVENUE FROM MINERAL EXPLOITATION ACTIVITIES FOR LOCALITIES WITH MINES IS VERY SATISFACTORY WITH THE PEOPLE

Regarding the draft Law on Geology and Minerals, delegate Vo Thi Minh Sinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province, commented that the draft has many new points, absorbing opinions from people and businesses, to ensure harmonious interests between the parties.

From her practical experience as a leader in Quy Hop, a locality with many mineral exploitation activities, delegate Vo Thi Minh Sinh shared: Mineral mining projects are mostly in mountainous areas, which are areas where people are still poor, and budget revenue is very difficult, even revenue from mineral projects is not enough to cover local expenses related to risks and impacts of mineral exploitation.

Therefore, the delegate of Nghe An highly appreciated the regulation: The State ensures the harmony of interests between the State, organizations, individuals and local people where geological and mineral resources are exploited and used on the basis of regulating revenue from the exploitation and use of geological and mineral resources.

Accordingly, the locality where minerals are exploited shall have the State regulate revenue from mineral exploitation activities to support socio-economic development in accordance with the provisions of the law on the state budget.

However, in Quy Hop district, the appearance of sinkholes and cracked houses due to the impact of mineral exploitation but without resources to handle, the delegate of Nghe An delegation earnestly proposed to add content regulating the above revenue for localities to resolve environmental risks and social security.

Delegate Vo Thi Minh Sinh also raised concerns about the fact that land reclamation when closing mineral mines is still rarely implemented, "leading to impacts on people's lives, even losing rice fields, making it impossible to produce"; thereby proposing to increase the amount of money that businesses must pay in advance to serve land reclamation and environmental restoration.

Regarding the regulations on collecting fees for granting mineral exploitation rights; according to the General Statistics Office, from 2014 to 2023, the whole country collected about 55,887 billion VND, of which the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment collected 27,887 billion VND, and the Provincial People's Committee collected about 28,000 billion VND.

Regarding this content, in her personal opinion, delegate Vo Thi Minh Sinh believes that this revenue should be removed and at the same time consider increasing the mineral resource tax to compensate for the State budget.

Explaining the above opinion, the delegate said that such a regulation will eliminate the mentality of enterprises having to pay "tax on tax" when paying both the mineral exploitation right fee and the resource tax; at the same time, it will ensure the principle that all financial obligations for mineral exploitation enterprises must be fulfilled in taxes, as well as in accordance with international practices.

In addition, the delegate from Nghe An also raised a number of discussion opinions related to regulations on deep mineral processing, licensing of mining capacity;...

Earlier, at the beginning of the working session this afternoon, at Dien Hong Hall, the National Assembly heard presentations and reports on the draft Law on Urban and Rural Planning and the draft Law on Geology and Minerals.