'The law giving the Minister of Industry and Trade great power, so how to supervise?'

Chairman Phan Thanh Binh noted that the Law on Foreign Trade Management stipulates that the power of the Minister of Industry and Trade is very great, but supervision and transparency are not clear.

Discussing the draft Law on Foreign Trade Management, on the morning of September 14, opinions in the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed with the Government's Submission on the necessity of promulgating the Law to contribute to perfecting the synchronous legal framework regulating foreign trade activities, while strengthening state management tools on foreign trade, ensuring transparency, efficiency, and compliance with international commitments; enhancing the competitiveness of the economy in the context of increasingly deep international economic integration...

How to monitor rights and competition?

Emphasizing the viewpoint that the Law was created to develop foreign trade, but according to Mr. Phan Thanh Binh - Chairman of the Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children, it seems that we manage more than develop. Management is of course a part, but developing foreign trade is the biggest viewpoint, not managing foreign trade.

Mr. Phan Thanh Binh - Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children

Regarding trade defense measures, Mr. Phan Thanh Binh said that Vietnamese enterprises themselves have poor competition in purchasing, which greatly affects foreign trade, from shrimp, fish, rice, fruits... "Looking at the Law, it is still heavy, with licenses and even the power of the Minister of Industry and Trade is very large, from quotas, applying to whom to go, allowing whom to stay... Here, supervision, transparency, and fairness in foreign trade issues are shown in which clauses and points. Quotas are a very difficult issue in import and export, so comrades, in which clauses can you make transparent and fair the powers of the Ministry of Industry and Trade?" - Mr. Phan Thanh Binh raised the question.

Chairman Phan Thanh Binh also suggested paying attention to the issue of defense when considering foreign enterprises entering Vietnam, but when Vietnamese enterprises are oppressed abroad, the issue of protection in this law also needs to be clarified so that enterprises are less disadvantaged. Because when Vietnam signs FTAs, participates in new generation trade agreements, on the surface it seems equal, but in fact, countries have very strong and tight defense systems.

Chairman of the National Security and Defense Committee Vo Trong Viet said that it is necessary to pay attention to adjusting and reforming so that when the law is enacted, import and export procedures will be less cumbersome. Other countries have few but strict procedures, while our procedures are many, cumbersome but open, and easy to exploit.

Senior Lieutenant General Vo Trong Viet also noted that import and export have long depended on China. Supply and demand are linked to the border, so it is easy to go one way. Therefore, this Law needs to open up a wider and more diverse scope in accordance with the Party and State's guidelines. Many Vietnamese enterprises expand their markets to other countries, this is the premise to create an economy commensurate with the potential strengths of our country.

Why doesn't the law regulate services?

The majority of opinions in the Standing Committee of the Economic Committee - the agency examining the draft law - agreed with the scope of regulation of the draft Law on Foreign Trade Management, which only focuses on regulating state management in the field of foreign trade, including regulations on management measures, dispute resolution in foreign trade activities of goods and measures to develop foreign trade.

Currently, the export and import of services are regulated by specialized laws. In reality, the characteristics of services are very diverse and complex, so it is difficult to have general regulations for all types of services in the draft Law on Foreign Trade Management. In addition, according to international experience, the laws on foreign trade management of many countries only regulate the export and import of goods.

Regarding this issue, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan requested clarification because foreign trade in services is taking up a very large market share in foreign trade relations. The separation of foreign trade in services and foreign trade in goods leads to advantages and disadvantages so that a specific decision can be made.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Uong Chu Luu.

Vice President of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong also emphasized that foreign trade activities are implicitly related to services from wharfs, payments... Therefore, it is necessary to explain more clearly why the law does not regulate services to increase persuasiveness when presented to the National Assembly. In addition, the drafting committee also needs to review the prohibitions to ensure constitutionality; explain why 21 articles were assigned to the Government for guidance without being regulated right in the Law.../. Also expressing concern about the Law only regulating international import and export activities, Vice President of the National Assembly Uong Chu Luu said: "You said that some specialized laws such as tourism services, telecommunications... regulate these services, but these services are directly related to import and export of goods, closely related to foreign trade activities. Measures to develop foreign trade must include services, right? Why are logistics and warehousing services associated with foreign trade not regulated? In my opinion, some services associated with foreign trade should be included in the law."

According to VOV