Building laws to ensure the best life for people

(Baonghean.vn) - Delegates said that the Law on Forest Protection and Development and the Law on Fisheries have a direct impact on farmers, so they need to be carefully studied and developed to ensure the best possible life for the people.

Overview of the conference. Photo: Pham Bang

The Draft Law on Forest Protection and Development (amended) has 12 chapters and 97 articles. Compared to the 2004 Law on Forest Protection and Development, 4 chapters have been added. The scope of regulation in the Draft Law is designed towards management, protection, development, use of forests, business, processing and trade of forest products, clearly showing that forestry is an economic and social sector, including all activities related to the production of goods and services related to forests.

Commenting on the draft, Mr. Nguyen Tien Lam - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that forestry is an industry that directly impacts the daily lives of people living in mountainous areas. At the same time, it contains many general and specific factors. Therefore, it is necessary to study carefully and establish seriously, not according to any personal will.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Lam - Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development suggested that it is necessary to specify and unify the responsibilities of the specialized force for forest protection. Photo: PB

According to Mr. Lam, changing the name from the Law on Forest Protection and Development to the Law on Forestry is necessary because it covers the fields and contents related to this technical economic sector. At the same time, it is necessary to unify the terms and concepts in the law to be consistent with other laws, especially natural forests because there are cases where people invest in planting trees in natural forests. Regarding the specialized forest protection force, this force in Nghe An is currently small and the regime is low, so it is recommended to study and improve the regime for the specialized forest protection force in the law.

The representative of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment commented that some contents in the allocation of forest land to people currently have many shortcomings, many forest areas in remote areas are not interested by people and organizations, so it is very difficult to allocate. Moreover, the budget for forest protection and conservation for people is still very low, not creating attraction for people.

“If we only protect and preserve the forest, we need to increase the budget for the people. If we keep the budget the same, we need to study how the units and individuals assigned to protect and preserve the forest can organize forest exploitation within the regulations, both protecting the forest and creating better conditions for people's lives,” said this delegate.

Commune forestry officers clear and cut the pine forest cover in Dien Phu. Photo courtesy

The representative of the Department of Justice expressed his opinion and agreed to change the name to Forestry Law to ensure the scope of regulation and contents of the law. Regarding the responsibility for state management of forestry, the draft Law has not clarified which agency is in charge of specialized management of forestry, remaining vague and inconsistent.

Regarding the Fisheries Law (amended), there are 8 chapters and 100 articles, basically keeping the same chapter names as the 2003 Fisheries Law, but reducing 2 chapters and increasing 38 articles. The Law stipulates fisheries activities, rights and obligations of organizations and individuals engaged in fisheries activities, and responsibilities for state management of fisheries.

Speaking at the conference, the majority of opinions agreed with the structure of the draft law and said that it is necessary to amend and supplement some contents and provisions accordingly. According to Mr. Nguyen Chi Luong - Head of the Department of Fisheries, it is necessary to establish a Fisheries Control Department in coastal provinces and localities with rich aquatic resources to protect aquatic resources in combination with protecting national security.

Mr. Nguyen Chi Luong - Head of the Department of Fisheries proposed to establish a Fisheries Control Department in coastal provinces. Photo: PB

“Some of the fisheries inspectors at the Sub-Department have very low salaries, so their lives are not guaranteed. The position of captain of the fisheries inspection boat has been announced many times in the media, but so far no one has registered. The reason is that the work is in a dangerous environment, but the salary is too low, so no one wants to do it,” said Mr. Luong.

Article 5 on principles of fisheries activities, delegates agreed with the 4 principles as in the draft law but proposed to add a 5th principle, which is that the production, exploitation and processing of fisheries must ensure food safety standards. This is a very important principle in ensuring food safety for consumers.

Regarding prohibited acts in fishing activities, Clause 7, Article 8 states prohibited acts in fishing activities when using fishing gear to obstruct or cause damage to other organizations and individuals who are exploiting. According to delegates, such expression is not specific and not complete. Because in reality, there are cases of fishing boats operating on the wrong route, this is a completely wrong act, causing damage to property, fishing gear and the lives of others.

Seafood exploitation and purchasing activities at Lach Quen fishing port (Tien Thuy commune, Quynh Luu). Photo: Document

Concluding the conference, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hien - Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation said that he will summarize the opinions of the delegates and report to the National Assembly Standing Committee in the upcoming session./.

Pham Bang