Vietnam to increase environmental fines

Vietnam intends to increase fines for violations of environmental laws. The Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Thai Binh told the National Assembly (NA) that the draft Law on Administrative Fines would see increases across the spectrum up to a maximum of VND2 billion (USD100,000).

According to VietNamNet Bridge the largest fines cover five areas: management of sea and continental shelf, nuclear and nuclear power, forestry, monetary and credit management, water, oil and gas and mineral management, environment and land management.

There is some opposition with chairman of the NA's Legal Committee Phan Trung Ly saying other economic and social factors must be taken into account and that fines have been raised by 4-5 times over three years, which is inappropriate to the country's development and the people's income. The draft Law on Administrative Fine also allows some regions to apply higher fines.