Coordinate to control POPs

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The workshop.

According to Mr. Hoang Van Thuc, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Environment Administration, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants was signed and ratified by countries, aiming to protect human health, biodiversity and living environment against risks caused by the POPs.

The Stockholm Convention stipulates the cessation of production, use prohibition and restriction, and the complete destruction of some man-made POPs, while taking necessary measures to minimize the unintentional production of POPs from industrial, agricultural, anthropogenic sources or waste treatment.

Vietnam acceded to and ratified the Stockholm Convention on July 22, 2002. On August 10, 2006, the Prime Minister issued the National Plan for the implementation of the Stockholm Convention in the country. These plans are issued to safely control, reduce and eliminate POPs in Vietnam, meet the regulation of the Stockholm Convention and show Vietnam's commitment to the international community and towards the goal of sustainable development.

The Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Environment Administration, in order to fulfill Vietnam's commitments to the Stockholm Convention and in the international trends in strict management and control of POPs and other persistent pollutants, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has internalized the provisions of the Stockholm Convention in legal documents.

Motivated by these regulations, Vietnam will enhance its role and responsibility in the management of POPs under the Stockholm Convention.

This workshop aims to discuss the assessment of the needs for import, production and use of POPs of enterprises; the replacement of POPs in manufacturing industries; and procedures for registration of exemption from POPs.

Thereby enhancing the coordination between ministries, agencies and localities; improving the law compliance of enterprises; showing the determination and action of Vietnam’s Government in effectively implementing regulations on environmental protection in the management of persistent pollutants.

At the seminar, Deputy Director of the Customs Control and Supervision Department Dao Duy Tam said that the Government issued Decree 08/2022/ND-CP dated January 10, 2022, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Environmental Protection, including regulations related to the management of POPs and raw materials, fuels, materials, products and equipment containing POPs on the basis of implementing the commitments of the Stockholm Convention.

Therefore, the GDVC desires that the enterprises understand regulations related to the documents submitted to the Customs when carrying out customs procedures; to review the implementation of administrative procedures such as registration for exemptions, labeling, conformity assessment, responsibility for the use and trading of these items as well as problems to discuss and agree on implementation.

At this workshop, representatives of law enforcement agencies introduced the provisions of the Stockholm Convention and the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 on the management of persistent pollutants; instructions for implementation of POP exemption registration; management and control for import and export of persistent pollutants and raw materials, fuels, materials, products and equipment containing persistent pollutants.

The representatives emphasized that the notification of approval for registration of POP exemption from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will be the basis for the Customs to allow customs clearance for POPs from January 1, 2023.