National Assembly debates draft foreign trade management bill

They held that many articles of the bill remained merely principles, such as those on tariff quota, the appointment of border gates for import-export, the management of licences, as well as relevant procedure, and policies. 

Therefore, the enforcement of the law will depend on the issuance of guidance documents by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), they said.

Deputy Pham Van Tuan from Thai Binh suggested that specific regulations should be included in the bill to ensure transparency. The authority of the Government and local administrations should be clarified, along with the responsibility of the MoIT in administrative reform, science-technology application and granting import-export licences.

Regarding the State management over foreign trade, the deputies held that as the bill gives a lot of authority to the MOIT, it is necessary to design control and supervision mechanisms.

On the regulations on banned import-export activities, the deputies proposed that the bill must contain a list of goods banned from import-export in accordance to the country’s international commitments, including the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade.

They stressed the need for specific regulations on policies to encourage and promote foreign trade, as well as stronger decentralization to local governments and representative offices abroad regarding trade promotion work, along with measures to support enterprises in foreign trade activities.