What are principal penalties and fines for administrative environmental protection offences in Vietnam?

What are principal penalties and fines for administrative environmental protection offences in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 1 Article 4 of the Decree 45/2022/NĐ-CP stipulating principal penalties and fines for administrative environmental protection offences in Vietnam as follows:

a) A warning;

b) The maximum fine for an environmental protection offence incurred by an individual is VND 1,000,000,000; that incurred by an organization is VND 2,000,000,000.

What are additional penalties for administrative environmental protection offences in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 2 Article 4 of the Decree 45/2022/NĐ-CP stipulating additional penalties for administrative environmental protection offences in Vietnam as follows:

a) Suspension of environmental license; certificate of eligibility to provide environmental monitoring services; license for access to genetic resources; license for genetically modified organism testing; decision on accreditation of genetically modified organism laboratory; decision on accreditation of genetically modified organism testing facility (hereinafter referred to as “licenses”) or suspension of operation as regulated in Clause 2 Article 25 of the Law on Penalties for Administrative Violations for 01 - 24 months as of the entry into force of the decision on imposition of penalty for administrative offence (hereinafter referred to as “penalty imposition decision”);

b) Confiscation of exhibits and instruments used for committing administrative environmental protection offences (hereinafter referred to as “exhibits and instruments of administrative offences); confiscation and handling of valuable products created after destruction in accordance with regulations of law;

c) Applying the additional penalty existing in the form of suspension of operation to establishments supplying public products and services through the State’s commissioning, order placement or procurement processes according to the provisions of this Decree, except as their offences do not lead to environmental pollution, or they have stopped committing offences or have completely remedied the consequences of their administrative offences. The time of suspension of operation shall start from the time when a state authority assigns a task, places an order or bids to assign a task, appoints a unit or select another contractor to provide public products and services.

What are remedial measures for administrative environmental protection offences in Vietnam?

As prescribed in Clause 3 Article 4 of the Decree 45/2022/NĐ-CP, apart from the penalties prescribed in clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, individuals and organizations that commit administrative environmental protection may be liable to one or more remedial measures mentioned below within the period regulated by the person who has the power to impose penalties:

a) Mandatory restoration to original state of environment or mandatory remediation of the environment in accordance with regulation; mandatory restoration to original state;

b) Mandatory demolition of works and equipment built or installed in contravention of regulations on environmental protection with the aim of discharging untreated waste into the environment; mandatory demolition of works and equipment so as to dilute waste and treat waste in accordance with technical regulations on waste; mandatory demolition and relocation of works and plants; mandatory demolition of works and residential houses illegally built;

c) Mandatory application of remedial measures against environmental pollution as prescribed; mandatory application of measures to reduce noise in accordance with technical regulations; mandatory application of measures to reduce vibration in accordance with technical regulations;

d) Mandatory re-export of used machinery, equipment, means of transport and ships, raw materials, fuels, materials, scrap and waste imported from abroad; mandatory the re-export of all illegally imported invasive alien species out of the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; mandatory the re-export of shipments containing genetically modified organisms and/or their genetic specimens out of the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

dd) Mandatory the destruction of used machinery, equipment, means of transport and ships, raw materials, fuels, materials, scrap and waste imported from abroad; mandatory destruction of all invasive alien species; mandatory destruction of genetically modified organisms to which the license for genetically modified organism testing or certificate of biosafety is yet to be issued; mandatory destruction of substances, equipment and products containing or produced from prohibited controlled substances; mandatory destruction of all genetically modified organisms and/or their genetic specimens;

e) Mandatory correction of misinformation or misleading information about the state of environment;

g) Mandatory disgorgement of illegal gain from commission of administrative offences or the transfer of the amounts equivalent to the value of the exhibits and/or instruments of administrative offences which have been sold, liquidated, hidden or destroyed inconsistently with the law;

For the administrative offences specified in point g clause 1, point g clause 2 Article 10; points g and h clause 1, points g and h clause 2, points g and h clause 3 Article 11; points a and b clause 1, points a and b clause 2 Article 13; points d and dd clause 2, points d and dd clause 3, points d and dd clause 4 Article 14; points g and h clause 3, points h and i clause 4 Article 15 of this Decree which result in discharge of untreated wastewater into the environment, the illegal gain equals to the total discharge rate (expressed in m3) of untreated wastewater discharged into the environment which is determined during the offence commission period (if the wastewater discharge rate fails to be determined, the wastewater discharge rate shall be the maximum rate of wastewater discharged every 24 hours specified in a document in the following order of priority: inspection conclusion, audit result, application for issuance of environmental license or component environmental license, environmental impact assessment report (hereinafter referred to as “EIAR”) multiplied by the price of wastewater treatment service (expressed in VND/m3) in the province set by the provincial People's Committee (if the provincial People's Committee fails to set a price, the price of wastewater treatment service applicable to the industrial park at the nearest distance from the violating organization shall be applied).

For the administrative offences specified in point g clause 1, point g clause 2 Article 10; points g and h clause 1, points g and h clause 2, points g and h clause 3 Article 11; points a and b clause 1, points a and b clause 2 Article 13; points d and dd clause 2, points d and dd clause 3, points d and dd clause 4 Article 14; points g and h clause 3, points h and i clause 4 Article 15 of this Decree which result in discharge of untreated emission into the environment, the illegal gain equal to the emission discharge rate (expressed in m3/hour) (in case of failure to install or operate an emission treatment system, the emission discharge rate shall be the maximum rate of emission discharged every hour specified in a document in the following order of priority: inspection conclusion, audit result, application for issuance of environmental license or component environmental license, EIAR) multiplied by the hour-based offence commission period and by the costs (express in VND/m3) of operating the emission treatment system in an hour, including: electricity, water, labor, chemicals and consumables.

For the administrative offences specified in clauses 2, 3 and 4 of Article 16; point a clauses 4 and 5 of Article 17; clauses 4 and 7 of Article 46, the illegal gain is all sums that an organization or individual earns when committing an offence.

h) Mandatory recall of results obtained from illegal access to genetic resources; mandatory invalidation of results of appraisal of GHG inventory reports and reports on reduction of GHG emissions;

i) Mandatory collection, storage and safe management of persistent pollutants, raw materials, fuels, materials, products, goods and equipment imported, produced and used containing persistent pollutants as prescribed, and mandatory submission of reports on results of completed remediation of consequences of offences;

k) Mandatory transfer of waste to entities having treatment competence; mandatory transfer of substances, equipment and products containing or produced from controlled substances subject to treatment in accordance with regulations to entities having treatment competence and payment of all costs incurred;

l) Collecting underpaid or evaded environmental protection fees; mandatory payment of costs of solicitation of assessment, inspection, measurement and analysis of environmental samples; mandatory payment of deposit on environmental protection; mandatory purchase of insurance against compensation for environmental damage; mandatory payment of costs of organizing waste-related emergency response, costs of environmental remediation; mandatory compensation for damage caused by oil pollution as regulated; mandatory full payment for ecosystem services and interest on the late payment amount (if any) accrued over 01 month; mandatory transfer of the remaining amounts to the provincial environment protection fund or Vietnam Environment Protection Fund (VEPF) if the provincial environment protection fund is yet to be established within 06 months; mandatory return of the amounts not used for their intended purposes within 01 month; mandatory payment of contributions for recycling support corresponding to the incomplete mandatory recycling rate or contributions for recycling support corresponding to the recycling rate that fails to meet the mandatory recycling specifications to the VEPF; mandatory payment of outstanding contributions for recycling support to the VEPF; mandatory payment of contributions for recycling support corresponding to the mandatory recycling rate and specifications that must be met to the VEPF; mandatory termination of recycling services agreement and authorized recycling service agreement and payment of subsidies on recycling corresponding to the mandatory recycling rate and specifications to the VEPF for fulfillment of the responsibility for recycling; mandatory transfer of outstanding contributions for waste treatment to the VEPF;

m) Mandatory relocation of projects or facilities to other locations to ensure consistency with the planning, environmental zoning and environmental carrying capacity approved by a competent authority in cases where the project locations or business establishments fail to conform to the planning, environmental zoning and environmental carrying capacity approved by a competent authority as prescribed; mandatory construction and installation of environmental protection works as prescribed;

n) Mandatory preparation of GHG inventory reports and reports on reduction of GHG emissions for the year(s) of late or insufficient submission and payment of all costs incurred (if any); mandatory establishment of collection, transport and safe storage procedures in accordance with regulations; mandatory formulation of internal PES schemes within 06 months; mandatory submission of reports on results of completed remediation of consequences of offences in accordance with regulations;

o) Mandatory provision of accurate and sufficient information included in GHG inventory reports and reports on reduction of GHG emissions; mandatory disclosure of environmental impact assessment reports (EIARs) for which the appraisal result has been approved in accordance with regulations; mandatory disclosure of information about products and packaging produced and imported themselves as prescribed; mandatory registration of recycling plans, submission of declarations of contributions for recycling support and reports on recycling results in accordance with regulations; mandatory provision and disclosure of information; mandatory submission of environmental protection reports to competent authorities; mandatory of submission of declarations of contributions for waste treatment support in accordance with regulations.

Best regards!