At the 10th session of the XIII National Assembly, the 2015 Statistics Law was passed, effective from July 1, 2016. The 2015 amended Statistics Law has addressed the limitations and inadequacies of the 2003 Statistics Law while incorporating new principles and standards from United Nations Statistics. It ensures the quality requirements of statistical information, effectively serving the planning and policy-making work of Communist Party agencies and authorities at all levels.
Article table of contents
Statistics Law 2015 has modifications in structure and content, comprising 9 chapters, 72 articles, and 1 appendix on the List of National Statistical Indicators (an increase of 1 chapter and 30 articles compared to the Statistics Law 2003). The main highlights of the new Statistics Law are reflected as follows:
First, the scope of regulation of the law has been expanded. The Statistics Law 2015 expands the scope of regulation to all statistical activities and the use of statistical information within the territory of Vietnam, focusing on statistical activities and the use of statistical information performed by the state statistical system.
For statistical activities of organizations and individuals outside the state statistical system, only the purpose, scope, principles, and requirements are prescribed, and at the same time, fields prohibited in the collection and dissemination of statistical information such as politics, defense, and security are regulated. These provisions aim to address the inadequacies related to the current economic and social life, while ensuring the freedom of production and business activities of organizations and individuals as stipulated in the 2013 Constitution.
Leaders of the Statistics Department awarding certificates of merit to collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements
Second, the Statistics Law 2015 amends and supplements new regulations to enhance the quality and effectiveness of statistical work before the demands of renewal and the process of international economic integration. The law clearly defines the state information statistical system, thereby clearly defining the national statistical indicator system, the statistical indicator system of ministries and central authorities, and the statistical indicator system at the provincial, district, and commune levels.
These amendments aim to ensure consistency in state statistical activities, serving as a basis to ensure that state statistical information is not contradictory, overlapping, and maintaining objectivity, honesty, and high reliability for information users. The law also defines the rights and responsibilities of the centralized statistical system with statistical ministries and central authorities in statistical activities and the use of statistical information.
The new Statistics Law also clearly stipulates the evaluation of the statistical indicator system of ministries and central authorities, classification of sector and field statistics, evaluation of statistical investigation plans, reporting policies of ministries and central authorities, and statistical data of ministries and central authorities within the national statistical indicator system of the national statistical agency. This evaluation aims to overcome the discrepancy in statistical data between central and local statistical agencies and between the centralized statistical agency and statistical ministries and central authorities.
Third, new regulations are added to meet the increasing requirements for statistical forecast analysis, policy planning, and administration. Specifically, the national statistical indicator system, comprising 186 indicators covering all aspects of economic and social life, is standardized.
Fourth, the law clearly defines various statistical information systems. The Statistics Law 2015 clearly specifies statistical information systems in Vietnam, including: the national statistical information system; the statistical information system of ministries and central authorities; the provincial statistical information system; and the district statistical information system. The law clarifies the relationship between these statistical information systems and the responsibilities of state agencies in building these statistical information systems.
Fifth, the Statistics Law 2015 emphasizes the rights and obligations of organizations and individuals in statistical activities. The law explicitly prohibits acts in statistical activities such as: failing to implement or fully implement, not promptly providing information according to the statistical investigation plan, reporting policies, and administrative data decided by competent state agencies; falsifying, distorting statistical data; intervening, forcing, imposing, bribing, threatening, deceiving others to falsify, distort statistical data, and using statistical information...
To bring the Statistics Law 2015 into life, first of all, the appropriate attention of the party committees, authorities, and especially the Law Dissemination and Education Coordination Council in thoroughly understanding and organizing the construction of a practical and effective plan to implement the Statistics Law 2015 is required.
For administrative and non-business units, especially the business community and individual economic sector production and business establishments, as the entities providing input information, the spirit of voluntary cooperation in providing information to the statistics agency through adherence to periodic statistical reporting policies and the statistical investigation plan in the National Statistical Investigation Program needs to be heightened.
Tran Dinh HaiDeputy Director of the Statistics Department
Source: Quang Binh Newspaper
