Some fundamental contents of the Law on National Reserves of Vietnam

In essence, the Law on National Reserves 2012 of Vietnam inherits the objectives stated in the Ordinance on National Reserves implemented over the past 8 years. However, in addition to the objectives of addressing the consequences of natural disasters, fires, and epidemics, it has added the objective of "addressing disasters". Furthermore, to ensure alignment with the nature of national reserves and avoid dispersion of resources, the Law on National Reserves has removed the indirect objectives of "participating in market stabilization, contributing to macroeconomic stability, and fulfilling other urgent tasks of the state". Therefore, compared to the Ordinance on National Reserves, the Law has streamlined the objectives in a way that focuses on utilizing national reserve resources to meet the urgent and pressing requirements of disaster prevention, response, recovery, national defense, and security.

To provide a framework for guiding national reserve policies that meet the requirements of the new situation, the Law has stipulated a provision regarding the state's policies on national reserves. This provision outlines principles such as: the State shall adopt strategies and plans for developing national reserves that conform to the national socio-economic development and strategies and plans in each period; the State shall build solid and well-structured national reserves to ensure accomplishment of the national reserve objectives and the balancing capacity of the state budget; the State shall provide policies on investments in scientific research on national reserves, and application of preservation technology and information technology in order to modernize activities related to national reserves; the State adopts policies to mobilize resources and encourage organizations and individuals to participate in activities related to national reserves. These provisions are new compared to the previous decree and aim to specify the state's policies on national reserves and provide conditions for the socialization of national reserve activities.

In terms of regime and policies for individuals working in national reserve activities, this is a completely new provision compared to the previous Ordinance on National Reserve. National reserve activities have high specificity and share similarities with the fields of national defense and security, as the reserved items are used in urgent and pressing situations, and the items exported must ensure the safety of the users and uphold the reputation of the Party and the State with the people. Therefore, the Law on National Reserves has stipulated that national reserve personnel being officials and public employees working at the specialized national reserve management agency; national reserve personnel being servicemen and police officers; officials and public employees doing national reserve works in Ministries and agencies are entitled to seniority benefits and occupational benefits depending on the discipline and nature of their work. Concurrently, the Government shall elaborate this Clause.

The Law on National Reserves stipulates that: “State budget expenditures for the national reserves comply with the Law on the State Budget and are included in annual state budget estimates. The Ministry of Finance shall manage and allocate funds for the purchase of commodities for national reserve, purchase of commodities for national reserve to make up for the released ones in the planning year after they are approved by competent authorities.”. Thus, while according to the previous Ordinance, the annual procurement of national reserve items was considered a development investment task, under the Law on National Reserves, the procurement of national reserve items is now a regular expenditure task. This provision aligns with the nature of the annual procurement of national reserve items and addresses the inconsistency in allocating funds for national reserves. It is one of the conditions for implementing strong reforms in the processes and procedures related to the procurement, sale, import, export, and utilization of national reserve items in urgent and pressing situations, as stated in Article 3 of this Law.

The implementation of the Law on National Reserves contributes to ensuring the consistency of the legal system and guarantees a legal basis during its application. It fully embodies the principles and policies of the Party and the state, particularly the direction to "continue improving the legal system on national reserves and formulating a strong national reserve force with a rational structure, capable of actively participating in disaster prevention and response, as well as addressing the consequences of natural disasters and unexpected events".

Source: Bac Lieu Newspaper

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