Hanoi-Vietnam: Upcoming promulgation of the Law on Amendments to Laws related to Land, Transportation, and Maritime

1. Law on Road Traffic: Supplement Planning for Road Traffic Infrastructure

The Draft Law supplements new regulations on the Planning of Road Traffic Infrastructure, which must include the following essential, basic elements:

- Defining development goals and scale;- Development plan for the infrastructure of expressways and national highways according to the road network plan;- List of prioritized projects and order of implementation;- Solutions and resources for implementing the plan.

Periodic reviews of the Road Traffic Infrastructure Plan will be conducted every 5 years to adjust in accordance with socio-economic development in each period.

2. Maritime Code: Additional Prohibited Acts in Maritime Activities

In addition to the 14 prohibited acts defined in Article 12 of the Maritime Code 2015, the Draft Law adds prohibitions against illegal construction and exploitation of port facilities and other infrastructure within the scope of:

- Detailed plans of port groups, wharves, jetties, buoy moorings, water areas, and water regions;- Detailed plans for the development of land and water areas in ports;- Development plans for the system of dry ports and other related plans according to legal regulations.

Additionally, the Draft Law abolishes certain regulations of the Maritime Code, specifically:

- Development plan for the shipbuilding and repair industry;- Plan for ship dismantling facilities.

3. Law on Railway Transport: Supplement Planning for Railway Lines and Stations

According to the Draft Law, the planning of railway lines and railway stations will be organized by the Ministry of Transport and submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.

The planning of railway lines and stations includes technical and specialized plans, concretizing the national master plan, and the national railway network plan, developed for national railway lines, urban national railway stations, major national railway hubs, and international intermodal railway stations.

4. Law on Land: National Land Use Planning with a Vision of 30 to 50 Years

This is a new point added in the Draft Law on Amendments to Laws related to planning, which provides for:

- The vision for national land use planning is 30 to 50 years;- The vision for provincial and district-level land use planning is 20 to 30 years.

In addition, the Draft Law also amends and supplements several contents related to the planning and use of land at the national, provincial, and district levels, as well as for defense land.

5. Law on Environmental Protection: Additional Basis for Environmental Protection Planning

The Draft Law adds new regulations on the basis for environmental protection planning in the Law on Environmental Protection, specifically:

- Basis for planning according to the provisions of planning law;- Environmental protection strategy for the same development phase;- Climate change scenarios for the same development phase.

More details may be found in Draft Law on Amendments to Laws related to planning which includes the following laws and codes:

Notably, the term "planning" is omitted in the following laws: Law on Militia and Self-Defense Forces, Advertising Law, Petroleum Law, Labor Code, Social Insurance Law, Health Insurance Law, Law on Prevention of Infectious Diseases, Law on Judicial Expertise, Law on Protection of Consumer Rights.

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