Synthesizing the opinions in the geological thematic group, Mr. Tran My Dung - Deputy Director of the Vietnam Geological Survey said that the opinions mainly focused on suggesting the addition of some terms on geology and positional resources; adding flow energy resources to renewable geological resources; clarifying the responsibility for protecting geological resources (what needs to be protected); adding specific responsibilities of the Chairman of the District People's Committee and the Commune People's Committee in the protection of unexploited geological resources and minerals.
The opinions also proposed to supplement the permission for the People's Committees of the provinces to organize the implementation of basic geological surveys on mineral resources for minerals under the authority of the province; supplement the permission for domestic and foreign organizations and individuals with sufficient capacity to conduct basic geological surveys on mineral resources; supplement the right to participate in project preparation, inspection, and supervision of project implementation for organizations and individuals participating in investing in basic geological surveys on mineral resources.
Regarding the opinions in the thematic group on minerals, there are many smaller groups. Among them, there are opinions suggesting to amend or supplement regulations on classification of mineral areas; mineral activity areas; areas prohibited from mineral activities, areas temporarily prohibited from mineral activities; use of land, sea areas, technical infrastructure in mineral activities; use of water, discharge into water sources in mineral activities; mineral exploitation licenses, etc.
Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang, Director of the Vietnam Minerals Department, Head of the Minerals Working Group, requested the small groups to exchange and discuss enthusiastically to find out the points that need to be changed or supplemented in the draft Law, and at the same time, representatives of the small groups synthesized all the comments received after two working days to send to the Drafting Committee and Editorial Team to soon complete the draft.
Synthesizing the opinions in the working group on economic instruments, Mr. Tran Phuong - Deputy Director of the Vietnam Minerals Department, Head of the group said that regarding budget revenue sources (Article 105 of the draft Law on Geology and Minerals), some opinions proposed to combine Clause 1 (Taxes according to the provisions of the law on taxes) and Clause 2 (Fees and charges according to the provisions of the law on fees and charges) into 1 clause; some organizations and individuals proposed to remove Clause 3 (refund of state investment costs) and Clause 4 (license fees); some localities proposed to add revenue from administrative sanctions. However, the group proposed to maintain Clause 3 and Clause 4 and not add revenue from administrative sanctions.
Regarding the refund of mineral exploitation rights fees (Article 106), some opinions suggest that when the actual exploited reserves are lower than the approved exploited reserves, the refund of mineral exploitation rights fees must be adjusted to ensure appropriateness and fairness. On this issue, the group proposes to keep it as prescribed, that is, calculated according to the approved reserves. In case the licensed reserves are fully exploited, the enterprise must report and prepare to adjust the license in the direction of increasing the reserves to have a basis for adjusting the rights fees according to the adjusted licensed reserves.
In addition, some provinces have proposed to add cases where the mining license has expired but mining has not been done and there is a legitimate reason confirmed by the locality, the licensing fee will be refunded. The draft Law on Geology and Minerals has provisions for cases where mining cannot be done due to force majeure and the site cannot be cleared, the licensing fee will be refunded. The proposal of some localities as above is a general proposal, which can easily lead to arbitrary application, so the group believes that such a regulation should not be made.
There are also some opinions suggesting not to collect fees for granting mineral exploitation rights for cases of exploitation to supply public investment projects. However, the group believes that public investment projects also need to calculate correctly and fully all expenses to determine the cost price, thus ensuring fairness in financial obligations.
Regarding the reserve for calculating the fee for granting the right to exploit minerals (Article 112), this is the content with the most comments in the financial field of geology and minerals. Of which, there are 3 sources of opinions including: Calculating the fee based on the mobilized reserves for exploitation; calculating the fee based on the actual exploitation output and calculating the fee based on the permitted reserves for exploitation. According to Mr. Tran Phuong, the group discussed and agreed on the proposal "Mineral reserves allowed to be included in the exploitation design" recorded in the exploitation license and the fee will be calculated based on that reserve".
Regarding the management and use of mineral exploitation rights fees (Article 115), the draft Law on Geology and Minerals stipulates that “70% of the mineral exploitation rights fees shall be paid to the central budget, 30% to the local budget for licenses issued by the central government; 100% to the local budget for licenses issued by the provincial People's Committee”. Some provinces proposed to leave the entire amount to the local budget, the group proposed to consider this proposal according to the opinion of the Ministry of Finance - requesting an explanation of the legal basis for allocating revenue between the central and local budgets for licenses issued by the Ministry.
Regarding the opinion on auctioning mineral exploitation rights, some localities proposed that the areas must clear the land before the auction. The group proposed not to change in this direction, but to apply the provisions of the Land Law, because if the land is cleared in advance, it will put pressure on the local budget when having to spend a sum on land clearance...
There is also an opinion that only mines with exploration results should be auctioned. The group agreed to only accept part of this opinion in the direction that in cases of mining minerals for common construction materials, where the cost of the exploration project is not too large, the locality can spend the budget to ensure the accuracy of reserve information before the auction, creating objectivity and transparency. However, for mineral mines that are not common construction materials, where the exploration project is large in scale, using the state budget for exploration will create a large burden, so the group believes that auctions should still be conducted in unexplored and under-explored mines.
Regarding auctions in areas with many types of minerals, the Law on Property Auction stipulates auctions for one type of mineral, so the group proposed adding a clause to stipulate that in the case of a mine with two or more types of minerals, one type of mineral will be selected for auction, the remaining mineral will be determined for the licensing fee based on the auction results of the other mineral, and minerals discovered after the exploration and exploitation license is granted will be calculated based on the licensing fee for areas not auctioned.
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Quy Kien, Deputy Head of the Drafting Committee of the Law on Geology and Minerals, acknowledged and highly appreciated the hard work and enthusiasm of the members of the Editorial Team and representatives of relevant agencies. The Deputy Minister requested the Drafting Committee and Editorial Team to absorb all comments from the thematic groups for research, reference, and early completion of the draft Law on Geology and Minerals, and submit it to the Government and the National Assembly for approval as scheduled.
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