Morning news 19-1: Proposal to simplify vehicle registration change procedures, adjust drivers' working hours

Notable news: Businesses propose to simplify procedures for changing vehicle registration, adjust working hours of drivers when implementing the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety; 7 recommendations when buying food during Lunar New Year...

Tin tức sáng 20-1: Đề nghị đơn giản thủ tục đổi đăng ký xe, điều chỉnh thời gian làm việc của tài xế - Ảnh 1. — Procedures for changing vehicle registration - Photo: TTO

Implementing the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, businesses propose driving hours and registration changes

Chairman of the Hanoi Logistics Association Tran Duc Nghia said he has just sent an official dispatch to the authorities requesting to remove some obstacles.

According to Mr. Nghia, in recent days, the Hanoi Logistics Association has received feedback from many members about difficulties in implementing the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety regarding drivers' working hours; Decree 168 on administrative sanctions for violations of road traffic order and safety and Circular 79 on vehicle registration.

Accordingly, Clause 1, Article 64 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety stipulates that the driving time of a car driver shall not exceed 10 hours/day and not exceed 48 hours/week; continuous driving shall not exceed 4 hours. In reality, the total driving hours of a driver are currently about 60 - 65 hours/week for short-distance transport (under 300km) and over 65 hours/week for long-distance transport (over 300km).

Compared with the maximum working hours in the Law on Road Traffic Safety and Order of 48 hours/week, the working hours of drivers are reduced by about 20 - 30% for short-distance transport and over 30% for long-distance transport.

According to Mr. Nghia, this regulation reduces the service supply capacity of the entire road transport market by about 20 - 30%, increases freight rates by an estimated 20 - 25%, increases national logistics costs by about 10 - 11% and reduces the competitiveness of the economy.

Regarding the working hours of drivers in the world, Mr. Nghia said that the European Union regulates the working hours of drivers to be 56 hours/week (EU regulation (EC) No 561/2006 effective from April 11, 2007). From April 2024, Japanese drivers will work a maximum of 60 hours/week.

See the latest news on gold prices today here

Mr. Nghia said that Vietnam's 48-hour working week regulation is the lowest when compared to the most developed economies in the world, and proposed adjusting the number of working hours for drivers to 65 hours/week, equal to the highest level compared to regulations in the US, EU and Japan.

Apply the penalty regulations in Decree 168 to fine violations of continuous driving time, driving time during the day and driving time during the week when the driver violates more than 10% of the prescribed time.

At the same time, calculate the driving time accumulated once, during the day and during the week at a minimum speed of 15km/h to eliminate the situations of prolonged traffic jams that often occur in urban areas and on the road system of Vietnam. These are force majeure situations that require exemption from responsibility.

Another problem that many transport businesses are currently "stuck" with when registering their vehicles is changing their vehicle registration certificates. From 2020 to now, implementing Circular 58 on the process of granting and revoking registration and license plates of road motor vehicles, about 1 million transport business vehicles have changed their "white background license plates with black letters and numbers to yellow background license plates with black letters and numbers".

However, when Circular 79 takes effect from January 1, 2025, the inspection agency believes that Article 18 of Circular 79 stipulates the case of changing vehicle registration certificates and license plates, including "Registered vehicles with white background license plates, black letters and numbers will be changed to yellow background license plates, black letters and numbers (vehicles operating in the automobile transportation business) and vice versa", vehicles that have been newly issued or have their registration certificates changed according to the provisions of Circular 58 will be forced to change their registration according to the provisions of Circular 79 to be inspected when the deadline comes.

With about 1 million vehicle registration certificates newly issued and renewed according to the provisions of Circular 58, the impact of this issue is large and is causing many difficulties for automobile transportation businesses. To re-issue vehicle registration, businesses must bring their vehicles to the traffic police agency to conduct vehicle inspection, stamping of chassis numbers, engine numbers, etc.

Mr. Tran Duc Nghia estimated that for a business with 120 - 150 vehicles, the cost of changing vehicle registration according to normal procedures would be from 500 - 600 million VND.

7 recommendations when buying food during Lunar New Year

Tin tức sáng 20-1: Đề nghị đơn giản thủ tục đổi đăng ký xe, điều chỉnh thời gian làm việc của tài xế - Ảnh 2. — Russian confectionery and frozen foods sold in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: THAO THUONG

The Central Interdisciplinary Steering Committee on Food Safety has just issued recommendations on food safety during the Lunar New Year.

Accordingly, Lunar New Year is the time of great food consumption in the year, especially meat, fish, eggs, cakes, candies, alcohol, soft drinks, oil seeds, etc. Authorities have recently discovered and arrested many cases of food safety violations, most of which are items used a lot during Tet.

For consumers, the Central Inter-sectoral Steering Committee on Food Safety recommends:

Do not buy food from unsafe production and business establishments; Do not buy food products of unknown origin, showing signs of spoilage, mold, or deterioration;

Do not buy or stock up on too much food during Tet to avoid using products that are not fresh, have lost their nutrients, or are moldy;

Do not use food products of unknown origin, showing signs of spoilage, mold, or deterioration;

Consumers should be careful not to process too much food during Tet to avoid using products that are not fresh, have lost nutrients or are moldy.

Do not abuse alcohol or beer to have a joyful Tet At Ty;

Do not drink alcohol without knowing the origin and source of the product;

Absolutely do not eat strange mushrooms, wild mushrooms, crushed or spoiled mushrooms.

Reviewing the situation of loss-making cement factories at risk of stopping production

The Government Office issued document 443 conveying Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's direction to handle information in the media stating that "cement factories are losing money and are at risk of stopping production".

According to press reports, data from the Ministry of Construction in 2024 shows that the total national cement supply will reach about 122 million tons, while domestic consumption demand will only reach about 60 million tons, resulting in excess supply and fierce competition, with falling prices.

The high prices of input materials such as electricity, coal, and production materials remain high, causing the cost of cement production to increase sharply. Exports are also facing difficulties due to trade barriers from the Philippines, China, and some major markets. The real estate market is sluggish, and construction projects from public investment sources are slow to disburse, directly affecting domestic cement consumption demand.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assigned Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha and the Minister of Construction to study the content of the above article and report to the Prime Minister before January 25.