As a party to the Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Minamata Conventions, as well as other bilateral agreements such as the Montreal protocol and the UN Environment’s Strategic Approach to International Chemical Management, Viet Nam is working hard to ensure that it can meet the standards of these agreements and safeguard its environment for future generations.
However, the government still faces many challenges in trying to effectively implement these conventions, mainly due to limitations at the legislative level and institutional arrangements. To overcome this problem, the Special Programme on Institutional Strengthening for Chemicals and Waste Management is funding a two-year project that is being co-implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Natural Resurces and Environment. The project’s goal is to strengthen national capacity for the sound management of chemicals and waste and integrate the provisions of the conventions into the country’s legislative system.
To nationalize the aforementioned conventions and agreements, the project will work to incorporate them into Vietnamese laws. After reviewing the current legal framework, a strategic plan for legislative development will be drawn up. Recommendations will be made on both restructuring and creating new legislation in relevant areas, including environmental protection, chemical management, plant protection, quarantine and criminal prevention while taking into account the conventions’ decisions. Specific work plans will be developed to ensure coordination and cooperation between different agencies. This will not only raise political awareness about the Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Minamata Conventions but also enable the government to effectively implement them.
Besides integrating sound international chemical and waste management policies into Viet Nam’s legislative framework, the project will also accomplish several other objectives. The institutional capacity for inter-agency coordination and collaboration will be strengthened to effectively implement Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Minamata Conventions, Multilateral Environmental Agreements in general and specific activities for sound chemical and waste management in Viet Nam. Education and raising awareness on the management chemicals and waste under Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Minamata Conventions and other Agreements among the different stakeholders in Vietnam will be crucial. Additionally, information collected on chemicals and waste management will be used to develop a database that can be utilized to facilitate the implementation of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions and the Strategic Approach to International Chemical Management in Vietnam.
