Vietnam passed Law on Crop Production

In the afternoon of November 19, with approval of 455 deputies, representing 93.81% of the total number of the National Assembly members, the National Assembly passed the adoption of the Law on Crop Production.

On behalf of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly to explain the draft of the Law on Crop Production, Chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Phan Xuan Dung said that on November 9, the National Assembly held a discussion on the Law on Crop Production. The majority of the National Assembly deputies agreed with the Report on recommendations and revisions to the draft Law of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly submitted to the National Assembly. The report also included a number of additional comments on the draft Law. After the discussion at the conference, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly instructed the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment to co-ordinate with the Drafting Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Standing Committee on Legislation of the National Assembly and the concerned agencies to study and collect comments of the National Assembly members to revise the draft Law.

Highly agreeing with the Report of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the National Assembly approved the Law on Crop Production with approval of 455 deputies, representing 93.81% of the total number of the National Assembly members.

Including 7 chapters, 85 articles, the Law on Crop Production stipulates regulations on crop production activities; rights and obligations of organizations and individuals engaged in crop production; state management in crop production.

The law specifies the principles of crop production. Accordingly, the development of crop production along the value chain is to be coupled with market orientation, in line with crop production development strategies, planning, land use planning and other resources; to create favorable conditions for the development of cooperation and partnership in production and development of concentrated commodity production areas, having production purchase contracts, being granted with quality certificates; to ensure food security; to ensure interest harmony between the state and organizations and individuals. Crop production is to use efficiently, economically and sustainably the natural resources and infrastructure; to ensure the safe and effective use of agricultural materials; to comply with standards and technical regulations on land and water environment quality; production process; to ensure food safety, biosafety, disease safety and environmental protection. Crop production is to promote regional advantages, associated with the conservation of specialty and indigenous plant varieties; to protect sustainable farming systems, heritage, landscape and culture in agriculture in association with eco-tourism development and new rural development; to take the initiative in forecasting and preventing natural disasters and harmful organisms; to adapt to to climate change; to meet the requirements of international integration; and to comply with treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

The National Assembly also agreed that fertilizers must be tested before being approved for use except for fertilizers which are not subject to assay including: Organic fertilizers used for root fertilization containing purely organic ingredients and meeting the quality standards stipulated in the national technical standards; Inorganic fertilizers used for root fertilization containing only nitrogen or phosphorus or potassium and meeting the quality standards stipulated in the national technical standards; Compounded inorganic fertilizers containing only trace elements of nitrogen or phosphorus or potassium which are linked together by chemical bonds meeting the quality standards stipulated in the national technical standards. Fertilizers shall be recognized by competent state management agencies as technical advances.

Fertilizers could be assayed at both small and large scale; Large-scale testing could be conducted only after completing small-scale field testing. Fertilization testing must be carried out in accordance with the national standards, which are recognized by qualified organizations for testing. The amount of fertilizer produced and imported for the trial is determined based on the application rate of each crop and the actual field scale of testing according to the national standards for fertilizer testing.

Persons directly responsible for the assay must have a university or higher degree in one of the specializations in crop production, plant protection, agro-chemistry, soil science, agronomy, chemistry and biology; must have participated in a training on fertilizer testing under the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The assay organization must ensure sufficient number of personnel to conduct the assay, not including the person directly in charge of the assay; and the staff must participate in fertilizer testing training under the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; adequate facilities and equipment according to the national standards on fertilizer testing.

For the storage of plant variety samples, the Law states that samples of plant varieties registered for commercialization must be kept throughout the assay and circulation of the plant variety (hereinafter referred to as stored sample) by the state management agency specialized in crop production management. Storage of plant variety samples could be carried out in one of the following three forms: - storage of plant propagation material; storage of genetic sequence of the plant variety; storage of plant propagation material and genetic sequence of the plant variety.

Regarding conditions on fertilizer trading, the law stipulates that organizations and individuals trading fertilizers must have certificates of eligibility for purchase and sale of fertilizers. In case of purchase and sale of fertilizers produced by themselves, certificates of eligibility for purchase and sale of fertilizers shall not be required. Accordingly, the conditions for obtaining certificates of eligibility for purchase and sale of fertilizers are: having clear and lawful transaction places; having full dossiers and papers on traceability of fertilizers according to regulations; fertilizer traders must be trained on fertilizers under the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, except for those who have obtained intermediate or higher degrees in one of the specializations in crop production, plant protection, agro-chemistry, soil science, agronomy, chemistry and biology.

In addition, regulations on strictly prohibited conducts; conditions for organizations and individuals that produce and/or trade in plant seedlings; import and export of plant seedlings; conditions for fertilizer production; soil use and protection in cultivation; equipment and materials in agricultural production are also regulated in detail in the Law on Crop Production.

The Law on Crop Production will take effect on January 1, 2020. The Ordinance on Plant Varieties No. 15/2004/PL-UBTVQH11 dated March 24, 2004 shall cease to have effect from the effective date of the Law.