"Issuing so many regulations now is unacceptable. In a country where documents are piled up, even we can't remember them all. It's a real hassle." Minister Mai Tien Dung shared.
On the morning of October 1st, the Head of the Government Office, Mai Tien Dung, chaired a working session of the Prime Minister's task force with 10 ministries and agencies on the situation of drafting detailed regulations for laws, ordinances, and projects in the Government's work program for the first nine months of the year.
Minister Mai Tien Dung stated that the current issuance of documents is excessive and overlapping, to the point that even officials cannot remember them all.
In the first nine months of 2020 alone, there were 301 projects that needed to be submitted, with 35 projects remaining outstanding.
- According to Mr. Le Thanh Tung, Director of the General Affairs Department (Government Office), since the beginning of the year, the Government has issued 37 documents, with 18 outstanding detailed regulations under the responsibility of the Ministries of Finance, Public Security, Interior, Industry and Trade, Education and Training, and the Government Inspectorate. The Ministry of Finance has the most with 6 decrees, followed by the Ministry of Public Security with 5, and the Ministry of Interior with 4.
Regarding the 18 outstanding documents from ministries, 3 of them were delayed due to objective reasons, namely regulations on new issues requiring careful consultation with relevant agencies. The remaining 15 documents were delayed due to subjective reasons, such as: the drafting agency not being proactive enough; the coordinating and participating agencies being slow to respond; and the drafting agency being slow or incomplete in incorporating the opinions of government members, resulting in repeated resubmissions.
- Regarding the Government's work program, the Prime Minister stated that in the first nine months of 2020, there were 301 projects that needed to be submitted, and to date, 35 projects remain outstanding.
- In addition, with laws and ordinances effective from January 1, 2021, ministries still need to submit 49 documents to the Government for promulgation; two have been submitted so far, and 47 remain to be submitted.
Mr. Dung added that there are still many decrees being issued; some laws have 15 decrees, not to mention that a single decree may have numerous circulars. Meanwhile, the issuance of so many decrees and circulars creates difficulties for businesses and citizens.
"There's already a government resolution, one document amending many other documents, and we definitely need to direct that they be consolidated. Issuing so many documents like this is unacceptable; in a country where documents are piling up, even we can't remember them all, it's a real problem," he said.
In addition, the Prime Minister always reminds units to promptly identify obstacles, overlaps, and conflicts in order to propose solutions to the Government and competent authorities, creating a favorable legal framework to promote production and business development, especially during Covid-19.
Read more: Proposing a series of solutions to support businesses during the second wave of Covid-19.
Mr. Dung cited the experience from the UK, where the first phase involved revoking an old document for each new one issued; the second phase involved revoking two old documents for each new one issued. The UK is now entering the third phase of reform, where revoking three old documents for each new one issued. Therefore, government agencies there limit the submission of new documents if they cannot revoke the old ones.
He emphasized that if the process is not accelerated, proactive, and decisive, the number of outstanding documents will increase significantly. "Following the Prime Minister's directive, agencies are required to focus on processing and avoid any backlog of detailed regulations before the 10th session of the National Assembly."
