DECISION

ON APPROVING THE MASTER PLAN FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION OF TRADE VILLAGES BY 2020 WITH VISION TO 2030

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Law on Environmental protection dated November 29, 2005;

Pursuant to the Resolution No. 19/2011/QH13 dated November 26, 2011 of the National Assembly (Tenure XIII) on the results of supervising and strengthening the implementation of environment laws and policies in the economic zones and trade villages; the Resolution No. 35/NQ-CP dated March 18, 2013 of the Government on dealing with some pressing issues pertaining to the environmental protection;

At the request of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment,

HEREBY DECIDES

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I. OBJECTIVE

1. General objectives

Further intensify the environmental protection during the management and development of trade villages nationwide to curb an increase in polluting trade villages; gradually improve the environmental pollution in the trade villages to protect human health and create better living standards for the population, which will contribute to the sustainable socioeconomic development in the rural areas.

2. Specific objectives

a) By 2015

- Basically complete laws and policies for the administration and the environmental protection in trade villages, especially the preferential and supportive policies for traditional trade villages.

- Clearly define and assign the proper duties and responsibilities among Ministries, regulatory agencies and local competent authorities to effectively oversee trade villages and their workshops.

- Carry out central and local authorities’ consistent management over the quantity, manufacturing reality and environmental condition of recognized, unrecognized and traditional trade villages; evaluate the severity of environmental pollution as well as regularly and unceasingly oversee the environmental quality at these polluting trade villages to make a list of such polluters for the public notice.

- Strictly manage the recognition of the trade villages in compliance with the statutory provisions of environmental protection; manage to review the list of the recognized trade villages in order to ensure that all of them must fully adhere to the environmental protection requirements; manage to classify manufacturing households and units (hereinafter referred to as workshops) in the trade villages in terms of their production models and risks of causing environmental pollution.

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- Manage to recheck and assess the compliance with the environmental protection regulations on the industrial area for trade villages in order to upgrade, adjust and develop more industrial areas for trade villages.

- Refuse the establishment of any workshops who are likely to cause serious environmental pollution during their production in the rural residential areas.

- Build up and experiment on several pilot models of typical traditional handicraft village whose hand-made products are of cultural heritage as well as trade village tourism; several industrial areas for typical trade villages who satisfy the environmental protection requirements, which is later applied to various trade villages of the same production model in other localities .

- Eradicate the environmental pollution at 47 seriously polluting trade villages in accordance with the National target program on pollution remediation and environmental improvement in the period of 2012-2015. The list of these forty-seven trade villages shall be specified and announced by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

b) By 2020

- Regularly publicize and update the list and information about the practical condition of nationwide recognized, unrecognized and traditional trade villages.

- Closely manage the environmental protection and primarily control environmental pollution issues in the trade villages; prevent any trade village from causing more serious environmental pollution.

- Strive to provide proper methods of waste treatment as regulated in laws, set up a plan to relocate all of the workshops in the unrecognized trade villages to industrial areas for trade villages or terminate their operation.

- Relocate the entire workshops specializing in paper and metal recycling, dyeing, slaughtering and others causing serious environmental pollution in the residential zones to industrial areas for trade villages.

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- Continuously amend and improve laws and policies on the environmental protection for the trade villages as well as the development of the trade villages linked with environmental protection.

- Regularly and unceasingly employ the management tools in controlling the environmental issues in trade villages, especially in detecting and dealing with any violation that workshops in unrecognized trade villages have been committed.

 Continue to enter into the firm cooperation and improve the effective operation of management mechanism among central and local authorities in environmental management, especially at the administrative level of a district and commune.

- Ensure that the environmental protection in the trade villages shall be properly financed.

- Continuously handle the pollution matters at 57 serious polluting trade villages according to the list verified by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

- Come into the widespread use of the treatment model for environmental pollution at trade villages nationwide.

c) With vision to 2030

- Continuously develop a variety of trade villages following the orientation towards the conservation of traditional value and cultural heritage; ensure all of trade villages nationwide are recognized, put under the consistent management and abided by the requirements of the environmental protection.

- Eradicate the environmental pollution caused by nationwide trade villages.

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II. MAJOR TASKS

1. Provide complete laws and policies on the environmental protection at trade villages

a) Promulgate the regulations on the trade village management and other related documents to clearly define the responsibilities of Ministries, regulatory agencies as well as the specific responsibilities of the People's Committees (PPC) of a province, district and especially commune, for the management over trade villages, their manufacturing entities in general and the environmental protection in particular. .

b) Adjust and amend the legal documents providing for the development of rural industries, which focuses on the environmental protection issues. Complete the existing criteria system of trade village recognition, in which the requirements of waste treatment and environmental protection are mandatory for those who want to obtain the recognition. Study and recommend the criteria applied to a "green village" linked with the preservation of traditional value and cultural heritage as well as tourism development.

c) Develop, complete and issue the mechanisms and policies on facilitating the development of workshops at recognized trade village of all kinds linked with tourism services in order to enable them to access to preferential loans to transform their production technology, train their workforce and provide favorable production premises, etc., which is oriented towards the environmental friendliness, cleaner production methods and the appropriate technology of solid and liquid waste treatment in those trade villages.

d) Develop and promulgate the incentives for the recognized trade villages to improve their infrastructural system, especially for the traditional trade villages, under the provisions of Clause 3 and Article 2 of the Resolution No. 19/2011/QH13 of the National Assembly.

dd) As for the establishment and enforcement of regulatory mechanisms and policies on the environmental protection in accordance with the specific attribution and production capability of workshops in the trade villages, provide regulations on the environmental protection of the trade villages; the national and local technical standards for the environmental issues; the environmental protection charges for waste substances; the technical guidelines of the cleaner production solutions and waste treatment (applied to liquid waste, exhaust gas and solid waste) for the workshops in the trade villages and industrial areas for trade villages.

2. Effective use of environmental management tools

a) Carry out any investigation, statistics and classification over workshops and trade villages, based on their production models and risks of causing environmental pollution; recognized, unrecognized and traditional trade villages; and the severity of environmental pollution in trade villages nationwide.

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c) Closely manage the establishment of new trade villages, the recognition of the trade villages as well as concentrate on reviewing the list of the recognized villages that have already achieved the recognition for their environmental protection assurance. As regards the recognized trade villages which have not fulfilled all requirements of the environmental protection, they should submit any of proposed remedies along with specific processes for approval and implementation.

d) Examine and assess the compliance with the regulations on the environmental protection in the whole industrial areas for trade villages; recommend, upgrade, adjust and supplement more industrial areas for trade villages which must comply with the regulations on the environmental protection in order to move any workshop as an environment polluter away from residential areas.

dd) Strengthen and intensify the evaluation and approval of the reports on environmental impacts, the detailed plan of the environmental protection or written registration, commitment on environmental protection and concise environmental protection plan, as well as supervise the investment and construction of the waste treatment systems at workshops in the trade villages.

e) Strengthen instructions, inspections and checks over the compliance with laws on the environmental protection at workshops in the trade villages, especially paying particular attention to those who are likely to cause serious environmental pollution during their production as well as unrecognized trade villages.

g) Collect environmental protection charges for exhaust gas, liquid and solid wastes emitted by all of workshops in the trade villages as prescribed by laws.

h) Monitor, supervise, publicize and set up the communications plan for the information about the environmental quality in the trade villages; frequently and continually monitor those who are considered an extremely serious polluter.

i) Encourage the trade villages to launch a village convention and etiquette in which environmental protection issue is one of obligations.

3. Employ the technical models and approaches to directing any possible sanction against environmental pollution in the trade villages nationwide.

a) Select, develop and apply six pilot models of the traditional trade villages associated with tourism services who abide by the regulations on environmental protection (two models of the handicraft village, two models of the textile-dyeing village, and two models of ceramics production villages) in order to evaluate and learn experience before coming into the widespread use of these models at similar trade villages.

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c) Renovate, upgrade or develop the consolidated waste water treatment system, common solid waste and hazardous waste landfills for the recognized trade villages in which the traditional trade villages are prioritized.

d) Experiment on 03 models of industrial areas for trade villages in order for them to remove their polluting production facilities; evaluate and learn experience before coming into a widespread use in similar trade villages.

dd) For the period from now till 2015, focus on handling the environmental pollution in the forty-seven seriously polluting villages, in which the twelve of them are governed under the Decision No.64/2003/QD-TTg dated April 22, 2003 of the Prime Minister (integrated with the National target program on pollution remediation and environmental improvement in the period 2012-2015).

For the period of 2016 – 2020, continue to eradicate the environmental pollution in the fifty-seven seriously polluting trade villages.

4. Strengthen the efforts in the communication, training and capability improvement for the environmental protection at the trade villages.

a) Establish, develop and maintain the operation of the handicraft organizations as well as expand the network of Vietnam trade village associations for the communes where trade villages are located. Build up cooperatives, farmers' association, women league and veterans’ association, etc., all of which shall take part in the environmental protection at the trade villages.

b) Regularly organize the training courses in the environmental management of the trade villages for staff members working for the competent authorities of environmental protection at all administrative for trade villages; in waste treatment and environmental protection for the production and trading organizations and individuals in the trade villages.

c) Disseminate the information about environmental protection of the trade villages for the public notice; periodically organize seminars; hold press conferences, promotion fairs or exhibitions to launch the environment-friendly technology as well as popularize initiatives and models suitable for the production in the trade villages.

d) Develop the information content which will regularly appear on the mass media coverage to discuss the environmental protection in the trade villages.

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1. In terms of mechanisms and policies

a) For the period 2013 – 2015, focus on establishing, amend and complete the system of legal documents, regulatory policies and mechanisms on the management and development of trades villages associated with environmental protection. Enforce laws and policies on environmental protection for trade villages on a basis of the conformity to the awareness in harmony with the production customs and practices of rural residents as well as the financial capability; particularly, pay much attention to the policies on incentives, preferences and encouragements over the involvement of public sector into the environmental protection at the trade villages.

b) Emphasize duties and responsibilities of regulatory agencies under the Agriculture and Rural Development to carry out their state management over the trade villages and other handicraft production entities in the rural residential areas; guide, implement and monitor the implementation of cleaner production methods, treatment of wastes emitted from the handicraft production and other methods of manufacturing that can meet the requirements of environmental protection stipulated by laws.

c) The Industry and Trade shall be responsible for the state management over the consolidated industrial areas.

d) The Natural Resources and Environment shall be responsible to develop and promulgate the legal documents, policies, strategies, plans and technical regulations on the environmental protection for the trade villages; guide and inspect records of the environmental protection issues; monitor and identify the polluting trade villages and propose the plan for proper settlement; collect environmental protection charges; inspect and monitor the compliance with the provisions of law and deal with any violation against the environmental protection in the trade villages; study, apply and popularize the environmental treatment technologies to match with the trade villages.

dd) The Public Security shall be responsible to investigate, detect and timely settle any criminal offences against environmental protection in the trade villages.

e) The Science and Technology shall be responsible to manage the production technology to restrict old and obsolete technologies used in the trade villages and the rural residential areas, which is likely to cause environmental pollution.

g) The People's Committees of centrally-affiliated provinces and cities shall be responsible to execute the missions given in the plan; direct, inspect and supervise the planning, development and environmental protection of the trade villages, manage industrial areas for trade villages in their localities to ensure the compliance with the requirements of environmental protection; arrange the necessary resources, direct and inspect the performance of the environmental protection tasks from the People's Committees at district administrative level, particularly at communal administrative one. At the communes, wards and towns where trade villages are located (including recognized and unrecognized trade villages), an authorized person in charge of the environmental protection of trade villages must be appointed to carry out the dissemination, guidance and supervision over workshops to bind them to legal regulations on the environmental protection.

Study and develop the effective and tailored models of environmental management of the trade village; experiment on the self-managed team to oversee the environmental protection in the trade villages established by The People's Committees of communes, who must follow the given rules and whose operation is budgeted by the communal authority and workshops.

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This solution is definitely important for the environmental protection of the trade villages and currently this should be further strengthened and unceasingly carried out with the following contents:

a) Strengthen the widespread education and dissemination on the mass media coverage to raise public awareness and responsibility for the environmental protection. Create mechanisms to encourage the community of the trade villages to take part in the prevention, prohibition and sanction against the environmental pollution and destroy as well as give various supports to execute the plan.

b) Publicize the list of the seriously polluting trade villages in the mass media coverage; disseminate and come into the widespread use of the models of the trade villages who have strictly comply with the environmental protection.

c) Assign the specific responsibilities to promote the role and duty of local authority at grass-roots administrative level as well as the involvement of social organizations and every citizen in the environmental protection of the trade villages.

d) Plan and assign proper persons to organize training courses to improve the capability and knowledge about the environmental protection for public servants in charge of the environmental management of trade villages, associations, unions, socio-political and community organizations.

3. Carry out the construction, planning, relocation and transformation of the production model in trade villages.

a) The production restructuring

Depending on the attribution and development of the trade villages, the local areas where trade villages are located shall be considered to select the methods which match with the actual conditions. Therefore, one of the following three methods can be applied:

- As for the consolidated planning of industrial areas for trade villages, the synchronous infrastructure planning including roads, power supply, communications, waste collecting and treatment landfills. The planning of production area for trade villages shall be suitable for their production models. This planning is often applied to the trade villages with their workshops causing serious environmental pollution and prevents the establishment of new ones in the residential areas.

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- As for the combined planning, move the production stages by which serious environmental pollution is emerged such as the bleaching and dyeing stage (the textile-dyeing villages), plating stage (mechanical trade villages), etc. into industrial areas for trade villages. This planning method is often applied to the trade villages with one or more production stages causing serious environmental pollution, which is not allowed to establish the new ones in the residential areas.

b) Transformation of production model or relocation of trade villages to industrial areas.

Compile the list of the trade villages which require the process of transforming production model or relocating production stage. At first, focus on paper recycling, plastic recycling, metal recycling, dyeing, slaughtering and the seriously polluting trade villages as well as develop and implement the plans for relocation or change in the production model following the appropriate processes.

For the trade villages or workshops in the trade villages which need to change the production model, they must be integrated with the National target program on the development of the new rural areas and the National target program on sustainable poverty reduction in order to study and orient which industry will replace as well as organize the training courses serving this transformation.

The trade villages or workshops causing environmental pollution in the residential areas should be relocated to industrial areas for trade villages and they will be offered the preferential policies such as exemption and reduction from land rents and land use levies, etc. and must comply with environmental protection regulations for industrial areas for trade villages.

4. Financial solutions

a) In order to enhance the strict control of the allocation, management and use of the State budget for the environmental protection, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall play a leading role in working with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance , Ministry of Science and technology to consider and allocate expenditures for environmental protection, economic, scientific and technological activities and other investment sources used for the environmental protection as well as the control and settlement against the environmental pollution in the trade villages. At the localities where the trade villages are located, the provincial People's Council shall be responsible to allocate more than 10% of total expenditure for the environmental protection in the trade villages.

b) Total budget for the plan is determined on the basis of specific expenditures used for each project and task approved by the competent authorities. Based on the assigned functions and duties, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministries, regulatory agencies and localities as the receivers of the classified budget levels, shall establish the estimate of actual expenditures depending on specific transactions of the State budget such as regular expenditures (economic, scientific, technological, environment, administration activities); investment capital; capital derived from the National target programs, all of which will be summarized in the annual budget of Ministries, regulatory agencies and local authorities for the submission to the competent authorities under the provisions of the Law on the State Budget and the current instructions.

c) The capital for the development of the plan includes:

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- The preferential credit capital of the Government under the current legal regulations.

- The contributed capital from workshops in the trade villages.

- Other capital funds from the enterprises, organizations, Vietnamese and foreign individuals.

5. Strengthen the study, technical and technological applications and enhance the international cooperation.

a) Enhance the control of old technology and obsolete/outdated technology in the polluting trade villages nowadays.

b) Boost up the study and transfer of the clean technology, waste treatment technology for the small-sized workshops who direct their operation in a simple, stable and cost effective manner and enhance environmental treatment effectively.

c) Strengthen the international cooperation to renew the production technology; study and make most use of environment- friendly material, equipment, technology, model and production methods.

6. Integrate the plan of environmental protection for the trade villages with the relevant programs and others.

Incorporate this plan in the developmental process of the National target program on pollution remediation and environmental improvement to forty-seven seriously polluting trade villages for the period 2012-2015; the National target program on the development of new rural areas; the National target program on clean water and environmental sanitation in rural areas; the National target program on poverty reduction to support for changing forms of production; erect and improve infrastructure systems for the environmental protection of trade villages such as the drainage systems and solid waste collecting and treatment areas.

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1. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall play a leading role in cooperating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministries, Sectors and relevant localities to implement the plan tasks; promulgate the list of trade villages causing environmental pollution which need to be handled for the period 2013 - 2015 and 2016 - 2020; guide, inspect, review and report the implementation of the plan to the Prime Minister.

2. The Ministry of Planning, Investment and Finance shall balance and allocate the funds from the state budget and other sources to carry out the duties in the plan.

3. The Ministry of Finance shall play a leading role in cooperating with relevant Ministries and Sectors to review and amend the mechanisms and policies on facilitating the workshops in the trade villages to receive the preferential loans to change the technology towards environmental friendliness and apply cleaner production measures, the appropriate technology for liquid, solid waste and noise treatment.

4. The Ministry of Home Affairs shall play the leading role in cooperating with relevant Ministries and Sectors to review and amend the regulatory documents on the division of responsibilities of relevant Ministries, sectors and local authorities for the management of the trade villages, manufacturing entities and the environmental protection in trade villages; guide the recruitment of more officers in charge of environmental management for the People's Committees of the commune where the trade villages are located.

5. The Ministry of The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall play the leading role in cooperating with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and relevant ministries and sectors to review and amend regulatory documents and policies on developing the rural industry satisfying the regulations on environmental protection of trade villages; provide the list to manage traditional trade villages that should be preserved or associated with the tourism development as well as recognized and unrecognized trade villages across the country; develop the mechanisms and policies to support the development of traditional trade villages, maintain the ethnically traditional identity and develop tourism services.

6. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall play their leading role in cooperating with relevant authorities to guide the implementation of environmental protection during their enforcement of industry promotion policies; manage industrial areas intended for the trade villages to ensure the compliance with regulations on environmental protection and the relocation of workshops in the trade villages to these areas.

7. The Ministry of Science and Technology shall play their leading role in cooperating with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to study, introduce and disseminate the environment-friendly production technology as well as the technology of waste treatment, which is suitable for the trade villages.

8. The Ministry of Public Security shall play their leading role in cooperating with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to enhance the investigation, detection, prevention as well as pose strict penalties against the violations of environmental protection in the trade villages, which focuses on such industries as paper, plastic and metal recycling, dyeing, slaughtering, seafood processing and other seriously polluting trade villages. .

9. The People’s Committees of centrally-affiliated provinces and cities shall direct the implementation of the plan in their administrative areas, specified as follows:

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b) Direct the People’s Committees of a district to plan or review the planning for industrial areas for trade villages to move any workshop causing environmental pollution out of the residential zones; investigate, provide statistical data and compile the list of production models in the trade villages according to the risk of causing environmental pollution; inspect the implementation of environmental protection of these workshops; develop and submit the plan for the environmental protection of the trade villages, and monitor the implementation hereof after approval.

c) Direct the People’s Committees of a commune to guide, inspect and report the environmental protection of workshops in trade villages under their administrative areas; reject the establishment of any workshop that cause serious environmental pollution in residential areas and apply any possible penalty against them; develop the village convention and etiquette on the environmental protection for the trade villages or those which elaborate the environmental protection issues; assign their staff members to perform the environmental protection of the trade villages; manage, operate and maintain the trade villages according to legal regulations on receipt of any infrastructure projects for the environmental protection of trade villages; promulgate proper regulations and facilitate the effective operation of the self-managed teams in charge of environmental protection; mobilize the contributions from organizations and individuals to invest, develop, operate, maintain and improve the infrastructure project of environmental protection in the trade villages; publicize the information about the current environmental conditions as well as the environmental protection of the trade villages through local mass media, associations and communities and or in the meetings of People’s Committee and the People’s Council.

10. Ministries, regulatory sectors, agencies and local authorities shall work closely with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to plan and implement the concerning tasks and the projects of environmental protection for trade villages; send annual reports on the implementation to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment who shall then summarize and make final reports submitted to the Prime Minister.

Article 2. This Decision shall take effect from the signing date.

Article 3. The Ministers, the Heads of ministerial agencies, the Heads of Governmental agencies, the Chairperson of The People’s Committees of centrally-affiliated provinces and cities together with organizations and individuals shall be responsible for the enforcement of this Decision./.

PP. PRIME MINISTER
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER




Hoang Trung Hai