National Assembly Deputy Chairman Nguyễn Đức Hải chairs the session. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

HÀ NỘI — The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Thursday gave opinions on the draft amended Price Law as part of the continuing programme of the 50th session.

NA Deputy Chairman Nguyễn Đức Hải proposed that the Standing Committee focus discussion on the necessity and basis for amending and supplementing the Price Law.

It should ensure compliance with the renewal guidelines of lawmaking, prevent and combat corruption, wastefulness and negative practices in lawmaking, conform to the Party’s policies, adhere to the Constitution, maintain consistency with the legal system, meet new requirements of price management, and demonstrate practical feasibility.

He also requested opinions on whether the draft law is ready to be submitted to the NA for discussion and approval at the 10th session of the 15th NA.

According to the appraisal report of the draft law presented by a representative from the NA’s Committee on Economic Affairs and Finance, the majority agreed on the necessity of issuing the amended Price Law to align with the current organisational model, implement the Party and State’s policy for institutional improvement, address practical issues in a timely manner, and improve and ensure consistency of the legal system.

Regarding the draft law’s order, procedures and dossier, the Committee on Economic Affairs and Finance agreed with the Government’s submission to the NA Standing Committee for consideration and opinions, and decided to include it in the 2025 law and ordinance enactment programme as well as the 10th session programme.

Within the scope of adjustments, the draft law removes content on specialised price inspections and simultaneously omits specific provisions related to specialised price inspections to ensure consistency with the 2025 Inspection Law.

Chairman of the Legal and Judicial Committee Hoàng Thanh Tùng stated that the organisational structure and functions of specialised inspection agencies under the Inspection Law have changed significantly. Accordingly, the Ministry of Finance no longer has a specialised price inspection agency, and the function of specialised price inspection, as well as other specialised inspections, has been transferred to the Government Inspectorate.

Chairman Tùng raised the issue that if all regulations related to specialised price inspections are removed, on what legal basis will the Government Inspectorate conduct specialised price inspections?

He therefore proposed that the draft law maintain the current scope of regulation regarding specialised price inspections but replace the phrase 'specialised price inspection' with 'inspection in the field of price' to provide a legal basis for the Government Inspectorate’s implementation.

NA Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn clarified that the Price Law was passed by the NA on June 19 last year and came into effect on July 1 last year. After more than a year of implementation, the amendments aim to align with the restructuring of the two-tier government apparatus.

The NA Chairman emphasised that the amendments should focus on completing the socialist-oriented market mechanism, strengthening State management of prices and price appraisal, protecting consumer rights and stabilising price management and regulation.

According to the Chairman, the amendments should address shortcomings found during the first year of law enforcement, suit the two-tier government model, and strengthen management discipline.

The main changes focus on expanding and supplementing the scope of specialised inspections; specifying the responsibility for price stabilisation at the commune level; clarifying the conditions for price appraisal enterprises; and updating the names of ministries and sectors.

NA Chairman Mẫn emphasised that the amendments must ensure consistency with laws already passed by the NA; study regulatory solutions to promote administrative procedure simplification while limiting impacts on business operations; and enhance technological support for communes.

The amendments must also be decisive in specialised inspections and violation handling to ensure order and management discipline in price administration.

Also at the session, the NA Standing Committee gave opinions on the draft amended Statistics Law and on handling land rent debt of public service units. — VNS