Vietnam publishes draft amendment of decree on implementation of Environmental Protection Law 2020: Part 1

On October 20, 2023, the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) published the Draft Decree Amending and Supplementing Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP Detailing a Number of Articles of the Law on Environmental Protection (hereinafter "the Draft"), seeking comments from the general public. The Draft proposes amendments to 47 articles and 16 annexes out of total of 169 articles and 34 annexes of Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP. Main revised items include: the target of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) scheme, the new obligation to renew Environmental Licenses, the scope of exemption from Environmental Registration, the import of scrap for production raw materials, the target of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, and the preferential taxation for import/export.

The key revisions are explained below, excluding EPR regulations.