The Ministry of Finance has urged the Ministries of Natural Resources and Environment, Transport and Agriculture and Rural Development to quickly draw up a plan to collect environment protection fees on exhaust emissions. 

Based on the plan, the Finance Ministry will propose the Government issue a decree on fee collection, news site Vietnamplus reported.

A road section is crowded with vehicles. The Ministry of Finance has urged other relevant ministries to make plans to collect environment protection fees on exhaust emissions

Accordingly, the plan should specify those subject to the fee; fee levels; fee calculation methods; and solutions for collecting, managing and using the fees. The Ministry of Finance expects to receive the plan before December 31.

The Ministry of Finance also expects other relevant ministries to assign their competent subordinates to coordinate with it in preparing the decree.

On October 16, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue assigned the Ministry of Finance to consider the proposal of the Hanoi government on fee collection and coordinate with other relevant ministries to prepare the decree.

According to the Ministry of Finance, it sent an official request to the Ministries of Natural Resources and Environment and Transport for the submission of the fee collection plan. However, both ministries have yet to fulfill the request.

Vu Trung Kien, director of the Climate Change Resilience Center of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, noted that the air pollution in Vietnam has reached the alarming rate, so solutions are urgently needed.

However, the Government should look into related regulations and the socioeconomic situation of the country in imposing the fee, Kien added.

According to Ngo Tri Long, an economic expert, the Ministry of Finance should be cautious about imposing the fee on exhaust emissions as local vehicle owners and enterprises are currently subject to many taxes on fuels, such as import, value added, environment protection and special consumption taxes.

SGT