Preliminary review of the draft Law on Countering the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction

Senior Lieutenant General Le Tan Toi, Member of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs, chairs the meeting

The meeting was attended by the Vice Chairpersons of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs: Lieutenant General Nguyen Minh Duc, Major General Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Major General Nguyen Quoc Hung and Mr Dinh Cong Sy; full-time National Assembly deputies at the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs, together with members of the Committee.

Delegates of the Standing Body of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs

Lieutenant General Nguyen Minh Duc and Major General Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Vice Chairmen of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs

Also attending the meeting were representatives of the Standing Bodies of the Council for Ethnic Minorities and of the Committees of the National Assembly. On the side of the agency in charge of drafting the Law were Major General Nguyen Viet Dung, Director of the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of National Defence; Major General Nguyen Dinh Hien, Commander of the Chemical Corps, Ministry of National Defence; together with representatives of central ministries and agencies…

Institutionalising the lines and policies of the Party, safeguarding national defence and security, and proactively pursuing extensive international integration

Delivering the opening remarks of the meeting, Senior Lieutenant General Le Tan Toi, Chairman of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs, said that the draft Law on Countering the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction had been added by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly to the 2026 Legislative Programme and would be submitted to the National Assembly for comments and adoption at the extraordinary session (August 2026). Immediately after the draft Law was added to the 2026 Legislative Programme, the Government directed the drafting agency to move promptly to prepare and finalise the draft Law dossier in strict accordance with the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents.

Senior Lieutenant General Le Tan Toi, Member of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs, delivers the opening remarks of the meeting

The Chairman of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs stressed that the promulgation of the Law is intended to institutionalise the lines and policies of the Party on defending the Fatherland early and from afar, to safeguard national defence and security, to pursue extensive international integration proactively, and to perfect a legal system that is consistent, coherent and workable. The draft Law remedies the gaps and shortcomings of Decree No. 81/2019/ND-CP and the fragmentation of provisions across specialised legal documents, while also providing a legal basis at the level of a law for measures capable of restricting human rights and citizens' rights in accordance with the 2013 Constitution.

A view of the meeting

"The promulgation of the Law also ensures the full implementation of Viet Nam's international commitments under the international treaties to which our country is a party and the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, enhances the effectiveness and efficiency of State management, contributes to creating a favourable and transparent investment and business environment, and at the same time prevents and promptly forestalls the risks of proliferation and proliferation financing of WMD in a context of rapidly developing science and technology and ever deeper international integration", Senior Lieutenant General Le Tan Toi emphasised.

Senior Lieutenant General Le Tan Toi, Member of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs, delivers the opening remarks of the meeting

In a spirit of serious and responsible work, the Chairman of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs, Senior Lieutenant General Le Tan Toi, expressed the hope that members of the Committee, representatives of the agencies of the National Assembly, delegates representing central ministries, departments and agencies, and guests attending the meeting would actively offer frank comments on the Submission and the draft Law dossier, so that the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs could finalise its review report for submission to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.

The Vice Chairpersons of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs

The promulgation of the Law on Countering the Proliferation of WMD is necessary in order to remedy the gaps and shortcomings of the law

According to the Government's Submission, the promulgation of the Law on Countering the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction is an urgent requirement in order to institutionalise the policies and lines of the Party on defending the Fatherland early, from afar and before the country is imperilled; to safeguard national defence and security; to pursue international integration proactively and actively; to perfect the socialist law-governed State of Viet Nam and build a legal system that is consistent, coherent and workable in the face of the requirements of preventing and controlling traditional and non-traditional security risks in the new situation.

Major General Nguyen Viet Dung, Director of the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of National Defence, presents the summary Submission on the draft Law

International, regional and domestic practice shows that the risks of proliferation and proliferation financing of WMD continue to evolve in complex and unpredictable ways, bound up with strategic competition, regional conflicts, terrorism, transnational crime, the rapid development of science and technology and the globalisation of supply chains. As Viet Nam's international integration deepens, with the scale of trade, logistics, investment, technology transfer and cross-border financial transactions growing rapidly, the requirement for State management of activities at risk of being exploited to proliferate or to finance the proliferation of WMD is becoming ever more pressing.

Delegates attending the meeting

The promulgation of the Law on Countering the Proliferation of WMD is necessary in order to remedy the gaps and shortcomings of current law; to give statutory form to specific principles, grounds and measures of management and control; to perfect the mechanism for countering proliferation financing and targeted financial sanctions; and to establish mechanisms for inter-agency coordination, information sharing, early warning, international cooperation and the assurance of resources for implementation. In so doing, the Law provides a consistent, transparent and workable legal basis for enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of State management, for protecting national defence, security, economic security and human security, and at the same time for creating a favourable environment for lawful research, investment, production and business activities.

Delegates attending the meeting

As to its basic contents, the draft Law has been developed on the basis of institutionalising the policies already approved by the Government; inheriting those provisions of current law that remain appropriate; and adding new matters arising from the requirements of implementing international treaties, resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and international standards on countering the proliferation of WMD; while ensuring consistency and coherence with the law on national defence and security, counter-terrorism, anti-money laundering, chemicals, atomic energy, foreign trade management, customs, science and technology and related specialised law.

The Government is submitting the draft Law to the National Assembly for consideration and adoption at the First Extraordinary Session of the 16th National Assembly (to be held in August 2026); the Law is expected to take effect from 1 July 2027.

Lieutenant General Tran Duc Thuan, Vice Chairman of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs, moderates the meeting

A call for continued review to ensure consistency with related laws

Presenting the draft summary report on the review of the draft Law on behalf of the Standing Body of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs, full-time National Assembly deputy at the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs Trinh Xuan An made clear that the Standing Body of the Committee and the agencies taking part in the review agreed on the necessity of promulgating the Law, on the political, legal and practical grounds set out in the Government's Submission. The promulgation of the Law is intended to institutionalise the lines and policies of the Party on defending the Fatherland early and from afar, to safeguard national defence and security, to pursue extensive international integration proactively, and to perfect a legal system that is consistent, coherent and workable.

Full-time National Assembly deputy at the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs Trinh Xuan An presents the draft summary report on the review of the draft Law

"The promulgation of the Law also ensures the full implementation of Viet Nam's international commitments under the international treaties to which our country is a party and the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, enhances the effectiveness and efficiency of State management, contributes to creating a favourable and transparent investment and business environment, and at the same time prevents and promptly forestalls the risks of proliferation and proliferation financing of WMD in a context of rapidly developing science and technology and ever deeper international integration. On the above grounds, the Standing Body of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs considers that the promulgation of the Law is necessary and has sufficient political, legal and practical basis", deputy Trinh Xuan An emphasised.

Full-time National Assembly deputy at the Committee for Law and Justice Do Thi Viet Ha speaks

Delegates of the Standing Body of the Committee and delegates attending the meeting also agreed that the draft Law has substantially followed the policies and lines of the Party. The contents of the draft Law are substantially consistent with the relevant provisions of the 2013 Constitution; the provisions on principles and on measures of management, control, asset freezing and suspension of operations all comply with the Constitution's provisions on protecting national interests, public order and safety, human rights and citizens' rights, and the principle of socialist rule of law. However, it was proposed that the control measures applying outside the lists, and the emergency interdiction measures, be reviewed more closely in order to avoid infringing the freedom of business and the right of ownership.

Full-time National Assembly deputy at the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Le Hoang Hai speaks

Delegates also concurred that the draft Law substantially ensures consistency with the legal system and compatibility with the relevant international treaties to which Viet Nam is a party; and that it ensures feasibility and meets practical requirements. At the same time, they proposed that the drafting agency continue to review the draft Law in its entirety to ensure consistency with related laws (such as the Law on Atomic Energy; the Law on Chemicals, the Law on Foreign Trade Management, the Law on Customs: the Law on Anti-Money Laundering; the Law on Management and Use of Weapons, Explosives and Combat Gear; the Law on Data: the Law on Electronic Transactions and other specialised laws), and limit duplicative provisions or provisions that give rise to overlaps in the course of application.

Lieutenant Colonel Le Ngoc Giap, Deputy Director of the Department of Internal Security, Ministry of Public Security, speaks

Delegates also held that ensuring consistency and coherence between the Law on Countering the Proliferation of WMD and the related laws is a very important matter, and that it is therefore necessary to clarify the relationship between them and the question of priority application or concurrent application of the Law on Countering the Proliferation of WMD and specialised laws when framing the contents of the draft Law, so as to ensure rigour, consistency and ease of implementation.

Mr Pham Van Toan, Deputy Director of the Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, Ministry of Science and Technology, speaks

The review showed that the draft Law dossier had been carefully prepared by the Drafting Board in strict accordance with the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents, with many documents prepared thoroughly and to a high standard, and that it is sufficiently qualified for submission to the National Assembly for comments at the thematic session on law-making (August 2026). However, it was proposed that the agency in charge of drafting continue to finalise the impact assessment report on the new policies of the draft Law.

Delegates attending the meeting

The comments also commended the drafting agency for having thoroughly grasped the policy of renewing law-making work in the course of developing the draft Law; and proposed that the drafting agency continue to review the draft Law with a view to ensuring that the Law is genuinely a statute laying down matters of a principled and stable nature, serving as a basis for consistent implementation, while giving play to the Government's initiative and flexibility in management and administration.

Mr Pham Gia Bao, Deputy Director of the Anti-Money Laundering Department, State Bank of Viet Nam

Through the review, delegates substantially agreed with the title and the scope of regulation of the draft Law; they held that the scope of regulation has been defined fairly broadly and comprehensively, covering the prevention, detection, interdiction and handling of acts of proliferation and proliferation financing of WMD, including nuclear, radiological, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery, together with dual-use goods, end-user controls, financial controls and international cooperation. They proposed further study to clarify the scope of the Law with respect to scientific research, international cooperation, technology transfer, technical services, digital services and new forms of knowledge transfer.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Minh Duc, Vice Chairman of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs

Major General Nguyen Viet Dung, Director of the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of National Defence, speaks on behalf of the drafting agency to clarify a number of matters raised by delegates at the meeting

Delivering the concluding remarks of the meeting, Lieutenant General Tran Duc Thuan, Vice Chairman of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the reviewing agency, thanked the delegates for attending the meeting and for their many insightful comments on the draft Law, among which the comments strongly agreed on the necessity of promulgating the Law on Countering the Proliferation of WMD.

Lieutenant General Tran Duc Thuan stressed that the draft Law dossier substantially meets the requirements of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents and is sufficiently qualified for submission to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly at its fourth session. The comments at the review meeting also agreed with the scope of regulation of the draft Law, while proposing that the review continue in order to avoid overlaps with related laws, and that further impact assessment be carried out so that, once promulgated, the Law will be implemented effectively in practice and will effectively interdict and counter the proliferation of WMD.

Lieutenant General Tran Duc Thuan, Vice Chairman of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs, delivers the concluding remarks

Lieutenant General Tran Duc Thuan, Vice Chairman of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs, also asked the drafting agency to study and take on board proactively the comments made at the review meeting, and stated that the Standing Body of the Committee for National Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs would organise further study and finalise the review report for submission to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly in accordance with regulations./.

Source: Portal of the National Assembly of Viet Nam.