Workshop on Vietnam’s legal and institutional framework for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

On 23–24 March 2023 in Hanoi, the Chemical Corps – Standing Office 81, in coordination with the EXBS Program and EU P2P, organised a workshop on “Vietnam’s legal and institutional framework for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction”.

Vietnam has been progressively building and improving its legal system on countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in order to meet the requirements of United Nations Security Council resolutions and the regulations of international organisations relating to the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The process of improving the legal system on countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction requires inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral coordination as well as the cooperation and assistance of international organisations.

Delegates attending the workshop

Building on the success of previous cooperation events, on 23 and 24 March 2023 in Hanoi, the Chemical Corps – the Standing Office of the National Focal Point of Vietnam for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (Standing Office 81) – in coordination with the Export Control and Related Border Security Program (EXBS Program) of the U.S. Department of State and the European Union’s Partner-to-Partner Export Control Programme for Dual-Use Goods in South-East Asia (EU P2P), organised a workshop on the “Legal and institutional framework for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction”.

This was the first time that the EXBS Program and EU P2P jointly supported an advisory workshop on the legal framework for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The workshop was attended by 25 delegates from Vietnamese ministries and sectors, together with leading experts on legislative development from the EXBS Program and EU P2P.

Senior Colonel Nguyen Dinh Hien – Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Chemical Corps,

Deputy Head of Standing Office 81, delivers the opening remarks at the workshop

At the workshop, delegates focused on discussing and assessing Vietnam’s existing legal framework for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the shortcomings and gaps that need to be addressed, and the directions and proposals for improving the legal framework. On the basis of the discussions, experts from the EXBS Program and EU P2P proposed a number of legislative models for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; the Vietnamese delegates and the experts held lively discussions on these models and reached agreement on a number of points concerning the direction for improving Vietnam’s legal framework for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Also at this workshop, the experts reviewed the results of cooperation in 2022 and set out a 2023 cooperation programme between Standing Office 81 and the EXBS Program and EU P2P.

Dr Ana Sanches Cobaleda presents the results of EU P2P’s review of Vietnam’s legal framework for countering

the proliferation of WMD.

In addition, at the workshop, officials of Standing Office 81 and of Vietnamese ministries and sectors exchanged views and reached agreement on the coordination mechanism for implementing Decree No. 81/2019/ND-CP and improving the legal framework for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Following the workshop, Standing Office 81 will continue to work with domestic and international experts and consult the relevant ministries and sectors in order to advise the competent authorities on an appropriate roadmap for improving Vietnam’s legal framework for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction./.

Centre 81 - Vuong Nguyen