The draft laws on human trafficking and
independent auditing were discussed by members of the National Assembly Standing
Committee yesterday, Feb 17, in Ha Noi.

Although
the bill on human trafficking was previously discussed at several meetings of
the National Assembly and at the Committee, there remain many issues of
contention.

Chairwoman of the NA Judiciary Committee Le Thi Thu Ba said through the
discussions, most of the deputies wanted the law to focus more on offences
relating to human trafficking, particularly women and children.

During
their discussion, the deputies agreed that the law should cover various
sections, including prosecution, protection and prevention.

“However
the law must be appropriate to the situation in Viet Nam and in line with
international law and practice, while being consistent with other related
Vietnamese laws,” the deputies said.

They
asked the drafting committee to make the law more comprehensive covering the
trafficking of individuals or groups inside the country and across borders.

Truong
Thi Mai, chairwoman of the Committee for Social Affairs and Phung Quoc Hien,
chairman of the Budgetary and Financial Committee agreed with the draft in terms
of defining offences relating to human trafficking.

Nguyen
Van Thuan, chairman of the Law Committee, said he was confused between the two
concepts – an act of human trafficking or an act related to human trafficking.

Ha Hung
Cuong, Minister of Justice, who was involved in directly drafting the law
conceded that the drafting committee had faced many challenges in defining a
behaviour related to human trafficking with an objective to profit from the act
as opposed to being directly involved in trafficking.

NA Vice
Chairman Uong Chu Luu said offences in human trafficking had already been
revised in the Criminal Code. He said the United Nations Act Against
Trans-border Human Trafficking also considered the reception and transfer in
persons as an act of human trafficking.

Independent auditing bill

In their
discussion, the deputies spent a lot of time defining the differences between a
Business Certificate and the Auditing Certificate.

They
argued that the only document an auditing firm that also offers business
consultancy, finance, and taxation advice needs was a business licence issued by
the local provincial or city Department of Planning and Investment in accordance
with the Enterprise Law.

In his
report on the draft law on Independent Auditing, Ha Van Hien, Chairman of the
Committee on Economics, explained that under the bill, the Ministry of Finance
would be in charge of the issuance or revoking of the Auditing Certificate
awarded to the firm only. The firm would also have to follow the requirements of
the Business Law.

According to Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh, at present there are about 7,000
employees working in the field of auditing, including 2,000 auditors, yet only
15-20 per cent have been certified as public accountants.

Ninh
indicated his ministry’s willingness to take on the role as an agency to monitor
the performance of such independent auditing firms.

“If they
are found insufficient in providing the job, the ministry will revoke their
auditing business licence,” said Ninh.

Vu Viet
Ngoan, vice chairman of the Committee on Economics, agreed that anyone had the
right to establish their own business, yet if their business was based on some
kind of professional specialism, they would require a licence from a management
agency.

Members
of the National Assembly Standing Committee reached consensus that the Ministry
of Finance would issue professional certification to auditing services while the
business license would continue to be issued by the provincial/city Department
of Planning and Investment.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News