Most said the draft, built on the existing decree to prevent trafficking and relevant laws, did not come to terms with reality and was too simple.

The term "human trafficking" had been narrowed down in the draft bill, said the chairwoman of the National Assembly's Justice Committee, Le Thi Thu Ba. She said the range of crimes covered was smaller than in the Criminal Code.

Ba asked the drafting group to clarify and detail regulations on the trading of humans.

She said the concepts of "victims" and "people who need to be verified as victims" were not properly explained in the draft.

In the past five years the national action plan to stop the trafficking of women and children had unearthed more than 1,500 cases - and numbers were steadily increasing.

More than 2,800 people had been charged with trafficking more than 4,000 people. During the period from 2004-09, border police and guards discovered more than 1,200 instances where women and children had been sold across the border. However, this was believed to be only 15 per cent of the total number.

Vice Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thanh Hoa yesterday said there was an overlapping of regulations between the draft and the Civil Code.

Chairman of the National Assembly Law Committee Nguyen Van Thuan echoed the vice minister's remarks, saying that "all regulations on the criminal acts of human trafficking were basically in the Criminal Code".

In response to the concerns, the Minister of Justice, Ha Hung Cuong, said there were many laws regulating human trafficking, but prevention measures were mostly regulated by bylaws.

This was why, he said, the new law should be as comprehensive as possible to cover all charges.

President Ksor Phuoc of the Ethnic Minority Council said another weak point was that the draft focused only on international trafficking, while in reality people were also trafficked domestically.

The National Assembly’s Justice Committee said the time frame for prosecuting, reporting and processing trafficking should be shorter, the procedures simplified and be accompanied by measures to protect and support.

The draft will be discussed again at the next NASC meeting later this year. The new law is expected to be submitted for approval next year.

In the afternoon, the Standing Committee discussed the draft law concerning the insurance sector.

Regarding the provisions for special laws, Ha Van Hien, chairman of the National Assembly Committee for Economic Affairs, said many members of the Standing Committee agreed with the amendments present in the draft law.

Previously, there were differences between the Law on Insurance and other laws, including the Civil Code, the Law on Enterprises and the Law on Investment that led to a variety of interpretations and decisions. Thus, a provision law concerning the application of a speciality law in such circumstances was needed.

Meanwhile, deputy Nguyen Van Thuan disagreed with the regulation on management competence, which stated that the Government would implement specific regulations on co-operation, competition and bidding within the insurance sector.

He said the law must clearly define any regulations passed by the Government, which must be in compliance with the Law on Bidding.

Regarding the provision concerning the conditions for the issuance of a license, several deputies agreed with the drafting board that compulsory financial requirements, such as property requirements, capital limitations and years of service, should be implemented.

However, Chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Legal Committee Le Thi Thu Ba said these conditions were not tight enough.

"Enterprises can easily borrow loans from banks in order to meet these requirements," she said.

Several deputies agreed with the provision on the establisment of funds, which stated that enterprises operating within the insurance field must set up a protection fund for insurance buyers.

The Law on Insurance was approved by the National Assembly in 2000 and came into effect in January 2001.

The amended law will be considered for approval by the NA in early 2011. — VNS