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. — VNS