NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung chairs the fifth session of the 13th NA Standing Committee (Photo: VNA)

(VOVworld) – On Wednesday, the National Assembly deputies discussed a draft law on administrative breaches of the law at the ongoing third session of the 13^th National Assembly. The bill focuses on the levels of fines, and holding evidence, including related documents, in custody. Most deputies agreed that it is necessary to increase the current minimum level of fines. Some proposed excluding intellectual property as there is already an existing law that covers the issue. Deputy Than Duc Nam represents Da Nang City ‘The fines of 1 billion dong or 48,000 USD for individuals and 2 billion dong or 96,000 USD for organizations are too high. This is not an efficient way of stopping the law being broken. It may even have a counter effect. I suggest we carefully consider the maximum penalty on each offence and be cautious when matching people’s average incomes with the crime committed’.

Earlier, the deputies debated the draft law on advertising. Most deputies are also in favor of making the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism the state advertising management agency. Nguyen Thi Hong Ha, a NA deputy from Hanoi, says ‘I agree that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism should manage advertising especially for special commodities. Regarding advertising on posters and billboards, we should keep regulations on issuing licenses for outdoor advertisement to protect urban landscapes and social order. Those regulations are necessary as more and more advertising companies are competing fiercely for favorable positioning’.

Most deputies also agreed that alcohol and tobacco advertisements should be banned.