Legislator asks PM to minimize fire safety obstacles against businesses

Lieutenant General Nguyen Minh Duc, a National Assembly member, has asked Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to instruct an overall review of fire prevention and fighting rules to eliminate obstacles against enterprises.

"It is necessary to minimize barriers and eradicate unnecessary administrative procedures for businesses," the legislator said during National Assembly (NA) discussions in Hanoi on Thursday.

The lieutenant general, Deputy Chairman of the NA Defense and Security Committee, said the legislative body had earlier pointed out fire safety-related regulations that needed improvements, and then the Ministry of Construction also issued new standards on fire prevention and fighting in construction.

However, there are “impractical regulations because businesses face problems in building factories,” the lawmaker said.

For example, rules for sources of high risk like equipment and machinery are not adequately strict but there are many regulations that are difficult to meet regarding construction work, such as ones for fireproof paint and steel columns in the middle of the building.

"Paint of European standards must be used but enterprises find hard to buy because of limited supply in the domestic market. Failing to buy that paint, enterprises fail to meet fire prevention requirements, and are not licensed to operate, meaning no business,” Duc said.

At the opening session of this NA sitting, NA Economic Committee Chairman Vu Hong Thanh said many enterprises in the country have faced difficulties and shut down due to the new regulations on fire safety, already effective.

According to the business circle, many of the new regulations are of higher levels than in developed countries and they do not take into consideration feasibility when applied in Vietnam.

Therefore, the NA Economic Committee asked the Government to make reports on the problem so that fire safety obstacles can be eliminated to help businesses revive.

In a dispatch issued on April 5, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh ordered relevant authorities to make fire safety regulations more convenient for businesses while still minimizing risks. He asked the ministries of public security and construction to review relevant regulations and make necessary amendments to meet this goal.

The two ministries were told to create favorable conditions for construction work as well as production and business activities.

Hong Sun, chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce (Kocham) in Vietnam, told the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) this March that there had been complaints about new and increased investments in firefighting among businesses due to the stricter fire safety regulations.

He noted difficulties related to obtaining firefighting permits in Vietnam, especially in the northern provinces of Vinh Phuc and Bac Ninh provinces.

For example, he said, in the past, it was not difficult to obtain permission even if a simple gypsum board or fire-resistant paint was used for factory firewalls, with the new regulations requiring that fire-resistant gypsum boards be used.