Legislators draft new laws   Workers check on plants at the Centre for Agriculture and Forestry Science and Production in the northern province of Quang Ninh. Lawmakers yesterday agreed that the draft law on plant protection and quarantine needs to include regulations that stipulate producers and traders have to address the consequences if their products harm the environment. - VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh HA NOI (VNS) - Lawmakers continued their ongoing session yesterday, hearing a report on the draft law on amendments to the Notary Law and discussing the draft law on plant protection and quarantine. Reporting on the draft Notary Law, Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong stressed the need to delineate the legal position, rights and responsibilities of notary staff. "The standards and criteria for notary staff are still low, making the quality of notarised documents equally poor," he said. Chairman of the National Assembly Law Committee Phan Trung Ly agreed, saying supplements should be added to the draft law that would raise the quality of notary services so as they complied with international standards. The draft law on the amendments to the Notary Law has eight chapters with 76 articles, nine articles more than the 2006 Notary Law. The draft includes 31 amended articles, supplements 10 articles and gets rid of one article. At the discussion session on the draft law on plant protection and quarantine, lawmakers agreed that producers and vendors of plant protection substances must take responsibility for destroying the containers and products after use. "The draft law needs to include regulations that producers and traders have to address the consequences if their products harm the environment," said Vi Thi Huong, deputy from northern Dien Bien Province. Pham Van Tan from central Nghe An Province said there should be policies to encourage enterprises to collect the products for re-use. "The draft law specifies a compensation amount for destroying used products but not for collecting them," he said. Doan Nguyen Thuy Trang from HCM City said that compensation for destroying the containers should come from the local budget. However, Trang objected to the idea of reusing the containers, saying that it would be too costly and complicated. Deputy Nguyen Thanh Thuy from southern Hau Giang Province said that such regulations would increase the awareness of producers and traders about environmental protection and corporate responsibility to the community. NA deputies also discussed fighting corruption, preventing crime, enforcing verdicts and the work of the Head of the Supreme People's Procuracy and Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court. Today, the NA will convene another plenary session to discuss the amended Bidding Law. - VNS