Vietnam: How shall acts of illegal sand mining be sanctioned?

On April 30, 2017, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree No. 33/2017/NĐ-CP on penalties for administrative violations against regulations on water and mineral resources. According to this Decree, penalties for illegal sand mining include: A fine ranging from VND 30,000,000 to VND 40,000,000 shall be imposed for extracting sand, gravel and other minerals from rivers/lakes that cause landslides or mudslides. A fine ranging from VND 100,000,000 to VND 300,000,000 shall be imposed for extraction of minerals with total extraction area exceeding the boundaries of licensed extraction area (by surface) up to 50% to under 100% or 0.5 hectare to under 01 hectare; or from 02m to under 05m in excess of the licensed extraction depth.  A fine ranging from VND 300,000,000 to VND 500,000,000 shall be imposed for extraction of minerals with total extraction area exceeding the boundaries of licensed extraction area (by surface) up to 100% or more, or 01 hectare or more; or 05m or more in excess of the licensed extraction depth.

A fine ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed if the extraction capacity is about less than 15% in excess of the licensed annual extraction capacity as specified in the mineral extraction license or total amount of crude minerals extracted in the year is less than 5,000 tonnes in excess of the licensed one.  A fine ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed if the extraction capacity is from 15% to fewer than 25% in excess of the licensed annual extraction capacity as specified in the mineral extraction license or total amount of crude minerals extracted in the year is from 5,000 tonnes to less than 10,000 tonnes in excess of the licensed one. A fine ranging from VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed if the extraction capacity is from 25% to fewer than 50% in excess of the licensed annual extraction capacity as specified in the mineral extraction license or total amount of crude minerals extracted in the year is from 5,000 tonnes to less than 10,000 tonnes in excess of the licensed one. A fine ranging from VND 30,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed if the extraction capacity is from 50% to fewer than 100% in excess of the licensed annual extraction capacity as specified in the mineral extraction license or total amount of crude minerals extracted in the year is from 10,000 tonnes to less than 20,000 tonnes in excess of the licensed one.

Failure to obtain mineral extraction license shall be fined up to VND 200,000,000. A fine ranging from VND 100,000,000 to VND 200,000,000 shall be imposed for the extraction of minerals to use as common building materials without using industrial explosives if the volume of minerals that are sand and gravels extracted from rivers is 50 m3 or more. Moreover, violating organizations and individuals are also subject to one or several additional penalties  and remedial measures.

Source: Binh Phuoc Newspaper

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