New points in the draft Postal Law and the revised Law on Measurement

The information was stated by the representative of the Ministry of Science and Technology at the Policy Communication Conference on two amended and supplemented Law projects, taking place on August 11 in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Ms. Nguyen Nhu Quynh, Director of Legal Department - Ministry of Science and Technology, Resolution 57 sets out the requirement that science and technology, innovation and digital transformation institutions must become "breakthroughs of breakthroughs", making institutions a competitive advantage for the country. Accordingly, the Government determined that institutional improvement is one of the major contents and issues that need to be focused on implementation.

"The goal is to make the law on science and technology, innovation and digital transformation truly become a solid foundation, turning the field into a driving force for the country's socio-economic development, contributing to realizing the aspiration of becoming a self-reliant nation as clearly indicated by the Party's resolutions," Ms. Quynh emphasized.

According to her, the criticism of the two projects Law on Postal Service (amended) and the Law on Amendments and Supplements to a number of articles of the Law on Measurement, before the 16th National Assembly considers and approves it at its second session in October, is very important.

In particular, the core point of the Postal Law (amended) is the shift of postal services to the digital/e-commerce environment, reshaping the problem of public postal services in remote areas and clearly delineating the interface between postal services and freight transport. The Law on Measurement (amended and supplemented) promotes decentralization and extensive decentralization of power from the Central Government to the commune and ward levels; Strongly cut administrative procedures associated with supervision mechanisms; and applying digital transformation to measurement management activities.

New points of the Postal Law (amended)

At the event, Mr. Le Van Chung, Department of Posts - Ministry of Science and Technology, stated a series of changes compared to the Postal Law promulgated in 2010. After nearly 16 years, the old law has revealed its limitations, built in the context of mail being the main object of postal activities. Currently, the market has changed in scale, structure and operating method, in which packages and parcels of goods for e-commerce account for the majority of output.

This change requires a comprehensive revision of the Postal Law. According to the drafting agency, the market is undergoing four shifts, including postage shifting from letters to packages and parcels of goods; Postal services move from a single delivery activity to an infrastructure connecting digital space and physical space; The proposed management method changes from licensing and pre-inspection to registration, publicity and post-inspection; and management moves from mass control to data- and risk-based management.

On that basis, the draft builds four groups of policies: redefining postal services according to the nature of operations; Expand universal postal services to packages and parcels of goods; develop postal services into an essential national infrastructure and digital economy; Developing digital postage on a data platform.

The draft includes 8 chapters and 51 articles, which complete the concept of postal services. In addition to the stages of accepting, sorting, transporting and delivering, the draft adds the ability to store, process orders, pack and return if these stages are directly tied to each postal item and are performed during the process of providing services on the postal network.

The draft also differentiates postal and transportation based on the processing, identification, tracking and delivery of each postal item, and classifies businesses according to network control capabilities; Expand universal postage from letters to packages and packages of goods, while clearly defining the responsibilities of businesses in the entire supply chain. When loss, damage or delay occurs, service users do not have to determine for themselves which unit is at fault. Enterprises signing contracts with customers must be responsible for the committed services; Responsibilities between businesses and partners are allocated based on roles in the chain and actual control capabilities.

A new chapter on digital postage focuses on data management, identification and tracking of items. Sender control is carried out according to risk level instead of applying it all at once, to increase prevention capabilities and reduce control costs. The new approach shifts the focus from post-breach handling to prevention, while simultaneously reducing the cost of controlling billions of pieces of mail each year.

New points of the Law on Measurement (supplements, amendments)

At the conference, Mr. Tran Quy Giau, Head of the Measurement Department, National Committee for Standards, Metrology and Quality, said that developing practices require innovation in measurement management.

In particular, digital transformation and AI require moving from manual methods to digital management; Green development and the energy transition create new measurement needs; Streamlining and rearranging the administrative apparatus requires institutional adjustments towards decentralization and increased autonomy for the grassroots.

The project to amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Measurement was launched in this spirit. In particular, it is expected to adjust 26 out of 58 articles, including amending and supplementing 17 articles; Added 4 new articles; Abolish 4 articles and a number of points and clauses that are no longer relevant. Implementation focuses on three groups of policies to modernize measurement activities and change management methods.

The first is digital transformation with the building of a national measurement platform and database, issuance of identification codes for measuring instruments, use of electronic certification and data application to assess and warn of risks.

Second, improve the capacity of the national measurement system, in which the State focuses on investing in strategic areas, while mobilizing resources from businesses, research institutes and universities to participate in building and maintaining measurement standards. Businesses are also encouraged to proactively develop measurement assurance programs to control quality and reduce risks in production.

Third, increase decentralization, reform administrative procedures, move some activities from pre-inspection to post-inspection mechanisms, clearly define responsibilities for managing measuring instruments, abolish some inappropriate procedures and give more proactive power to ministries, branches and localities, thereby aiming to reduce compliance costs for businesses while still maintaining control over areas that have a direct impact on consumers, health and the environment.

The draft is expected to bring many benefits to businesses, people and management agencies. In particular, for businesses, research institutes and universities, reducing pre-inspection procedures and switching to self-declaration and self-responsibility will help reduce compliance time and costs, while also opening up more opportunities for capable units to participate in building and maintaining the national measurement infrastructure.

For citizens and consumers, measuring instrument identifiers and electronic certificates help increase the ability to look up and verify detailed information. Increasing the right to inspect and measure at the commune and ward level also helps management activities be carried out closer to people, especially at markets, stores and business locations.

For state management agencies, centralized data and risk assessment mechanisms help shift from widespread inspections to focusing on cases with unusual signs. At the same time, decentralizing some measurement tasks to the commune and ward levels helps increase inspection capabilities at the grassroots level, while the central agency focuses on developing standards, managing the system and supervising implementation.

The Ministry of Science and Technology is organizing a series of policy communication conferences in the North, Central and South for three consecutive weeks. The first event took place in Da Nang for agencies, organizations and businesses in the Central region. After Ho Chi Minh City, the next destination is Hanoi.

Two draft laws have been submitted to the National Assembly by the Government and completed initial verification, expected to be passed at the Second Session of the 16th National Assembly in October 2026. Therefore, continuing to consult and receive opinions from the community from now until the button is pressed is an important step to perfecting the policy.

Bao Lam