Meeting Report
A Dialogue in Viet Nam

Date	8 February 2007
Place	Institute of Environmental Technology (IET), Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Viet Nam
Participants	From Japan, officers in the Ministry of the Environment and IGES researchers participated in the meeting.  The local participants came from organizations related to water quality in Viet Nam, such as the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Viet Nam Association of Water and Environment Protection, and IET.
Documents	Programme Documents related to Discussion Sessions

Day One: 8 Feb. 2007 (Thu.) 9:00 Welcoming remarks from the representative of Viet Nam Dr. Ho Ngoc Hai, President of the Viet Nam Association of Water and Environment Protection Opening remarks from the Japanese Ministry of the Environment Mr. Tatsuya Mochizuki, Director, Water Environment Division, Environmental Management Bureau, Ministry of the Environment, Japan 9:20 Environmental Protection Policies and Institutional Framework in Water Resources Management in Viet Nam (658KB) Dr. Truong Manh Tien, Director of the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) (Presenter: Dr. Nguyen Trung Thang, Department of Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) 10:20 Introduction to the WEPA project and Japanese Water Pollution Control Policy and Management Documentary film on “Experiences of Japanese Environmental Problems” Water Environment Management in Japan (733KB) Mr. Kazuhisa Matsuda, Deputy Director, Ministry of the Environment, Japan Water Environment Partnership in Asia (WEPA) (438KB) Mr. Takahiro Ishizaki, Deputy Directory, Ministry of the Environment, Japan 11:20 Discussion including Q & A 12:00 Lunch 14:00 Environmental standards- Environmental monitoring: Present status and problems Introduction Viet Nam Standard System (201KB) Assoc. Dr. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, IET 15:00 Discussion including Q & A 16:00 Visit to IET laboratories Day Two: 9 Feb. 2007 (Fri.) Field trip

Documents related to Discussion Sessions The participants in the dialogue exchanged information and views on water quality management issues. During the discussion, participants from Viet Nam raised four primary questions on environmental management in Japan. The following documents were provided by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment as supplementary information in answer to the questions after the dialogue. Q1. What kinds of systems are there in Japan to promote compliance with laws and effluent standards? Are there any penalty systems for violation of the laws/regulations? PPT on the status of compliance with effluent standards (110KB) Temporal effluent standards (an example of measures to encourage industries to comply with the standards) (35KB) Municipal-level Monitoring Project of Biological Indices in Rivers WEPA Database contents related to the question Effluent Pollution Control and Standards, Japan Effluent Water Quality Standards for Human Health Protection Nation-wide Effluent Water Quality Standards for Conservation of the Living Environment Enforcement of Effluent Water Quality Standard Temporal Effluent Standard Stringent Effluent Standard Q2. What measures have been taken by the Japanese government to raise the awareness of public and private companies of water environmental conservation? PPT on environmental education in Japan (699KB) Junior Eco-club project (under construction) “Environmental Minister of Our Home” project (under construction) “Eco renovation of school and environmental education” project (under construction) “Kodomo Hotaranger” Project (under construction) Q3. Does the Japanese government have a financial mechanism for the support of NGO activities? Under construction Links to other organizations related to the question Global Environment Information Center Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan (ERCA) for further information on the Japan Fund for Global Environment Q4. Please explain more details on regulations and issues related to dioxin Leaflet “Dioxins” (Japanese Ministry of Environment) (135KB) Law concerning Special Measures against Dioxins (The Dioxins Law) (link to the Japanese Ministry of the Environment website) FY 2004 Enforcement Status of the Law concerning Special Measures against Dioxins Q5. Please explain the laws related compensation to pollution victims "Reliefs for and Prevention of Health Damages" in Quality of the Environment in Japan 2003 Operation of the Pollution-related Health Damage Compensation (link to the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan website) Law for Enhancing Motivation on Environmental Conservation and Promoting of Environmental Education (link to the Japanese Ministry of the Environment website)