PRESS RELEASE

December 6, 2006

United States Supports Environmental Law Enforcement Training in Hanoi

The Government of Vietnam is training key personnel on policies and practices in inspecting factories and other pollution sources for compliance with environmental laws on December 6-8, 2006, at the Nikko Hotel in Hanoi. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will conduct the training program in cooperation with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and provincial Departments of Natural Resources and Environment (DoNRE) with support from the United States agency for International Development (USAID).

This training is part of on-going assistance by USAID in promoting adoption of improved environmental policies and practices. MoNRE and its provincial departments face a shortage of qualified personnel to ensure compliance with environmental laws. The EPA’s environmental compliance inspections training course assists inspectors and investigators in conducting environmental compliance inspections and using the results to make compliance determinations that may subsequently result in enforcement actions. Based on the training, USAID and EPA will work with MoNRE to develop a comprehensive national train-the-trainer initiative.

This training effort is implemented under the Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN), which is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Asian Development Bank.

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