Agency makes efforts to fight proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
The national coordinating agency for the prevention and control of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) convened its first meeting in Hanoi on February 22.
A chemical and radiation reconnaissance robot designed by the chemistry team (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – The national coordinating agency for the prevention and control of the proliferation of weapons of massdestruction (WMD) convened its first meeting in Hanoi on February 22.
In 2019, the Government issued Decree 81/2019/ND-CP on theprevention and control of WMD proliferation, under which the Ministry of NationalDefence was assigned as the national coordinating agency in charge of the work.
The chemicals high command under the ministry serves as the standing office of theagency to handle all matters regarding the prevention and control of WMD proliferation(also known as standing office 81), according to the decree.
At the meeting on February 22, standing office 81 launcheda portal on the prevention and control of WMD proliferation.
Over the past two years, the agency worked as an advisorfor the Prime Minister to design a plan on the implementation of the decree, andfor the defence ministry to roll out relevant documents.
In addition, the agency put into place hotlines linkedwith portals of the Ministry of Public Security, the State Bank of Vietnam andother agencies, while staying updated with information about the matter throughthe United Nations Security Council.
Efforts have been made to implement international treatiesprohibiting the proliferation of WMD, as well as cooperation documents aimingto raise the capacity for detecting and responding to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.
The office has sent its staff members to online internationalworkshops on the fight against WMD, and proposed expanding international cooperationto improve the response capacity.
In his remarks, Senior Lieutenant General Vo Minh Luong,Deputy Minister of National Defence and head of the agency, highlighted good coordinationwithin the ministry in implementing the decree.
A national agency for the work should be establishedwith its members representing concerned ministries and agencies, he said, stressingthe need to deal with bottlenecks in the legal corridor and coordination mechanism.
He asked concerned units to build plans on the implementationof the decree, step up the communication work to promote the decree, andenhance international collaboration to consolidate the legal system and improvecapacity for the work./.
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A chemical and radiation reconnaissance robot designed by the chemistry team (Photo: VNA) 
