According to the draft decree of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, violations related to national maps may be given a pecuniary fine of up to VND50 million (US$2,400).   This is the highest among the fine rates specified in the draft decree on penalties for administrative violations in the field of hydrometeorology, meteorology and cartography. Under the draft law document, the act of providing maps of Vietnam’s sea territories without showing the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes in the East Sea and other islands will be given a fine of VND20-50 million (US$2,400). The act of providing maps that show incorrect national borders, sovereignty, land and sea territories of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam will be fined the same rate. In addition, a warning or a fine of VND1-3 million is proposed to impose on acts of using maps without indicating their legal origin. According to current regulations, the highest fine for administrative violations is merely VND1 million, said Nguyen Tuan Hung, head of the ministry’s Meteorology and Cartography Department. The ministry is collecting feedback about the draft decree before submitting it to the government for consideration and approval.  As previously reported, customs officers in Lang Son province discovered 11 made-in-China maps showing incorrect national boundary lines related to China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam at a hotel in the province in August 2012. The hotel’s deputy director, a native of the Chinese province of Guangdong, admitted to customs officers that some hotel staff members had bought the maps in China and brought them into Vietnam through the Tan Thanh border gate to sell them to the hotel’s clients. The provincial customs department referred the case to local police for investigation and handling in accordance with the laws of Vietnam.