Directive No. 03/2008/CT-BTC on stabilizing prices during the 2009 Lunar New Year (Year of the Ox)

DIRECTIVE

On stabilizing prices during the 2009 Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday

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In recent times, the measures to control inflation and stabilize the macro-economy implemented by the Government have achieved initial results, but it is forecast that in the coming period, due to the influence of many factors, market prices will continue to experience unpredictable fluctuations; natural disasters and epidemics may still develop in complex ways, causing an increase in purchasing power among various social strata during the end-of-year period, putting pressure on market price increases, especially for essential goods and services.

To stabilize market prices, prevent sudden price hikes for goods and services during the 2009 Tet holiday, contributing to ensuring a joyful, enthusiastic, and frugal celebration for the people, the Minister of Finance requests the heads of units under the Ministry, Directors of Provincial Departments of Finance, Heads of Tax Bureaus, Heads of Customs Bureaus, Directors of State Treasury Departments of provinces and centrally-administered cities to cooperate with market management agencies and related agencies in their respective areas to promptly implement the following tasks:

I. ON THE TASK OF STABILIZING PRICES:

1. The Director of the Department of Finance shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant departments and sectors at the provincial level to carry out the following tasks:

- Advise the People's Committee of the province to decide and announce the application of price stabilization measures for goods and services during the period before, during, and after the Tet holiday; organize inspections of the implementation of price registration, declaration, and public disclosure according to Decree No. 75/2008/ND-CP dated June 9, 2008, of the Government amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 170/2003/ND-CP dated December 25, 2003, of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Price Law; closely monitor price trends in the local market, promptly propose price stabilization measures within the scope of local authority, submit them for approval by the People's Committee of the province and organize their implementation, preventing sudden price spikes in the locality; inspect the collection of service fees, preventing businesses and individuals from arbitrarily increasing prices and service fees contrary to the law during the Tet holiday.

Strictly handle those units and individuals who intentionally violate regulations such as not displaying prices, selling goods above the displayed price, hoarding, stockpiling, excessively raising prices, smuggling, and fraudulent trade activities before, during, and after the Tet holiday according to the law.

- Coordinate with the Department of Industry and Trade and related sectors to immediately implement forecasting of consumption needs, combining this with grasping the situation of preparing goods and services for the Tet holiday (grain, food, candy, cookies, beer, wine, clothing, medicine for prevention and treatment, cultural products, and means of transportation, etc.); advise the People's Committee of the province to direct the implementation of measures to ensure supply-demand balance for goods and services at reasonable prices. Based on the Prime Minister's directives, the guidance of the Ministry of Finance in Circular No. 12843/BTC-NSNN dated October 29, 2008, on organizing production, processing, and reserve of goods for the 2009 Tet holiday, and the capacity of the locality, propose to the People's Committee of the province to decide on the plan to use idle budget funds temporarily of the locality to provide preferential loans to enterprises with significant market share in the area to reserve essential goods for the Tet holiday, preventing supply-demand imbalance leading to sudden price spikes before and after the Tet holiday, particularly in remote areas, areas with difficult transportation, areas recently affected by typhoons and floods, and epidemic areas, and industrial zones and large cities.

- For localities affected by typhoons and floods in recent times, propose to the People's Committee of the province solutions to overcome difficulties in production and business operations; quickly restore the aftermath of natural disasters and floods, ensuring production progress, ensuring sufficient grain, medicine, seeds, livestock breeds, construction materials to meet production and consumption needs. Implement social welfare policies well.

- Coordinate with related agencies to monitor the market, promptly detect illegal trading of banned goods, fake goods, low-quality goods, goods of unknown origin, goods not meeting food safety standards; meat of livestock and poultry and poultry products not yet inspected...; strictly handle violations, protecting consumer interests.

- Implement the Prime Minister's Directive on thrift and anti-waste, especially in consumption, production, business, and basic construction; closely control pricing plans and levels for goods and services ordered by the state for national target programs, goods and services purchased from state budget funds, and goods and services still receiving transport subsidies and price support.

2. The Head of the Tax Bureau is responsible for strengthening the direction of tax inspection combined with price inspection based on the tax declaration of the declaring unit to prevent unreasonable price increases, closely coordinating with functional agencies (Police, price management agencies, market management agencies...) to handle cases of tax fraud and tax evasion; firmly exclude unreasonable and non-compliant expenses when settling taxes.

3. The Director of the State Treasury is responsible for directing the strengthening of expenditure control in accordance with the spirit of Decision No. 390/QĐ-TTg dated April 17, 2008, of the Prime Minister on managing the investment construction plan and state budget spending in 2008 to serve the goal of controlling inflation, especially spending on conferences, year-end summaries, welcoming the new year meetings, equipment purchases, basic construction investments, etc.; firmly exclude expenditures not in compliance with regulations and lacking required procedures.

4. The Director of the General Department of Customs shall be responsible for directing the timely clearance of goods in accordance with regulations; strengthening forces, means, organizing patrols, and inspections within the customs operation area, coordinating with the Border Guard Force and other competent agencies at border areas, land border gates, sea ports, and airports; promptly detecting and preventing smuggling activities, commercial fraud, and illegal transportation of goods across borders, contributing to maintaining price stability in the domestic market.

5. The Head of the State Budget Department shall be responsible for guiding, monitoring the implementation situation, compiling results to report to the Ministry regarding financial support for enterprises to reserve goods for the Tet holiday in 2009 in various localities.

6. Units under the Ministry of Finance shall be responsible for closely coordinating with functional units of relevant ministries and sectors to promptly report to the Ministry for comments on related ministries and sectors in the implementation of tasks related to the finance sector. Specifically as follows:

a) The Price Management Department shall take the lead in coordinating with the Tax Policy Department, the Corporate Financial Affairs Department, and functional units of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development:

- Closely monitor the price fluctuations of oil products in the global market to advise on timely adjustments to pricing policies and import tax rates for oil products to ensure economic development goals, price stabilization, and increased state budget revenue under market-based pricing mechanisms.

- Implement comprehensive measures to expand markets, promote exports, organize and ensure smooth circulation of goods in localities, industry associations, and enterprises to contribute to controlling and curbing the increase in consumer goods prices.

- Market management, combating commercial fraud; inspecting product quality according to published standards linked to price labeling, registration, and sales at labeled prices.

- Accurately grasp the quantity of rice commodities in the Mekong Delta provinces, reasonably manage export progress according to government directives, purchase all rice commodities from producers to ensure food security and stabilize domestic rice prices.

b) The State Budget Department shall take the lead in coordinating with the Investment Department, the National Treasury to cooperate with functional units of the Ministry of Planning and Investment to implement measures to promote production and business operations, actively manage to ensure overall balance in goods, money, payment balances, and budget expenditures.

c) The Financial Institutions Department and financial organizations shall monitor the situation, propose measures to effectively manage fiscal, monetary, and banking policies.

7. Units under the Ministry of Finance and the financial system from central to local levels shall strictly implement the Government's directive on thrift and waste prevention, especially in electricity, gasoline, office supplies usage, and meeting expenses; strictly prohibit the use of public funds and state budget for gift-giving; organize well the care of material and spiritual life for civil servants and employees in the unit, particularly families of policy beneficiaries and those who have contributed to the revolution; organize well the printing of calendars and notebooks.

II. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MARKET PRICE REPORTING SYSTEM DURING TET:

1. For Provincial Departments of Finance:

- From January 1, 2009, in regular reports (daily, weekly, monthly) sent to the Ministry of Finance (Price Management Department) as per current regulations, additional content on the preparation of goods for Tet and the assessment of supply capacity, implementation of price stabilization at the local level, primarily important raw materials and items such as pork, chicken, beef, fish, rice (sticky and non-sticky), processed foods, candies, flowers, fruits, medicines, and service fees like bicycle, motorcycle, car parking, passenger transport fares...; Situation of supplying essential goods affected by natural disasters and floods.

- From January 10, 2009, to February 4, 2009 (the 10th day of the lunar New Year), for 12 provincial departments of finance: Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Nghe An, Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, implement a daily reporting system (fax, email) on the quantity of items as stipulated in Decision No. 1712/QD-BTC dated May 25, 2005 of the Minister of Finance on the Reporting System for Market Prices.

After Tet, provincial departments of finance shall submit a comprehensive evaluation report on market prices (before and after Tet) to the Ministry of Finance (Price Management Department) before February 4, 2008 (the 10th day of the lunar New Year) for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister.

2. For Tax Bureaus, National Treasuries, Customs Bureaus of centrally-administered cities and provinces:

Report on the implementation of assigned tasks in this Directive to superior management agencies (also send to the Price Management Department via mail and email at [email protected]):

- First round: Report on Tet preparation status before January 20, 2009.

- Second round: Comprehensive report on post-Tet task implementation before February 4, 2008 (the 10th day of the lunar New Year).

3. The Director of the Price Management Department shall be responsible for monitoring, urging implementation, compiling the situation of market price fluctuations, reporting to the Minister and the Prime Minister as required by timeframes, and promptly reporting any emergent issues for appropriate handling./.