Directive No. 05/2007/CT-BTC on stabilizing prices during the 2008 Tet holiday

DIRECTIVE

On stabilizing prices during the 2008 Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday

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In 2007, there were many factors affecting the formation and movement of market prices: apart from natural disasters (typhoons, floods) and epidemics, increased purchasing power also contributed to rising prices due to continuous increases in world market prices throughout the year and the ongoing trend of price increases. It is forecasted that in the future, natural disasters and epidemics will continue to have complex developments; world market prices will continue to fluctuate unpredictably; purchasing power during the Tet holiday will increase, putting pressure on market prices, especially essential consumer goods and some basic services.

To stabilize prices, prevent sudden price hikes for goods and services during the 2008 Tet holiday, and strictly implement Directive No. 18/2007/CT-TTg dated August 1, 2007 of the Prime Minister on urgent measures to control the rate of price increases in the market, and Directive No. 23/2007/CT-TTg dated October 31, 2007 of the Prime Minister on strengthening the implementation of price stabilization measures in the last months of 2007 and during the 2008 Tet holiday to ensure people can celebrate Tet happily, enthusiastically, and frugally, the Minister of Finance requests the heads of units and organizations under the Ministry, Directors of Provincial Departments of Finance, Heads of Tax Bureaus, Heads of Customs Bureaus, and Directors of State Treasury Departments at provincial level to cooperate with market management agencies in provinces and centrally-administered cities to promptly carry out the following tasks:

I. TASKS FOR IMPLEMENTING PRICE STABILIZATION WORK:

1. The Director of the Department of Finance shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant departments and sectors to report to the People's Committee of the province or centrally-administered city (referred to as the People's Committee of the province) to direct the implementation of the following tasks:

- Develop plans for managing prices of goods and services, particularly essential and important ones, during the period before, during, and after the Tet holiday; based on the market price trends in their respective areas, promptly propose price stabilization measures within their authority to the People's Committee of the province for approval and implementation, ensuring no sudden price spikes occur locally.

- For areas affected by recent typhoons and floods: Propose solutions to the People's Committee of the province to address difficulties faced by production and business activities; take measures to mitigate the aftermath of natural disasters and floods, ensuring production schedules and stabilizing people's lives.

- Immediately forecast consumption needs, combine this with monitoring the preparation of goods supply for the Tet holiday (rice, food, candies, cookies, wine, clothing, cultural products, and means of transportation, etc.) by all enterprises across various economic sectors in their area; take measures to ensure sufficient supply of essential goods and services to serve the people and maintain smooth circulation; plan reserves of materials and raw materials for producing essential consumer goods and medicines for humans, livestock, and poultry to avoid imbalances in supply and demand, causing sudden price increases during the period before and after the Tet holiday, especially in remote areas, regions with difficult transportation, areas recently affected by typhoons and floods, and industrial zones and large cities.

- Based on directives from the Prime Minister, guidance from the Ministry of Finance, and local capabilities, submit proposals to the People's Committee of the province to decide on support schemes for enterprises with significant market shares in the province to encourage them to reserve essential goods for the Tet holiday.

- Monitor the market, promptly identify illegal trading of banned goods, counterfeit goods, low-quality goods, goods of unknown origin, and goods not meeting food safety standards; un-inspected meat and poultry products and other poultry products; handle violations firmly to protect consumers' interests.

- Strictly monitor pricing plans and levels for goods and services ordered by the state to serve national target programs, goods and services purchased from the state budget, and goods and services still receiving transport subsidies and price subsidies; check compliance with state regulations on price management, selling goods and services according to authorized prices; inspect price labeling and sales of goods and services according to labeled prices (especially staple foods, essential consumer goods, service prices for travel, bicycle parking, motorcycle parking, car parking, etc.), inspect the collection of service fees to prevent businesses and individuals from arbitrarily increasing prices and service fees, violating laws during the Tet holiday, harming consumers' interests.

Firmly and strictly deal with units and individuals who deliberately violate regulations such as failing to label prices, selling above labeled prices, arbitrarily increasing prices of goods and services during the Tet holiday, etc., as stipulated in Decree No. 169/2004/NĐ-CP dated September 20, 2004 of the Government on administrative penalties in the field of prices, and Decree No. 106/2003/NĐ-CP of the Government on administrative penalties for violations in the field of fees and charges.

Review and report to the People's Committee of the province to immediately abolish fees and charges contrary to legal provisions, exempt fees and charges according to Directive No. 24/2007/CT-TTg dated November 1, 2007 of the Prime Minister: Strengthening the enforcement of legal provisions on fees and charges, policies for mobilizing and using contributions from the people.

2. The Head of the Tax Bureau shall be responsible for continuing to inspect import-export enterprises and traders of goods eligible for reduced import tariffs without implementing cost-saving measures to reduce prices; identify violations and publicize them through mass media; require enterprises that have committed to reducing prices due to government tariff reductions to fulfill their commitments. Firmly exclude unreasonable and non-compliant expenses from tax calculations when settling taxes.

3. The Director of the State Treasury at the local level shall be responsible for directing the strengthening of expenditure control, especially expenditures for conferences, summaries, salaries, year-end bonuses, procurement of equipment, basic construction investment, and resolutely eliminating expenditures that do not comply with regulations. At the same time, they shall require the heads of administrative and public service units to enhance their responsibility in making decisions and being accountable for the expenditures of their units.

4. The Director of the Customs Department shall be responsible for directing the timely clearance of goods in accordance with regulations, coordinating with the Border Guard and other competent agencies to strengthen forces and means, organize patrols, and inspections within customs territory and outside customs territory in border areas, land border gates, sea ports, and airports. Timely detection and prevention of smuggling, commercial fraud, and illegal transportation of goods across borders to contribute 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, and reporting to the Ministry on the support of funds for the reserve of goods to serve the Lunar New Year 2008 of localities according to the Prime Minister's Directive No. 7196/VPCP dated December 11, 2007, issued by the Government Office regarding the implementation of measures to stabilize the market at the end of 2007 and during the Lunar New Year 2008.

6. Units under the Ministry of Finance shall be responsible for coordinating with functional units of other Ministries and sectors to properly perform the following tasks:

a/ The State Budget Department shall take the lead, together with the Investment Department and the State Treasury, to coordinate with functional units of the Ministry of Planning and Investment to advise the Ministry of Planning and Investment on implementing measures to promote production and business activities; actively manage to ensure overall balance in goods, currency, payment equilibrium, and budgetary expenditures.

b/ The Financial-Banking Department and credit organizations shall coordinate with functional units of the State Bank of Vietnam to advise the State Bank of Vietnam on organizing the implementation of appropriate measures to control the growth rate of total monetary aggregates and credit mobilization; implement open market operations measures to regulate the amount of money in circulation at a reasonable level, maintain exchange rate stability, and prevent sudden fluctuations in the money market.

c/ The Price Management Department shall take the lead, together with the Corporate Finance Department, to coordinate with functional units of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to advise the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Lead and coordinate with localities, industry associations, and enterprises to implement comprehensive measures to expand markets, boost exports, organize and ensure smooth market and commodity circulation.

Strengthen market management, combat commercial fraud; inspect product quality according to published standards linked to price labeling, registration, and sales at labeled prices.

d/ The Price Management Department and the Corporate Finance Department shall coordinate with functional units of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to advise the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to coordinate with the People's Committee of the Mekong Delta Province to closely monitor the quantity of rice commodities, reasonably manage the export progress according to the Government's directives, ensuring food security and maintaining stable domestic rice prices. At the same time, request General Directors, Directors of Groups, Corporations, and Enterprises to be responsible for organizing the regulation of supply and demand for goods and services in the region to meet social needs; be responsible for controlling salary, bonus, and year-end summary expenditures of the enterprise.

II. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MARKET PRICE REPORTING SYSTEM DURING THE LUNAR NEW YEAR FESTIVAL.

1. For Provincial Departments of Finance:

- From January 1, 2008, in regular reports (daily, weekly, monthly) sent to the Ministry of Finance (Price Management Department) from Provincial Departments of Finance, additional content on the preparation of goods for the Lunar New Year and the assessment of the ability to supply goods, implementation of price stabilization at the local level, particularly important raw materials, items such as pork, chicken, beef, fish, rice (sticky and non-sticky), processed foods, candy, flowers, fruits, and some service prices like bicycle parking, motorcycle parking, car parking, passenger transport fares... must be included.

- From February 1, 2008, to February 16, 2008 (10th day of the lunar new year), for the 12 Provincial Departments of Finance in 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 goods specified in Decision No. 1712/QD-BTC dated May 25, 2005, issued by the Minister of Finance on the Reporting System for Market Prices.

After the Lunar New Year, Provincial Departments of Finance shall report a comprehensive evaluation of the market price situation (before and after the Lunar New Year) to the Ministry of Finance (Price Management Department) before February 16, 2008 (the 10th day of the lunar new year) for consolidation and reporting.

2. For provinces and cities affected by storms, floods, and heavy rains in 2007, they need to report on the provision of essential supplies for people's livelihoods and propose timely support plans.

3. For other units (Taxation Departments, State Treasuries, Customs Departments of provinces and centrally-administered cities): report on the assigned tasks in this Directive to higher authorities according to the system:

- First phase: Report on the situation of Lunar New Year preparation tasks before January 15, 2008. - Second phase: Report on the comprehensive situation of post-Lunar New Year task implementation before February 20, 2008.

- Second phase: Report on the comprehensive situation of post-Lunar New Year task implementation before February 20, 2008.

4. The Director of the Price Management Department shall be responsible for monitoring, urging, and compiling the situation of market price fluctuations, reporting to the Minister and the Prime Minister in accordance with the prescribed time limits, and promptly reporting any unexpected issues for prompt handling./.