Decree No. 06/2024/ND-CP amends and supplements certain Articles of Decree No. 08/2021/ND-CP dated January 28, 2021, of the Government on the management of inland waterway activities.

DECREE

Amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 08/2021/NĐ-CP dated January 28, 2021 of the Government on inland waterway transport managementThe Government issues this Decree to amend and supplement certain articles of Decree No. 08/2021/NĐ-CP dated January 28, 2021 of the Government on inland waterway transport management.

management of inland waterway activities

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Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration dated November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to the Law on Inland Waterway Transport dated June 15, 2004; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Inland Waterway Transport dated June 17, 2014;

At the proposal of the Minister of Transport;

The Government issues a Decree amending and supplementing some Articles of Decree No. 08/2021/NĐ-CP dated January 28, 2021, of the Government stipulating the management of inland waterway activities.

Article 1. Amend and supplement certain articles of Decree No. 08/2021/NĐ-CP dated January 28, 2021 of the Government on inland waterway transport management:

1. Amend and supplement Point c Clause 2; add Point d Clause 2; amend and supplement Points c and d Clause 5 Article 15 as follows:

“c) A Level 3 budget unit is a Bureau-level unit or equivalent directly under the Ministry of Public Security shall appoint a department-level leader responsible for financial and accounting functions to appoint an accounting manager; for a Level 3 budget unit that is a department-level unit or equivalent, if the organizational structure includes a team-level unit directly subordinate with at least 20 officers performing financial, accounting, logistics, or political-logistics functions, then a team-level commander should be appointed to appoint an accounting manager.”

“c) The Department of Transport shall agree on technical specifications for the construction of inland waterway ports on local inland waterways, dedicated inland waterways connecting with local inland waterways, and inland waterway ports within port areas connecting with local inland waterways in provinces and centrally governed cities, except in cases provided for in Point a of this Clause and other cases decided by the Ministry of Transport.”

b) Add Point d Clause 2 as follows:

“d) The People's Committee at the district level shall agree on technical specifications for the construction of inland waterway wharves within its jurisdiction.”

c) Amend and supplement Point c Clause 5 as follows:

“c) Inland waterway wharf

The investor shall submit one set of documents directly or through appropriate means to the People's Committee at the district level. For inland waterway wharves on national inland waterways or dedicated inland waterways connecting with national inland waterways, before issuing an agreement, the People's Committee at the district level shall seek opinions from the Inland Waterway Transport Management Branch in the region. Within five working days from the date of receipt of the request from the People's Committee at the district level, the Inland Waterway Transport Management Branch in the region shall issue a reply. Within five working days from the date of receipt of the reply from the Inland Waterway Transport Management Branch in the region, the People's Committee at the district level shall issue an agreement on technical specifications for construction and send it to the investor;”

d) Amend and supplement Point d Clause 5 as follows:

“d) For ports and inland waterway wharves within port areas, before reviewing and agreeing on technical specifications for construction, the Vietnam Inland Waterway Transport Administration, the Department of Transport, and the People's Committee at the district level shall seek opinions from the Port Maritime Office in writing. Within five working days from the date of receipt of the request, the Port Maritime Office shall issue a reply.”

2. Amend and supplement Clause 2 Article 16 as follows:

“2. Authority to agree

The People's Committee at the district level shall agree on technical specifications for the construction of passenger ferries and inland waterway wharves serving major construction projects within its jurisdiction.”

3. Amend and supplement Clause 4, Clause 10 Article 18 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement Clause 4 Article 18 as follows:

“4. Procedure for announcing operation

Before putting port and inland waterway wharf facilities into operation, the port owner or the inland waterway wharf owner shall submit one set of documents directly, through postal services, via online public service gateways, or through other appropriate means to apply for the announcement of operation as follows:

a) For inland waterway ports receiving foreign vessels: Submit the documents to the Vietnam Inland Waterway Transport Administration (for inland waterway ports on national inland waterways, dedicated inland waterways connecting with national inland waterways, and inland waterway ports with waters and lands both on national inland waterways and local inland waterways, and inland waterway ports within port areas connecting with national inland waterways) or the Department of Transport (for inland waterway ports on local inland waterways, dedicated inland waterways connecting with local inland waterways, and inland waterway ports within port areas connecting with local inland waterways in provinces and centrally governed cities) for review. Within five working days from the date of receipt of complete documents according to regulations, the Vietnam Inland Waterway Transport Administration or the Department of Transport shall review the documents, and if they meet the conditions, report to the Ministry of Transport. Within five working days from the date of receipt of complete documents and the review report, the Ministry of Transport shall issue a decision announcing the operation of the inland waterway port;

b) For inland waterway ports not receiving foreign vessels: Submit the documents to the Vietnam Inland Waterway Transport Administration (for inland waterway ports under the provisions of Point b Clause 2 of this Decree) or the Department of Transport (for inland waterway ports under the provisions of Point c Clause 2 of this Decree). Within five working days from the date of receipt of complete documents according to regulations, the Vietnam Inland Waterway Transport Administration or the Department of Transport shall issue a decision announcing the operation of the inland waterway port;

c) For inland waterway wharves: Submit the documents to the People's Committee at the district level. Within five working days from the date of receipt of complete documents according to regulations, the People's Committee at the district level shall issue a decision announcing the operation of the inland waterway wharf;

d) In case of submitting documents online, the components of the documents are original or electronic copies of the corresponding components according to the provisions of Clause 2 (for documents applying for the announcement of operation of inland waterway ports) or Clause 3 (for documents applying for the announcement of operation of inland waterway wharves) of Article 18 of this Decree;

đ) In case of direct submission, if the documents are complete, issue a receipt for the documents and schedule the result delivery according to the prescribed time limit; if the documents are incomplete according to regulations, return them immediately and guide organizations and individuals to perfect the documents; in case of submission through postal services or through online public service gateways or by other appropriate means, if the documents are incomplete according to regulations, within two working days from the date of receipt of the documents, the agency receiving the documents shall issue a written notice to organizations and individuals through postal services or through online public service gateways or by other appropriate means, specifying the reasons and requesting the supplementation and perfection of the documents.”

b) Amend and supplement Clause 10 Article 18 as follows:

"10. Within two working days from the date of signing the decision, the agency responsible for announcing port and inland waterway wharf operations shall send the announcement decision to the following individuals and organizations:

a) Project sponsor;

b) The Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the People's Committee of the province (for ports receiving foreign watercraft);

c) The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration (for inland waterway ports);

d) The inland waterway transport management agencies, maritime transport management agencies (for ports and inland waterway wharfs within the port area waters), and the relevant regional inland waterways administration;

đ) The Department of Transport;

e) The People's Committees of the district and commune where the port or inland waterway wharf is located;

g) Border guard agencies, customs agencies, health agencies (for ports and inland waterway wharfs within the border gate area) and other related organizations and individuals."

4. Repeal Point b and Point c of Clause 4, Article 20, and amend and supplement Point a of Clause 4, Article 20 as follows:

"a) The reannouncement of port and inland waterway wharf operations shall be carried out according to the procedures for announcing port and inland waterway wharf operations prescribed in Clause 4, Article 18 of this Decree;"

5. Replace Model No. 13 and Model No. 16 of Decree No. 08/2021/NĐ-CP dated January 28, 2021 of the Government with Model No. 13 and Model No. 16 attached hereto.

Article 2. Transitional provisions

1. Technical specifications agreements for the construction of inland waterway wharfs, river passenger wharfs, inland waterway wharfs serving main construction projects, and decisions on announcing, reannouncing, extending the operation of inland waterway wharfs, river passenger wharfs, inland waterway wharfs serving main construction projects that have been issued by competent authorities before the effective date of this Decree shall continue to be implemented until the expiration of the term specified in the document. Upon expiration of the term specified in the document, organizations and individuals shall implement according to the provisions of this Decree.

2. Applications for technical specifications agreements for the construction of inland waterway wharfs, river passenger wharfs, inland waterway wharfs serving main construction projects, and applications for announcing, reannouncing, extending the operation of inland waterway wharfs, river passenger wharfs, inland waterway wharfs serving main construction projects, and announcements of closing inland waterway wharfs that have been accepted by competent authorities before the effective date of this Decree shall continue to be processed according to the provisions of the valid legal documents at the time of application acceptance.

3. Within ninety working days from the effective date of this Decree, the Department of Transport shall transfer the applications for announcing and reannouncing the operation of inland waterway wharfs that have been resolved to the People's Committee of the district having the authority to announce, reannounce, extend the operation of inland waterway wharfs as stipulated in Clause 2 and Clause 5, Article 1 of this Decree. During the period before the transfer and receipt of applications, if there is a request for reannouncing the operation of an inland waterway wharf, the Department of Transport shall cooperate to provide the application file of that wharf to the People's Committee of the district to reannounce the operation of the inland waterway wharf.

4. For the implementation of administrative procedures through the online public service portal starting from January 1, 2025.

Article 3. Implementation Provisions

1. This Decree takes effect from March 10, 2024.

2. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial and centrally-administered city People's Committees are responsible for guiding and implementing this Decree./.