Circular No. 09/2017/TT-BNNPTNT guiding the classification and evaluation of cooperatives operating in the agricultural sector

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for categorizing and evaluating agricultural cooperatives

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Based on the Law on Cooperatives No. 23/2012/QH13 dated November 25, 2012;

BASED ON THE LAW ON ENACTING LEGAL DOCUMENTS NUMBER 80/2015/QH13 OF JUNE 22, 2015;

Pursuant to Decree No. 15/2017/NĐ-CP dated February 17, 2017 on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

Pursuant to Decree No. 193/2013/NĐ-CP dated November 21, 2013 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Law on Cooperatives No. 23/2012/QH13;

Considering the proposal of the Director of the Department of Cooperative Economy and Rural Development,

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development issues this Circular on guidelines for categorizing and evaluating agricultural cooperatives,

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular provides guidance on categorization; criteria, methods, and procedures for evaluation; classification of cooperatives engaged in agricultural activities including crop cultivation, animal husbandry, forestry, fisheries, salt production, and related agricultural services (hereinafter referred to collectively as agricultural cooperatives).

Article 2. Applicability

1. Cooperatives operating under the Law on Cooperatives No. 23/2012/QH13 promulgated by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on November 25, 2012 in the fields of crop cultivation, animal husbandry, forestry, fisheries, salt production, and related services.

2. Relevant agencies and organizations.

Article 3. Classification of Agricultural Cooperatives

1. Crop Cultivation Cooperatives: These are cooperatives engaged in crop production (annual and perennial crops; seedling propagation and care for agricultural seedlings) and related crop service activities; post-harvest services; seed processing for propagation.

2. Livestock Cooperatives: These are cooperatives engaged in livestock production (cattle, buffalo, horse, donkey, mule, goat, sheep, pig, poultry, and other livestock); related livestock service activities; hunting, trapping, and related service activities.

3. Forestry Cooperatives: These are cooperatives engaged in forestry production (planting and caring for forests; logging and other forest products; gathering non-timber forest products); and related forestry service activities.

4. Aquaculture Cooperatives: These are cooperatives engaged in aquaculture production (marine and inland aquaculture; aquatic seed production); fishing (marine and inland fishing, including fish preservation on fishing vessels).

5. Salt Production Cooperatives: These are cooperatives engaged in salt production (mining salt, crushing and sieving salt; producing salt from seawater, brackish water in lakes or other natural sources; grinding, washing, and refining salt for production purposes); and related service activities supporting salt production.

6. Rural Clean Water Supply Cooperatives: These are cooperatives engaged in clean water extraction, treatment, and supply (water extraction from rivers, lakes, ponds; rainwater collection; water purification for supply; desalination of seawater to produce water as the main product; distribution of water through pipelines, trucks, or other means) for rural domestic needs.

7. Comprehensive Agricultural Cooperatives: These are cooperatives engaged in two or more of the activity areas of the classified cooperatives mentioned in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of this Article.

When classifying, cooperatives shall base their classification on Decision No. 10/2017/QĐ-TTg dated January 23, 2007 promulgating the Vietnamese Economic Industry System (190) and the implementing guidance issued by the Ministry of Planning and Investment to determine detailed activities not specifically mentioned in the above cooperative classifications.

Article 4. Criteria for evaluating agricultural cooperatives

1. Agricultural cooperatives shall be evaluated based on six criteria:

a) Criterion 1: Revenue and production and business operation results of the cooperative in the year;

b) Criterion 2: Benefits to members of the cooperative;

c) Criterion 3: Operating capital of the cooperative;

d) Criterion 4: The scale of members positively impacting the community;

đ) Criterion 5: Awards received by the cooperative in the year;

e) Criterion 6: Level of satisfaction of members with the cooperative.

2. The specific criteria and detailed scoring points are stipulated in Appendix 1 attached to this Circular.

Article 5. Method and procedure for evaluating agricultural cooperatives

1. The evaluation method is conducted through self-scoring by the cooperative according to the criteria (as specified in Appendix 1 attached to this Circular).

2. The ranking evaluation process for agricultural cooperatives is carried out annually through five steps:

a) Step 1: Solicit member opinions on their level of satisfaction with the cooperative

Object implementing: Board of Management of agricultural cooperatives.

Object of solicitation: Members attending the annual general meeting (or the annual representative meeting) organized in the first quarter of the year.

Method of conducting: The management board of the agricultural cooperative distributes satisfaction survey forms to members attending the meeting, collects and reviews the forms, returns incomplete or incorrect forms to guide members to resubmit, collects valid forms, compiles and calculates the average score of members (by dividing the total score of valid forms by the number of members submitting valid forms).

b) Step 2: The agricultural cooperative organizes self-scoring

Object implementing: Board of Management of agricultural cooperatives.

Object of inspection: Supervisory Board (or supervisor).

Method of conducting: The management board of the agricultural cooperative organizes self-scoring and compiles the results into the cooperative's self-scoring table (as specified in Appendix 3 attached to this Circular), sends it to the Supervisory Board (or supervisor) for verification.

Object implementing: Board of Management of agricultural cooperatives.

Recipient: Department of Agriculture and Rural Development or Economic Department (hereinafter referred to as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) at the district level.

Time of implementation: Before April 1 each year.

For reporting results to the provincial-level state management agency:

Reporting entity: Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Receiving entity: People's Committee at the district level and Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (Rural Development Sub-department). Content of report: List of ranked agricultural cooperatives in the locality (number of each type of agricultural cooperative classified as excellent, good, average, weak, and number of unranked cooperatives). Method of conducting: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development urges and guides agricultural cooperatives in self-scoring (if necessary, re-examine the appropriateness of the cooperative's self-scoring table, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development works with the cooperative to guide them to review and score again in accordance with the content of this Circular); compile and report. Reporting time: Before April 10th of each year.

For publicly announcing the self-assessment scores and classification of cooperatives to members:

Announcing entity: Management Board of the agricultural cooperative. Receiving entity: Members of the agricultural cooperative. Time and method of conducting: By April 15th of each year, if there is no feedback from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the management board of the agricultural cooperative publicly announces the self-scoring results and ranking of the cooperative to members.

đ) Step 5: Report the results to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

Reporting entity: Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (Rural Development Sub-department).

Receiving entity: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Cooperative Economy and Rural Development Bureau).

Content of report: List of agricultural cooperatives in the province that have been ranked (excellent, good, average, weak) and unranked cooperatives. Reporting time: Before April 15th of each year.

Article 6. Classification of Agricultural Cooperatives

1. Agricultural cooperatives are classified into four levels as follows:

a) Well-operating cooperative: Total score from 80 points to 100 points;

b) Moderately-operating cooperative: Total score from 65 points to less than 80 points;

c) Average-operating cooperative: Total score from 50 points to less than 65 points;

d) Weakly-operating cooperative: Total score below 50 points or being administratively penalized by competent authorities for violations during the operation of the cooperative within the year.

2. Newly established cooperatives and those that have not operated for at least twelve months in a year shall not self-assess and classify.

Article 7. Implementation Organization

1. The Department of Cooperative Economy and Rural Development guides implementation, supervises, compiles, and reports to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on the implementation of this Circular.

Article 8. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from May 31, 2017.

2. During implementation, if there are difficulties, agricultural cooperatives, organizations, and individuals should promptly report them to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for study, amendment, and supplementation./.