Circular No. 10/2023/TT-BTC amends and supplements certain Articles of Circular No. 133/2015/TT-BTC dated August 31, 2015, issued by the Minister of Finance guiding the financial management mechanism for the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 133/2015/TT-BTC
dated August 31, 2015, issued by the Minister of Finance guiding the financial management mechanism for the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)
Pursuant to Decision No. 68/2010/QD-TTg dated November 1, 2010, of the Prime Minister regarding special-interest associations;

Pursuant to the State Budget Law dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 2016, issued by the Government, detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 87/2017/NĐ-CP dated July 26, 2017, issued by the Government, stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decision No. 71/2011/QD-TTg dated December 20, 2011, of the Prime Minister on ensuring and supporting state budget funds for special-interest associations;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Corporate Finance;

Pursuant to Decree No. 11/2020/NĐ-CP dated January 20, 2020 of the Government on administrative procedures under the domain of State Treasury;

The Minister of Finance hereby issues this Circular amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 133/2015/TT-BTC dated August 31, 2015, issued by the Minister of Finance guiding the financial management mechanism for the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 133/2015/TT-BTC).

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 133/2015/TT-BTC

"3. The Standing Board of VCCI shall be responsible for drafting and promulgating the Financial Management Regulation of VCCI (including internal expenditure regulations) based on the provisions of this Circular and relevant laws."

1. Amend and supplement Clause 3 of Article 3 as follows:

2. Amending and supplementing Point a Clause 2 Article 19 as follows:

"a) Operating expenses (administrative management): the state budget ensures the operating funds of the Executive Board and partially supports the operating costs for VCCI's promotional activities as prescribed by law (including support due to implementing the policy of ceasing to collect fees for issuing COs)."

3. Amending and supplementing Clause 3 Article 19 as follows:

"3. Based on the budget allocation document from the competent authority (allocated at the beginning of the year or supplemented during the year), VCCI allocates funds to its subordinate units according to the regulations and approves detailed budgets for implementation, ensuring timely execution, compliance with approved procedures and plans, and the following specific provisions:

a) The approval of detailed budgets must ensure the principle of determining the level of support from the state budget as stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article, the provisions in Points b, c, d of Clause 3 of this Article, and not exceed the allocated budget.

b) For expenses specified in Clauses 3 and 4 of Article 8 of this Circular and common expenses serving VCCI's regular operations (electricity, water, sanitation, telephone, office supplies, other common expenses) after allocating for promotional activities as stipulated in Point b Clause 1 of Article 9 of this Circular, the following applies:

- The allocation of state budget support is implemented according to the Financial Management Regulations and Salary Regulations of VCCI, and the Chairman of VCCI bears responsibility for this content.

- Any adjustments to the budget within the year (if any) must comply with current state budget laws, be consistent with actual operations, and not exceed the allocated budget.

c) For state budget funds supporting the implementation of the policy of ceasing to collect fees for issuing COs, the allocation and approval of detailed budgets must first ensure funding for organizing CO issuance activities (excluding sales-related CO form costs), with the remainder supporting part of the operating costs for promotional activities as stipulated in Point a Clause 2 of this Article, and VCCI adjusts the final-year budget as follows:

- Annually, based on the actual issuance of COs for the first ten months of the year and estimated issuance for the last two months, VCCI determines the amount of state budget support (number of COs multiplied by the fee rate, multiplied by 70%) and compares it with the allocated budget to adjust allocations appropriately and in accordance with legal deadlines for state budget management.

- No later than ten days after the end of the year (December 31), VCCI determines and uses the state budget support amount based on the number of COs actually issued that year. If the funds disbursed by December 31 exceed the amount that can be used, VCCI is responsible for returning the excess funds to the state budget within the time frame for adjusting the state budget settlement (by January 31 of the following year).

d) For state budget funds supporting the organization of annual tax dialogue meetings and customs conferences as stipulated in Point d Clause 2 of this Article; funds for organizing meetings and other supplementary funds for non-recurring tasks assigned by competent authorities: VCCI approves detailed budgets for each activity after receiving written comments from the Ministry of Finance.

Article 20. State Budget Fund Payment

4. Amend and supplement Article 20 as follows:

1. The payment of state budget support funds for VCCI shall be carried out through the withdrawal of budget estimates, with the State Treasury controlling expenditures.

The budget unit code for branches, representative offices, and subordinate units of VCCI and the Executive Board shall be registered and used according to Circular No. 185/2015/TT-BTC dated November 17, 2015, issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding the registration, issuance, and use of budget-related unit codes.

VCCI headquarters, branches, representative offices, subordinate units of VCCI, and the Executive Board shall follow the procedures for opening accounts and registering signature samples at the State Treasury as stipulated in Decree No. 11/2020/NĐ-CP dated January 20, 2020, of the Government on administrative procedures under the State Treasury (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 11/2020/NĐ-CP) and Circular No. 18/2020/TT-BTC dated March 31, 2020, guiding the registration and use of accounts at the State Treasury.

2. Controlling payments of state budget support funds from regular spending sources:

The control of payments of state budget support funds from regular spending sources for VCCI shall be carried out in accordance with Article 7 of Decree No. 11/2020/NĐ-CP and the following specific provisions:

a) Advance payments:

Advance payment principles: advance payments apply to state budget expenditures that do not yet have the conditions to be directly paid from the State Treasury. The content of advance payments is based on the contract (for cases implemented under contract) and the request of VCCI (for cases without a contract or where the contract value does not exceed 50 million VND).

Advance payment amount:

Amount of advance payment:

- For expenditures with a contract value exceeding 50 million VND, the advance payment level shall be in accordance with the provisions stipulated in the signed contract between VCCI and the relevant parties. VCCI may request advance funding for a contract once or multiple times, but the total amount of advance funding shall not exceed 50% of the state budget support value recorded in the contract at the time of signing, and shall not exceed the approved state budget support estimate for that expenditure.

- For expenditures without contracts or with a contract value not exceeding 50 million VND: The advance payment from the state budget shall be made according to VCCI's proposal within the allocated state budget estimate. VCCI shall be responsible for the proposed advance payment level in accordance with the regulations.

b) Advance payment settlement: VCCI must settle the advance payment with the State Treasury where the transaction takes place immediately after the advance expenditure has been completed and all necessary documentation and payment vouchers are available. Specifically:

- For expenditures without contracts or expenditures that do not require contracts to be submitted to the State Treasury: Implementation shall be in accordance with the provisions set out in point a, Clause 3, Article 7 of Circular No. 62/2020/TT-BTC dated June 22, 2020, issued by the Ministry of Finance on the control and settlement of regular expenditures from the state budget through the State Treasury (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 62/2020/TT-BTC).

- For expenditures requiring contracts to be submitted to the State Treasury (contracts with a value exceeding 50 million VND): VCCI shall begin settling advance payments from the first completion payment of the contract, with each advance payment level agreed upon by VCCI and the service provider and specified in the contract, ensuring full payment when the total payment value (including advance payments and completion payments) reaches 80% of the state budget support value recorded in the contract.

- When making advance payments, VCCI shall comply with the provisions set out in point c, Clause 3, Article 7 of Circular No. 62/2020/TT-BTC.

c) Control and settlement through the State Treasury: The State Treasury shall control and settle based on the expenditure control documentation as stipulated in Clause 4, Article 7 of Decree No. 11/2020/NĐ-CP and Article 6 of Circular No. 62/2020/TT-BTC. Among these:

- The approval documents for the annual budget estimates assigned by the competent authority include detailed budget estimates approved in accordance with point a, Clause 3, Article 19 of this Circular.

- For expenditures supported by the state budget, the contracts, advance payment documents, and settlement documents of VCCI must include the following contents: contract value, payment terms, and the payment responsibilities of the relevant parties (applicable to contracts); non-supported state budget costs; state budget-supported costs, and the amount of state budget support (clearly explaining the determination of the state budget support amount for each expenditure item).

3. Control and settlement of construction investment funds and other funds from the state budget: Implementation shall be in accordance with current laws and regulations.

4. Control and settlement of expenditures with confidentiality requirements: Implementation shall be in accordance with the provisions set out in Clause 12, Article 6 of Circular No. 62/2020/TT-BTC. VCCI shall be responsible for determining the expenditure items subject to confidentiality requirements in accordance with the regulations.

Article 2. Change the name "Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry"

Change the name "Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry" to "Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry" pursuant to Decision No. 1496/QĐ-TTg dated November 30, 2022 of the Government Prime Minister on renaming the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry to Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry and approving the Statutes of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry.

Article 3. Implementation Provisions

1. This Circular takes effect from March 27, 2023.

2. When the regulatory document referred to for application in this Circular is amended, supplemented, or replaced by a new document, the new document shall be applied.

3. In the course of implementation, if there are any difficulties, they should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for study and resolution./.