Circular No. 10/NN-PTLN-TT guiding the implementation of Decision No. 786/TTg dated September 24, 1997 of the Prime Minister on handling accumulated pomu wood.

 CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Implementing Decision  Decision No. 786/TTg dated September 24, 1997 of the Prime Minister on handling accumulated pơ mu wood

 regarding the handling of accumulated pơ mu wood
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To implement Decision No. 786/TTg dated September 24, 1997 of the Prime Minister on handling accumulated pơ mu wood, based on the minutes of the joint meeting of the Ministries and sectors of Agriculture and Rural Development, Trade, Home Affairs, and the General Department of Customs with representatives from the Office of the Government on October 1, 1997, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development agrees to issue this Circular to guide implementation.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development guides implementation as follows:

1. On principles: In order to promptly, strictly, and conclusively handle accumulated pơ mu wood, the following principles must be adhered to:

1.1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will only consider and resolve the quantity of accumulated pơ mu wood listed in the Joint Inter-Ministerial Inventory Report at the time of inventory according to the telegraph No. 72 dated November 12, 1996 and the document No. 4276-NN-PTLN/CV dated December 13, 1996 regarding the re-establishment of the volume of accumulated pơ mu wood in stock.

All cases of accumulated forest wood will not be resolved.

1.2. There must be complete documentation confirming the legal origin of the pơ mu wood from the Forest Inspection Division where the wood was brought for production and processing.

1.3. There must be a permit for wood processing, forest products, or a business permit for importing and exporting goods in accordance with the appropriate industry.

2. On products:

To comply with Article 1 of Decision No. 786/TTg, based on the verified legal wood, the export products under items a, b, and c shall be implemented as follows:

a. For raw materials such as round logs, sawn timber, branches, bark, semi-finished products: Only allowed to continue processing into handicrafts and other products as stipulated by the Government in the Office of the Government's document No. 5986/KTN dated November 26, 1996.

b. For products that do not comply with the Government's regulations in document No. 5986/KTN dated November 26, 1996, but have been processed into finished products, they may be considered for export provided they meet the following requirements:

+ They must be genuine finished products with correct names and uses, not disguised products.

+ They must have specific specifications, names, and volumes consistent with those recorded in the Joint Inter-Ministerial Inventory Report (at the time of inventory mentioned above) of each enterprise.

c. If enterprises cannot process these into finished products, they are permitted to resell them to other enterprises through economic contracts and can only process them into products as specified in item a above to be considered for export.

3. On buying, selling, and transportation:

3.1. On buying and selling transfers:

+ Only enterprises with permits for wood processing or business permits for importing and exporting goods in the appropriate industry are allowed to purchase wood for export processing (starting from September 24, 1997).

+ Only allowed to resell within the quantities listed in the Joint Inter-Ministerial Inventory Report. The selling unit must deduct the quantity and obtain confirmation from the local Forest Inspection Division; the purchasing unit must have records of wood entering the factory and confirmation from the Forest Inspection Division where the wood was brought for production and processing.

3.2. On transporting wood and wood products: Must comply with the provisions of Circular No. 11-LN/KL dated October 31, 1995 of the former Ministry of Forestry, now the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

4. On export procedures:

4.1. On volume: No allocation of export wood quotas. The volume of exported products is determined based on the Joint Inter-Ministerial Inventory Report (at the time of inventory mentioned above) and the legal origin documentation of each enterprise.

4.2. On export procedures: Export application documents are sent to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Forest Development Department), based on the export product request letter accompanied by all required documents under current regulations for exporting wood products, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will issue a confirmation document regarding the volume and compliant products for each enterprise. Based on this document, the local customs authority will process the export for the enterprise without requiring any additional documents.

4.3. Enterprises are directly allowed to export or entrust export according to current regulations.

5. On export deadlines:

The processing and export of all accumulated pơ mu wood must be completed by March 24, 1998 (the date when the declaration form is opened, inspection is conducted, taxes are calculated, tax notifications are issued, and customs seals are applied).

After this deadline, no cases will be handled and there will be no exceptions.

6. On responsibilities of related ministries and provincial people's committees:

To prevent the recurrence of pơ mu wood exploitation and smuggling, directing and supervising the processing, circulation, and export of all accumulated pơ mu wood is the responsibility of each relevant ministry and provincial people's committee according to their functions as defined by the Prime Minister.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development assigns the Forest Inspection Service and its divisions to continuously monitor and report any violations to higher authorities for timely review and resolution.

During implementation, if any issues arise, localities and units should report them promptly to the relevant ministries and agencies according to the nature of the matter.

Any situations arising outside the above regulations must be reported to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for submission to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.

Upon receipt of this guiding circular, localities and units are requested to promptly notify enterprises with accumulated pơ mu wood under their jurisdiction to organize implementation, ensuring prompt, strict, and conclusive completion.