Decision No. 1037/QD-TTg On providing financial support for preventing and controlling African swine fever

DECISION OF THE PRIME MINISTER

On providing financial support for prevention and control of swine blue ear disease

PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Considering the proposal of the Ministry of Finance (document No. 10137/BTC-HCSN dated July 31, 2007), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (document No. 2068/TTr-BNN-TY dated July 31, 2007) and the State Bank of Vietnam (document No. 8601/NHNN-TD dated August 7, 2007),

DECISION:

Article 1. The state budget will provide financial support for the prevention and control of swine blue ear disease with the following contents and levels of support:

1. Directly supporting households, individuals, farms, and cooperatives engaged in pig farming where pigs infected with swine blue ear disease must be destroyed according to regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The average level of support is 10,000 VND/kg live weight.

2. Financial support for the prevention and control of swine blue ear disease includes:

a) Supporting expenses for veterinary officers and those directly involved in the tasks of preventing and controlling the disease to carry out the destruction of infected pigs and their products, spraying disinfectants, and serving at quarantine checkpoints. The maximum level of support is 50,000 VND/person/day for working days and 100,000 VND/person/day for holidays, public holidays, and Tet;

b) Expenses for destroying pigs that must be destroyed due to infection; pigs and products of pigs seized and destroyed by anti-smuggling forces and compulsory quarantine stations according to laws on veterinary medicine;

c) Expenses for various chemicals used for disinfection, decontamination, cleaning of pigsties and the environment; purchasing protective clothing for personnel participating in the prevention and control of swine blue ear disease.

3. The period during which the state budget provides support under clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall be from the date of the decision announcing the outbreak of the disease until the date of the decision declaring the end of the disease by the competent state agency.

4. The state budget will ensure funds for propaganda, inspection, and guidance on the prevention and control of the disease; purchasing equipment and supplies for disease detection, diagnosis, and prevention and control according to regulations and guidelines of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Article 2. Principles of support and sources of funds for the prevention and control of swine blue ear disease:

1. For provinces and centrally-administered cities with costs for prevention and control work exceeding 1 billion VND, the central budget will support 50% of the prevention and control funds as stipulated in clauses 1, 2, and 4 of Article 1 of this Decision.

In cases where the cost of prevention and control exceeds 50% of the annual contingency reserve allocated by the Prime Minister to local budgets, the central budget will supplement the difference exceeding 50% of the annual contingency reserve of local budgets to ensure funding sources for localities to implement.

2. For provinces and centrally-administered cities with costs for prevention and control work below 1 billion VND, localities will proactively use local budgets to implement.

3. Hanoi City and Ho Chi Minh City will proactively use their annual contingency reserves to implement.

4. The central budget will ensure funds for the prevention and control of swine blue ear disease for central pig breeding facilities. Local budgets will ensure funds for the prevention and control of swine blue ear disease for state-owned pig breeding facilities managed by localities.

5. Expenses for the prevention and control of swine blue ear disease for central veterinary forces will be funded from the prevention and control budget allocated in the annual state budget estimate of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Article 3. Regarding borrowing by pig farmers.

1. Debt moratorium for one year for outstanding debts as of the date of the announcement of the disease in the locality for pig farmers including households, individuals, farms, cooperatives, and central and local pig breeding facilities that have borrowed from credit institutions permitted to operate according to the law for pig farming but were forced to destroy pigs due to swine blue ear disease as stipulated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Credit institutions will not collect interest on new loans generated during the moratorium period for the outstanding debt subject to the moratorium and will reduce pre-tax profits accordingly to the amount of interest not collected.

2. Pig farmers who are currently benefiting from the moratorium on loan repayment as stipulated in clause 1 of this Article may continue to borrow funds if they need capital to resume pig farming or switch to other industries according to the law.

Article 4. Implementation

1. The Ministry of Finance will provide detailed guidance on implementing the provisions of points b and c of clause 2 of Article 1 of this Decision; based on the provisions of this Decision, it will examine the actual expenditure from the local budget for the prevention and control of swine blue ear disease to consider additional support from the central government's annual contingency reserve for localities and report periodically to the Prime Minister on the implementation results.

2. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will specify the conditions for pigs that must be destroyed due to swine blue ear disease, the destruction process; lead inspections of disease prevention and control and destruction of infected pigs in localities.

3. The State Bank of Vietnam will lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to guide the implementation of Article 3 of this Decision.

4. Provincial People's Committees directly under the Central Government shall be responsible for:

a) Based on the situation in the locality and the regulations stipulated in clauses 1 and 2 of Article 1 of this Decision, decide on the appropriate level of support. Specifically, the level of direct support for pig farmers whose pigs must be destroyed can be decided by the People's Committee of the province or centrally-administered city to be higher than the level specified in clause 1 of Article 1 of this Decision; the part of the higher support level will be arranged by the locality from its own budget to handle;

b) Publicize the policy and level of support through mass media and at village and commune levels to ensure direct support reaches pig farmers suffering losses; use the prevention and control funds and allowances for personnel participating in disease prevention and control according to local directives effectively, without waste or corruption.

c) Proactively utilize the local budget reserve and other lawful financial sources to implement preventive measures against African swine fever and support individual livestock owners whose pigs have been destroyed due to the disease; promptly compile and report to request the Ministry of Finance for funding support (the portion from the central government budget) to carry out these measures;

d) Upon concluding each outbreak, report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Finance on the implementation of preventive and control measures against the disease for compilation and reporting to the Prime Minister;

Article 5. This Decision shall take effect from the date of signing.

Article 6. THE MINISTERS, HEADS OF GOVERNMENT-LEVEL MINISTRIES, HEADS OF GOVERNMENT-LEVEL AGENCIES, AND CHAIRMEN OF PROVINCE AND CITY PEOPLE'S COMMITTEES DIRECTLY UNDER THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENFORCING THIS DECISION./.