Circular No. 105/2008/TT-BTC guiding certain provisions of Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg dated March 14, 2008 of the Prime Minister on public procurement, ordering, and assigning tasks for the provision of public services funded by the state budget.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for certain provisions of Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg dated March 14, 2008 of the Prime Minister on public procurement, ordering, and assigning tasks to provide public services funded by the state budget.

__________________________

Pursuant to Decree No. 58/2008/ND-CP dated May 5, 2008 of the Government guiding the implementation of the Public Procurement Law and the selection of contractors under the Construction Law.

Pursuant to Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg dated March 14, 2008 of the Prime Minister promulgating the Public Procurement Regulations for ordering and providing public services funded by the state budget;

The Ministry of Finance provides guidelines for certain provisions of the Public Procurement Regulations for ordering and assigning tasks to provide public services funded by the state budget promulgated together with Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg dated March 14, 2008 of the Prime Minister as follows:

1. The scope of application is stipulated in Article 2 of Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg dated March 14, 2008 (hereinafter referred to as Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg) including:

a) State management agencies; agencies allocated budget funds to implement public services, agencies assigned or authorized to organize public procurement (or ordering) to provide public services funded by the state budget, including: Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies; People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities, administrative agencies, units entrusted with the provision of public services.

Agencies representing Vietnam abroad are not within the scope of regulation of this circular.

b) Domestic and foreign organizations belonging to various economic sectors, regardless of whether they are public or non-public entities, having legal personality; independent practitioners legally operating in Vietnam who meet the conditions and functions to supply services consistent with the requirements of public service provision by the state (hereinafter referred to as suppliers).

2. Provisions regarding the determination of public services subject to public procurement, ordering, and assignment of tasks:

a) Public services subject to public procurement when fulfilling the following conditions:

- Having a public procurement plan and being allocated a budget estimate for public services that must be procured;

- Identifying the users of public services;

- Determining the standards and quality of public services;

- Public services funded by the state budget with a total value of VND 500 million or more;

- Being decided by the head of the central agency to implement public procurement procedures (for public services under the central budget expenditure); being decided by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to implement public procurement procedures (for public services under local budget expenditure);

Public services meeting the above conditions must be organized for public procurement; if they do not meet these conditions, other forms such as ordering or assigning tasks may be applied.

For land surveying services to issue land use right certificates, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall decide on the form of public procurement, ordering, or assigning tasks based on actual circumstances.

For public services with a total value below VND 500 million but meeting the conditions for public procurement, the head of the central agency; the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall decide on the form of public procurement, ordering, or assigning tasks based on specific circumstances.

b) In addition to the list of public services subject to public procurement (or ordering) specified in the Appendix attached to Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg, the head of the central agency; the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee shall decide to supplement types of public services funded by the state budget subject to public procurement (or ordering) based on actual circumstances, and report to the Ministry of Finance for monitoring and management.

c) Public services provided by the state and guaranteed funding as specified in the Appendix attached to Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg shall be implemented in the following priority order:

- Public procurement;

- Ordering;

- Assigning tasks.

The Minister, the head of ministerial-level agencies, and government agencies (hereinafter referred to as the head of the central agency); the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee) shall decide on the method of implementation based on the list of public services specified in the Appendix attached to Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg.

3. Developing plans and issuing evaluation criteria for tender documents for public services as stipulated in Article 6 of Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg shall be carried out as follows:

a) Basis for developing public procurement plans for public services.

- Public services listed for public procurement according to Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg;

- Public services decided by competent authorities to be publicly procured (outside the list of public procurement according to Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg) as stipulated in point b, Section 2 of this circular;

- Based on the budget estimate allocated by the competent authority to implement public services;

- Relevant documents and legal texts related to public procurement of public services.

b) Content of the public procurement plan.

Depending on the nature and sequence of implementation, public services can be divided into separate lots. The division into lots must ensure the integrity of the service. The content of each lot in the public procurement plan includes:

- Lot name: the name of the lot should reflect the nature, content, and scope of work of the lot, consistent with the content stated in the service;

- Standards and objectives of the lot;

- Lot price: the lot price is established by the agency organizing the public procurement based on current economic and technical norms and cost standards issued by competent state management agencies;

- Method of selecting suppliers; public procurement method;

- Contract form;

- Source of funds: for each lot, the source of funds and payment method for the supplier must be clearly stated.

- Time for selecting suppliers: the time for organizing the selection of suppliers to implement the tender package to ensure the progress of the tender package in accordance with the provisions of the Bidding Law;

- Contract implementation period: the contract implementation period must ensure that the tender package is carried out in line with the progress of implementing public service provision services;

c) Issue standards for evaluating tender documents for public service provision services (including standards for suppliers and standards for public service provision services);

- Based on the list of public service provision services specified in the list (attached to Decision No. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg), the Minister managing the sector shall be responsible for developing and issuing evaluation criteria for tender documents for each type of public service provision services under the sector's management as a basis for evaluating tender documents for providing public service provision services;

For public service provision services decided to supplement outside the list attached to Decision No. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg by the Head of the central agency; the Chairman of the People's Committee at provincial level, the Head of the central agency, the Chairman of the People's Committee at provincial level shall develop and issue evaluation criteria for tender documents;

- Standards for public service provision service suppliers include:

+ Criteria for assessing financial capacity and experience of public service provision service suppliers;

+ Criteria for assessing management capacity and workforce participating in providing public service provision services;

+ Technical assessment criteria;

+ Service provision time;

- Standards for public service provision services include:

+ Criteria for assessing the process of determining technology forming public service provision services using state budget;

+ Price (or unit price) criteria for public service provision services;

+ Quality assessment criteria through results or products of public service provision services;

+ Process and technical assessment criteria for public service provision services;

- The Head of the central agency, the Chairman of the People's Committee at provincial level having public service provision services that must be tendered shall be responsible for:

+ Issuing supplier selection standards for public service provision services within their own expenditure tasks;

+ Issuing model tender documents for public service provision services in each field;

+ Specifying the standards issued by sector-managing Ministries to conduct tenders for public service provision services within their own expenditure tasks;

4. Reviewing and approving tender plans, tender invitation documents, and supplier selection results as stipulated in Article 7 of Decision No. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg shall be implemented as follows:

a) Tender plan review:

The unit entrusted with the task of organizing the tender for public service provision services shall be responsible for submitting the tender plan to the authority with approval power for the tender plan, while sending it to the tender evaluation agency. The documents for reviewing the tender plan include:

+ Submission document:

* Approved budget for the public service provision services to be tendered;

* Report on work completed related to preparing the tender for public service provision services, legal bases for implementation;

* Content of the tender plan as prescribed in point b, Section 3 of this Circular;

* Report on the tender plan including tasks that have formed tender packages implemented according to one of the methods of selecting contractors prescribed in Section 5 of this Circular;

* Report on tasks that cannot apply one of the methods of selecting contractors prescribed in Section 7 of this Circular;

+ Supporting documents: When submitting the tender plan for public service provision services, copies of documents serving as the basis for preparing the tender plan must be sent along;

b) Approval authority for tender plans:

- The Head of the central agency is responsible for approving tender plans for public service provision services belonging to the expenditure tasks of ministries, central agencies as prescribed;

- The Chairman of the People's Committee at provincial level is responsible for approving tender plans for public service provision services belonging to the expenditure tasks of localities as prescribed;

The approval time for tender plans shall not exceed twenty days from the date of receipt of the report from the unit entrusted with the task of organizing the tender for public service provision services, the evaluation report from the evaluation agency, and opinions of relevant agencies (if any);

c) Approval authority for tender invitation documents and supplier selection results:

- The Head of the central agency is responsible for approving, or delegating to the head of subordinate units to approve tender invitation documents and supplier selection results for public service provision services belonging to the central budget expenditure tasks based on the report of the evaluation agency;

- The Chairman of the People's Committee at provincial level is responsible for approving or delegating to the heads of units, specialized agencies under his/her jurisdiction to approve tender invitation documents and supplier selection results for public service provision services belonging to the local budget expenditure tasks based on the report of the evaluation agency;

The approval time for tender invitation documents and supplier selection results shall be a maximum of twenty (twenty) days for each item from the date of receipt of complete valid documents;

5. Evaluation during tendering as stipulated in Article 8 of Decision No. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg shall be implemented as follows:

Evaluation during tendering includes evaluation of tender plans, tender invitation documents, and contractor selection results;

a) Evaluation agency, organization, department:

- For public service provision services under the approval authority of the Head of the central agency, the finance support agency for the Head of the central agency shall take the lead in coordinating with relevant agencies to perform the task of evaluating tender plans; the specialized support agency shall take the lead in coordinating with relevant agencies to perform the task of evaluating tender invitation documents and supplier selection results;

- For public service activities under the approval authority of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Finance shall take the lead in coordinating with specialized departments to appraise the bidding plan; the specialized department shall take the lead in coordinating with relevant agencies to appraise the tender invitation documents and the selection results of suppliers.

b) Appraisal requirements:

- The agency, organization, or unit entrusted with the task of appraising the bidding plan shall conduct inspections and evaluations according to the provisions set out in points a and b of Section 3 of this Circular; prepare a report on the appraisal results for submission to the competent authority for approval of the bidding plan for public services using state budget funds as stipulated in point a of Section 4 of this Circular;

- The agency, organization, or unit entrusted with the task of appraising the tender invitation documents shall conduct inspections and evaluations according to the provisions set out in Clause 2, Article 15 and Clause 2, Article 23 of Decree No. 58/2008/ND-CP dated May 5, 2008 of the Government guiding the implementation of the Bidding Law and the selection of construction contractors under the Construction Law, and submit them for approval by the competent authority.

- The agency, organization, or unit entrusted with the task of appraising the selection results of suppliers shall conduct inspections and evaluations according to the provisions set out in Article 72 of Decree No. 58/2008/ND-CP dated May 5, 2008 of the Government guiding the implementation of the Bidding Law and the selection of construction contractors under the Construction Law, and submit them for approval by the competent authority.

c) The maximum time for appraising the bidding plan, appraising the tender invitation documents, and appraising the selection results of contractors is 20 (twenty) days for each item of work from the date of receipt of complete and valid documents.

6. The bidding costs specified in Article 9 of Decision No. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg shall be implemented as follows:

a) The agency organizing the bidding for public services using state budget funds may collect the following amounts:

- Revenue from selling tender invitation documents: The tenderer sells tender invitation documents (including tax) at a price determined by the head of the agency or unit organizing the bidding based on the scale and nature of the service, but not exceeding 1,000,000 VND (one million VND) per set for domestic tenders. For international tenders, the price is set according to international practice.

- Fees for appraising the selection results of contractors, including cases where no contractor is selected, calculated at 0.01% of the tender package value, but not less than 500,000 VND (five hundred thousand VND) and not more than 30,000,000 VND (thirty million VND).

- In cases where suppliers have objections to the selection results of contractors, the inviting agency or unit may charge the contractor to cover the costs of reviewing and resolving such objections. The amount charged is 0.01% of the bid price of the objecting supplier, but not less than 2,000,000 VND (two million VND) and not more than 30,000,000 VND (thirty million VND) per supplier. If the objection is found to be correct, the costs paid by the contractor will be refunded by the individual or organization responsible for joint liability. Individuals who violate the law while performing their duties causing damage to others must compensate according to Clause 5, Article 39 of the Civil Servant Ordinance; organizations that use unit funds to compensate for damages must comply with the provisions of the law.

b) Bid security and contract performance guarantee:

- To enhance responsibility, suppliers participating in bidding must deposit a bid security amount. The bid security amount is specified in the tender invitation documents and is capped at 3% of the approved tender package value. Bid security is returned to unsuccessful suppliers within no more than 30 (thirty) days from the date of notification of the bidding results (except in cases of violation of the provisions of Clause 6, Article 27 of the Bidding Law).

- Contract performance guarantee is specified in the tender invitation documents and is capped at 10% of the contract value. The validity period of the contract performance guarantee is extended until the warranty obligation is transferred (if applicable). Suppliers are not entitled to receive back the contract performance guarantee if they refuse to perform the contract after it becomes effective.

- For small-scale tender packages below 500,000,000 VND (five hundred million VND), the bid security amount is 1% of the tender package value, and the contract performance guarantee amount is 3% of the contract value.

c) Contents of bidding costs:

- Costs for preparing tender invitation documents;

- Costs for publishing tender invitation notices (if applicable);

- Costs for hiring appraisals (if applicable);

- Costs for the activities of the expert team;

- Costs for the Advisory Board to resolve supplier objections (if applicable);

- Costs for appraising the selection results of suppliers;

- Other expenses directly serving the bidding process.

In cases where consultancy services are required during the preparation of tender invitation documents or the organization of the bidding (such as technology selection consultancy; consultancy for analyzing and evaluating bid documents...), if the consultancy cost is under 500,000,000 VND (five hundred million VND), the agency or unit may implement through direct assignment; if the consultancy cost is 500,000,000 VND (five hundred million VND) or more, it must be conducted through bidding as prescribed.

d) Level of expenditure:

- Costs for hiring appraisals and publishing tender invitation notices: According to actual contracts incurred;

- Costs for expert team meetings, appraisal plan bidding meetings, tender invitation document appraisal meetings, advisory board meetings, and other expenses: Implemented according to current financial expenditure standards. For items without specific expenditure levels (without regulations), the bidding organizing agency or unit may incur expenses based on actual needs, ensuring reasonable and valid documentation and bearing legal responsibility for expenditures.

- Costs for appraising the selection results of suppliers (including cases where no supplier is selected) are calculated at 0.01% of the tender package value, but not less than 500,000 VND (five hundred thousand VND) and not more than 30,000,000 VND (thirty million VND);

- Costs for the Advisory Board to resolve supplier objections regarding the selection results of suppliers are calculated at 0.01% of the bid price of the objecting supplier, but not less than 2,000,000 VND (two million VND) and not more than 30,000,000 VND (thirty million VND).

đ) Sources of funding to ensure the bidding process:

The entity organizing the public procurement of public services may use the funds specified in point a, Section 6 of this Circular to cover the costs of the bidding process and to address suppliers' complaints.

In cases where the funds specified in point a, Section 6 above are insufficient to cover the bidding process costs, the entity organizing the bidding may use its regular operating budget to make up for the shortfall. Any surplus shall be added to the entity's operational budget.

7. The form and requirements for selecting suppliers, as stipulated in Article 10 of Decision No. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg, shall be implemented as follows:

a) Open tendering: Public services funded by the state budget that are required to undergo mandatory tendering must be organized through open tendering. (except for the cases specified in points b and c of this section)

Prior to issuing the tender documents, the tenderer must notify the tender information below so that suppliers can be informed. The tenderer must sell tender documents to contractors who wish to participate in the tender. The tender documents must not include any conditions that limit the participation of suppliers or create an advantage for one or several suppliers, thereby causing unfair competition.

Tender information includes:

- Procurement plan;

- Notice of prequalification and prequalification results;

- Tender notice for open tendering;

- List of contractors invited to participate in the tender;

- Selection results;

- Information on handling violations of tendering laws;

- Current legal regulations on tendering;

- Other related information.

The aforementioned information must be published on the procurement newspaper and the electronic procurement information website according to the guidelines of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and may also be published on other mass media to facilitate access by interested organizations and individuals.

If at the time of tender closing there are fewer than three (three) contractors submitting tender documents, the head of the agency, unit, or department responsible for organizing the procurement of public services must report to the competent authority to decide whether to extend the tender closing time to increase the number of tender documents submitted or to proceed with opening the tenders to evaluate the submitted tender documents.

b) Restricted tendering: Restricted tendering shall be applied in the following cases:

Services requiring high technical standards or having special technical characteristics, research or testing services where only a few suppliers can meet the service requirements.

When implementing restricted tendering, at least five (five) suppliers determined to have sufficient capacity and experience must be invited to participate in the tender; if in practice there are fewer than five suppliers, the tendering entity must report to the authorized decision-maker to consider and decide whether to continue with restricted tendering or apply another selection method.

c) Direct award: Applied when the total value of public services from the state budget is less than 500,000,000 VND (five hundred million VND) and the procurement plan and tender estimate have been approved by the competent authority as prescribed. In cases deemed necessary, the head of the agency or unit with the authority to decide may organize a tender for services with a total value under 500,000,000 VND (five hundred million VND).

When implementing direct award, a supplier determined to have sufficient capacity and experience to meet the service requirements must be selected, and the direct award procedure must be followed.

8. The evaluation of tender documents as stipulated in Article 14 of Decision No. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg shall be implemented as follows:

The entity organizing the tender is responsible for evaluating the tender documents for public services funded by the state budget. The evaluation of tender documents must be based on the criteria for evaluating tender documents and other requirements in the tender documents to ensure the selection of a supplier with sufficient capacity and experience and a feasible solution to provide public services. The tender document evaluation process follows the preliminary evaluation, detailed evaluation, and contract negotiation steps as specified in Articles 18 and 19 of Decree No. 58/2008/NĐ-CP dated May 5, 2008, guiding the implementation of the Law on Bidding and the selection of construction contractors under the Construction Law.

a) Preliminary evaluation of tender documents:

The preliminary evaluation of tender documents is based on:

- The validity of the tender application;

- The valid status of the supplier;

- The validity of the provided service;

- The number of original and duplicate copies of the tender documents;

- Tender guarantee;

- Price list;

- Supplier's capacity and experience over the last three consecutive years;

- Other requirements specified in the tender documents.

If a supplier does not meet any of the requirements stated in the tender documents, they will be eliminated and not considered further.

b) Detailed evaluation of tender documents:

The evaluation of tender documents should delve into the following aspects:

- The experience of the service provider such as the duration of service provision, number of years of service provision...;

- Specific capacity such as technical facilities, number of employees, specialized staff...;

- Financial capacity including total asset value, asset value involved in service provision, annual revenue, pre-tax and post-tax profit, value of ongoing service provision contracts, creditworthiness...

b1) Method of evaluating tender documents: Using a scoring system to evaluate and rank tender documents.

b2) Evaluation method:

- Technical and professional evaluation: The technical evaluation criteria use a 100-point scale to assess, including the following contents:

+ Experience and capacity of the supplier. The score for this content ranges from 10 to 20 points;

+ Technology used to implement public service provision. The score for this content is specified from 30 to 40 points;

+ Human resources of the supplier to execute the tender package; the score for this content is specified from 60 to 40 points.

The technical and business skills score is determined by the total number of points from the three aforementioned contents. The minimum score for technical and business skills is decided by the tendering authority but shall not be set lower than 70% of the total points. Tender documents that do not meet the minimum technical requirements will be disqualified.

- Financial evaluation: A scale of 100 points is used for assessment. Before determining the financial score, the price in the tender documents must be corrected and adjusted;

The financial score for each tender document is determined as follows:

- Service provision time evaluation: A scale of 100 points is used for assessment. The weight of the time score is specified between 1% to 2% of the total points;

- Overall evaluation: The overall evaluation criteria are established based on the technical evaluation criteria, financial evaluation, and service provision time evaluation, where the weight of the technical and business skills score shall not be set lower than 70% of the total points and the weight of the financial score shall not exceed 30% of the total points; The weight of the time score is specified between 1% to 2% of the total points; The supplier with the highest overall score will be ranked first by the tender organizing agency when submitting the result of the supplier selection to the competent authority for approval.

The overall score for a tender document is determined according to the following formula:

Overall Score = Technical Score x (K) + Financial Score x (C) + Time Score x (T)

Where:

K: Is the weight of the technical score (specified in the overall scoring scale).

C: Is the weight of the financial score (specified in the overall scoring scale).

T: Is the weight of the time score (specified in the overall scoring scale).

And satisfying the conditions:

K + C + T = 100%

K ≥ 70%

C ≤ 30%

1% ≤ T ≤ 2%

Technical Score: Is the number of points of the tender document determined at the technical evaluation stage as stipulated above.

Financial Score: Is the number of points of the tender document determined at the financial evaluation stage as stipulated in Clause b of this Article.

Time Score: Is the number of points of the tender document determined for the implementation period of public services (from start to finish).

Issues related to information in tendering and handling tendering procedures shall be carried out in accordance with the Law on Bidding.

9. Public service provision contracts; contract adjustments as prescribed in Article 16 of Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg shall be implemented as follows:

a) After the tender results are approved by the competent authority, the tender organizing agency sends a notification of the tender results to all participating suppliers (including both winning and non-winning suppliers). In the notification of the tender results, the tenderer does not need to explain reasons to non-winning suppliers.

The tenderer sends a notification of award to the winning supplier along with a draft contract and proceeds to sign the contract in accordance with the provisions of the law.

The notification of award and the public service provision contract shall be implemented for all three procurement methods: open tendering, restricted tendering, and direct award.

b) The contract content must comply with the contents specified in the tender invitation documents and conform to current legal regulations.

During the negotiation, completion, and signing of the contract, the results of the approved tender and the requirements stated in the tender invitation documents must be taken into account, and further explanations and clarifications of the tender documents of the supplier may be provided if necessary.

Additionally, the parties may agree to include other contents in the contract, provided they do not contravene legal regulations.

Upon receiving the notification of award, the supplier must send an acceptance letter and negotiate the contract with the tenderer within the timeframe specified in the tender invitation documents. If the supplier refuses to negotiate or does not accept the contract beyond the deadline specified in the notification of award, the tender organizing agency shall report to the competent authority to revoke the previous tender results, consider selecting the next-ranked supplier to negotiate and complete the public service provision contract. Suppliers who refuse to negotiate the contract will not be refunded the tender guarantee deposit previously paid.

c) During the execution of the contract, if situations arise that make it difficult to implement the contract, the tenderer and the supplier must report to the competent authority for examination and decision.

The handling of complaints in public service bidding shall be carried out in accordance with the Law on Bidding and Decree No. 58/2008/NĐ-CP dated May 5, 2008 of the Government guiding the implementation of the Law on Bidding and the selection of construction contractors under the Construction Law.

10. Ordering the provision of public services as prescribed in Article 18 of Decision No. 39/2008/QD-TTg shall be implemented as follows:

a) Public services that do not meet the conditions for tendering shall be implemented through ordering. The authority to decide on ordering is as follows:

- The head of central agencies decides on ordering for public services that do not meet the conditions for tendering, research topics, and projects funded from the central budget; delegates the authority to the heads of specialized agencies under their jurisdiction to order the provision of public services funded from the central budget;

- The Chairman of the People's Committee of the province decides on ordering for public services that do not meet the conditions for tendering, research topics, and projects funded from the local budget; delegates the authority to the heads of specialized agencies under their jurisdiction to order the provision of public services funded from the local budget.

b) Providers of public services must have sufficient capital, technical level, production technology, management level, and labor skills to meet the requirements of the ordering contract.

c) Basis for ordering public services:

- BASED ON THE DECISION OF THE AUTHORIZED PERSON TO ORDER PUBLIC SERVICES USING THE STATE BUDGET.

- UNIT PRICE OR THE PRICE OF PUBLIC SERVICES PROVIDED THROUGH ORDERING IS DETERMINED BASED ON THE APPLICATION OF CURRENT ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL STANDARDS AND COST RATES ISSUED BY THE AUTHORIZED AGENCIES. FOR PUBLIC SERVICES LISTED IN THE CATALOGUE REQUIRING PRICE APPRAISAL, THE ORDERING UNIT PRICE IS THE APPRAISAL NOTICE ISSUED BY THE PRICE MANAGEMENT AGENCY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE GUIDELINES OF THE GOVERNMENT REGARDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRICING ORDINANCE AND RELATED LAWS.

BASED ON THE ALLOCATED BUDGET AND THE UNIT PRICE OR THE PRICE OF PUBLIC SERVICES DETERMINED BY THE AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, THE ORDERING AGENCY SHALL DETERMINE THE QUANTITY, VOLUME, AND QUALITY OF PUBLIC SERVICES TO ENTER INTO AN ORDER CONTRACT.

d) THE CONTENTS OF THE ORDER CONTRACT AND THE ADJUSTMENT OF THE CONTRACT VALUE SHALL BE IMPLEMENTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLES 20 AND 21 OF THE REGULATIONS ATTACHED TO DECISION NO. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg ISSUING THE PROCUREMENT AND ORDERING REGULATIONS FOR PUBLIC SERVICES USING THE STATE BUDGET.

- THE ADJUSTMENT OF THE CONTRACT SHALL APPLY DURING THE PERIOD OF CONTRACT EXECUTION AS SPECIFIED IN THE SIGNED CONTRACT AND MUST BE REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY THE AUTHORIZED PERSON TO ORDER. THE CONTRACT PRICE AFTER ADJUSTMENT SHALL NOT EXCEED THE ALLOCATED BUDGET, TOTAL BUDGET, OR THE SERVICE PRICE IN THE APPROVED ORDER PLAN AND MUST BE APPROVED BY THE AUTHORIZED PERSON TO ORDER.

- IF THERE ARE REASONABLE ADDITIONAL WORKS OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF THE ORDER, THE PERSON SIGNING THE ORDER CONTRACT SHALL NEGOTIATE WITH THE PROVIDER TO CALCULATE THE ADDITIONAL WORKS AND REPORT TO THE AUTHORIZED PERSON TO ORDER FOR REVIEW AND APPROVAL.

đ) PAYMENT FOR PUBLIC SERVICES IMPLEMENTED THROUGH ORDERING SHALL BE BASED ON:

- THE ORDER CONTRACT BETWEEN THE ORDERING AGENCY AND THE PROVIDER;

- THE COMPLETION CERTIFICATE OF THE QUANTITY, VOLUME, AND QUALITY OF PUBLIC SERVICES BETWEEN THE ORDERING AGENCY AND THE PROVIDER;

- THE PRICE OR UNIT PRICE FOR PAYMENT DETERMINED BY THE AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT AGENCIES;

- Other related documents.

THE PROCEDURE AND PROCEDURES FOR PAYMENT AND SETTLEMENT OF PRODUCTS AND PUBLIC SERVICES SHALL BE IMPLEMENTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF GOVERNMENT DECREE NO. 60/2003/NĐ-CP OF JUNE 6, 2003 DETAILING AND GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL BUDGET LAW AND GUIDING DOCUMENTS.

11. ASSIGNMENT OF TASKS TO PROVIDE PUBLIC SERVICES USING THE STATE BUDGET AS PROVIDED IN ARTICLE 24 OF DECISION NO. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg SHALL BE IMPLEMENTED AS FOLLOWS:

PUBLIC SERVICES USING THE STATE BUDGET THAT DO NOT MEET THE CONDITIONS FOR TENDERING (AS PROVIDED IN ARTICLE 5 OF DECISION NO. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg AND SECTION 2 OF THIS CIRCULAR) OR ORDERING (AS PROVIDED IN ARTICLE 18 OF DECISION NO. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg AND SECTION 10 OF THIS CIRCULAR) SHALL BE ASSIGNED BY THE HEAD OF THE CENTRAL AGENCY OR THE CHAIRMAN OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE AT THE PROVINCE LEVEL TO THE AFFILIATED PUBLIC SERVICE UNITS TO IMPLEMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH CURRENT REGULATIONS. THE ALLOCATION OF THE BUDGET, PAYMENT, AND SETTLEMENT OF FUNDS FOR TASK ASSIGNMENTS SHALL BE IMPLEMENTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF GOVERNMENT DECREE NO. 60/2003/NĐ-CP OF JUNE 6, 2003 DETAILING AND GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL BUDGET LAW AND GUIDING DOCUMENTS FOR THE DECREE.

12. ESTABLISHING AND IMPLEMENTING THE STATE BUDGET CAPITAL WHEN CARRYING OUT TENDERING TO PROVIDE PUBLIC SERVICES AS PROVIDED IN ARTICLE 22 OF DECISION NO. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg SHALL BE IMPLEMENTED AS FOLLOWS:

a) PREPARING THE BUDGET: BASED ON THE TASKS AND CONTENT OF PUBLIC SERVICES THAT NEED TO BE TENDERED OR ORDERED, THE UNITS RESPONSIBLE FOR TENDERING OR ORDERING PUBLIC SERVICES SHALL PREPARE THE STATE BUDGET FOR TENDERING AND ORDERING SERVICES AND SUBMIT IT TO THE SUPERIOR MANAGEMENT AGENCY FOR COMBINATION AND SUBMISSION TO THE FINANCIAL AGENCY AT THE SAME LEVEL FOR COMBINATION AND SUBMISSION TO THE AUTHORIZED BODY FOR APPROVAL IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CURRENT NATIONAL BUDGET LAW.

b) ALLOCATING AND ASSIGNING THE BUDGET FOR TENDERING PUBLIC SERVICES: BASED ON THE BUDGET DECIDED BY THE AUTHORIZED BODY, THE BUDGET ASSIGNED TO THE AFFILIATED UNITS MUST CLEARLY DEFINE THE BUDGET FOR TENDERING AND ORDERING PUBLIC SERVICES.

PUBLIC SERVICE UNITS THAT SELF-FUND PART OF THEIR OPERATIONAL EXPENSES OR ARE FULLY FUNDED BY THE STATE BUDGET MAY PREPARE THE BUDGET FOR EXPENSES IN TENDERING AND COMBINE IT IN THE ANNUAL BUDGET FOR SUBMISSION TO THE AUTHORIZED BODY FOR APPROVAL.

c) BASED ON THE BUDGET ASSIGNED BY THE AUTHORIZED BODY, THE UNITS WITH DELEGATED POWER SHALL ORGANIZE TENDERING (OR ORDERING) OF PUBLIC SERVICES WITHIN THE ALLOCATED BUDGET.

d) THE PROVIDER, WHICH IS A PUBLIC SERVICE UNIT, MUST TRACK AND RECORD SEPARATELY THE FUNDS RECEIVED FROM TENDERING OR ORDERING AND MUST PERFORM ANY FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS (IF ANY).

đ) FOR PUBLIC SERVICES ALLOWED TO CHARGE FEES FROM USERS (SUCH AS TRAINING, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, ETC.) WHERE FEES OR TUITION ARE COLLECTED, THE COLLECTED FEES OR TUITION WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE TENDER PACKAGE PRICE, BID PRICE, AWARDED PRICE, AND CONTRACT PRICE. THESE PRICES SHALL INCLUDE TWO COMPONENTS: STATE FUNDS AND FUNDS COLLECTED FROM USERS.

THE PROVIDER OF PUBLIC SERVICES IS PERMITTED TO CHARGE TUITION OR MEDICAL FEES FROM USERS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW TO OFFSET SOME COSTS AND SETTLE THEM TOGETHER WITH THE FUNDS GUARANTEED BY THE STATE BUDGET IN ACCORDANCE WITH CURRENT REGULATIONS.

e) THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REVENUE AND EXPENSES FROM THE CONTRACT FOR PROVIDING PUBLIC SERVICES SHALL BE HANDLED AS FOLLOWS:

- For state-owned public service units acting as suppliers, after fulfilling financial obligations to the State (paying taxes as prescribed), the remaining portion shall be used in accordance with Clause 1 of Article 26 of Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006, which stipulates the rights to self-management and responsibility for the implementation of tasks, organizational structure, staffing, and finance for state-owned public service units;

- For suppliers that are enterprises, accounting shall be carried out in accordance with the Enterprise Law;

- For individual suppliers or non-state public service units, they shall decide on their own after fulfilling their financial obligations to the State;

f) Public service providers shall settle capital and file reports in accordance with current laws;

13. The inspection and supervision of the implementation of Article 25 of Decision No. 39/2008/QĐ-TTg shall be conducted as follows:

a) For state management agencies:

- The head of central-level agencies shall be responsible for directing the organization of inspections, monitoring, and supervising the implementation of public service procurement or ordering for public services within the central government budget;

- The Chairman of the People's Committee of provinces shall be responsible for directing the organization of inspections, monitoring, and supervising the implementation of public service procurement or ordering for public services ordered by the State within the provincial government budget;

b) For financial agencies: The Ministry of Finance, Provincial Department of Finance, and specialized financial agencies shall manage state finances in public service procurement, ordering, and assignment activities using the State budget;

- Review the allocation of the State budget for public services funded by the State budget. In case of discovering inappropriate allocation not in line with the content assigned by authorized state agencies, contrary to policies, regulations, standards, and quotas, they shall request the budget allocator to adjust it;

c) The State Treasury shall have the responsibility to:

- Based on the budget allocation received by the tenderer and the public service supply contract signed between the tenderer and the supplier, the State Treasury shall advance at least 30% of the contract value to the supplier to implement the work;

- Control payment documents and ensure timely payment from the State budget according to the contract progress; participate with financial agencies and authorized state management agencies in inspecting the use of the State budget; confirm the actual expenditure from the State budget through the State Treasury of public service suppliers funded by the State budget;

14. Effective date

a) This Circular shall take effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette;

b) During implementation, if any difficulties arise, please report them to the Ministry of Finance for prompt resolution./.