Circular No. 107/2021/TT-BTC on the management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for the implementation of the Task of Developing Plant and Animal Breeding in the Program for Research and Production of Breeds to Serve Agricultural Restructuring from 2021 to 2030

CIRCULAR
Regulations on management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for the implementation of tasks related to the development of seed production within the Program for Research and Seed Production to Serve Agricultural Sector Restructuring for the period 2021-2030

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. 703/QĐ-TTg dated May 28, 2020 of the Prime Minister approving the Program for Research and Seed Production to Serve Agricultural Sector Restructuring for the period 2021-2030;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Administrative and Public Financial Affairs;

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular regulating the management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for the implementation of tasks related to the development of seed production within the Program for Research and Seed Production to Serve Agricultural Sector Restructuring for the period 2021-2030.

PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

1. This Circular guides the management, use, and settlement of state budget funds from the regular state budget (for economic activities) for the implementation of tasks related to the development of seed production as stipulated in Clause 2, Section III, Article 1 of Decision No. 703/QĐ-TTg dated May 28, 2020 of the Prime Minister approving the Program for Research and Seed Production to Serve Agricultural Sector Restructuring for the period 2021-2030 (hereinafter referred to as Decision No. 703/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister).

As for guiding the content of implementing tasks related to the development of seed production as stipulated in Clause 2, Section III, Article 1 of Decision No. 703/QĐ-TTg and Circular No. 10/2021/TT-BNNPTNT dated August 19, 2021 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

2. This Circular does not regulate the management, use, and settlement of regular state budget funds for scientific and technological activities for the implementation of tasks related to the conservation, preservation, and research creation of germplasm as stipulated in Point a and Point c, Clause 1, Section III, Article 1 of Decision No. 703/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister; the management, use, and settlement of regular state budget funds for economic activities for the implementation of support for production, supply, and preservation of original seeds of crops, livestock, and aquatic species shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Decree No. 32/2019/NĐ-CP dated April 10, 2019 of the Government on assigning tasks, placing orders, or tendering for the provision of public products and services using state budget funds from regular expenditure; Point b, Clause 1, Section III, Article 1 of Decision No. 703/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister.

3. The management, use, and settlement of funds from organizations and individuals participating in seed production development projects under Decision No. 703/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister shall be implemented in accordance with this Circular and other relevant regulations (if any).

Article 2. Applicability

1. State administrative agencies, public service units at central and local levels (hereinafter referred to as agencies and units) have functions and responsibilities for managing, researching, and producing agricultural, forestry, livestock, and aquatic seedlings.

2. Enterprises, cooperatives, cooperative groups, households, and individuals (hereinafter referred to as organizations and individuals) researching and producing agricultural, forestry, livestock, and aquatic seedlings.

Article 3. Sources of Funds

1. Regular state budget funds (for economic activities) in accordance with the State Budget Law, including:

a) Central budget ensuring funding for seed production development projects managed and implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other ministries and sectors;

b) Local budgets ensuring funding for seed production development projects managed and implemented by provincial People's Committees, district People's Committees, commune People's Committees, or delegated to specialized agencies to manage and implement.

2. Funds from organizations and individuals participating in seed production development projects under Decision No. 703/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister.

Article 4. Principles for Managing and Using Funds

1. The state budget guarantees funding or partially supports funding according to the current tiered system to implement seed production development projects as stipulated by the State Budget Law and guiding documents; specifically:

a) The state budget prioritizes funding for implementing tasks related to developing seed production for major national agricultural, forestry, livestock, and aquaculture seeds based on the provisions set forth by the competent authority. For other agricultural, forestry, livestock, and aquaculture seeds, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, relevant ministries, sectors, and localities shall consider and decide on support based on actual needs in accordance with the policy of the Program during specific phases.

b) Seed production development projects must be approved by the competent authority; seeds used in these projects must be those permitted for production and trade in Vietnam according to relevant specialized laws.

c) Seed production development projects that have not received any support from the state budget.

d) The state budget provides support according to the progress of the project corresponding to the proportion of counterpart resources committed by the entity within the scope of the state budget approved by the competent authority.

2. Agencies and units responsible for managing the state budget to implement seed production development projects under Decision No. 703/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister must publicly disclose regulations, standards, quotas, and funding for beneficiaries as stipulated by current regulations.

3. Agencies, units, organizations, and individuals using the state budget to implement seed production development projects under Decision No. 703/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister are responsible for:

a) Implementing according to the content approved by the competent authority.

b) Managing and using funds in accordance with regulations, being economical and effective; subject to inspection and supervision by authorized functional agencies; settling accounts for used funds in accordance with the State Budget Law and this Circular.

4. Determining types of agricultural, forestry, livestock, and aquaculture seeds; implementation methods; workload and budget estimates; inspection, supervision, and implementation of seed development tasks are carried out in accordance with relevant laws, guidelines issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and provisions in this Circular.

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 5. Contents of Central Budget Ensuring Funding and Partially Supporting Funding

1. For Major National Agricultural, Forestry, Livestock, and Aquaculture Seeds

1.1 The central budget guarantees up to 100% of the funding for seed production development projects managed and implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other ministries and sectors, based on economic and technical standards and related documents approved by the competent authority, including:

a) Importing new seeds and purchasing copyright for seeds not available domestically.

b) Selecting superior parent plants and breeding superior trees by units.

c) Caring for parent tree gardens, seedling forests, and seedling gardens to provide propagation materials by units.

d) Importing seed production technology according to the value of transferred copyrights, including costs for hiring foreign experts for technical advice, technology transfer, and other related costs (if applicable).

đ) Improving seed production technology for technologies already issued by the competent authority.

e) Training and instructing seed propagation procedures.

g) Quality control of seeds.

h) Monitoring the implementation of the Program; organizing interim and final evaluations of the Program's results.

1.2 The central budget partially supports production costs for seed production development projects managed and implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other ministries and sectors, specifically:

a) For crop cultivation:

- Supporting up to 50% of the cost of producing super original seeds and parent seeds for hybrid F1 seed production.

- Supporting up to 30% of the cost of producing hybrid F1 seeds and the cost of producing planting material from parent tree gardens.

b) For animal husbandry: Supporting up to 10% of the cost of producing parent seeds.

c) For forestry:

- Supporting up to 50% of the cost of producing seeds.

- Supporting up to 30% of the cost of producing forestry seedlings through tissue culture methods.

d) For aquaculture: Supporting up to 50% of the cost of producing seeds.

2. For Other Agricultural, Forestry, Livestock, and Aquaculture Seeds

Based on actual needs in specific phases, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant ministries and sectors will consider and decide on support according to the policy of this Program. The content and maximum support ratio is 70% of the guaranteed funding and supported funding specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 6. The local budget ensures funding and partially subsidizes funding for the following purposes:

1. The People's Committee of the province shall submit to the Provincial People's Council for approval the content of state budget funding or partial funding support for implementing national key production seed projects and other seeds at the local level, in accordance with Decision No. 703/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister, consistent with the local budget balance capacity and the provisions of Article 5 of this Circular.

2. The selection of agricultural, forestry, livestock, and aquaculture seeds for support under this Program's policy at the local level shall be decided by the People's Committee of the province based on practical requirements in each specific phase to achieve the Program's objectives.

Article 7. Content of expenditure and expenditure standards

The content of expenditure and expenditure levels shall be implemented according to economic and technical norms, current financial expenditure regulations issued by competent state agencies. This Circular provides additional guidance on certain expenditure contents and expenditure standards as follows:

1. Seed production support

The state budget supports labor and material costs for seed production based on economic and technical norms issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, relevant ministries, and the People's Committee of the province, where the unit price for labor is determined as follows:

a) Skilled labor is calculated at a maximum of 70% of the daily wage coefficient for the position of "main member" performing science and technology tasks as stipulated in point b, Clause 1, Article 7 of Joint Circular No. 55/2015/TTLT-BTC-BKHCN dated April 22, 2015, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology guiding the norms for construction, allocation, and settlement of state budget funds for science and technology tasks.

b) Unskilled labor is calculated at a maximum of 50% of skilled labor as specified in point a, Clause 1 of this Article.

2. Training and instructing domestic seed breeding technology procedures for units, organizations, and individuals directly participating in project implementation. Specific support includes the following:

a) Costs for compiling programs, textbooks, training materials: Implemented according to Circular No. 76/2018/TT-BTC dated August 17, 2018, issued by the Ministry of Finance regarding guidelines for the content and expenditure levels for building training programs and compiling course textbooks for higher education and vocational education.

b) Costs for lecturers' remuneration, teaching assistants' remuneration; lecturers' meal allowances; transportation and accommodation costs for lecturers and teaching assistants; remuneration for tour guides and technical operation instructors: Implemented according to Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC dated March 30, 2018, issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding the preparation of budgets, management, use, and settlement of funds for cadre training and development. The training duration and remuneration levels for lecturers and technical operation instructors are approved in each specific project.

c) Printing costs for direct classroom use materials and textbooks (excluding reference materials); refreshments during breaks; organizing field trips and practical sessions (if applicable); renting conference halls, classrooms, equipment, and supplies for practical classes (if applicable); organizing opening and closing ceremonies, printing certificates, and providing common medical expenses for students (if they fall ill); other direct costs for classroom operations (electricity, water, communication, office supplies, sanitation, parking, and other direct costs). Expenditure levels are implemented through contracts with suppliers according to relevant regulations.

All trainees are fully supported for learning material costs (excluding reference materials). Trainees not receiving salary from the state budget are supported up to 100% of meal costs according to the level prescribed in Circular No. 40/2017/TT-BTC dated April 28, 2017, issued by the Ministry of Finance regarding travel expenses and conference costs; travel allowance is 200,000 VND per person per training session if the training location is more than 15 kilometers away from their residence; for persons with disabilities and trainees residing in difficult or extremely difficult communes, coastal communes, or island communes as defined by the Prime Minister, the allowance is 300,000 VND per person per training session if the training location is more than 5 kilometers away from their residence. For accommodation for trainees: If the training organization arranges accommodation for trainees, the organization is supported for service costs including electricity and water costs; if the training organization rents accommodation for trainees, it is supported up to 100% of costs according to Circular No. 40/2017/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance.

3. Quality control of seeds: The state budget supports up to 100% of the costs for testing, certification, quality inspection, virus diagnosis, testing, quarantine, and disease control.

Article 8. Establishment, allocation, implementation, and settlement

The establishment, allocation, implementation of the budget, and settlement of funds for the Program shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law 2015, Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the State Budget Law, and guiding documents issued by the Ministry of Finance. In addition, this Circular provides guidance on specific matters as follows:

1. Establishment of budget projections:

a) For Program funds from the central government budget

Annually, together with the time for establishing the state budget, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other ministries and sectors shall prepare the budget for implementing the Program, submit it to the financial authority at the same level for consideration and allocation according to current regulations.

b) For Program funds from local government budgets

The establishment of the Program budget for districts and communes shall be regulated by the People's Committee of the province in accordance with the laws on the state budget.

Annually, at the time of building the budget, based on the Circular guiding the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the contents guaranteed by the budget or partially supported by the budget, the expenditure levels shall be determined by the Provincial People's Council; the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall prepare the provincial Program budget and consolidate it within the departmental budget; the People's Committees of districts and communes shall prepare the Program budget according to their budgetary levels and consolidate it simultaneously when building the budget, submitting it to the financial authority at the same level for consideration and consolidation into the local budget for submission to the competent authority in accordance with the State Budget Law and guiding documents.

2. Allocation and Implementation of Budgets

a) Administrative agencies and public service organizations shall withdraw the budget at the State Treasury where they conduct transactions.

The State Treasury where transactions take place shall control and settle payments according to the provisions of Decree No. 11/2020/NĐ-CP dated January 20, 2020 of the Government on administrative procedures under the State Treasury and Circular No. 62/2020/TT-BTC dated May 20, 2020 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the control and settlement of regular expenditures from the state budget through the State Treasury.

b) Organizations and individuals without regular relations with the budget shall be paid through payment orders.

Financial authorities have the responsibility to supervise the documentation, the State Treasury shall disburse the budget fund and transfer money to the beneficiaries recorded on the payment order according to Clause 2, Article 19 of Circular No. 342/2016/TT-BTC dated December 30, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of Decree No. 163/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 21, 2016 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the State Budget Law.

Agencies and units are responsible for finalizing the budget for implementing litigation cost payments in accordance with this Decree and consolidating it into the annual budget finalization report of the agency or unit in accordance with the laws on regular budget finalization, accounting laws, guiding documents, and other relevant laws.

a) Funds for implementing seed production projects shall be consolidated into the annual settlement of the state budget of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, other ministries and sectors, and localities according to their respective levels.

b) The procedures for preparation, reporting forms, deadlines for submission, and review of the final report shall be carried out according to the provisions of Circular No. 137/2017/TT-BTC dated December 25, 2017 of the Ministry of Finance on examination, verification, notification, and consolidation of the annual settlement.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 9. Implementation Organization

1. The expenditure levels specified in this Circular are the maximum levels. Based on the ability to balance the available funding within the allocated budget, the Minister, Head of a ministry equivalent to a ministry, or agency under the Government, central-level agencies, Provincial People's Councils shall specify the actual expenditure levels suitable to the situation but not exceeding the levels specified in this Circular.

2. The Minister, Head of a ministry equivalent to a ministry, or agency under the Government, central-level agencies, and Chairmen of Provincial People's Committees are responsible for directing and organizing the implementation of this Circular.

Article 10. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from January 20, 2022.

2. The allowance system for cadres, civil servants, public officials, and employees at agencies and units receiving salaries from the state budget as stipulated in this Circular shall be implemented until new regulations on salary systems according to Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW dated May 21, 2018 of the Seventh Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam's XIIth term on reforming salary policies for cadres, civil servants, public officials, armed forces, and workers in enterprises come into force, then follow the general regulations.

4. During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, units are requested to report to the Ministry of Finance for research and appropriate amendments.

4. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties or obstacles, agencies, units, organizations, and individuals are advised to report to the Ministry of Finance for timely research, resolution, and appropriate amendments.