Decision No. 11/2008/QD-BTC on the regulations regarding the collection rates, collection procedures, payment, management, and utilization of fees and charges in the field of plant seeds.

Pursuant to …;

Regarding the establishment of fee and charge collection rates, procedures for payment, management, and utilization in the field of plant varieties

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THE MINISTER OF FINANCE

Pursuant to the Plant Variety Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 104/2006/NĐ-CP dated September 22, 2006 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Intellectual Property Law concerning rights over plant varieties;

Pursuant to Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Fees and Charges;

Pursuant to Decree No. 24/2006/NĐ-CP dated March 6, 2006 of the Government amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Fees and Charges;

Pursuant to Decree No. 77/2003/NĐ-CP dated July 1, 2003 of the Government stipulating functions, tasks, authorities, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

After receiving opinions from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and upon the proposal of the Director of the Department of Tax Policy,

DECISION:

Article 1.

1. Issuing together with this Decision the Schedule of Fee and Charge Collection Rates in the Field of Plant Varieties to be uniformly applied throughout the country, including:

I. Fees related to agricultural plant varieties;

II. Fees related to the protection of plant varieties;

III. Fees related to forestry plant varieties;

IV. Charges related to agricultural plant varieties;

V. Charges related to the protection of plant varieties;

VI. Charges related to forestry plant varieties.

2. The fee and charge collection rates in the field of plant varieties prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 1 of this Decision shall apply to state administrative agencies or public service units with functions in testing, inspection, and issuing permits in the field of plant varieties.

Article 2. The entities subject to fees under the collection rates prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 1 of this Decision are Vietnamese organizations and individuals, and foreign organizations and individuals who have been authorized by Vietnamese agencies responsible for testing, inspection, and issuing permits in the field of plant varieties to perform the following tasks:

1. Testing and inspecting agricultural and forestry plant varieties;

2. Post-inspection, sampling, and testing of plant varieties;

3. Protecting plant varieties;

4. Issuing export and import permits, certificates of quality in the field of plant varieties;

5. Issuing certificates of protection and examining priority rights in the field of plant varieties.

Article 3Fees and charges in the field of plant varieties are revenue items belonging to the State budget, managed and utilized as follows:

1. State agencies and public service units with functions in testing, inspecting, and issuing permits in the field of plant varieties (hereinafter referred to collectively as the fee and charge collecting agency) are entitled to retain 80% (eighty percent) of the total amount of collected fees and charges to cover expenses for specialized work in testing, inspecting, issuing permits, and collecting fees and charges in the field of plant varieties, specifically as follows:

a) Payment of salaries or wages, allowances, contributions based on salaries or wages according to current regulations for direct fee and charge collectors (excluding salary costs for civil servants already receiving salaries according to current regulations);

b) Expenses for testing, inspecting, issuing permits, and collecting fees and charges in the field of plant varieties, including:

- Costs for testing, inspecting, and inspecting plant varieties;

- Supervision and post-inspection of testing and inspecting activities in the field of plant varieties;

- Payment of remuneration for hiring experts for testing, inspecting, and inspecting;

- Conference, seminar, and meeting expenses of the Inspection and Testing Council regarding plant varieties;

c) Direct expenses for fee and charge collection such as office supplies, office materials, telephone, electricity, water, travel expenses according to current standards and norms;

d) Regular maintenance and major repair expenses for assets, machinery, and equipment directly serving testing, inspecting, issuing permits, and collecting fees and charges in the field of plant varieties; depreciation of fixed assets for performing testing and inspecting work in the field of plant varieties and collecting fees;

đ) Purchase expenses for materials, raw materials, and other expenses directly related to testing, inspecting, and collecting fees and charges;

e) Contributions to the International Association for the Protection of New Plant Varieties and conference participation fees organized annually by the Association;

f) Awards and welfare for staff directly involved in testing, inspecting, issuing permits, and collecting fees and charges in the field of plant varieties within the unit, averaged at a maximum of three months' actual salary if this year's income exceeds last year's, and two months' actual salary if this year's income is lower than or equal to last year's, after ensuring the expenses specified in points a, b, c, d, đ, and e of this clause;

2. The fee and charge collecting agency is responsible for depositing 20% (twenty percent) of the collected fees and charges into the State budget according to the corresponding chapters, types, sections, sub-sections, and sub-subsections of the current State Budget Classification.

Article 4.

1. This Decision takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

2. This Decision replaces Circular No. 92/2002/TT-BTC dated October 18, 2002 of the Ministry of Finance stipulating the collection, payment, management, and utilization of fees for evaluation, information provision, services, and charges for registration, issuance, announcement, and maintenance of validity of new plant variety protection certificates.

Article 5. Other contents related to the collection, payment, management, utilization, receipt vouchers, and publicizing the fee and charge collection system in the field of plant varieties not specified in this Decision shall be implemented in accordance with the guidance provided in Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002, and Circular No. 45/2006/TT-BTC dated May 25, 2006, amending and supplementing Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002, of the Ministry of Finance on implementing legal provisions on fees and charges.

Article 6. In the course of implementation, if there are any difficulties, organizations and individuals are advised to promptly report to the Ministry of Finance for research and supplementary guidance./.