Circular No. 118/1998/TT-BTC guides the preparation of budgets, issuance, and settlement of state budget funds for the national forest inventory.

CIRCULAR

ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE DECREE NO. 118/1998/TT-BTC ON AUGUST 22, 1998 GUIDING THE PREPARATION OF BUDGET ESTIMATES, DISBURSEMENT, AND SETTLEMENT OF STATE BUDGET FUNDS FOR NATIONAL FOREST INVENTORY

Pursuant to Directive No. 286/TTg dated May 2, 1997 of the Prime Minister on urgent measures for forest management and protection.
Pursuant to Decision No. 451/CP-KTN dated April 22, 1998 of the Government on the national forest inventory.
After receiving the agreement from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at Circular No. 2815/BNN-TCKT dated July 22, 1998, the Ministry of Finance guides the preparation of budget estimates, disbursement, and settlement of state budget funds for the national forest inventory as follows:

2. Individuals who have registered as the principal investigator of a Research Project or Pilot Production Project and those participating in its implementation shall not participate in the Evaluation and Selection Council for that Research Project or Pilot Production Project (hereinafter referred to as the Council). In necessary cases, members of the Council may be staff members of the organization registering as the principal investigator of the Research Project or Pilot Production Project, but not more than one person and they cannot serve as Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, or reviewing member.

1. The national forest inventory funds shall be used to cover costs for the inventory of natural forests and planted forests under all units with forests or those entrusted with forest management such as companies, forestry farms, cooperatives, Forest Protection Departments, Management Boards of Special Purpose Forests and Protective Forests, and households.

2. The area of forests to be inventoried at Level I and Level II shall be allocated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to provinces, cities, and ministries with forests.

3. The central government budget shall ensure funding for the national forest inventory through public expenditure.

4. Ministries and localities conducting the forest inventory must ensure that the inventory funds are used economically and effectively in accordance with current financial expenditure regulations within the scope of the approved budget estimate.

II. SPECIFIC EXPENSES:

1. Expenses for developing the forest inventory plan, technical measures, and inventory forms.

2. Expenses for training meetings on forest inventory, summary meetings of the forest inventory, printing of inventory materials, purchasing maps for inventory purposes.

3. Expenses for the actual inventory of forest areas at Level I and Level II, including expenses for non-office and office inventory (including materials, labor, transportation fuel, travel expenses, general expenses, and inspection expenses).

4. Expenses for compiling, processing inventory results, and establishing a database on forest inventory.

5. Expenses for the Steering Committee for the forest inventory at various levels, including travel expenses, accommodation, fuel, train and bus tickets for inspection and guidance, re-inspection and verification expenses, printing and publishing of inventory results, office supplies.

These expenses must comply with the current financial expenditure regulations issued by the competent authority.

III. GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION OF BUDGET ESTIMATES, DISBURSEMENT, AND SETTLEMENT OF FUNDS FOR THE NATIONAL FOREST INVENTORY

1. Preparation and allocation of budget estimates for the forest inventory:

a. At the provincial level: Provincial People's Committees base their budget estimates for the forest inventory on the current forest area statistics of their province, the approved expenditure rates for each inventory level, and detail the estimates according to:

- Total forest area: including the area to be inventoried at Level I and the area to be inventoried at Level II.

- Total inventory expenses: including expenses for inventory at Level I and expenses for inventory at Level II.

- Prepare the budget estimate for the forest inventory for the years 1998 and 1999 and send it to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. For provinces with small forest areas requiring inventory and low expenses, they should propose to complete the budget estimate for the forest inventory of their province in 1998.

b. For the forest inventory expenses carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which include pilot project expenses for the two provinces of Kon Tum and Gia Lai, expenses for the Central Steering Committee for the forest inventory, expenses for developing plans and training for the forest inventory, summary meetings of the forest inventory, printing of inventory materials..., the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will prepare the budget estimate and consolidate it into the overall national forest inventory budget estimate to be sent to the Ministry of Finance.

c. For the forest inventory of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security:

Based on the current forest area statistics of subordinate units and the approved expenditure rates for each inventory level, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security will prepare the budget estimate for the forest inventory of their respective ministries for the years 1998 and 1999, detailing the total forest area: inventory at Level I, inventory at Level II, total budget estimate: expenses for inventory at Level I, expenses for inventory at Level II, and send it to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for approving and allocating the budget estimate for the national forest inventory to each province, centrally-administered city, and relevant ministries and sectors within the total budget approved in Decision No. 451/CP-KTN dated April 22, 1998 of the Prime Minister, broken down by inventory level and year (1998, 1999), detailed according to the budget item list (quarterly, annually), and consolidated to be sent to the Ministry of Finance as the basis for annual fund disbursement (attached table).

The allocation of the budget estimate for the forest inventory to localities and ministries must be consistent with the budget estimate already assigned by the Government and after obtaining the agreement of the Ministry of Finance.

2. Disbursement of forest inventory funds:

Basis for financial agencies to disburse funds:

- The budget estimate for the forest inventory of ministries, sectors, and localities allocated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

- Detailed budget estimates according to the budget item list of units (quarterly, annually).

- Progress in implementing the forest inventory work by units.

Based on the quarterly budget estimate for the forest inventory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance will disburse funds as follows:

a. For the forest inventory funds of the two provinces of Gia Lai and Kon Tum and for the Central Steering Committee for the forest inventory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance will allocate funds to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development based on the progress of the forest inventory work for the units using the budget.

b. For the forest inventory funds of provinces and cities:

The Ministry of Finance will implement the disbursement of funds through authorized limits to localities via the Department of Finance and Price Control. Based on the funds transferred from the central budget and the detailed budget estimates of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Finance and Price Control will disburse funds to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development according to the progress of the forest inventory work.

c. For the forest inventory funds of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security:

The Ministry of Finance will implement the disbursement of funds to the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security according to the allocated budget estimates and the progress of the forest inventory work.

The Central State Treasury and the State Treasuries of provinces and cities where units have opened accounts are responsible for supervising and disbursing forest inventory expenses in accordance with the provisions of Circular No. 40/1998/TT-BTC dated March 31, 1998 of the Ministry of Finance on guiding the management, issuance, and settlement of state budget expenditures through the State Treasury.

At year-end, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Forest Inventory Steering Committees of provinces and cities, or the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development (for provinces with small forest areas that do not establish local forest inventory steering committees), and ministries with forests must organize final inspections and handover of forest inventory results to serve as the basis for settling forest inventory expenses.

3. Settlement of Funds:

The settlement of national forest inventory expenses shall be carried out in accordance with the regulations on state budget settlement set forth in Circular No. 09 TC/NSNN dated March 18, 1997 of the Ministry of Finance and in accordance with the prescribed forms stipulated in Decision No. 999 TC/QĐ/CĐKT dated November 2, 1996 of the Ministry of Finance promulgating accounting regulations for administrative and public service units.

a. For the expenses of the Central Forest Inventory Steering Committee and the forest inventory expenses implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development:

At quarter-end and year-end, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for reviewing and approving the settlement of forest inventory expenses of subordinate units (including forest inventory expenses of Gia Lai and Kon Tum provinces) and consolidating them into the annual settlement report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for review and consolidation into the state budget settlement. The forest inventory expense settlement report must be based on the inspection and handover certificates of the Central Forest Inventory Steering Committee.

Specifically, for the pilot forest inventory expenses in the Central Highlands region allocated at the end of 1997 to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development pursuant to Prime Minister's Directive No. 286/TTg to complete in the first quarter of 1998, the settlement will be conducted in 1998.

b. For forest inventory expenses authorized through the Provincial Department of Finance and Price Control:

At quarter-end and year-end, the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development must prepare the annual settlement report on forest inventory expenses of their respective localities to be submitted to the Provincial Department of Finance and Price Control, which will also forward it to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The forest inventory expense settlement report must be based on the inspection and handover certificates corresponding to the assigned workload of the Forest Inventory Steering Committee or the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Provincial Departments of Finance and Price Control directly under the central government are responsible for reviewing the annual settlement reports on forest inventory expenses prepared by the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development and forwarded to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Ministry of Finance is responsible for coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to review and examine the annual settlement reports on authorized forest inventory expenses submitted by the Provincial Departments of Finance and Price Control.

c. For the forest inventory funds of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security:

At quarter-end and year-end, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security are responsible for reviewing the settlement of forest inventory expenses of their subordinate units and preparing the annual settlement report on forest inventory expenses of their respective ministries to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance; they should also send copies to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for monitoring. The annual settlement report on forest inventory must be based on the inspection and handover certificates of the Forest Inventory Steering Committee.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION

This Circular shall only be implemented in 1998 and 1999 and shall take effect from January 1, 1998. During implementation, if there are any difficulties, please reflect them to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and appropriate amendments.