Circular No. 127/2007/TT-BTC Amending and Supplementing Circular No. 23/2007/TT-BTC dated March 21, 2007 and Circular No. 57/2007/TT-BTC dated June 11, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing Circular No. 23/2007/TT-BTC dated March 21, 2007

and Circular No. 57/2007/TT-BTC dated June 11, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance

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Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on State Budget;

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

The Ministry of Finance hereby guides the amendment and supplementation of Circular No. 23/2007/TT-BTC dated March 21, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance on the regulations for travel expenses and expenditures for organizing conferences for state agencies and public service units, and Circular No. 57/2007/TT-BTC dated June 11, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance on expenditure regulations for receiving foreign guests, organizing international conferences, and hosting domestic guests in Vietnam as follows:

I. AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO CIRCULAR NO. 23/2007/TT-BTC DATED MARCH 21, 2007

1. Amend Clause 1, Section I as follows:

"1. Scope and beneficiaries of travel expense regulations: Officials, civil servants, employees, and contractual workers in accordance with the law in agencies and units dispatched by competent authorities to work within the country. Deputies of all levels of People's Councils when participating in activities of the People's Council."

2. Supplement Clause 12, Section I as follows:

"For deputies of all levels of People's Councils when traveling to perform their duties as deputies (attending sessions of the People's Council, meetings of Committees of the People's Council, supervision, meeting with voters...) shall be reimbursed travel expenses from the operating budget of the People's Council."

3. Amend Clause 1, Section II as follows:

"1. Objectives and scope of application:

The objects subject to the conference expenditure regulations stipulated in this Circular are specialized summary and annual summary conferences, annual summary conferences, training conferences to implement tasks organized by administrative state agencies as prescribed in Decision No. 114/2006/QĐ-TTg dated May 25, 2006issued by the Prime Minister stipulating the meeting system in the operation of administrative state agencies.

For conferences organized by agencies under the Communist Party of Vietnam; sessions of the People's Council, meetings of the Standing Committee of the People's Council, and meetings of Committees of the People's Council; political-social organizations, political-social-professional organizations, social organizations, social-professional organizations, public service units using funds from the state budget, apply the conference expenditure regulations stipulated in this Circular.

Special cases include the National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, sessions of the National Assembly, meetings of the National Ethnic Council, Committees of the National Assembly, and meetings of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly which do not apply this Circular." 4. Supplement Clause 3, Section II as follows:

"For deputies of all levels of People's Councils and representatives invited by the Standing Committee of the People's Councils at all levels to attend sessions and meetings of Committees of the People's Councils shall be reimbursed travel expenses from the operating budget of the People's Council."

5. Amend Clause 4, Section II as follows:

"4. The time for organizing conferences shall be applied according to the provisions of Decision No. 114/2006/QĐ-TTg dated May 25, 2006 of the Prime Minister stipulating the meeting system in the operation of administrative state agencies, specifically as follows:

- Summary meetings of annual work shall not exceed one day;

- Summary meetings of specialized topics shall last from one to two days depending on the nature and content of the topic;

- Training and implementation meetings shall last from one to three days depending on the nature and content of the issue;

Training classes funded from training and capacity building budgets for state civil servants, or from program and project budgets, shall follow the approved training schedule.

- Other meetings shall be arranged reasonably based on their nature and content but shall not exceed two days.

The time for sessions of the People's Council and meetings of Committees of the People's Council shall not be implemented according to this Circular."

6. Amend Clause 2, Section III as follows:

"2. Based on the budget capacity and actual conditions at the local level, the People's Committee of provinces and centrally governed cities shall submit specific expenditure levels for local agencies to the People's Council at the same level for approval; Ministers and Heads of Ministries and equivalent agencies shall specify expenditure levels for subordinate agencies based on the allocated budget without exceeding 20% of the maximum expenditure level stipulated in this Circular. In cases where ministries, sectors, and localities have not issued specific expenditure regulations, agencies and units may apply the provisions of this Circular for implementing travel expenses and conference organization costs.

Provincial People's Councils shall base their resolutions on Resolution No. 1157/NQ-UBTVQH11 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly "regulating certain financial expenditure standards serving the operations of the National Assembly, its agencies, Committees of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, the National Assembly Office, and Delegations of the National Assembly" to issue resolutions applicable to People's Councils at all levels that are suitable to the specific circumstances of the locality, ensuring effective and practical operations of People's Councils at all levels regarding related expenditure tasks.

For public service units that self-fund their operations, units that partially self-fund their operations as stipulated in Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government regulating the rights of self-management, self-responsibility for the implementation of tasks, organizational structures, staffing, and finance for public service units; and public science and technology organizations that have implemented the self-management and self-responsibility mechanism as stipulated in Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005 of the Government, may decide higher or lower expenditure levels for travel expenses and conference organization costs than those specified by the Ministers, Heads of Ministries and equivalent agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities in accordance with this Circular, and such decisions must be included in the internal expenditure regulations of the unit, ensuring economy, effectiveness, and suitability to the budget capacity and operational characteristics of the unit.

For public service units that self-fund their operational costs and those that partially self-fund their operational costs as prescribed in Government Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006, which stipulates the rights to autonomy and responsibility for implementing tasks, organizational structure, staffing, and finance for public service units; and for public science and technology organizations that have implemented the mechanism of autonomy and self-responsibility as prescribed in Government Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005, such units are authorized to determine higher or lower levels of travel expense allowances and conference organization expenses than those specified by the Minister, Head of a ministerial-level agency, agency under the Government, and People's Committee of provinces and centrally-run cities in accordance with this Circular, and such determinations must be included in the internal expenditure regulations of the unit to ensure economy, efficiency, and alignment with budgetary capacity and the characteristics of the unit's operations.

State-owned enterprises shall apply the working expense system and conference expenditure regulations stipulated in this Circular to ensure economy, efficiency, and suitability with the production and business characteristics of their units.

II. AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO CIRCULAR NO. 57/2007/TT-BTC DATED JUNE 11, 2007

1. Amend Point b Clause 2 Section III Part II as follows:

"b) Inviting guests to meals: In principle, agencies and units shall not organize receptions for domestic guests visiting their offices; in necessary cases, they may invite guests to meals at a maximum cost of VND 150,000 per person. The specific objects are defined as follows:

- The Minister, Head of a Ministry equivalent to a Minister, or an agency under the Government shall base on actual conditions and the assigned budget to specifically define the objects eligible for invitation to meals in accordance with the operational characteristics of the Ministry or sector, ensuring economy and efficiency. The People's Committee of provinces and centrally governed cities shall base on actual conditions and local budgets to specifically define the objects eligible for invitation to meals for each type of unit under the province, and report to the Standing Committee of the People's Council for approval before promulgation.

- For public service units that self-fund their operating costs, or units that partially self-fund their operating costs as prescribed in Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government on the rights of autonomy and responsibility for implementing tasks, organizational structure, staffing, and finance for public service units and public science and technology organizations that have implemented the mechanism of autonomy and responsibility as prescribed in Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005 of the Government, the objects eligible for invitation to meals shall be decided by the Heads of these units and must be specified in the internal expenditure regulations of the units, ensuring economy, efficiency, and suitability with the operational characteristics of the units."

2. Amend Clause 3 Part III as follows:

"3. Based on the reception expenses for foreign guests coming to work in Vietnam, expenses for organizing international conferences and seminars in Vietnam, expenses for inviting guests to meals, and domestic receptions stipulated in this Circular, and based on the budget capacity and actual conditions in the locality, the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall submit to the People's Councils at the same level to specify the reception expenses for local agencies; the Ministers, Heads of Ministries equivalent to Ministers, or agencies under the Government shall base on the assigned budget estimates to specifically define the reception expenses for subordinate agencies and units but not exceeding 20% of the maximum expenditure limit prescribed in this Circular. In cases where ministries, sectors, and localities have not issued detailed regulations on reception expenses, agencies and units may apply the provisions of this Circular for implementation.

For public service units that self-fund their operations, units that partially self-fund their operations as stipulated in Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government regulating the rights of self-management, self-responsibility for the implementation of tasks, organizational structures, staffing, and finance for public service units; and public science and technology organizations that have implemented the self-management and self-responsibility mechanism as stipulated in Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005 of the Government, may decide higher or lower expenditure levels for travel expenses and conference organization costs than those specified by the Ministers, Heads of Ministries and equivalent agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities in accordance with this Circular, and such decisions must be included in the internal expenditure regulations of the unit, ensuring economy, effectiveness, and suitability to the budget capacity and operational characteristics of the unit.

For public service units that self-fund their operating costs, or units that partially self-fund their operating costs as prescribed in Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government on the rights of autonomy and responsibility for implementing tasks, organizational structure, staffing, and finance for public service units and public science and technology organizations that have implemented the mechanism of autonomy and responsibility as prescribed in Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005 of the Government, they may decide on higher or lower reception expenses for domestic guests coming to work or transact business with the unit than those specified by the Ministers, Heads of Ministries equivalent to Ministers, or agencies under the Government and the Chairmen of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities, in accordance with the detailed regulations on expenses set out in this Circular, and such decisions must be included in the internal expenditure regulations of the units, ensuring economy, efficiency, and suitability with the budget capacity and operational characteristics of the units."

III. ORGANIZATIONIMPLEMENTATION

This Circular shall take effect 15 days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Other provisions stipulated in Circular No. 23/2007/TT-BTC dated March 21, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance on the Working Expense System and Conference Expenditure Regulations for State Agencies and Public Service Units, and Circular No. 57/2007/TT-BTC dated June 11, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance on the Reception Expense Regulations for Foreign Guests Coming to Work in Vietnam, Expenses for Organizing International Conferences and Seminars in Vietnam, and Domestic Reception Expenses remain in force.

Any difficulties encountered during implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Finance for study and appropriate amendments and supplements./.