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 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 expenditure 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 for receiving foreign guests visiting Vietnam, organizing international conferences and seminars in Vietnam, and domestic hospitality as follows:

I. AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING 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:

Civil servants, employees, contractual workers as prescribed by 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 conference expenditure regulations under this Circular are specialized summary and annual summary conferences, training and deployment conferences organized by administrative state agencies as specified in Decision No. 114/2006/QĐ-TTg dated May 25, 2006 of the Prime Minister stipulating meeting regulations in the operation of administrative state agencies.

For conferences organized by Party organizations; sessions of the People's Council, meetings of Standing Committees 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 state budget funds, apply the conference expenditure regulations under this Circular.

Special National Congresses 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 are not subject to this Circular.”

4. Supplement Clause 3 Section II as follows:

“For deputies of all levels of People's Councils and representatives invited by Standing Committees of People's Councils to attend sessions and meetings of Committees of the People's Council 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 Decision No. 114/2006/QĐ-TTg dated May 25, 2006 of the Prime Minister stipulating meeting regulations in the operation of administrative state agencies, specifically as follows:

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

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

- Training and deployment 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 civil servants and state officials, or from program and project budgets, shall follow the approved training schedule.

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

Sessions of the People's Council and meetings of Committees of the People's Council shall not follow the provisions of 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-administered cities shall submit to the People's Council at the same level specific regulations on expenditure for local agencies; Ministers and Heads of Ministries and equivalent agencies shall specify detailed expenditure levels for subordinate agencies based on the allocated budget, but not exceeding 20% of the maximum expenditure level stipulated in this Circular. In cases where ministries, sectors, and localities have not issued specific regulations on expenditure levels, agencies and units may apply the provisions of this Circular for implementing travel expenses and conference organization expenditures.

Provincial People's Councils shall base their regulations 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 appropriate to the specific circumstances of the locality, ensuring effective and efficient operations of People's Councils at all levels for 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 performing tasks, organizational structures, staffing, and finance for public service units; and public science and technology organizations that have implemented the mechanism of self-management and self-responsibility as stipulated in Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005 of the Government, may determine higher or lower expenditure levels for travel expenses and conference organization expenditures than those specified by Ministers, Heads of Ministries and equivalent agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities, provided such levels are stipulated in the internal financial regulations of the unit, ensuring economy, efficiency, and appropriateness to the budget capacity and operational characteristics of the unit.

State-owned enterprises shall apply the working expense regime and conference expenditure regime 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 expenditure of VND 150,000 per person. The specific objects are defined as follows:

- Ministers, Heads of Ministries equivalent to Ministries, and Heads of Government Agencies shall base on actual conditions and assigned budget capacity to specifically define the objects eligible for meal invitations in accordance with the operational characteristics of their Ministries or sectors, ensuring economy and efficiency. Provincial People's Committees and Municipal People's Committees directly under the Central Government shall base on actual conditions and local budget capacity to specifically define the objects eligible for meal invitations for each type of unit within the province, and report to the Standing Committee of the People's Council for approval before promulgation.

- For public service units that self-finance their operating costs, and units that partially self-finance their operating costs in accordance with Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government on the rights of autonomy and responsibility for the implementation of tasks, organizational structure, staffing, and finance for public service units, and public science and technology organizations that have implemented the autonomous mechanism in accordance with Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005 of the Government, the objects eligible for meal invitations shall be decided by the Heads of Units and must be specified in the internal expenditure regulations of the units, ensuring economy and efficiency in line with the operational characteristics of the units."

2. Amend Clause 3 Part III as follows:

“3. Based on the expenditure limits for hosting foreign guests visiting Vietnam, organizing international conferences and seminars in Vietnam, inviting guests to meals, and hosting domestic guests stipulated in this Circular, and based on budget capacity and actual conditions in the locality, the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities shall submit to the People's Councils at the same level for specific provisions on expenditure limits for local agencies; Ministers, Heads of Ministries equivalent to Ministries, and Heads of Government Agencies shall base on the assigned budget estimates to specifically define expenditure limits for subordinate agencies and units but not exceeding 20% of the maximum expenditure limits stipulated in this Circular. In cases where Ministries, sectors, and localities have not issued specific provisions on expenditure limits, agencies and units may apply the provisions of this Circular for implementation.

Provincial People's Councils shall base their regulations 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 appropriate to the specific circumstances of the locality, ensuring effective and efficient operations of People's Councils at all levels for related expenditure tasks.

For public service units that self-finance their operating costs, and units that partially self-finance their operating costs in accordance with Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government on the rights of autonomy and responsibility for the implementation of tasks, organizational structure, staffing, and finance for public service units, and public science and technology organizations that have implemented the autonomous mechanism in accordance with Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005 of the Government, they may decide on expenditure limits for hosting domestic guests visiting for work transactions with higher-level units, either higher or lower than the expenditure limits specifically defined by Ministers, Heads of Ministries equivalent to Ministries, and Heads of Government Agencies and Chairmen of Provincial People's Committees and Municipal People's Committees directly under the Central Government according to the provisions of this Circular, and such limits must be specified in the internal expenditure regulations of the units, ensuring economy, efficiency, and suitability with the budget capacity and operational characteristics of the units.”

III. IMPLEMENTATION:

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

Other provisions set out in Circular No. 23/2007/TT-BTC dated March 21, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance on the Working Expense Regime and Conference Expenditure Regime 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 Expenditure Regime for Receiving Foreign Guests Visiting Vietnam, Organizing International Conferences and Seminars in Vietnam, and Hosting Domestic Guests continue to be effective.

During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, agencies and units are requested to reflect them to the Ministry of Finance for research, amendment, and supplementation to ensure appropriateness./.