Circular No. 14/2021/TT-BVHTTDL stipulates criteria for classification, conditions for establishment, merger, consolidation, and dissolution of public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism.

CIRCULAR

REGULATIONS ON CRITERIA FOR CLASSIFICATION, CONDITIONS FOR ESTABLISHMENT, MERGER, CONSOLIDATION, AND DISSOLUTION OF PUBLIC SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE FIELD OF CULTURE, FAMILY, SPORTS, AND TOURISM FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE ENTERPRISES IN THE CULTURE, FAMILY, SPORTS AND TOURISM SECTORS

Pursuant to the Law on Public Servants dated November 15, 2010 and the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Cadres and Civil Servants and the Law on Public Servants dated November 25, 2019;

Pursuant to Decree No. 79/2017/NĐ-CP dated July 17, 2017, of the Government stipulating functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism;

Pursuant to Decree No. 120/2020/NĐ-CP dated October 7, 2020 of the Government stipulating the establishment, restructuring, and dissolution of public service organizations;

Pursuant to Decree No. 32/2019/NĐ-CP dated April 10, 2019 of the Government stipulating the assignment of tasks, ordering goods or services, or tendering for the provision of public products and services using state budget funds from regular expenditure;

The phrase "or examination" is abolished pursuant to Clause 6, Article 8 of Circular No. 15/2025/TT-BVHTTDL dated November 25, 2025, of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism amending and supplementing certain articles of Circulars prescribing job codes, qualification standards, and salary grades for civil servants in the heritage culture, library, grassroots cultural activities, sports, fine arts, art performance, film, and cultural propaganda sectors, which takes effect from January 15, 2026.

The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism issues this Circular stipulating criteria for classification, conditions for establishment, merger, consolidation, and dissolution of public service organizations in the field of culture, family, sports, and tourism.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular stipulates criteria for classification, conditions for establishment, merger, consolidation, and dissolution of public service organizations in the field of culture, family, sports, and tourism.

Article 2. Applicability

1. This Circular applies to public service organizations in the field of culture, family, sports, and tourism, including:

a) Public service organizations under the management of ministries and ministerial-level agencies (hereinafter referred to as ministries), including:

- Public service organizations under ministries (including: public service organizations within the organizational structure of ministries, public service organizations directly under ministries, and public service organizations abroad);

- Public service organizations under general departments and equivalent organizations under ministries;

- Public service organizations under departments under ministries;

- Public service organizations under offices under ministries.

b) Public service organizations under government agencies (including public service organizations abroad).

c) Public service organizations under organizations established by the Government and the Prime Minister that are not public service organizations. The Prime Minister shall establish them but they shall not be public service enterprises.

d) Public service organizations under the management of provincial People's Committees (hereinafter referred to as provincial level), including:

- Public service organizations under provincial People's Committees;

- Public service organizations under Provincial Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Provincial Departments of Culture and Sports; Provincial Departments of Tourism under provincial People's Committees;

- Public service organizations under other administrative organizations under provincial People's Committees.

đ) Public service organizations under district People's Committees, urban districts, townships, and cities under provinces, municipalities directly under the central government.

2. Public service organizations under public service organizations as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 1 of this Circular and public service organizations in the field of culture, family, sports, and tourism under political organizations and political-social organizations shall apply the provisions of this Circular, relevant Party regulations, and laws accordingly.

3. This Circular does not apply to:

a) Public service organizations under armed forces;

b) Public service units under the management of special administrative-economic units.

Article 3. Principles for Establishment, Merger, Consolidation, and Dissolution of Public Service Organizations in the Field of Culture, Family, Sports, and Tourism

1. Ensuring the principles stipulated in Article 4 of Decree No. 120/2020/ND-CP dated October 7, 2020 of the Government on the establishment, restructuring, and dissolution of public service organizations (referred to as Decree No. 120/2020/ND-CP).

2. Ensuring the maintenance of functions and tasks serving state management and providing public services in the field of culture, family, sports, and tourism.

Chapter II

Article 3. Criteria for classifying public service units under the industry and field of Industry and Trade PUBLIC SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE FIELD OF CULTURE, FAMILY, SPORTS, AND TOURISM

Article 4. Criteria for classifying public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism

1. Classification based on functions and tasks:

- Public service units performing the function of disseminating Party guidelines, policies, State laws, and information about the industry and field of Industry and Trade;

Public service units have the function of researching and implementing tasks serving at least one of the following tasks: Drafting normative legal documents, strategies, plans, standards, technical regulations, economic norms within the scope of state management in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism.

- Public service units in the field of environment and cleaner production;

Public service units have the function of providing at least one of the services listed in the catalog of public services funded by the state budget in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism, which have been approved by competent authorities.

2. Classification according to the degree of financial autonomy:

a) Public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism self-fund regular expenses and investment costs.

b) Public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism self-fund regular expenses.

c) Public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism self-fund part of regular expenses.

d) Public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism have their regular expenses guaranteed by the State.

Article 5. Conditions for establishment

Public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism must meet the establishment conditions stipulated in points a, c, d, đ, and e Clause 1 Article 5 of Decree No. 120/2020/NĐ-CP, as well as the criteria prescribed by specialized laws on culture, family, sports, and tourism (if applicable).

Article 6. Conditions for merger

1. Public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism may be merged when they fail to meet the establishment conditions for public service units as stipulated in Article 5 of this Circular.

2. Public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism accepting mergers must meet the following conditions:

a) Meet the establishment conditions for public service units as stipulated in Article 5 of this Circular.

b) Have functions, tasks, and powers, or have been adjusted regarding functions, tasks, and powers to align with national sector planning or planning of the network of public service units (if any), which have been approved by competent authorities; ensure improved operational efficiency and comply with the minimum number of staff stipulated in point d Clause 1 Article 5 of Decree No. 120/2020/NĐ-CP; align with the functions and tasks of the unit being merged or have similar cultural, family, sports, and tourism activities to the unit being merged.

c) Possess the capacity to accept all or part of the human resources, assets, rights, obligations, and legitimate interests of the unit being merged.

d) Have a plan for continued operation with functions and tasks after restructuring and consolidation, ensuring quality and efficiency, which has been approved by competent authorities.

3. Degree of financial autonomy of public service units after merger:

a) In cases where units being merged have the same degree of financial autonomy: The public service unit after merger must ensure its degree of financial autonomy is not lower than that of the receiving unit at the time of initiating the merger activity.

b) In cases where units being merged have different degrees of financial autonomy, the degree of financial autonomy of the public service unit after merger shall be implemented according to the decision of the competent authority.

4. For public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism located abroad, in addition to meeting the conditions stipulated in Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of this Article, it is necessary to ensure compliance with the foreign policy of the Party and the State, and agreements between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the local government regarding the merger of public service units.

Article 7. Conditions for Merger

1. Public Service Units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism may be merged when they meet one of the following conditions:

a) They do not satisfy the conditions for establishing public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism as stipulated in Article 5 of this Circular.

b) They have functions and tasks that are similar or overlapping with those of other public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism.

2. Public Service Units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism formed after the merger must meet the following conditions:

a) They satisfy the conditions for establishing public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism as stipulated in Article 5 of this Circular.

b) They have a plan to continue operations with their functions and tasks after restructuring and improving the unit, ensuring quality and efficiency, which has been approved by the competent authority.

c) They meet the level of financial autonomy as follows:

- In cases where units being merged have the same level of financial autonomy: The public service unit in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism formed after the merger must ensure a level of financial autonomy that is not lower than the level of financial autonomy of the merging units at the time the merger activities began.

- In cases where units being merged have different levels of financial autonomy: The level of financial autonomy of the public service unit in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism formed after the merger shall be implemented according to the decision of the competent authority.

3. For public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism located abroad, in addition to meeting the conditions specified in Clause 1 and 2 of this Article, it is necessary to ensure compliance with the foreign policy of the Party and State and agreements between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of the host country regarding the merger of public service units.

Article 8. Conditions for Dissolution

The dissolution of public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism shall be carried out when they meet one of the following conditions:

1. The public service unit no longer has the function of providing public services or managing state administration in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism.

2. They do not satisfy the conditions for establishing public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism as stipulated in Article 5 of this Circular.

3. The public service unit has operated ineffectively for three consecutive years according to the assessment of the competent authority.

4. For public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism located abroad, in addition to meeting one of the conditions specified in Clause 1, 2, and 3 of this Article, it is necessary to ensure compliance with the foreign policy of the Party and State and agreements between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of the host country regarding the dissolution of public service units.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 9. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from February 1, 2022.

2. In cases where the legal documents referred to in this Circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced, they shall be implemented according to the newly issued documents.

Article 10. Responsibility for Implementation

1. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, organizations established by the Government or the Prime Minister that are not public service units, and provincial People's Committees having public service units in the fields of culture, family, sports, and tourism, and related agencies and organizations are responsible for implementing this Circular.

2. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties, relevant agencies, units, and individuals are requested to promptly report to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for research, revision, and supplementation to make it appropriate./.