Joint Circular No. 145/2009/TTLT-BTC-BKHCN guiding the management and use of funds for the development of national standards and technical regulations.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Managing and Using Funds for National Standard and Technical Regulation Development

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

Based on Decree No. 132/2008/NĐ-CP dated December 31, 2008 of the Government detailing implementation of certain provisions

To unify the management and use of state budget funds for national standard and technical regulation development tasks in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Standards and Technical Regulations, Government Decree No. 127/2007/NĐ-CP dated August 1, 2007, and related guiding documents, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issue guidelines for managing and using funds for national standard and technical regulation development as follows:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Application

These Circulars guide the management and use of funds to ensure activities for developing national standards (TCVN) and technical regulations (QCKT), including planning, reviewing, converting, developing, and examining national standards and technical regulations of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, provincial people's committees, and centrally governed cities (hereinafter referred to as ministries, sectors, and localities) in accordance with the Law on Standards and Technical Regulations.

Article 2. Sources of funds for developing TCVN and QCKT

1. Scientific and technological public expenditure allocated in the annual state budget estimate for scientific and technological activities of ministries, sectors, and localities to be used for developing TCVN and QCKT.

2. Other sources of funds allocated in the estimates of ministries, sectors, and localities to be used for developing TCVN and QCKT.

3. Funding and support from other organizations and individuals (if any).

4. Other lawful revenue sources (if any).

The management and development of TCVN and QCKT are tasks according to the functions of ministries, sectors, and localities as stipulated by competent authorities. Within the scope of the state budget estimate assigned by competent authorities, based on the planning and annual development plan for TCVN and QCKT, heads of agencies and units responsible must allocate funds to establish plans, review, convert, develop, and examine TCVN and QCKT in line with the progress of implementing tasks.

For funding and support from organizations and individuals, and other lawful revenue sources serving the development of TCVN and QCKT, they shall also be managed, used, and settled according to these Circulars and other regulations of the sponsor (if any).

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 3. Content of expenditure

1. Direct expenditures for developing TCVN and QCKT:

a) Expenditure for hiring external labor for staff and experts directly involved in developing TCVN and QCKT; expenditure for hiring consulting experts;

b) Expenditure for purchasing materials, raw materials, standards, procedures, technical documents, and technological secrets serving the drafting of TCVN and QCKT proposals;

c) Expenditure for organizing specialized conferences and scientific seminars on the contents of TCVN and QCKT draft proposals;

d) Expenditure for translating documents from foreign languages into Vietnamese and translating TCVN and QCKT into foreign languages;

đ) Expenditure for domestic and international surveys and tests regarding the contents of TCVN and QCKT draft proposals;

e) Other related expenditures directly linked to the drafting of TCVN and QCKT proposals.

2. Expenditures serving the management work of authorized agencies managing the development of TCVN and QCKT, including: expenditure for organizing meetings and seminars to serve the establishment of plans, reviews, and conversions of TCVN and QCKT; expenditure for convening the Review Board and Examination Board for TCVN and QCKT draft proposals; expenditure for comments, evaluations, and feedback from Review Board and Examination Board members who submit evaluation reports on TCVN and QCKT draft proposals; travel expenses and working allowances for Examination Board members according to current working allowance regulations (if any); expenditures for office supplies, printing, and photocopying of relevant documents for the management work of authorized agencies managing the development of TCVN and QCKT.

Article 4. Framework and Ceiling for Expenditures for Developing TCVN and QCKT

The use of funds to ensure the development of TCVN and QCKT activities is applied according to the expenditure levels prescribed in Circular No. 100/2006/TT-BTC dated October 23, 2006, of the Ministry of Finance on guiding the management and use of state budget funds to ensure the development of legal documents and current financial expenditure systems; due to the special nature of TCVN and QCKT development, this Circular specifies some special expenditure framework and ceiling levels as follows:

1. Framework and Ceiling Levels:

a) Expenditure for preparing projects to develop TCVN and QCKT for approval by competent authorities, the maximum level is VND 700,000 per project approved by competent authorities.

b) Expenditure for hiring external labor for staff and experts directly involved in drafting TCVN and QCKT proposals (if any): The maximum level is VND 12,000,000 per proposal for TCVN and QCKT that do not require surveys or tests; the maximum level is VND 30,000,000 per proposal for TCVN and QCKT that require surveys or tests. For particularly complex or cross-sectoral TCVN and QCKT, ministries, sectors, and localities decide specific expenditure levels within their allocated budget estimates and are responsible for their decisions.

c) Expenditure for comments, evaluations, or reviews by Review Board and Examination Board members on TCVN and QCKT draft proposals: The maximum level is VND 500,000 per report on comments, reviews, or examinations.

d) Expenditure for convening Review Board and Examination Board meetings for TCVN and QCKT projects, the expenditure levels are as follows:

- Chairman of the Board: Maximum VND 150,000 per person per session.

- Members of the Board: Maximum VND 100,000 per person per session.

đ) Expenditure for organizing scientific seminars and specialized conferences to provide opinions on TCVN and QCKT draft proposals, the expenditure levels are as follows:

- Chairperson of the meeting: Maximum VND 150,000 per person per session.

- Participants: Maximum VND 70,000 per person per session.

e) Hiring consultancy services: Depending on the content of the work to be implemented and the budget estimate capacity allocated, the head of the agency primarily responsible for developing TCVN, QCKT decides to hire organizations or experts with sufficient qualifications to support, advise, evaluate, supervise, and implement the project. The implementation method follows the economic contract form between the agency primarily responsible for developing TCVN, QCKT and the organization or individual according to the provisions of the law. In cases where it is necessary to hire experts on a monthly basis, the head of the agency primarily responsible for developing TCVN, QCKT determines the expert's monthly fee within the range from VND 1,600,000 to VND 4,800,000 per person/month, depending on the expert's level and advisory tasks, provided that the expert ensures continuous working time throughout the month as stipulated.

2. The expenditure standards prescribed in this Circular are the maximum levels of expenditure. Based on the budget capacity and the complexity of each type of TCVN, QCKT, relevant ministries, sectors, and localities primarily responsible for developing TCVN, QCKT decide on specific expenditure levels suitable for their needs but not exceeding the maximum levels prescribed in this Circular.

3. In cases where there are no economic and technical norms for expenditures on materials, chemicals, raw materials, and testing costs issued by relevant ministries and sectors, the authority approving the project to develop TCVN, QCKT shall determine the expenditure levels for these items and bear responsibility for their decisions within the allocated budget estimate.

Article 5. Budget preparation, approval, management, utilization, and settlement of funds for developing TCVN, QCKT

1. Preparation and approval of the budget for the project to develop TCVN, QCKT:

- Annually, ministries, sectors, and localities base on their plans for developing TCVN, QCKT under their jurisdiction and proposals from subordinate units to compile the budget for developing TCVN, QCKT according to the provisions of this Circular, which is then consolidated into the ministry, sector, or locality budget and submitted to the competent authority for approval as prescribed.

- Organizations assigned the main responsibility for developing TCVN, QCKT base on the content and volume requirements of the projects to develop TCVN, QCKT; based on current financial expenditure regulations, they prepare the budget for the project to develop TCVN, QCKT and submit it to the supervising agency.

- Based on the annual budget estimate approved by the competent authority, ministries, sectors, and localities decide on the budget for each project to develop TCVN, QCKT under their responsibility.

2. Management and Use of Funds:

- The organization primarily responsible and the person assigned the main responsibility for the project to develop TCVN, QCKT must comply with the current regulations on managing and utilizing funds for developing TCVN, QCKT as stipulated in the State Budget Law, guiding documents implementing the State Budget Law, and specific provisions in this Circular.

- The project leader is responsible for the research and development content and results of TCVN, QCKT according to the approved project; they are also responsible for reporting and explaining the final account figures for the project implementation to the organization primarily responsible.

- The organization primarily responsible for the project has the duty to monitor and regularly inspect the project implementation, review, and approve the final account of the project to develop TCVN, QCKT, and consolidate it into the annual final account report of the agency or unit and submit it to the supervising agency for consolidation and submission to the finance authority at the same level as prescribed.

- The State Treasury implements control, disbursement, and payment of funds for the project to develop TCVN, QCKT according to current regulations and specific provisions in this Circular.

- The finance authority at the same level cooperates with the project approval authority to periodically inspect finances and audit the final accounts of the project according to the State Budget Law and specific provisions in this Circular.

3. Final settlement of funds for the project to develop TCVN, QCKT:

- Funds for developing TCVN, QCKT are used and settled according to the State Budget Law and current guiding documents. For projects to develop TCVN, QCKT with implementation periods exceeding one year as stipulated by the competent authority, unused funds at the end of the year can be carried over to the next year for continued use in the development of TCVN, QCKT during the approved project implementation period.

- The use of funds for developing TCVN, QCKT must ensure complete and valid documentation as prescribed.

- Funds for developing TCVN, QCKT are settled in accordance with the source of funds used and corresponding to the budget item in the state budget as prescribed and summarized in the annual final account report of the agency or unit.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 6. Apart from the application scope prescribed in Article 1 of this Circular, state agencies when developing basic standards for their own operations may apply the provisions of this Circular, with the funding sources approved by the heads of the agencies within the annual budget estimates allocated.

Article 7. For the plan to develop TCVN and QCKT in 2009, ministries, sectors, and localities are advised to allocate funds based on the budget estimates allocated by the competent authority in 2009 to ensure the completion of the task of developing TCVN and QCKT for their units.

Article 8. This Circular takes effect forty-five days from the date of signature.

During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, please reflect them to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology for coordination and resolution./.