Decree No. 154/2007/ND-CP amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 143/2003/ND-CP dated November 28, 2003 of the Government detailing the implementation of some provisions of the Ordinance on the exploitation and protection of irrigation works.

DECREE

Amending and supplementing certain Articles of Decree No. 143/2003/NĐ-CP dated November 28, 2003 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Ordinance on Exploitation and Protection of Irrigation Works

______________________________

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Law on Water Resources dated May 20, 1998;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Exploitation and Protection of Irrigation Works dated April 4, 2001;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Fees and Charges dated August 28, 2001;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Finance,

DECREE:

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain Articles of Decree No. 143/2003/NĐ-CP dated November 28, 2003 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Ordinance on Exploitation and Protection of Irrigation Works (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 143/2003/NĐ-CP) as follows:

1. Amending Point a Clause 1 Article 19 as follows:
"a) The irrigation fee shall be collected in Vietnamese dong. - Exempting the irrigation fee for: + Households and individuals with land and water surfaces used for agricultural production, forestry, aquaculture, and salt-making within the limit of allocated agricultural land, including land allocated by the State, inherited, given, gifted, legally transferred, including the 5% public utility land managed by localities that households and individuals have been allocated or won the right to use through bidding; + Areas with extremely difficult economic and social conditions and areas with difficult economic and social conditions according to the Investment Law, which are exempted from the irrigation fee for all land and water surfaces used for agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, and salt-making, regardless of whether they are within or outside the limit of allocated land. - The level of exemption from the irrigation fee shall be determined based on the framework of irrigation fees stipulated in Points b, c, and Subpoints 3, 4, and 5 of Point d Clause 1 Article 19 of Decree No. 143/2003/NĐ-CP. - Not exempting the irrigation fee for: + Land area exceeding the limit allocated to households and individuals; + Enterprises engaged in supplying water for industrial production, drainage for industrial production, clean water supply for factories, hydropower plants, tourism operations, transportation through sluices and boat docks, and other activities benefiting from irrigation works; + Organizations and individuals paying the irrigation fee to cooperative water users under agreements to serve the activities of cooperative water users from the sluice at the head of the canal to the field surface. - The Ministry of Finance shall guide the confirmation of exemptions and non-exemptions from the irrigation fee as provided herein."

2. Supplementing Article 19a to Decree No. 143/2003/NĐ-CP as follows:
"Article 19a. Policies for units managing and operating irrigation works:
1. Units managing and operating irrigation works include: State-owned irrigation works companies, joint-stock companies, People's Communes, cooperatives, and water user groups managing and operating irrigation systems shall be subsidized by the state budget for the amount of irrigation fees exempted as stipulated in this Decree.
2. The central budget shall ensure funding to subsidize units managing and operating irrigation works corresponding to the amount of irrigation fees exempted. For provinces and centrally-administered cities that allocate revenue to the central budget, they shall self-fund subsidies for units managing and operating irrigation works in their locality corresponding to the amount of irrigation fees exempted. Local budgets shall ensure funding for maintenance, repair, and major repairs of irrigation works managed by units managing and operating irrigation works, as well as other support according to current regulations.
3. State-owned irrigation works management and operation companies shall reorganize and change management methods when implementing the policy of exempting irrigation fees. If surplus labor arises, such workers shall enjoy policies similar to those applied to surplus labor in state-owned companies during ownership conversion, dissolution, or bankruptcy. Funding for addressing policies for surplus labor shall be sourced from the Enterprise Restructuring Support Fund at the State Capital Investment Corporation.
4. State-owned irrigation works management and operation companies shall be supported by the budget to handle outstanding irrigation fees and losses due to objective reasons prior to the implementation of the policy of exempting irrigation fees as stipulated in this Decree. The central budget shall support companies managing and operating irrigation works under central management, while local budgets shall support companies managing and operating irrigation works under local management.
5. State-owned irrigation works management and operation companies, joint-stock companies, People's Communes, cooperatives, and water user groups shall be responsible for:
a) Providing sufficient and timely irrigation and drainage services for agricultural, forestry, aquaculture, and salt-making production, while fully implementing water-saving policies;
b) Each year, units managing and operating irrigation works shall prepare budgets and production plans, reporting to competent authorities for approval as follows: - For units managing and operating irrigation works under central management, report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Finance. - For units managing and operating irrigation works under local management, report to the People's Committee of the province or centrally-administered city for consolidation and reporting to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development."

3. Amending and supplementing Clause 4 Article 27 as follows:
"4. Drafting and submitting to the Government for promulgation or promulgating within its authority legal regulatory documents on the decentralization of management of irrigation works, procedures, standards, and norms for the management, protection, use of water, regular maintenance, and repair of irrigation works, and policies for rewarding water conservation. Organizing and restructuring affiliated irrigation works management and operation companies to effectively utilize irrigation works under the new irrigation fee collection policy. Supervising the management and operation of the system of irrigation works."

4. Amending and supplementing Clause 6 Article 28 as follows:
"6. The Ministry of Finance shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant agencies:
a) Direct the planning and implementation of irrigation and drainage tasks to serve agricultural production for water management and exploitation companies, and establish financial management regulations for these companies.
b) Issue guidelines for budget preparation, disbursement, management, and settlement of accounts when implementing exemptions from water resource fees.
c) Aggregate the budget expenditures due to the exemption of water resource fees for central water management and exploitation companies and provincial water management and exploitation companies, report to the Government for submission to the National Assembly for approval in accordance with the State Budget Law.

5. Supplement Clauses 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 to Article 29 as follows:
"10. Implement specific levels of management for water conservancy works in accordance with the provisions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
11. Supervise the establishment and issuance of labor norms and economic and technical norms for water management and exploitation companies and water user cooperatives. Specify support methods for water management and exploitation companies and water user cooperatives, including aspects such as service provision plans, budget preparation, disbursement, management, and settlement of accounts.
12. Annually, based on the preparation of support budgets (including support for the implementation of water resource fee exemption policies; support for maintenance and repair costs of water conservancy works) for water management and exploitation units, the Chairman of the People's Committee of provinces and centrally-administered cities shall aggregate and submit to the Provincial People's Councils for consideration and decision (for localities that have revenue transfers to the central budget); aggregate and report to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on the level of support funds (for localities receiving subsidies from the central budget).
13. Supervise the collection, expenditure, and settlement of accounts for budgetary support funds.

Article 2. This Decree takes effect from January 1, 2008.

Article 3. The Ministry of Finance shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to guide the implementation of this Decree.

Article 4. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of agencies under the Government, Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities are responsible for enforcing this Decree./.