Decree No. 168/2016/ND-CP on the allocation of forests, orchards, and water surface areas to management boards of special-use forests and protective forests, and state-owned forestry and agricultural joint-stock companies with single members.

DECREE

Regulations on allocating forests, orchards, and water surface areas to Forest Management Boards for Specialized Purposes, Protective Forests, and State-owned Joint Stock Companies for Agriculture and Forestry

______________

Pursuant to the Government Organization Law dated November 19;2015;

Pursuant to the Tourism Law dated June 14, 2005;

Pursuant to the Law on Land dated November 29, 2013;

Pursuant to the Civil Code dated November 24, 2015;

At the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development;

The Government promulgates this Decree stipulating the allocation of natural forests, planted forests, forest land; rubber, tea, coffee, cocoa, cinnamon orchards, and orchards for resin and essential oil production, long-term fruit trees (hereinafter referred to collectively as orchards); water surface areas in Forest Management Boards for Specialized Purposes, Protective Forests, and State-owned Joint Stock Companies for Agriculture and Forestry holding 100% of the charter capital (hereinafter referred to collectively as Agricultural and Forestry Companies) that have been allocated agricultural land or leased agricultural land by the state.1. Forest Management Boards for Specialized Purposes; Forest Management Boards for Protective Forests; Agricultural and Forestry Companies (hereinafter referred to collectively as the allocating party).

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

2. Households and individuals residing legally at the local level (commune, ward, town) in accordance with the Law on Residence 2006; village communities in accordance with the Law on Protection and Development of Forests 2004 and the Land Law 2013 where the allocation targets are located (hereinafter referred to collectively as the receiving party).

Article 2. Applicability

In this Decree, the following terms shall be understood as follows:

1. Allocation of forests, orchards, and water surfaces refers to the form of agreement to perform tasks in forest management, protection, utilization, and business activities between the allocating party and the receiving party within a specified period.

3. Organizations and individuals related to the matter.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

2. Allocation contract is a civil agreement document regarding the content of allocation and other contractual contents between the allocating party and the receiving party.

3. Water surface refers to flooded land areas used for aquaculture in specialized forests and protective forests within the area of land allocated by the state to Forest Management Boards for Specialized Purposes and Protective Forests.

4. Allocation of work and services refers to the form of allocating one or more stages according to the planting and caring process for forests, protecting forests, orchards, and water surfaces, or allocating according to seasonal planting and harvesting tasks and services.

5. Stable allocation refers to the form of allocation according to the crop cycle, livestock cycle, or production and business cycle for specialized forests, protective forests, production forests, orchards, and water surfaces.

REGULATIONS ON ALLOCATION

Article 4. Criteria for determining the allocating party and the receiving party

Chapter II

1. The allocating party as defined in Clause 1, Article 2 of this Decree must meet the following criteria:

a) Being allocated agricultural land or leased agricultural land and assets attached to the land in accordance with the Law on Land and the Law on Protection and Development of Forests;

b) Having a production and business plan consistent with the planning and project on forest protection and development or the proposal approved by competent state authorities in accordance with current state regulations.

2. The receiving party as defined in Clause 2, Article 2 of this Decree must meet the following criteria:

a) Individuals receiving allocation must have full civil capacity and be within working age, capable of fulfilling the allocation contract, and not be members of households or village community groups that have already received allocation as provided in points b and c of this clause;

b) Households receiving allocation must have members with full civil capacity and within working age, capable of fulfilling the allocation contract, and not be members of village community groups that have already received allocation as provided in points a and c of this clause;

c) Village community groups receiving allocation must ensure sufficient conditions in terms of organization, manpower, and resources to fulfill the allocation contract;

d) In cases where the number of individuals and households requesting allocation exceeds the demand for allocation, the allocating party shall prioritize allocation to ethnic minority individuals and households; poor individuals and households of the Kinh ethnicity.

c) The rural community that undertakes the contract must ensure to have sufficient conditions regarding organization, human resources, and material resources to fulfill the contract;

d) In cases where the number of individuals or households requesting to undertake the contract exceeds the demand for the contract, the contracting party shall prioritize allocating the contract to individuals or households of ethnic minority groups; poor individuals or households of the Kinh ethnicity.

Article 5. Forms of Contracting

1. Work and Service Contracting

a) Contracting for afforestation, forest care, and forest protection for areas designated as protective forests, special-use forests, and production forests.

b) Contracting for production and business activities on an annual basis or according to harvest seasons for orchards and water surfaces within protective forests and special-use forests.

2. Stable Contracting

a) Contracting for natural regeneration and promoted natural regeneration according to silvicultural techniques. This form of contracting shall not be applied in strictly protected zones of special-use forests.

b) Contracting according to crop cycles, livestock cycles, or production and business cycles for planted forest areas, orchards, and water surfaces under contracting.

Article 6. Duration, Limit, and Unit Price of Contracting

1. Duration of Contracting

a) Duration of work and service contracting: As agreed between the contracting party and the contractor, but not exceeding one year and within the period during which the contracting party is granted land use rights or leased agricultural land by the State.

b) Duration of stable contracting: According to crop cycles, livestock cycles, or production and business cycles, or as agreed between the contracting party and the contractor, but not exceeding twenty years and within the period during which the contracting party is granted land use rights or leased agricultural land by the State. In case the contract expires and the contractor does not violate the contract, meets the criteria stipulated in Article 4 of this Decree, and has a need to continue contracting, they may sign a new contract.

2. Limit of Contracting

For work and service contracting, the limit of contracting is agreed upon by the contracting party and the contractor. For stable contracting according to production and business cycles, the contracting party bases on the scale of contracted area and the needs of the contractor to agree and determine a suitable limit of contracting, including:

a) The limit of contracting for individuals is agreed upon, but not exceeding fifteen hectares.

b) The limit of contracting for households is agreed upon, but not exceeding thirty hectares.

c) The limit of contracting for village communities is agreed upon, but the total contracted area does not exceed the average total area per household in the community, not exceeding thirty hectares at the time of signing the contracting contract.

3. Unit Price of Contracting and Sharing Benefits

a) The unit price of contracting serves as the basis for determining the value of the contracting contract according to investment rates or support levels as currently prescribed by the State. The sharing of benefits on the contracted area is implemented according to current State regulations and agreements between both parties in the contracting contract.

b) In cases not covered by point a of Clause 3 of this Article, the contracting party and the contractor base on actual conditions in the locality to agree on a suitable unit price of contracting and sharing benefits.

Article 7. Procedures and Formalities for Contracting

1. Work and Service Contracting: The contracting party and the contractor agree and sign a contracting contract according to Model No. 01 prescribed in the Appendix issued together with this Decree.

2. Long-term Stable Contracting

a) Public announcement of information about contracting: The contracting party cooperates with the People's Committee of communes, wards, towns (hereinafter referred to collectively as the People's Committee of the commune level) where the contracting objects are located to widely disseminate and publicly post for fifteen working days information on the contracted area, contracting objects, and the time for receiving contracting application files at the contracting party's office and the People's Committee of the commune level.

Application for contracting: For individuals and households according to Model No. 02; for village communities according to Model No. 03.

Village meeting minutes (for community village): Including the agreed application for concession; election of representative to conclude the contract.

A copy of the household registration book; certificate of poverty status. For village communities, it includes a list of members and a copy of the household registration books of individuals and households in the community.

c) Receiving and Reviewing Applications for Contracting

The contractor sends one set of application files through postal services or directly to the contracting party. If the application files are not valid, the contracting party will notify the contractor to complete the files within three days.

Within ten days from the end date of receiving application files, the contracting party reviews the application files for contracting according to Clause 2 of Article 2 and Clause 2 of Article 4 of this Decree and publicly posts the list of eligible contractors at the contracting party's office and the People's Committee of the commune level.

d) Signing Contracts: After ten days from the date of posting the list of eligible contractors, the contracting party and the contractor organize negotiations and sign a contracting contract according to Model No. 04 prescribed in the Appendix issued together with this Decree; hand over the contracted area on-site; prepare a record of handover of the contracted area and assets on the contracted area according to Model No. 05 prescribed in the Appendix issued together with this Decree. After receiving the handover of the contracted area on-site, the contractor is responsible for accepting the boundaries, markers, contracted area, and assets on the contracted area. The maximum implementation time is not more than ten working days.

Article 8. Assignment Files

1. Assignment files for work and service assignments: The assignment contract.

2. Assignment files for stable assignments according to production and business cycles

a) Assignment acceptance files as stipulated in point b, Clause 2, Article 7 of this Decree.

b) The assignment contract.

c) Diagram of the area with the actual assigned area. Clearly indicate the location, boundaries, and current status of the assigned area.

d) Minutes of assignment handover.

đ) Other related documents (if any).

3. Assignment files shall be kept by both the assigning party and the accepting party.

Article 9. Rights and Obligations of the Assigning Party and Accepting Party

1. Rights and Obligations of the Assigning Party

a) Manage and use land and property attached to the land in accordance with the purpose, planning, and plan approved by the competent authority, and decide on the selection of the accepting party based on the criteria specified in Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decree, and bear responsibility under the Law for the assignment.

b) Publicly announce the assigned area and the accepting party for stable assignments before conducting the assignment and post the list of households that have signed the assignment contract.

c) Comply with the provisions of this Decree and the terms agreed upon in the assignment contract.

d) Share benefits formed on the assigned area (if any); support agricultural, forestry, fishery extension activities, processing, and product marketing as stipulated in the assignment contract.

đ) Inspect and supervise the implementation of the assignment contract. Annually or at the end of the contract's validity period, the assigning party shall organize the acceptance, evaluation of results, payment according to the contract, or terminate and settle the contract to ensure the rights of all parties.

e) Terminate the assignment contract if the assigning party breaches the contract or violates the Law.

2. Rights and Obligations of the Accepting Party

a) Fulfill all agreements in the assignment contract; accept inspection and supervision by the assigning party as stipulated in the contract and bear responsibility under the Law for any violations regarding the assignment.

b) Receive compensation for losses if the assigning party breaches the contract or compensate the assigning party for losses caused by breaching the assignment contract.

c) Share benefits formed from the accepted area (if any) and labor outcomes, investment results as stipulated in the contract.

d) In cases of natural disasters or unforeseeable risks, the accepting party may seek support for losses from self-invested capital as prescribed by the Law.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 10. Transitional Provisions

Special-use Forest Management Boards, Protective Forest Management Boards, and Agricultural and Forestry Companies shall base their review and classification of assignment subjects and contents on the provisions of this Decree, organize the implementation of assignments according to Decree No. 01/CP dated January 4, 1995, and Decree No. 135/2005/NĐ-CP dated November 8, 2005, and resolve and process completion by December 31, 2017, specifically as follows:

1. In cases where the accepting party fulfills the assignment contract correctly, uses the area for the intended purpose, and for the intended subject, they may continue to accept the assignment until the end of the contract term.

2. In cases where the accepting party does not fulfill the assignment contract correctly, misuses the assigned area, or illegally transfers the assigned area, the assigning party shall terminate the assignment contract and organize the recovery of the assigned area.

Article 11. Responsibilities of ministries, sectors, and localities

To take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and sectors to urge, inspect, supervise, and resolve issues arising during the implementation of this Decree.

a) Direct, implement, and organize inspections, checks, and supervision of the implementation of the provisions of this Decree.

b) Direct the Specialized Forest Management Boards, Protective Forests Management Boards, and Agricultural and Forestry Companies under their management and ownership to implement the leasehold system as prescribed in this Decree.

c) Periodically review, summarize, and report to the Government.

2. Ministries and sectors managing Specialized Forest Management Boards, Protective Forests Management Boards, or holding state capital in Agricultural and Forestry Companies

a) Direct and organize the implementation of the leasehold content prescribed in this Decree.

b) Organize inspections, checks, and supervision of the implementation of the provisions of this Decree, and periodically send reports on the results of implementation to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for consolidation and reporting to the Government.

3. Provincial People's Committees

a) Review land funds according to the phased land use planning in areas where the leasehold implementation is expected to be carried out.

b) Direct and organize the implementation of the leasehold content prescribed in this Decree at the local level.

c) Direct the Specialized Forest Management Boards, Protective Forests Management Boards, and Agricultural and Forestry Companies under their management and ownership to implement the leasehold system as prescribed in this Decree.

d) Promote and disseminate laws related to the leasehold system.

đ) Inspect, check, and supervise the implementation of this Decree at the local level, and periodically send reports on the results of implementation to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for consolidation and reporting to the Government.

Article 12. Effective Date

This Decree takes effect from February 15, 2017.

2. The Decree No. 01/CP dated January 4, 1995 on Issuing Regulations on the Assignment of Land for Agricultural and Forestry Production and Aquaculture in State-Owned Enterprises and the Decree No. 135/2005/NĐ-CP dated November 8, 2005 on the Assignment of Agricultural Land, Timber Plantation Land, and Water Surface Land for Aquaculture in State-Owned Agricultural and Forestry Farms shall cease to be effective from the date this Decree takes effect.

Article 13. Responsibility for Implementation

Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of central government agencies, Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities are responsible for implementing this Decree./.