Decision No. 1709/QD-BNN-TT Issuing the Regulation on the Establishment, Management, and Use of the Competition and Reward Fund of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

Pursuant to …;

Issuing the Regulation on the Establishment, Management, and Use of the Competition and Reward Fund of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

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THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Competition and Rewards dated November 26, 2003;

Pursuant to Decree No. 01/2008/NĐ-CP dated January 28, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

Pursuant to Decree No. 121/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 30, 2005 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Competition and Rewards and the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Competition and Rewards;

Pursuant to Circular No. 73/2006/TT-BTC dated August 15, 2006 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the establishment, management, and use of the Competition and Reward Fund according to Decree No. 121/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 30, 2005 of the Government.

At the proposal of the Director of the Financial Department and the Director of the Cadre and Civil Servant Organization Department,

DECISION:

Article 1. The attached Decision No. 1709/QĐ-BNN-TC dated June 9, 2008 of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development hereby promulgates the "Regulation on the Establishment, Management, and Use of the Competition and Reward Fund of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development"

Article 2. This Decision takes effect from the date of signature.

Article 3. The Head of the Ministry's Office, the Ministry's Competition and Reward Council, and the Heads of units under the Ministry shall be responsible for implementing this Decision.

REGULATIONS

ESTABLISHMENT, MANAGEMENT AND USE OF THE COMPETITION AND REWARD FUND OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(Issued together with Decision No. 1709/QĐ-BNN-TC dated June 9, 2008 of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

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Chapter I.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability:

This Regulation specifies the procedures for establishing, managing, and using the competition and reward fund of the Ministry, specifically:

a) The Competition and Reward Fund of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Competition and Reward Fund of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall be established and transferred into the account opened at the State Treasury by the Ministry's Office, directly managed by the Ministry's Office.

b) The Competition and Reward Fund of budgetary units under the Ministry (including units under the Ministry that have their own accounts) shall be established and transferred into the unit's account at the State Treasury for management:

For units receiving salaries from the Ministry's Office account, the competition and reward funds belong to the Ministry's Office Competition and Reward Fund, managed by the Ministry's Office.

For public service organizations fully self-financing their regular operating costs under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the establishment and use of the reward fund shall be carried out in accordance with Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government stipulating the rights of self-management, self-responsibility for performing tasks, organizational structure, staffing, and finance for public service organizations.

Public service organizations partially self-financing their regular operating costs under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in addition to establishing, managing, and using the Competition and Reward Fund according to this Regulation, shall also establish and use the reward fund in accordance with the provisions of Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006 of the Government.

For non-public scientific organizations, in addition to establishing, managing, and using the Competition and Reward Fund according to this Regulation, they shall also establish and use various funds (including the Reward Fund) in accordance with the provisions of Decree No. 115/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2005 of the Government stipulating the mechanism of self-management and self-responsibility for public scientific and technological organizations.

Article 2. Principles for managing and using the Competition and Reward Fund:

- The head of an agency or unit that makes a decision to award rewards shall be responsible for disbursing the prize money accompanying commendation titles and reward forms from the Competition and Reward Fund of their agency or unit.

- In cases where collective bodies or individuals under the Agriculture sector are proposed for awards by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and are awarded by the Prime Minister or the President of the State, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall be responsible for allocating funds from its own Competition and Reward Fund to disburse the awards.

- The Competition and Reward Fund must be used for its intended purpose, transparently, and annually report on the fund's usage according to current regulations.

- Any surplus in the Competition and Reward Fund at the end of the year that has not been fully utilized shall be carried over to the next year for continued use in competition and reward activities.

Chapter II.

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 3. Sources for forming the Competition and Reward Fund:

- From the annual state budget allocation approved by the competent authority for agencies and units.

- From contributions by organizations and individuals, both domestic and foreign, for the purpose of competition and reward.

- From lawful revenues permitted to establish the Competition and Reward Fund.

Article 4. Rate of establishment of the Competition and Reward Fund from the state budget estimate:

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development stipulates the rate of establishing the Competition and Reward Fund of the Ministry, which is 15% of the salary fund based on rank and grade of the number of officers and civil servants within the Ministry's staffing and approved annual salaries, and the contribution rate from subordinate budgetary units is 5% of the salary and wage fund of civil servants and officials in those units.

Article 5. Contents of expenditures from the Competition and Reward Fund:

a) The Competition and Reward Fund of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development:

- Expenditure on tangible items accompanying commendation titles and reward forms within the authority to award of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

- Expenditure on prize money or commemorative gifts accompanying commendation titles and reward forms for collective bodies and individuals in the Agriculture sector proposed for awards by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, according to the award decisions of the President of the State or the Prime Minister.

- Expenditure on prize money or commemorative gifts accompanying commendation titles and reward forms for collective bodies and individuals according to the award decisions of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

- Supplementary expenditure on prize money or gifts for organizations and individuals receiving national awards or international organization awards.

b) The Competition and Reward Fund of subordinate budgetary units:

- Expenditure on tangible items accompanying commendation titles and reward forms within the authority to award of the head of the unit.

- Expenditure on prize money or commemorative gifts accompanying commendation titles and reward forms for collective bodies and individuals within the unit according to the award decisions of the head of the unit.

- Supplementary expenditure on prize money or gifts for collective bodies and individuals of the unit receiving awards from the Minister, the Prime Minister, the President of the State, or other ministries, sectors, localities, or international organizations.

Article 6. Amounts for awards from the Competition and Commendation Fund:

Implemented in accordance with the provisions of Articles 69, 70, 71, 73, and 74, Section 3, Chapter V of Decree No. 121/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 30, 2005 of the Government. Specifically:

a) Honorary titles:

1. National Labor Medalist: 1,500,000 VND

2. Sector Labor Medalist: 1,000,000 VND

3. Grassroots Labor Medalist: 300,000 VND

4. Advanced Worker: 100,000 VND

5. Flag of Excellence from the Government: 8,000,000 VND

6. Flag of Excellence from the Sector: 5,000,000 VND

7. Outstanding Labor Team: 1,000,000 VND

8. Advanced Labor Team: 500,000 VND

b) Forms of commendation:

Amounts for individual awards:

1. Ho Chi Minh Order: 15,000,000 VND

2. Heroic Laborer:

Heroic People's Armed Forces: 5,000,000 VND

3. Independence Order, First Class: 5,000,000 VND

4. Independence Order, Second Class: 4,000,000 VND

5. Independence Order, Third Class: 3,500,000 VND

6. Labor Order, First Class: 3,000,000 VND

7. Labor Order, Second Class: 2,500,000 VND

8. Labor Order, Third Class: 1,500,000 VND

9. Prime Minister's Commendation: 500,000 VND

10. Minister's Commendation: 300,000 VND

11. Sector Commemorative Medal: 100,000 VND

12. Medal of the Sector:                                         100,000 Vietnamese dong

13. Certificate of Commendation: 100,000 Vietnamese dong

The amount allocated for collective awards shall be twice that for individual awards.

At the same time, for the same achievement, the same subject being awarded, if different commendation titles and forms are obtained (from the same level or multiple levels of commendation), they shall only receive the award money (or accompanying gifts) corresponding to the highest level of reward.

At the same time, for the same subject achieving multiple commendation titles and forms (from the same level or multiple levels of commendation), which are due to different periods of dedication and achievements, they shall receive the award money corresponding to each respective commendation title and form.

For budgetary units under the Ministry, the Council for Encouragement and Awards and the Heads of Units may, based on the Internal Expenditure Regulations, allocate additional award money to individuals and collectives within their units from the unit's encouragement and award fund, beyond the stipulated award amounts.

c) The amount allocated for awards in cases of sudden commendations:

In cases where there are collectives or individuals with outstanding achievements in production and business activities, disease prevention, disaster relief, or heroic and courageous actions in industry activities, rescue operations, firefighting, flood control, disaster response, and epidemic control, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development shall decide the specific award amounts for each case.

Article 7. Budget preparation, settlement, and finalization of encouragement and award expenses:

a) Establishment of budget estimates:

- Annually, based on the results of the previous year's Encouragement and Award Fund, the total amount to be spent on the Encouragement and Award Fund for the planned year is forecasted. The Department of Organization and Cadres (Encouragement and Award Section) will coordinate with the Ministry's Office to prepare the budget for the Ministry's Encouragement and Award Fund, along with a notice of the previous year's balance of the Encouragement and Award Fund confirmed by the State Treasury where the Ministry's Office has an account. This is sent to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Financial Department) for review. The submission time for the Encouragement and Award Fund budget for the fiscal year coincides with the submission time for the annual budget.

Based on the allocation rate set by the Ministry as stipulated in this regulation, units must transfer funds to the Ministry's Office deposit account. The transfer time is within the first quarter of the fiscal year.

On the basis of the allocation rate for the Encouragement and Award Fund set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as stipulated in this regulation, units must implement the allocation, management, and use of the unit's Encouragement and Award Fund according to current laws.

b) Distribution of award funds and physical awards, and settlement and finalization of encouragement and award expenses:

- When there is a decision to award made by the President, Prime Minister, or Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Organization and Cadres (Encouragement and Award Section) will organize the distribution of physical awards and coordinate with the Ministry's Office to distribute award money to the awardees.

Budgetary units under the Ministry must allocate award money and settle and finalize encouragement and award expenses according to current regulations based on the award decisions of the Unit Heads or higher authorities.

- Based on actual needs for physical awards, the Department of Organization and Cadres (Encouragement and Award Section) will plan and coordinate with the Ministry's Office to organize the procurement or manufacture of physical awards accompanying commendation titles and forms within the authority of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; budgetary units under the Ministry will organize the procurement or manufacture of physical awards accompanying commendation titles and forms within the authority of the Unit Heads.

The model of certificates of commendation, certificates, and other certificates of titles within the authority of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development shall be applied as prescribed in Decree No. 50/2006/NĐ-CP dated May 19, 2006, of the Government on models of Orders, Medals, Badges, Certificates of Orders, Certificates of Medals, Flags of Excellence, Certificates of Commendation, and Certificates of Commendation.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Department of Organization and Cadres) will guide the model of certificates of titles within the authority of the Unit Heads.

- When withdrawing the budget to transfer money into the Encouragement and Award Fund, units must record it under item 134 "Other Expenses", sub-item 26 "Establishment of the Encouragement and Award Fund according to Decree No. 121/2005/NĐ-CP dated September 30, 2005, of the Government".

- Units must open a deposit account at the State Treasury or Commercial Bank (for non-budgetary funds) to manage and must maintain a ledger to track the income and expenditure of the Fund according to current regulations.

- The deduction from the budget to establish the Encouragement and Award Fund in any given year shall be settled in the state budget year of that period.

- Annually, units must report the finalization of the use of the Encouragement and Award Fund and include it in the unit's annual finalization report according to current regulations.

Chapter III.

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 8. Based on the provisions of this Regulation, the Director of the Ministry's Office, the Head of the Department of Organization and Cadres, members of the Ministry's Council for Encouragement and Awards, and Unit Heads shall implement. During implementation, if any inappropriate content is found, units should report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Financial Department) for research and appropriate amendments and supplements.