Circular No. 18/2016/TT-BTC guiding the implementation of certain provisions of Decree No. 35/2015/NĐ-CP dated April 13, 2015 of the Government on the management and use of rice-growing land

 CIRCULAR

GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTING CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT DECREE NO. 35/2015/NĐ-CP OF APRIL 13, 2015 ON MANAGEMENT AND USE OF RICE FIELDS

Pursuant to the State Budget Law No. 01/2002/QH11 dated December 16, 2002, and the Government Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 detailing and guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Government Decree No. 35/2015/NĐ-CP dated April 13, 2015 on management and use of rice-growing land;

Pursuant to Decree No. 215/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 23, 2013, promulgated by the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to the proposal of the Director of the State Budget Department;

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular to guide the implementation of certain provisions of the Government Decree No. 35/2015/NĐ-CP dated April 13, 2015 on management and use of rice fields (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 35/2015/NĐ-CP).

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

1. Scope of regulation: This Circular guides the collection, management, and use of revenue as prescribed in Article 5 and the support funds as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 7 of Decree No. 35/2015/NĐ-CP.

2. Applicability: Domestic agencies, organizations, households, individuals; foreign organizations, individuals related to the management and use of rice fields.

Article 2. Collection of money for protection and development of rice fields

1. Agencies, organizations, households, individuals granted land by the State for non-agricultural purposes from specialized rice-growing land must pay a sum of money for the protection and development of rice fields.

2. The Department of Finance shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant departments and units based on specific conditions in the locality to report to the People's Council at the provincial level for a resolution on the collection of money for the protection and development of rice fields in the locality. On this basis, the People's Committee at the provincial level shall issue the amount of money for the protection and development of rice fields in the locality according to each area based on the calculation formula stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article.

3. Amount of money for protection and development of rice fields

Amount of money for protection and development of rice fields = percentage rate (%) x area x price of rice field land.

Where:

a) The percentage rate (%) determining the amount of money for protection and development of rice fields is issued by the People's Committee at the provincial level in accordance with the specific conditions of each area in the locality, but not less than 50%;

b) Area refers to the portion of specialized rice-growing land converted to non-agricultural land specified in the decision allowing the change of land use purpose from specialized rice-growing land to non-agricultural land by the competent authority;

c) Price of rice field land is calculated based on the Land Price Table currently in effect at the time of changing land use purpose, issued by the People's Committee at the provincial level.

4. Agencies, organizations, households, individuals granted land by the State for lease have the responsibility to declare the amount of money for protection and development of rice fields to be paid, corresponding to the area of specialized rice-growing land granted or leased by the State.

5. Financial authorities shall base on the declaration of agencies, organizations, households, individuals using land to determine and organize the collection of the amount of money for protection and development of rice fields to be deposited into the provincial budget, recorded under other revenue sub-item 4914.

6. The People's Committee at the provincial level shall specify the payment deadline for the amount of money for protection and development of rice fields for agencies, organizations, households, individuals to comply with.

Article 3. Policy to support localities in rice production

1. The level of support for localities in rice production shall be as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 7 of Decree No. 35/2015/NĐ-CP.

The area of land for rice cultivation that is eligible for support shall be determined based on the land statistics data of provinces and centrally-run cities published by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for the year immediately preceding the budget allocation year.

2. Sources and mechanisms of support: As prescribed in Clause 5, Article 7 of Decree No. 35/2015/NĐ-CP.

Article 4. Management and utilization of funds

People's Committees at all levels shall use the amount of revenue as stipulated in Article 2 of this Circular and the funds provided for support as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 7 of Decree No. 35/2015/NĐ-CP to protect and develop rice-growing land in accordance with the conditions of each locality; the items of expenditure shall be as prescribed in Article 8 of Decree No. 35/2015/NĐ-CP:

1. Planning, mapping, and analyzing the physical and chemical quality of rice-growing areas with high productivity every ten years: Based on economic and technical norms, units shall prepare budgets for expenditures to be submitted to competent authorities for approval.

2. Improving the quality of dedicated rice-growing land or remaining rice-growing land: Based on the land use plans for rice cultivation approved by competent authorities at each period, the quality of dedicated rice-growing land in the locality, and actual conditions, the provincial People's Committee shall direct the district People's Committees to formulate improvement plans for the quality of dedicated rice-growing land or remaining rice-growing land for the entire period and each year, to be sent to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for consolidation and reporting to the provincial People's Committee for approval. Based on the approved land improvement plan and economic and technical norms, units shall prepare budgets for improving the quality of rice-growing land (increasing the depth of the tillage layer; raising low-lying rice fields; leveling the field surface; applying organic fertilizers, bio-organic fertilizers, lime; flushing acidity and salinity for acid-saline soils, and other land improvement measures) to be submitted to competent authorities for approval as the basis for implementation.

3. Investment in construction, maintenance, and repair of agricultural infrastructure in communes, prioritizing investment in transportation and irrigation systems on rice-growing land: management of investment, maintenance, and repair of agricultural infrastructure shall comply with current laws.

4. Reclamation and conversion of unused land into dedicated rice-growing land or remaining rice-growing land: the level of expenditure shall be as prescribed in Clause 4, Article 7 of Decree No. 35/2015/NĐ-CP.

5. Direct support for farmers applying new rice varieties, advanced technologies, and new technologies in rice production; supporting production linkage and product marketing:

a) In cases where direct support is provided to farmers for applying new rice varieties, advanced technologies, and new technologies in rice production: Apply Article 12 and Article 14 of Decree No. 02/2010/NĐ-CP dated January 8, 2010, of the Government on agricultural extension and the provisions of Joint Circular No. 183/2010/TTLT-BTC-BNN dated November 15, 2010, of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development guiding the management and use of state budget funds for agricultural extension activities;

b) In cases where support is provided for production linkage and product marketing: Implement Decision No. 62/2013/QĐ-TTg dated October 25, 2013, of the Prime Minister on policies to encourage the development of production cooperation and linkage and product marketing, large-scale fields, and guidance documents issued by the Ministry of Finance.

Article 5. Budget preparation, execution, and settlement of funds

1. Regarding budget preparation

a) Budget for protecting and developing rice-growing land: Each year, the Department of Finance shall take the lead and coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant agencies, based on the plan to convert dedicated rice-growing land to non-agricultural purposes within the locality, estimate the revenue from protecting and developing rice-growing land to be included in the local budget revenue and expenditure forecast, report to the provincial People's Committee for submission to the Provincial People's Council for decision.

b) Budget for supporting localities in rice production as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 7 of Decree No. 35/2015/NĐ-CP: Each year, based on the statistical data of the area of rice-growing land for the year immediately preceding the budget preparation year, the provincial People's Committee shall guide subordinate units to prepare expenditure budgets to be sent to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for consolidation and sent to the Department of Finance and the Department of Planning and Investment for inclusion in the local budget expenditure forecast, to be sent to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment at the same time as the report on the state budget forecast for the planning year.

After the Prime Minister allocates additional budget for implementing the policy to support localities in rice production, based on the allocated budget, the provincial People's Committee shall submit to the Provincial People's Council for allocation of these funds to implement the expenditure items as stipulated in this Circular.

2. Implementation and settlement of the budget

The implementation and settlement of funds for protecting and developing rice-growing land shall be carried out in accordance with the current provisions of the State Budget Law and guiding documents thereof.

Article 6. Implementation Provisions

1. This Circular takes effect from March 7, 2016.

2. The regulations stipulated in this Circular shall be implemented from July 1, 2015. Specifically, the policy to support localities in rice production as prescribed in Article 3 and the direct support policy for farmers as prescribed in Clause 5, Article 4 of this Circular shall be implemented from January 1, 2016.

During the implementation process, if there are difficulties, relevant ministries, central agencies, and localities shall report to the Ministry of Finance for timely consideration and resolution./.