Circular No. 18/2018/TT-BCT stipulates the activities of administrative procedure control within the scope of the management functions of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

CIRCULAR
Regulations on administrative procedure control activities
within the scope of the management functions of the Ministry of Industry and Tradeg

Pursuant to Decree No. 98/2017/NĐ-CP dated August 18, 2017, of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

Pursuant to Decree No. 20/2008/NĐ-CP dated February 14, 2008 of the Government on receiving, handling complaints and suggestions from individuals and organizations regarding administrative regulations;

Pursuant to Decree No. 63/2010/NĐ-CP dated June 8, 2010 of the Government on administrative procedure control;

Pursuant to Decree No. 48/2013/NĐ-CP dated May 14, 2013 of the Government amending and supplementing certain decrees related to administrative procedure control;

On the basis of Decree No. 92/2017/NĐ-CP dated August 7, 2017 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of related decrees concerning administrative procedure control; administrative procedures;

At the proposal of the Director of the Legal Department;

The Minister of Industry and Trade hereby promulgates this Circular stipulating the administrative procedure control activities within the scope of the management functions of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. 

Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

Article 1. This Circular stipulates the administrative procedure control activities in the fields under the management functions of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (hereinafter referred to as the industrial and trade sector), including: control over the issuance of administrative procedures; control over the implementation of administrative procedures; handling and reflecting suggestions about administrative regulations in the industrial and trade sector; reviewing and evaluating administrative procedures in the industrial and trade sector.

Article 2. This Circular applies to units under the Ministry; organizations and individuals implementing administrative procedures in the industrial and trade sector and other relevant organizations and individuals.

Article 2. Principles for administrative procedure control in the industrial and trade sector

1. Ensuring effective implementation of the goal of administrative procedure reform and contributing to administrative reform in the industrial and trade sector.

2. Ensuring that administrative procedures are transparent, simple, easy to understand and implement; saving time, costs, and effort for the subjects and agencies implementing administrative procedures; promptly eliminating unsuitable, complex, and burdensome administrative procedures.

Chapter II
CONTROL OF THE ISSUANCE OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES

Article 3. Control of administrative procedures during the process of drafting normative legal documents

1. During the process of drafting proposals for normative legal documents, units under the Ministry shall be responsible for conducting impact assessments of administrative procedures in accordance with the Law on Issuing Normative Legal Documents, Decree No. 34/2016/NĐ-CP dated May 14, 2016 of the Government detailing some provisions and measures for implementing the Law on Issuing Normative Legal Documents, and guidelines of the Ministry of Justice.

2. Proposals for drafting normative legal documents from units under the Ministry must be sent for comments to the Ministry's Office before being submitted to the Department of Legal Affairs for review.

Within three working days from the date of receipt of complete and valid files regarding requests for review of administrative procedures in draft normative legal documents sent by units, the Ministry's Office shall respond in writing, clearly stating its position on the content related to administrative procedures in the proposed normative legal documents (if applicable).

3. Based on the comments of the Ministry's Office as stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article, units under the Ministry shall perfect their proposals for drafting normative legal documents and submit them to the Department of Legal Affairs for review.

Article 4. Control of administrative procedures during the drafting and examination of normative legal documents

1. During the drafting of normative legal documents, units primarily responsible for drafting such documents shall be responsible for conducting impact assessments, soliciting opinions, and submitting for examination of administrative procedures in accordance with Decree No. 63/2010/NĐ-CP dated June 8, 2010 of the Government on administrative procedure control, Decree No. 48/2013/NĐ-CP dated May 14, 2013 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of related decrees concerning administrative procedure control, Decree No. 92/2017/NĐ-CP dated August 7, 2017 amending and supplementing certain articles of related decrees concerning administrative procedure control, and Circular No. 02/2017/TT-VPCP dated October 31, 2017 of the Government Office guiding administrative procedure control business and other related normative legal documents.

2. The Ministry's Office shall take the lead and coordinate with the primary drafting units to solicit separate opinions on content involving administrative procedures through appropriate forms (consultation, conference, seminar, roundtable discussion, written submission...) in the following cases:

a) The content of the document still has many different opinions regarding the necessity, form, and method of implementing regulations related to the relationship between central and local authorities or multiple ministries and sectors;

b) The cost of compliance with the procedure is high but has not been adequately and thoroughly assessed.

Chapter III
CONTROL OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES

Section 1
ANNOUNCEMENT AND DISPLAY OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES

Article 5. Publicizing Administrative Procedures

1. The administrative procedures that must be publicized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade include those specified in Laws, Ordinances, Decrees, and Decisions of

2. The publicizing of administrative procedures shall be carried out through the Decision on Publicizing Administrative Procedures issued by the Minister of Industry and Trade.

3. The process, time limit for drafting and promulgating the Decision on Publicizing Administrative Procedures of the Minister of Industry and Trade shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of Article 9 of Circular No. 02/2017/TT-VPCP.

4. The Ministry's Office is responsible for publicly disclosing the Decision on Publicizing Administrative Procedures of the Minister of Industry and Trade on the Ministry’s electronic information website at http://kstthc.moit.gov.vn and sending it to relevant agencies and units.

Article 6. Displaying Administrative Procedures

1. The scope, requirements, and methods for publicly displaying administrative procedures are stipulated in Chapter III of Circular No. 02/2017/TT-VPCP.

2. Units under the Ministry that have the function of handling administrative procedures for organizations and individuals are responsible for publicly displaying these procedures in accordance with the regulations.

3. The Ministry's Office is responsible for guiding, inspecting, and urging units to publicly display administrative procedures.

Section 2
INSPECTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
IN THE INDUSTRY AND TRADE SECTOR

Article 7. Principles for Inspecting the Implementation of Administrative Procedures

1. The inspection of the implementation of administrative procedures in the industry and trade sector must ensure compliance with the provisions set forth in Chapter VII of Circular No. 02/2017/TT-VPCP.

2. The inspection is conducted according to the annual inspection plan proposed by the Ministry's Office or ad hoc inspections based on directives from the Ministry's leadership.

Article 8. Content and Methods for Inspecting the Implementation of Administrative Procedures

1. The content of the inspection is carried out in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of Chapter VII of Circular No. 02/2017/TT-VPCP.

2. The method of inspection is carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 38 of Circular No. 02/2017/TT-VPCP.

Article 9. Responsibilities for Inspecting the Implementation of Administrative Procedures

1. Responsibilities of the Ministry's Office:

a) Taking the lead in proposing the annual inspection plan for the implementation of administrative procedures to be signed and issued by the Ministry's leadership;

b) Organizing the inspection of the implementation of administrative procedures in the industry and trade sector in accordance with the law;

c) Coordinating and urging units to conduct professional inspections of the implementation of administrative procedures in the industry and trade sector;

d) Reporting to the Ministry's leadership and proposing measures to address the results of the inspection;

e) Regularly compiling and building reports on the inspection work of the implementation of administrative procedures in the industry and trade sector as required by competent authorities.

2. Responsibilities of units under the Ministry:

a) Monitoring the implementation of administrative procedures during the drafting and issuance of documents;

b) Coordinating and reporting to the Ministry (through the Ministry's Office) on the implementation of administrative procedures, difficulties, and issues (if any).

Chapter IV
HANDLING COMPLAINTS AND PETITIONS REGARDING ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS
IN THE INDUSTRY AND TRADE SECTOR

Article 10. Receiving Complaints and Petitions

1. The Ministry's Office is the focal point for receiving complaints and petitions from individuals and organizations regarding administrative regulations within the scope of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's management.

2. Address for receiving complaints and petitions:

Ministry's Office, No. 54 Hai Ba Trung, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.

Email: [email protected].

Website: http://kstthc.moit.gov.vn.

The contact number for receiving complaints and petitions is published on the website.

Article 11. Methods for receiving reflections and recommendations

1. By written document:

The Office of the Ministry receives reflections and recommendations and classifies and processes them.

2. By telephone:

This method must be carried out through the phone number for receiving reflections and recommendations published on the website http://kstthc.moit.gov.vn. The person receiving the call requests individuals and organizations to confirm their reflections and recommendations in writing or electronic data.

3. By electronic data:

Reflections and recommendations sent via email to [email protected] or through the online system for receiving and processing reflections and recommendations at the address http://kstthc.moit.gov.vn will be printed in written form.

4. Through feedback forms or discussions, statements (with name, workplace) at seminars or conferences related to administrative regulations and procedures in the field of Industry and Trade shall be considered valid reflections and recommendations from organizations and individuals regarding administrative regulations and procedures in the field of Industry and Trade.

5. The Office of the Ministry takes the lead and coordinates with relevant units to organize meetings to solicit opinions from organizations and individuals on administrative procedures in the field of Industry and Trade according to the Decision of the Minister.

Article 12. Classification of reflections and recommendations

1. In cases where reflections and recommendations do not meet the requirements stipulated in Article 11 of this Circular, the Office of the Ministry contacts individuals and organizations to guide them on how to submit reflections and recommendations in accordance with the regulations.

2. In cases where reflections and recommendations meet the requirements, the Office of the Ministry conducts research on the content of the reflections and recommendations or contacts individuals and organizations to clarify related information.

Article 13. Handling of reflections and recommendations

Based on research and clarification of related information, the Office of the Ministry has the responsibility:

1. For reflections and recommendations concerning acts of delay, causing inconvenience, or failure to implement administrative regulations of state administrative agencies, or of officials of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, within two working days from the date of receipt of the reflections and recommendations, the Office of the Ministry transfers the reflections and recommendations to the agency or unit reflected upon or directly managing the official whose actions are reflected upon for handling in accordance with the law and requires reporting the results of such handling to the Minister within a specific timeframe.

2. For reflections and recommendations concerning the content of administrative regulations:

a) For reflections and recommendations about the content of administrative regulations not within the authority to issue of the Ministry of Industry and Trade: Within two working days from the date the Office of the Ministry receives the reflections and recommendations, the Office of the Ministry guides organizations and individuals to submit those reflections and recommendations to relevant agencies;

b) For documents reflecting and recommending on administrative regulations within the authority to issue of the Ministry of Industry and Trade: The Office of the Ministry transfers the reflections and recommendations to the agency or unit assigned the task of assisting the Ministry in drafting administrative regulations for study and handling and requires reporting back the results of such handling within five working days from the date of receipt of the reflections and recommendations. Specifically, for reflections and recommendations submitted through the Online Information System, this period is three working days from the date of receipt of the reflections and recommendations;

c) For complex reflections and recommendations requiring more time for verification and research, this period is ten working days from the date of receipt of the reflections and recommendations;

d) The Office of the Ministry reports to the Leadership of the Ministry to take the lead in handling some reflections and recommendations regarding administrative procedures that have significant impacts on business operations and people's lives, or have been handled but individuals and organizations continue to recommend.

3. Upon receipt of the document transferring reflections and recommendations from the Office of the Ministry, units under the Ministry have the responsibility to examine and handle in accordance with the law, report the results of such handling to the Minister within the specified timeframe, and send back to the Office of the Ministry to inform the results of handling to the individual or organization that made the reflections and recommendations.

Article 14. Urging and inspecting the handling of reflections and suggestions

The Office of the Ministry shall be responsible for monitoring, urging, and inspecting the handling of reflections and suggestions from units under the Ministry; promptly reporting and advising the Minister on necessary measures to improve administrative discipline in the handling of individual and organizational reflections and suggestions.

Article 15. Publicizing the results of handling reflections and suggestions

The Office of the Ministry shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant units to organize the publicization of the results of handling individual and organizational reflections and suggestions regarding administrative regulations according to Article 19 of Decree No. 20/2008/NĐ-CP dated February 14, 2008, of the Government on receiving and handling individual and organizational reflections and suggestions regarding administrative regulations.

Chapter V
AUDITING AND EVALUATING ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
IN THE INDUSTRY AND TRADE SECTOR

Article 16. List of Administrative Procedures in the Industry and Trade Sector

1. The Office of the Ministry shall be responsible for compiling and collecting all administrative procedures and related provisions concerning administrative procedures in the Industry and Trade sector to serve as a basis for auditing and evaluating administrative procedures.

2. After soliciting opinions from units implementing administrative procedures, the Office of the Ministry shall compile and submit to the Ministry's leadership for issuance of a Decision to publish the annual list of administrative procedures in the Industry and Trade sector and post it on the website http://kstthc.moit.gov.vn.

Article 17. Plan for Auditing and Evaluating Administrative Procedures

1. Basis for Issuing the Plan for Auditing and Evaluating Administrative Procedures:

a) Government directives,

b) Key audit plans,

c) Annual work programs and administrative reform plans of the Ministry and directives from the Ministry's leadership;

d) Individual and organizational reflections and suggestions regarding administrative procedures.

2. The plan must clearly define the administrative procedures to be audited and evaluated, the implementing units, the time frame, the selection criteria, and anticipated outcomes.

3. Based on the provisions of Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article, annually, the Office of the Ministry shall be responsible for drafting the audit plan to be submitted to the Ministry's leadership for approval and issuance.

Article 18. Content, Method, and Results of Audits

1. The content of audits shall be carried out in accordance with Chapter V of Circular No. 02/2017/TT-VPCP.

2. Audit methods:

a) Units under the Ministry shall audit administrative procedures related to their management scope according to assigned tasks in the audit plan, and submit the results to the Office of the Ministry for consolidation;

b) Units under the Ministry shall be responsible for the completeness and accuracy of information provided during the audit process according to their assignments, ensuring compliance with the audit timeline set forth in the plan.

3. The Office of the Ministry shall be responsible for consolidating and coordinating with units regarding the results of auditing administrative procedures in the Industry and Trade sector, reporting to the Ministry's leadership and relevant agencies.

During the review of audit results or feedback from relevant agencies, the Office of the Ministry may independently audit the results through seminars, conferences, soliciting opinions from affected parties, surveys, and hiring independent consultants.

In cases where there is disagreement between the Office of the Ministry and units regarding audit results, the Office of the Ministry shall report to the Ministry's leadership for consideration and decision.

4. Audit results are one of the main bases for formulating proposals to simplify administrative procedures in the Industry and Trade sector.

Chapter VI
MECHANISM FOR IMPLEMENTATION COOPERATION IN THE CONTROL OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
IN THE INDUSTRY AND TRADE SECTOR

Article 19. System of Key Civil Servants Implementing Administrative Procedure Control Work at the Ministry of Industry and Trade

1. The Ministry of Industry and Trade establishes a system of key civil servants implementing administrative procedure control work at relevant units.

2. The Office of the Ministry takes the lead and coordinates with related agencies and units to establish the system of key civil servants, and submits it for the Minister's decision.

Article 20. Tasks of Key Civil Servants Implementing Administrative Procedure Control Work

1. Key civil servants implementing administrative procedure control work have the following tasks:

a) Announcing and posting administrative procedures in accordance with the provisions of the law;

b) Receiving and processing complaints and suggestions in accordance with the provisions of the law;

c) Taking the lead in reviewing administrative procedures within their unit's functions and tasks according to the review plan issued by the Minister of Industry and Trade;

d) Compiling and reporting on administrative procedure control work of their unit as required by the Office of the Ministry;

đ) Participating in disseminating and training on administrative procedure control organized by the Ministry;

Article 21. Directive and Coordination Relationships in Administrative Procedure Control

1. The Minister of Industry and Trade uniformly directs administrative procedure control work in the field of Industry and Trade.

2. The Office of the Ministry is responsible to the Minister of Industry and Trade for administrative procedure control work in the field of Industry and Trade.

3. Coordination in implementing administrative procedure control in the field of Industry and Trade is carried out through:

a) The system of key civil servants implementing administrative procedure control work;

b) Dissemination, training, receiving complaints and suggestions about administrative procedures and administrative regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 22. Responsibilities of Units under the Ministry and Organizations and Individuals Implementing Administrative Procedures in the Field of Industry and Trade

1. Heads of units under the Ministry are responsible to the Minister for administrative procedure control work of their units.

2. Organizations and individuals are responsible under the law and competent state authorities when implementing administrative procedures in the field of Industry and Trade.

Article 23. Rewards and Liability Handling

1. Compliance with regulations on administrative procedure control is one of the bases for annual assessment, competition for excellence, and rewards for individuals and units under the Ministry.

2. Based on the results of administrative procedure control work, the Office of the Ministry leads and coordinates with related units to consider recommending the Leadership of the Ministry to reward collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements in administrative procedure control work.

3. A unit assigned to lead in drafting normative legal documents shall not be eligible for annual excellence competitions or rewards when its drafted documents contain content related to administrative procedures but fail to conduct administrative procedure evaluations or delay in announcing administrative procedures without justifiable reasons.

4. The Office of the Ministry shall not be eligible for annual excellence competitions or rewards when it does not provide written comments on administrative procedures during the process of proposing, examining, and drafting normative legal documents containing content related to administrative procedures, except in cases with justifiable reasons.

Chapter VII
IMPLEMENTATION

Article 24. Funding for administrative procedure control activities

1. The Department of Finance and Corporate Reform shall be responsible for allocating funds from the State budget for the annual administrative procedure control work of the Ministry in accordance with current regulations.

2. These funds do not include funding for implementing projects as prescribed by the Government.

3. The Ministry's Office shall be responsible for preparing detailed budgets and using funds in accordance with financial regulations, ensuring all necessary legal and valid documentation as prescribed by current regulations.

Article 25. Effectiveness and Responsibility for Implementation

1. This Circular takes effect from September 3, 2018.

2. This Circular replaces Circular No. 11/2014/TT-BCT dated March 24, 2014 issued by the Minister of Industry and Trade on administrative procedure control activities in the field of state management by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

3. Heads of the Ministry, heads of units under the Ministry, and related organizations and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular.

4. The Ministry's Office shall be responsible for guiding, monitoring, urging, and inspecting the implementation of this Circular./.