Circular No. 192/2011/TT-BTC amends and supplements certain provisions of Circular No. 219/2009/TT-BTC dated November 19, 2009, issued by the Ministry of Finance, concerning certain expenditure standards applicable to projects/programs using Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing some Articles of Circular No. 219/2009/TT-BTC dated November 19, 2009 of the Ministry of Finance on certain expenditure standards applicable to projects/programs using official development assistance (ODA) funds.

stipulating expenditure standards applicable to projects/programs using official development assistance (ODA) funds.

________________________________

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

Pursuant to the Decree No. 118/2008/NĐ-CP dated November 27, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decree No. 131/2006/NĐ-CP dated November 9, 2006 of the Government promulgating the Regulation on management and use of official development assistance funds;

The Ministry of Finance amends and supplements some points of Circular No. 219/2009/TT-BTC dated November 19, 2009 of the Ministry of Finance stipulating certain expenditure standards applicable to projects/programs using official development assistance (ODA) funds as follows:

Article 1. Amend Clause 2, Article 2 of Circular No. 219/2009/TT-BTC.

"The salary and project management allowances for officials and employees working at dedicated ODA Project Management Units (PMUs) for basic construction investment established by the project owner or managing authority shall apply the provisions of Decision No. 198/1999/QĐ-TTg dated September 30, 1999 of the Prime Minister regarding the salary of officials and employees working at project management units for investment construction and any amendments, supplements, or replacements thereof."

Article 2. Amend and supplement some points of Article 3 of Circular No. 219/2009/TT-BTC.

1. Supplement Clause 1, Article 3 as follows:

"Officials, civil servants, and employees within the state budgetary establishment who are transferred to work full-time or assigned to concurrently perform tasks at ODA PMUs shall be entitled to a project management allowance from the ODA PMU (in addition to the salary and allowances mentioned in Clause 1, Article 2 above), with a maximum amount equal to their salary grade and allowance according to the provisions of Decree No. 204/2004/NĐ-CP dated December 14, 2004 of the Government on the current salary system for officials, civil servants, employees, and armed forces."

2. Amend Clause 3, Article 3 as follows:

"For officials, civil servants, and employees who are members of the project steering committee, they shall be entitled to participate in the project steering committee meetings with a maximum allowance not exceeding VND 500,000 per member per meeting depending on the nature of each meeting."

Article 3. Amend and supplement some points of Article 4 of Circular No. 219/2009/TT-BTC.

1. Amend Point a, Clause 1, Article 4 as follows:

"a) For contractual workers performing specialized and professional tasks in ODA projects (both ODA construction investment and ODA administrative support services) shall be paid wages based on the specific job requirements (terms of reference, TORs) and at a level equivalent to the salary of state budget employees with the same educational qualifications, professional skills, and years of experience (adjusted by the coefficient for ODA construction investment projects or supplemented with ODA project management allowances for ODA administrative support services as specified in Point a, Clause 1, Article 3 above)."

2. Amend Clause 2, Article 4 as follows:

"Social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance for workers hired under contracts shall be applied according to the current regulations."

Article 4. Amend and supplement some points of Article 5 of Circular No. 219/2009/TT-BTC.

1. Amend Clause 1, Article 5 as follows:

"1. Translation:

a) Translating documents from English or languages of EU countries into Vietnamese: Maximum not exceeding VND 120,000 per page of 350 words.

b) Translating documents from Vietnamese into English or languages of EU countries: Maximum not exceeding VND 150,000 per page of 350 words.

For languages other than those mentioned above, the translation fee may be increased by up to 30% compared to the translation fees specified in Points a and b, Clause 1 above.

2. Amend and supplement Point b, Clause 2, Article 5 as follows:

"b) Simultaneous interpreting: Not exceeding VND 400,000 per hour per person, equivalent to not more than VND 3,200,000 per day per person working 8 hours."

3. Supplement Clause 3, Article 5 as follows:

"In special cases where large-scale international conferences need to hire highly qualified interpreters to ensure conference quality, the Director of the ODA PMU, or the Program/Project Manager (if no ODA PMU is established) may negotiate and decide on the interpreter rental fee, with a maximum not exceeding 150% of the rates specified in Clauses 1 and 2 above, and must arrange within the allocated budget approved by the competent authority.

The aforementioned translation standards shall only be applied when the ODA PMU needs to hire external translators and interpreters, and shall not apply to translators and interpreters receiving salaries from the ODA PMU.

In cases where the ODA PMU cannot allocate personnel for translation and interpretation tasks but requires specialized translation and interpretation that cannot be outsourced, the head of the agency or unit responsible for the project may assign staff from their own agency or unit to undertake these tasks (in addition to their regular duties) and shall be reimbursed up to a maximum of 50% of the external rental rate to ensure the quality of translation and interpretation. The head of the agency or unit shall bear responsibility for determining the specific reimbursement amount and must be stipulated in the internal financial regulations of the agency or unit; at the same time, they must manage the additional workload outside the regular duties assigned to staff and ensure the quality and efficiency of translation and interpretation."

Article 5. Amend and supplement some points of Article 7 of Circular 219/2009/TT-BTC.

1. Amend the first and second bullet points of Point b, Clause 2, Article 7 as follows:

“- Staff members of the organizing committee, delegates, lecturers at conferences, seminars, and training sessions shall be entitled to a daily subsistence allowance not exceeding 150,000 VND/person/day.”

2. Amend Point d, Clause 2, Article 7 as follows:

“d) Refreshments during breaks: The organizing committee may be reimbursed for actual expenses but not exceeding 50,000 VND/person/day for conferences, seminars, and training sessions.”

Article 6. Amend the last sentence of Clause 2, Article 8 of Circular 219/2009/TT-BTC.

“The aforementioned expenditure levels shall serve as the basis for determining the value of the tender estimate for consultancy services procurement in accordance with the Law on Bidding.”

Article 7. Implementation Organization

1. This Circular takes effect from March 1, 2012.

2. In the course of implementation, if there are any difficulties, agencies are requested to promptly report to the Ministry of Finance for guidance and coordination in resolving them.

3. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies under the Government, central-level agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities are responsible for directing the implementation and guiding subordinate units and projects using ODA funds to comply with this Circular./.