Joint Circular No. 197/2010/TTLT-BTC-BTNMT guiding the collection, submission, management, and utilization of fines from administrative violations in the field of environmental protection.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for collecting, remitting fines, managing and using revenues from administrative penalties in the field of environmental protection

Administrative penalties in the field of environmental protection

 ______________________________

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

Pursuant to Decree No. 124/2005/NĐ-CP dated October 6, 2005 of the Government on receipts for fine collection and management and use of funds from administrative penalty payments.

Pursuant to Decree No. 117/2009/NĐ-CP dated December 31, 2009 of the Government on handling violations of laws in the field of environmental protection;

Pursuant to Decree No. 72/2010/NĐ-CP dated July 8, 2010 on prevention, struggle against crimes and other violations of laws concerning the environment;

Pursuant to 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. 25/2008/NĐ-CP dated March 4, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment provide guidelines for collecting, remitting fines, managing and using revenues from administrative penalties in the field of environmental protection as follows:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

Article 1. This Circular stipulates the procedures for collecting, remitting fines, managing and using revenues from administrative penalties in the field of environmental protection as prescribed in Decree No. 117/2009/NĐ-CP dated December 31, 2009 of the Government on handling violations of laws in the field of environmental protection.

Article 2. This Circular applies to state agencies; organizations and individuals involved in the activities related to the collection, remittance, management, and use of administrative penalty fines for environmental protection, inspection, supervision, audit, handling of administrative violations, publicizing information about pollution and violations of laws on environmental protection, and supplementing operating capital for the Vietnam Environmental Protection Fund and local environmental protection funds.

Article 3. For cases of administrative violations involving seized contraband or means of transportation, financial support for administrative violation handling agencies shall be implemented according to current regulations on the handling of seized contraband or means of transportation.

Article 2. Use of Administrative Penalty Fines in the Field of Environmental Protection

Clause 1. Revenues from administrative penalties in the field of environmental protection shall be deposited into the State budget through a temporary account opened at the National Treasury and shall be used for the purposes specified in Article 5 of this Circular and to supplement operating capital for the Vietnam Environmental Protection Fund and local environmental protection funds.

Clause 2. Management and use of funds to supplement operating capital for the Vietnam Environmental Protection Fund and local environmental protection funds from revenue from administrative penalty fines shall be carried out in accordance with the financial management regulations of the Funds.

Article 3. Collection and Remittance of Administrative Violation Fines

Clause 1. Submission of revenues from administrative penalties decided by central forces directly shall be conducted as follows:

Point a. In cases where central forces have a stable office and operate in the locality, the fines shall be deposited into the temporary account of the provincial finance department opened at the National Treasury.

Point b. In cases where central forces do not have a stable office in the locality, the fines shall be deposited into the temporary account of the central force opened at the National Treasury. The submission of fines shall be conducted at the location where the Administrative Violation Decision was issued; the Administrative Violation Decision must clearly indicate the temporary account number of the central force opened at the National Treasury so that the National Treasury branch collecting the payment can transfer the funds to the National Treasury branch where the central force has its temporary account.

Clause 2. Fines imposed by authorized persons at provincial-level agencies shall be deposited into the temporary account of the provincial finance department opened at the National Treasury.

Clause 3. Fines imposed by authorized persons at district-level or commune-level agencies shall be deposited into the temporary account of the district finance department opened at the National Treasury.

Clause 4. Collection and remittance of administrative penalty fines shall be conducted in cash or by bank transfer according to current regulations.

Chapter II

MANAGEMENT AND USE OF ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY FINES

Article 4. The allocation of fines collected from administrative violations shall be carried out as follows:

1. For the amount of fines imposed by central forces without local offices to operate stably within the area:

a. The main agency conducting inspections, supervision, audits, and handling violations in the field of environmental protection shall use 70% of the total fine revenue deposited into the temporary account for inspection, supervision, audit, administrative violation handling, and publicizing information on pollution and environmental law violations.

b. The remaining amount shall be deposited into the central budget. Based on the Vietnam Environmental Protection Fund's proposal regarding operational capital needs and the state budget's balancing capacity, the Ministry of Finance will consider and submit supplementary operational capital for the Vietnam Environmental Protection Fund in the annual state budget estimate to the competent authorities.

2. For the amount of fines imposed by local forces (including central forces with local offices to operate stably within the area):

a. The main agency conducting inspections, supervision, audits, and handling violations in the field of environmental protection shall use 70% of the total fine revenue deposited into the temporary account for inspection, supervision, audit, administrative violation handling, and publicizing information on pollution and environmental law violations.

b. The remaining amount shall be deposited into the local budget. For localities that have established an Environmental Protection Fund, based on the Fund's proposal regarding operational capital needs and the local budget's balancing capacity, the Department of Finance will consider and submit supplementary operational capital for the local Environmental Protection Fund in the annual local budget estimate to the provincial People's Committee or municipal People's Committee directly under the Central Government (hereinafter referred to as the provincial level).

3. On a regular basis before the 15th day of each month, the State Treasury shall transfer funds from the temporary accounts of central forces and the Department of Finance to the central and local budgets according to the ratio specified in this Article.

Article 5. Contents and levels of expenditure for inspection, supervision, audit, and administrative violation handling, and publicizing information on pollution and environmental law violations from the revenue of fines in the field of environmental protection:

The retained portion of the budget for agencies and organizations responsible for inspection, supervision, audit, and administrative violation handling in the field of environmental protection as stipulated in Article 4 of this Chapter shall be considered as 100% and used as follows:

1. Allocate 40-60% for the following purposes:

a. Expenditure on communication, office supplies, and other expenses serving inspection, supervision, audit, and administrative violation handling in the field of environmental protection; support for mobile phone charges for individuals working outside the office up to a maximum of 200,000 VND/person/month;

b. Purchase of information: the expenditure for purchasing information for each case shall not exceed 10% of the fine amount and a maximum of 50,000,000 VND (fifty million dong);

Payment for purchasing information must be supported by complete documentation as prescribed; in cases where the name of the information provider must be kept confidential, payment for purchasing information shall be based on a payment voucher with signatures of the person directly paying the information provider, the cashier, the accountant, and the head of the unit directly conducting the audit, inspection, and administrative violation handling. The head of the unit directly handling administrative violations shall be responsible for the accuracy and honesty in the payment for purchasing information, ensuring that it is paid to the right person and for the correct purpose.

c. Repair costs for equipment, means of transportation, fuel; rental fees for means of transportation, supplementary chemicals, and raw materials serving inspection, supervision, audit, and administrative violation handling in the field of environmental protection;

d. Allowance for personnel directly participating in enforcement and those mobilized directly to participate in enforcement of environmental law-violating projects and constructions. The allowance rate shall be 10% of the minimum wage prescribed by the state for each day of participation in enforcement;

đ. Training, mid-term review, and final summary expenditures for inspection, audit, and administrative violation handling in the field of environmental protection;

e. Expenditure on publicizing information on pollution and environmental law violations as prescribed by law;

g. Expenditure on building and improving the environmental audit database to serve audit, inspection, and administrative violation handling in the field of environmental protection; updating information on inspection, audit results, and administrative violation handling in the environmental audit database software nationwide;

h. Allowance for personnel directly participating in inspection, supervision, audit, and administrative violation handling in the field of environmental protection based on actual time spent but not exceeding 1,000,000 VND/person/month; rental fees for audit collaborators serving environmental inspection work;

i. Initial support for environmental protection officers, auditors, and environmental crime prevention police injured or involved in accidents while performing their duties;

k. Coordination expenditure between environmental audit and inspection agencies and environmental crime prevention police and other forces participating in environmental protection work at districts, counties, cities, towns, and communes, wards, and townships where violators are located;

l. Support expenditure for other activities directly related to environmental inspection and audit;

Specifically, for environmental crime prevention police, in addition to the above expenditure items, they may also use the funds for purposes as prescribed in Decree No. 72/2010/NĐ-CP dated July 8, 2010, of the Government on preventive measures and combating crimes and other violations of environmental laws.

The specific expenditure levels for the above purposes shall be implemented according to the state regulations. For items not specified with expenditure levels, the head of the unit shall decide on the expenditure and bear responsibility for such decisions.

The expenditures that have been paid in accordance with this Circular to serve inspection and supervision work on the implementation of environmental protection laws shall not be reimbursed from the environmental public service funds as prescribed in Joint Circular No. 45/2010/TTLT-BTC-BTNMT dated March 30, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment guiding the management of environmental public service funds.

2. The remaining funds shall be used to purchase technical equipment and means to serve inspection, monitoring, supervision, and administrative violation handling work in the field of environmental protection. The procurement of equipment shall be carried out according to current standards and regulations.

Chapter III

ACCOUNTING, PAYMENT AND SETTLEMENT OF THE USE OF FINES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATIONS

Article 6. Payment of reasonable and legitimate expenses and financial support for inspection, supervision, and administrative violation handling work.

1. For fines imposed by local forces (including central forces stationed locally for stable operations) and collected by the competent authority, the head of the authority responsible for handling violations shall base on the amount of fines collected and actual expenses incurred during the enforcement process to issue a written request to the same-level finance authority for reimbursement of expenses and financial support in accordance with Article 5 of this Circular.

Based on the amount of administrative violation fines deposited into the temporary account by each unit; based on the written request for financial support from the authorized administrative violation handler, the finance authority shall be responsible for reviewing related expense documentation and supporting financial documents as stipulated in Article 5 of this Circular and issuing a payment authorization form from the temporary account to the State Treasury to make payments to units as prescribed. Financial support and payment shall be completed no later than twenty days from the date of receipt of the written request; if payment or financial support is not made, the finance authority must issue a written notice explaining the reasons to the requesting unit.

2. For administrative violation fines imposed by central forces and deposited into the central agency's temporary account: The main agency or unit responsible for handling violations shall base on the actual fine collection from the previous year and the current year's collection situation to prepare a usage plan in accordance with the prescribed regulations and submit it to their own ministry's finance authority for review and consolidation to report to the competent authority for decision-making regarding the use of retained funds from administrative violation fines as prescribed in this Circular and national budget laws.

Based on the usage plan, the central agency which is the holder of the temporary account shall issue a payment authorization form to the State Treasury where the temporary account is opened; based on documentation and conditions for payment, the State Treasury shall control and pay the expenses and financial support as stipulated in Article 5 of this Circular.

Article 7. Settlement of reasonable and legitimate expenses and financial support for inspection, supervision, and administrative violation handling work from administrative violation fine revenues in the environmental sector.

1. Forces primarily responsible for handling administrative violations that are reimbursed for expenses and supported financially for inspection, monitoring, supervision, and administrative violation handling work from environmental administrative violation fine revenues must maintain records to monitor and manage the financial support prescribed in this Circular and implement transparency at their respective agencies and units.

2. At the end of the year, forces directly handling administrative violations that are reimbursed for expenses and supported financially from administrative violation fine revenues must settle the use of the reimbursed and supported funds from environmental administrative violation fine revenues in accordance with the State Budget Law and implementing guidelines.

Any unspent revenue from fines collected in a year shall be transferred to the following year for use in inspection, monitoring, supervision, administrative violation handling, and publicizing information about pollution and environmental law violations.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 8. Implementation organization

1. The State Treasury has the responsibility to organize timely collection of fines and facilitate the payment of administrative violation fines by relevant parties. It shall follow up and record the income and expenditure of administrative violation fines in accordance with the current financial management system.

2. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Public Security, and local finance authorities shall be responsible for monitoring the collection, deposit, management, and use of revenue from administrative violation handling in the environmental sector in accordance with this Circular.

Article 9. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from January 31, 2011.

2. During the implementation process, if any issues arise, relevant ministries, provincial people's committees, state agencies, organizations, and individuals involved shall promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for consideration and resolution./.