Decision No. 20/2016/QD-TTg provides support for funding activities against smuggling, commercial fraud, counterfeit goods, and payment of management and disposal costs of confiscated assets as prescribed by law in the field of anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods.

Pursuant to …;

Regulations on financial support for anti-smuggling activities,commercial fraud, counterfeit goods, and payment of management costs,

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||| Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on State Budget dated December 16, 2002;

disposal of assets confiscated according to the law in the field of

anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods

Pursuant to the Law on Administrative Offense Handling dated June 20, 2012;

Pursuant to Decree No. 29/2014/ND-CP dated April 10, 2014 of the Government on the establishment and procedures for determining state ownership of assets and management, disposal of assets determined to be state-owned;

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

At the proposal of the Minister of Finance,

Article 2. Applicability

The Prime Minister issues this Decision to provide regulations on financial support for anti-smuggling activities, commercial fraud, counterfeit goods; payment of management costs, disposal of assets that are evidence of administrative offenses, part or all of the property belonging to convicted persons whose assets have been confiscated according to criminal law and criminal procedure law in the field of anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods (hereinafter referred to as payment of management costs, disposal of confiscated assets).

Article 3. Principles of financial support for anti-smuggling activities, commercial fraud, counterfeit goods, and payment of management costs, disposal of confiscated assets

1. In addition to annual administrative management budgets provided by the State budget for agencies and units combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods (including salary funds, regular activity expenses, special business expenses, procurement of assets and equipment), these agencies and units also receive additional financial support from the State budget for their anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods activities.

2. For agencies and units that engage in both anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods activities and administrative offense handling, and criminal proceedings in other fields, financial support for anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods activities and payment of management costs, disposal of confiscated assets from anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods cases shall be implemented according to this Decision; for administrative offense handling and criminal proceedings in other fields, they shall be carried out according to current laws.

3. During the process of paying management costs and disposing of confiscated assets, if multiple forces participate in a case, the head of the leading agency or unit combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods shall be responsible for considering and deciding on the payment of management costs and disposal of confiscated assets based on the complexity of the case and the level of participation of each agency or unit, ensuring appropriateness, effectiveness, and transparency.

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Section 1

FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ANTI-SMUGGLING ACTIVITIES,

COMMERCIAL FRAUD, AND COUNTERFEIT GOODS

Article 4. Sources of financial support

1. Financial support from the state budget:

a) The provision of financial support for anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods activities from the state budget as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 3 of this Decision shall be implemented as follows:

- Central budget funds to support central agencies and units combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods.

- Local budget funds to support local agencies and units combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods according to current budget classification levels. Based on the situation of anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods activities within their jurisdiction and the capacity of the budget, people's committees at all levels shall decide on using their own budgets to support agencies and units combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods managed by higher-level authorities located within their jurisdictions in accordance with current laws.

b) The preparation of annual financial support budget estimates from the state budget as stipulated in Point a, Clause 1 of this Article shall be based on the requirements and tasks of anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods activities for the planned year and shall not exceed the revenue from administrative and criminal penalties collected from smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods cases seized and handled by competent authorities in the previous year, including:

- Administrative penalty fines; proceeds from the sale of confiscated items and means of transport that are turned over to the state treasury after deducting reasonable and lawful expenses as prescribed by law.

- Proceeds from the sale of assets as evidence in criminal cases, part or all of the property owned by the convicted person that is confiscated under criminal and criminal procedure laws for criminal cases involving smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods, after deducting reasonable and lawful expenses as prescribed by law.

2. Voluntary financial support from industry associations, businesses, projects, and programs supporting anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods activities contributed directly by organizations and individuals both domestically and internationally (hereinafter referred to as organizations, entities, and individuals) shall not include financial support for tobacco leaf smuggling prevention and control work and counterfeit cigarette production and sales.

Article 5. Management and use of financial support sources

1. Financial support from the state budget for anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods activities shall be allocated into the annual regular expenditure budget of agencies and units combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods and shall be used for the purposes specified in Article 6 of this Decision. The use of funds must comply with the intended purpose, standards, and regulations of the competent authority and must not overlap with other state budget funding sources.

2. For financial support from organizations, entities, and individuals as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decision, agencies and units combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods must track and account for separately.

The receipt, management, and use of financial support from foreign organizations and individuals shall be carried out in accordance with Decree No. 93/2009/NĐ-CP dated October 22, 2009, issued by the Government on the management and use of non-governmental foreign aid.

The management and use of financial support from domestic organizations, entities, and individuals must comply with the specific purposes of the contributing organizations, entities, and individuals and ensure compliance with current laws. In cases where the support does not specify a specific purpose, the head of the agency or unit combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods shall base decisions on the content and amount of expenditures specified in Article 6 of this Decision to ensure suitability with the agency or unit's work, ensuring transparency and accountability. Unspent funds can be transferred to the following year for continued use.

Article 6. Content and Level of Support Expenditure

Agencies and units combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods may use the support funds specified in Clause 1 of Article 4 of this Decision for the following purposes:

1. Expenditures included in the regular budget that have been approved by the competent authority but for which the regular budget funds have been exhausted. Specifically:

a) Expenditure on propaganda and dissemination of laws related to preventing and combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods;

b) Expenditure on travel expenses, preliminary and final meeting costs, training, and vocational training related to preventing and combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods;

c) Expenditure on purchasing equipment; repairing tools; renting equipment and means of transportation; fees and registration charges for equipment directly serving investigative activities against smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods;

d) Expenditure on fuel for vehicles used for inspection, arrest, escort, and protection of violators and seized items; communication expenses, office supplies, and printing materials for anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods activities;

đ) Expenditure on rewards for collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements in preventing and combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods, in accordance with the Law on Encouragement and Rewards;

e) Expenditure on overtime work in accordance with current regulations.

The level of expenditure for the above items shall be implemented according to current standards, quotas, and systems.

2. Special expenditures not included in the regular budget:

a) Allowance during treatment time for officials, civil servants, employees, officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers who suffer accidents, injuries, or death, and their families, in the course of investigation and arrest. Payment for hospitalization expenses when such expenses are not covered or exceed the scope of payment of the Health Insurance Fund or are partially covered by the Health Insurance Fund. The specific level of support shall be determined by the head of the agency or unit combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods, but shall not exceed ten months' base salary;

b) Allowance for those directly participating in investigations, surveillance, pursuit, inspection, and control of smugglers, commercial fraudsters, and counterfeiters during their direct involvement in the area where incidents occur. The allowance rate is 100,000 VND/person/day.

Section 2

PAYMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL COSTS FOR SEIZED ASSETS

Article 7. Source of Funds for Management and Disposal Costs of Seized Assets

The source of funds for management and disposal costs of seized assets shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of Government Decree No. 29/2014/ND-CP dated April 10, 2014, concerning the authority, procedures for establishing state ownership over assets, and management and disposal of assets established as state property (hereinafter referred to as Government Decree No. 29/2014/ND-CP).

Article 8. Content and Level of Expenditure

The content and level of expenditure for managing and disposing of seized assets shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Government Decree No. 29/2014/ND-CP and guiding documents. This Decision provides detailed guidance on certain special expenditures in managing and disposing of seized assets in the field of combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods as follows:

1. Purchase of information (if applicable):

a) The expenditure for purchasing information for each case shall not exceed 10% of the fine amount and the proceeds from selling seized assets (if any), and shall not exceed 100,000,000 VND for cases where the administrative penalty amount and the proceeds from selling seized assets are less than 5,000,000,000 VND.

b) The expenditure for purchasing information for each case shall not exceed 10% of the fine amount and the proceeds from selling seized assets (if any), and shall not exceed 200,000,000 VND for cases where the administrative penalty amount and the proceeds from selling seized assets are 5,000,000,000 VND or more.

c) In cases where seized assets are disposed of through destruction or transfer, the expenditure for purchasing information for each case shall not exceed 10% of the fine amount and the value of the seized assets, and shall not exceed 100,000,000 VND. The method of determining the value of seized assets shall be similar to the method of determining the value of administrative violation evidence to serve as the basis for determining the fine range and penalty authority as stipulated in Article 60 of the Administrative Violation Handling Law.

d) Agencies and units combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods that have already paid for information purchase costs from the funds allocated for managing and disposing of seized assets as stipulated in Article 7 of this Decision shall not pay for information purchase costs from the state budget as currently prescribed.

2. Rewards based on individual cases for organizations and individuals with outstanding achievements in participating in investigations, arrests, and seizures of items and means of transportation violating laws in the field of combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods. The decision on rewards and reward amounts shall be made by the head of the agency or unit combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods, but shall not exceed 3,000,000 VND per individual per case, and 15,000,000 VND per collective per case.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 9. Responsibility for implementation

1. The Ministry of Finance shall be responsible for guiding the implementation of this Decision.

2. Ministries and ministerial-level agencies within their respective jurisdictions, based on administrative violations prescribed by law, shall be responsible for identifying acts considered smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods to serve as the basis for implementing financial support for combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods and paying management and disposal costs of seized assets as stipulated in this Decision.

3. Ministries, provincial people's committees, and municipal people's committees under the central government shall be responsible for directing agencies and units combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods within their jurisdiction to effectively manage and utilize financial support for anti-smuggling, commercial fraud, and counterfeit goods activities and funds allocated for paying management and disposal costs of seized assets as stipulated in this Decision.

Article 10. Effective Date

1. This Decision shall take effect from June 26, 2016. As for revenue from the sale of confiscated assets in criminal cases related to smuggling, commercial fraud, and fake goods, such revenue shall be managed and utilized according to Decision No. 47/2012/QĐ-TTg dated November 1, 2012 of the Government Chairman on the establishment, management, and utilization of the Crime Prevention Fund until the end of 2016. From 2017 onwards, implementation shall follow the provisions of the State Budget Law 2015, Decree No. 29/2014/NĐ-CP, and this Decision.

2. The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairmen of provincial and centrally-administered city People's Committees shall be responsible for implementing this Decision./.