Decision No. 22/2006/QD-BTC On the regulations for the collection, submission, management, and use of fees and charges for the management of aquatic product quality, safety, and veterinary services

DECISION OF THE MINISTER OF FINANCE

Regarding the regulations on the collection, payment, management, and use of

fees and charges for quality control, safety, and veterinary services for aquatic products

THE MINISTER OF FINANCE

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Fees and Charges dated August 28, 2001, and Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002, detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Food Safety dated July 26, 2003, Decree No. 163/2004/NĐ-CP dated September 7, 2004, detailing certain provisions of the Ordinance on Food Safety; certain Articles of the Ordinance on Veterinary Services, the Ordinance on Livestock Breeds, and the Ordinance on Plant Protection and Quarantine;

Pursuant to Decree No. 77/2003/NĐ-CP dated July 1, 2003, detailing the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

After receiving opinions from the Ministry of Fisheries and upon the proposal of the Director General of the General Department of Taxation,

DECISION:

Article 1. This Decision promulgates the schedules of fees and charges for quality control, safety, and veterinary services for aquatic products, including:

1. Schedule of charges for quality control and safety management work for aquatic products (Annex 1);

2. Schedule of charges for veterinary work for aquatic products (Annex 2);

3. Schedule of fees for quality control and safety management work for aquatic products (Annex 3);

4. Schedule of fees for veterinary work for aquatic products (Annex 4).

Article 2Organizations and individuals, both domestic and foreign, engaged in production, business, export, import, and domestic consumption of aquatic products and related products, as well as production and business of veterinary drugs, feed, chemicals, and biological preparations used in aquaculture in Vietnam, when subject to quality control, food safety, and veterinary inspection activities carried out by competent state agencies under the Fisheries sector according to the law must pay fees and charges as prescribed in Article 1 of this Decision.

Fees and charges for national management of quality, safety, and veterinary services for aquatic products shall be collected in Vietnamese Dong. In cases where foreign organizations and individuals wish to pay fees and charges in foreign currency, they shall be collected in US dollars (USD) at the average inter-bank exchange rate published by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of payment.

Article 3. State management agencies responsible for quality, safety, and veterinary services for aquatic products (including the General Bureau of Quality Control, Safety, and Veterinary Services for Aquatic Products, subordinate units, and local quality control, safety, and veterinary services agencies) performing the tasks specified in Article 2 of this Decision shall be responsible for organizing the collection, payment, management, and use of fees and charges as stipulated in this Decision (hereinafter referred to collectively as fee collection agencies).

Article 4. Fees and charges for quality control, safety, and veterinary services for aquatic products are revenue items belonging to the state budget, managed and used as follows:

1. Fee collection agencies are entitled to retain 90% (ninety percent) of the total amount of fees and charges actually collected to cover expenses for fee collection activities as specifically provided below:

a) Salaries, wages, and other allowances with the nature of salaries and wages according to current regulations (excluding salary costs for civil servants already receiving salaries from the state budget);

b) Costs for labor protection uniforms or attire for workers according to prescribed regulations;

c) Contributions to social insurance, health insurance, and trade union fees for employees as required by regulations;

d) Expenses for public services, office supplies, and communication services supporting fee collection activities;

đ) Regular maintenance costs for buildings, equipment, and office machinery serving quality control, safety, and veterinary services for aquatic products;

e) Other direct expenses supporting quality control, safety, and veterinary services for aquatic products;

g) Costs for purchasing receipts, seals, raw materials, chemicals, tools, equipment, and machinery directly supporting fee collection activities;

h) Major repair costs for assets, machinery, and specialized equipment serving fee collection activities;

i) Rental costs for offices, technical experts, technicians, and technical equipment rental serving fee collection activities (if applicable);

k) Conference, seminar, short-term training, and professional training costs supporting quality control, food safety, and veterinary services for aquatic products and fee collection activities;

l) Foreign activity costs directly supporting quality control, food safety, and veterinary services for aquatic products such as purchasing technical documents, hosting foreign experts to inspect quality control and safety management for aquatic products in Vietnam; Travel expenses for staff sent abroad to work with foreign partners according to current regulations;

m) Reward and welfare costs for fee collection staff within their unit, averaging no more than three months' salary per person annually if the annual collection exceeds the previous year, or two months' salary if it does not exceed the previous year's collection.

2. All funds retained for use in the above-mentioned expenses must be used for their intended purposes and supported by legitimate documentation as required. If used for unauthorized purposes or without legitimate documentation, the excess must be refunded to the state budget.

3. Units collecting fees and charges under the General Bureau of Quality Control, Safety, and Veterinary Services for Aquatic Products, based on the retained amount according to the prescribed ratio to support fee collection activities (90%) and approved budget expenditures (annual budget divided by month or quarter), if the retained amount exceeds the approved expenditure, the surplus must be deposited into the account of the General Bureau of Quality Control, Safety, and Veterinary Services for Aquatic Products to be reallocated to subordinate units (including the Bureau Office) that lack sufficient funds to ensure minimum wage for fee collection staff and other expenses for quality control, food safety, and veterinary services for aquatic products according to prescribed regulations.

The Fisheries Quality Control, Safety and Veterinary Bureau shall open a separate account at the State Treasury where transactions are conducted to monitor revenue and expenditure related to the fund for adjusting fees and charges collected by units that have excess payments to be transferred to units with shortages. At the same time, they must maintain a separate accounting ledger; any unspent balance at the end of the year may be carried over to the next year for continued use, and annual settlement with the Ministry of Finance is required.

4. The total amount of fees and charges actually collected, after deducting the portion allocated according to the ratio specified in Clause 1 of this Article, the remaining amount (10%) must be paid into the state budget according to the corresponding chapter, type, item, sub-item, and sub-sub-item of the current state budget classification.

Article 5.

1. This Decision takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette and replaces Decision No. 90/2000/QĐ-BTC dated June 1, 2000 issued by the Minister of Finance on the collection rates for management fees related to quality, safety, and hygiene of aquatic products, Part A (excluding Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, and Section 25) of Decision No. 20/2000/QĐ-BTC dated February 21, 2000 issued by the Minister of Finance on the fee and charge collection rates for protecting aquatic resources, and Circular No. 116/2000/TT-BTC dated December 19, 2000 issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding the management and use of fees for the management of quality, safety, and hygiene of aquatic products.

Matters related to the collection, payment, management, use, receipt documentation, and public disclosure of fee and charge regulations not addressed in this Decision shall be implemented in accordance with the guidance provided in Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002 issued by the Ministry of Finance regarding the implementation of laws and regulations on fees and charges.

2. Organizations and individuals subject to the payment of fees and charges for the management of quality, safety, and veterinary services of aquatic products, the Fisheries Quality Control, Safety and Veterinary Bureau, units collecting fees and charges, and relevant agencies are responsible for implementing this Decision.

During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, organizations and individuals are requested to promptly report them to the Ministry of Finance for study and supplementary guidance./.