Directive No. 23/2004/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister on further promoting measures to conserve gasoline and diesel oil

DIRECTIVE
On further intensifying measures to conserve gasoline and diesel fuel

In recent years and in the coming years, our country still has to import increasing amounts of gasoline and diesel fuel to meet the requirements for production development and to serve the people's needs. Annually, the State must spend a considerable amount of foreign currency to import gasoline and diesel fuel, while allocating a certain budget to ensure the demand for gasoline and diesel fuel across society and to maintain a stable market for these fuels. Since the beginning of 2004 until now, the world price of gasoline and diesel fuel has been very complex, trending upwards and reaching its highest level in over 20 years. To mitigate the adverse effects of fluctuations in the world prices of gasoline and diesel fuel on production and living standards, especially on the cost of products with gasoline and diesel fuel as input materials, on one hand, the State has reduced the import tax on gasoline and diesel fuel to 0%; on the other hand, it has had to allocate thousands of billions of dong from the state budget to cover losses in the business of gasoline and diesel fuel.

Along with implementing flexibly and effectively the above solutions, conserving the consumption of gasoline and diesel fuel in production, business, and daily life is a direct measure to reduce production costs, lower product costs, enhance product competitiveness, and at the same time educate and raise awareness among all members of society about thriftiness and effective use of national resources. As early as the first quarter of 2003, the Prime Minister issued Directive No. 06/2003/CT-TTg dated March 27, 2003, urging ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-affiliated agencies, chairpersons of provincial and municipal People's Committees under the central government, heads of state agencies, organizations using state budgets, political-economic-social organizations, and production and business units to take responsibility in managing and using gasoline and diesel fuel, and to strengthen measures to conserve gasoline and diesel fuel.

Despite this, wastefulness in the use of gasoline and diesel fuel in society, particularly in units using state budgets, has not yet yielded significant results. The phenomenon of wastefulness, especially in purchasing transportation means and using gasoline and diesel fuel by agencies and units, has not been resolved. The cause of this situation is that heads of agencies and units, authorities at various levels have not fully understood and properly fulfilled their roles and responsibilities in implementing Directive No. 06/2003/CT-TTg; they have not been proactive and resolute in proposing and implementing conservation measures, especially in complying with regulations on the management and use of official vehicles; on production and business arrangements; and on developing public transportation means effectively.

To proactively respond to the adverse impacts of fluctuations in world gasoline and diesel fuel prices on production and living standards, to ensure domestic demand for gasoline and diesel fuel, to save state budget expenditures, to eventually eliminate subsidies in the consumption and business of gasoline and diesel fuel, to address wastefulness in the management and use of gasoline and diesel fuel, and to enhance both understanding and responsibility at all levels in conserving the consumption of gasoline and diesel fuel, the Prime Minister issues the following directive:

1. Conserving gasoline and diesel fuel must be considered one of the most important measures to reduce production costs and product costs; improve production and business efficiency and product competitiveness; and directly contribute to creating new competitive capabilities for products, industries, and the economy. Conserving gasoline and diesel fuel must be implemented continuously and consistently by all units and agencies directly involved in the management and use of gasoline and diesel fuel, and become a practical movement within each unit, agency, and throughout society.

Conserving gasoline and diesel fuel is determined to be a mandatory requirement to save state budget expenditures and a component of administrative discipline in agencies and units using state budgets. Agencies using state budgets must implement specific measures to strive to reduce gasoline and diesel fuel consumption by at least 10% in 2004; and propose more positive measures so that from 2005 onwards, annual gasoline and diesel fuel consumption can be reduced by 10% to 20%.

2. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-affiliated agencies, and chairpersons of provincial and municipal People's Committees under the central government shall immediately review and evaluate experiences seriously and comprehensively regarding the implementation of conservation and anti-wastefulness measures for gasoline and diesel fuel according to the spirit of Directive No. 06/2003/CT-TTg dated March 27, 2003, of the Prime Minister, clearly identifying achievements, limitations, and weaknesses in understanding and implementation measures aimed at conserving and preventing wastefulness of gasoline and diesel fuel, as well as in inspecting, supervising, and handling violations related to the implementation of the Prime Minister's Directive. From this, practical measures should be proposed to conserve gasoline and diesel fuel consumption in agencies and units.

3. The Ministry of Finance shall implement inspections to accurately grasp the number of automobiles equipped by the state for agencies and units to ensure sufficient usage according to the prescribed state regulations, while promptly detecting and taking measures to address violations of automobile usage regulations by agencies, units, and individuals, and simultaneously requiring each budget-receiving unit to develop specific plans for conserving gasoline and diesel fuel, considering this as a necessary condition for reviewing and approving annual financial plans of state-budget-using agencies and units.

Chair and coordinate with the Ministry of Commerce and relevant agencies to summarize and evaluate the implementation of the Prime Minister's Directive on further promoting measures to save gasoline and diesel, propose to the Prime Minister measures to promote and enhance the effectiveness of efforts to save and prevent waste in the management and consumption of gasoline and diesel, particularly in state-funded agencies and units.

4. Heads of state agencies, primarily leaders of organizations using state budget funds, political, economic, and social organizations must strictly control the use of official vehicles, handle severely cases of purchasing cars that violate established standards, resolutely prevent the arbitrary use of official vehicles for personal purposes, including those individuals eligible for small car provision; must comply with regulations on the use of official duty vehicles as stipulated in Decision No. 122/1999/QĐ-TTg dated May 10, 1999 of the Prime Minister and regulations on organizing trips to grassroots levels, attending rallies, commemorations, conferences, and receiving domestic delegations as specified in Regulation No. 60/QĐ-TW dated February 11, 2003 of the Politburo.

5. The Government has implemented necessary support measures to ensure stability in the domestic gasoline and diesel market and continue to promote production. However, these support measures have resulted in current retail prices of gasoline and diesel in our country being lower than those in neighboring countries such as Cambodia, China, and Laos. Taking advantage of this situation, smuggling of gasoline and diesel across land borders and at sea, especially in the waters off Quảng Ninh and the South-Western Sea, has become complex and shows a trend of increasing despite the application of strict measures to address it, which have encountered many difficulties.

The Ministry of Commerce is responsible for directing gasoline and diesel trading enterprises to ensure continuous supply of gasoline and diesel to meet the production and consumption needs of the people; closely coordinate with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Public Security, People's Committees of provinces and cities, and the Central Steering Committee 127 to immediately implement necessary measures to detect and prevent speculative activities involving gasoline and diesel, foreign transport vehicles exploiting border crossing regulations to enter the country to purchase large quantities of gasoline and diesel; ships buying gasoline and diesel to sell offshore for profit, causing damage to the economy; and promptly and strictly handle violations.

6. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall proactively coordinate with functional agencies of the Party, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, and social organizations to widely publicize to raise public awareness about the role, significance, and practical benefits of saving gasoline and diesel consumption for daily life and society; direct mass media agencies to actively participate with a high sense of responsibility in publicizing policies and measures to save gasoline and diesel, reflecting and setting examples of units and individuals with good experience and results in implementing the policy of saving gasoline and diesel; and promptly discover and report cases of violation of regulations on vehicle usage and gasoline and diesel consumption contrary to the spirit of the Prime Minister's Directive on saving gasoline and diesel to create a widespread movement throughout the country supporting the State's policy on saving gasoline and diesel.

7. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-affiliated agencies, chairpersons of provincial and centrally-administered city People's Committees, leaders of organizations using state budget funds, chairpersons of boards of directors, general directors, and directors of state-owned enterprises are responsible for guiding and organizing the implementation of this Directive./.