Circular No. 231/2009/TT-BTC on the regime for collection, payment, and management and use of fees in the field of standards, measurement, and quality control.

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the Collection, Submission, Management, and Use of Fees in the Field of Standards, Measurement, and Quality

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Pursuant to the Law on Technical Standards and Regulations No. 68/2006/QH11 dated June 29, 2006;

Pursuant to the Law on Product and Goods Quality No. 05/2007/QH12 dated November 21, 2007; Decree No. 132/2008/NĐ-CP dated December 31, 2008 detailing certain provisions of the Law on Product and Goods Quality;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Measurement No. 16/1999/PL-UBTVQH10 dated October 6, 1999;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Fees and Charges No. 38/2001/PL-UBTVQH10 dated August 28, 2001; Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges; Decree No. 24/2006/NĐ-CP dated March 6, 2006 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges;

After considering the opinions of the Ministry of Science and Technology in Circular No. 1414/BKHCN-KHTC dated June 15, 2009 and Circular No. 2612/BKHCN-TĐC dated October 21, 2009, the Ministry of Finance hereby promulgates the regulations on the collection, submission, management, and use of fees in the field of standards, measurement, and quality as follows:

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

1. This Circular stipulates the regulations on the collection, submission, and management and use of fees in the field of standards, measurement, and quality, including: Registration fee for standard conformity declaration/publication; Certification fee for approving domestic measuring instrument models; Certification fee for approving imported measuring instrument models; Recognition fee for the capability to calibrate measuring instruments; Notification fee for the results of import product quality inspection (hereinafter referred to collectively as fees in the field of standards, measurement, and quality).

2. Organizations and individuals within Vietnam and abroad when registering for standard conformity declaration/publication, registering for approval of domestic measuring instrument models, registering for imported measuring instrument models, registering for recognition of the capability to calibrate measuring instruments, and registering for import product quality inspection must pay the fees as prescribed in this Circular.

Article 2. Level of Collection

The amount of fees collected is as follows:

Article 3. Organization of Collection, Payment and Management of Use

1. Fees in the field of standards, measurement, and quality are revenue items belonging to the state budget.

2. The time for paying the fees is the time of registration for the procedures to obtain the papers specified in Article 2 of this Circular.

3. The agency collecting fees in the field of standards, measurement, and quality may retain 10% of the collected fees to cover the costs of collecting fees. The specific contents of expenditure are as follows:

- Expenditure for workers collecting fees on wages, salaries, and allowances. In cases where the unit has been allocated funds from the state budget to pay salaries to staff within the establishment, only payment for outsourced labor to collect fees according to the regulations will be allowed;

- Expenditure for purchasing external services to support the collection of fees such as office supplies, electricity, water, telephone, information, communication, travel expenses, printing of related documents directly related to the collection of fees;

- Expenditure for conferences, seminars, training, and promotional activities to support the collection of fees;

- Expenditure for regular maintenance and major repairs of assets, machinery, and equipment directly serving the collection of fees;

- Expenditure for purchasing materials, raw materials, equipment, tools, and other expenses to serve the collection of fees;

- Expenditure for annual membership fees for international standards, measurement, and quality organizations that Vietnam participates in but which have not been guaranteed funding from the state budget;

- Expenditure for setting up incentive and welfare funds for staff involved in the collection of fees. The average annual maximum amount for each person for both incentive and welfare funds is three months' salary if the revenue exceeds the previous year, and two months' salary if it is lower or equal to the previous year.

The Standardization, Metrology, and Quality Control Agency is responsible for managing and using the retained fee amounts for the purposes stated above, with legal documentation, and must settle accounts annually based on actual figures. After settling accounts according to the regulations, any unspent retained fee amounts from the current year may be carried over to the next year for continued use according to the prescribed regulations.

4. The remaining portion (the total amount of collected fees minus the retained amount) must be paid into the state budget. The agency collecting fees is responsible for registering and declaring the remaining portion of the fees to be paid into the state budget according to Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002 guiding the implementation of regulations on fees and charges; and Circular No. 45/2006/TT-BTC dated May 25, 2006 amending and supplementing Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of laws and decrees on fees and charges.

Article 4. Organization of Implementation

1. This Circular takes effect 45 days from the date of signature; replacing Circular No. 83/2002/TT-BTC dated September 25, 2002 of the Ministry of Finance on the collection, submission, management, and use of fees and charges related to standards, measurement, and quality.

2. Other matters related to the collection, submission, management, use, and public disclosure of fee collection not covered in this Circular shall be implemented according to Circular No. 60/2007/TT-BTC dated June 14, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Tax Administration and Decree No. 85/2007/NĐ-CP dated May 25, 2007 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Tax Administration.

3. Organizations and individuals subject to fee payment and relevant agencies are responsible for implementing this Circular. During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, organizations and individuals are requested to promptly report to the Ministry of Finance for review and supplementary guidance./.