Circular No. 28/2000/TT-BVHTT guiding the Decree No. 26/2000/NĐ-CP amending the Decree No. 48/CP on the organization and operation of the film industry

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Decree 26/2000/NĐ-CP amending Decree 48/CP on organization and operation of film activities

- On August 3, 2000, the Government issued Decree 26/2000/NĐ-CP on amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree 48/CP dated July 17, 1995 on organization and operation. Decree No. 26/2000/NĐ-CP was promulgated to encourage the development of cinema theaters nationwide, meet the cultural and artistic enjoyment needs of the people, and contribute to expanding cultural exchanges with foreign countries. To implement Decree 26/2000/NĐ-CP effectively, the Ministry of Culture and Information guides some points regarding the import and export of film for business purposes as follows:

Article 1: Film production units specified in Clause 1, Article 2 of Decree 26/2000/NĐ-CP that have registered business code for export at the Provincial Customs Office are entitled to export films. If they have not registered business code for export, they are entitled to entrust the export of films produced by them which have been permitted for distribution by the Ministry of Culture and Information or the Provincial Department of Culture and Information according to their respective levels. Annually, film production units exporting films must report to the Ministry of Culture and Information the data on exported films before December 31.

Article 2: Film business establishments specified in Clause 2, Article 2 of Decree 26/2000/NĐ-CP are enterprises of all economic sectors including joint ventures with foreign partners established in Vietnam and operating in accordance with the law in the fields of film production, film distribution, film screening, film export, film import, and supply of film technical equipment.

Article 3:Film business establishments meeting the following conditions are entitled to import film:

1\. Possess a film theater under their ownership or usage rights for five years or more. The film theater must comply with the standards set forth in Regulation No. 240/BXD dated September 30, 1989 issued by the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Ministry of Construction.

2\. Have a business code for import registered at the Provincial Customs Office.

Article 4:

1\. Film business establishments meeting the conditions stipulated in Article 3 of this Circular shall annually submit to the Cinema Bureau (Ministry of Culture and Information) the plan for importing film by October of the previous year. In case of need to change the plan, it will be adjusted in October of the following year.

When submitting the first plan for importing film, film business establishments must attach a certificate of ownership or usage rights for the theater.

2\. Based on the approved plan for importing film, each time importing film, film business establishments must complete the procedures for cultural goods import inspection at the Cultural Goods Import-Export Management Office under the Ministry of Culture and Information's Office or the Provincial Department of Culture and Information where the import takes place.

3\. Imported films must be submitted for approval to the competent authority in accordance with current regulations before being disseminated.

4\. When submitting imported films for approval, film business establishments must fully fill out the registration form for film work approval according to the model provided by the Cinema Bureau. If the film is not permitted for dissemination, the film importer must take responsibility to manage it so that it does not leak out, and must complete the re-export procedures and send a notification of completion of re-export procedures to the Cinema Bureau within thirty days from the date of receipt of the Decision not allowing the film to be disseminated.

5\. Film business establishments importing films may submit for approval using a video (with Vietnamese subtitles); when officially screening the film, the competent authority approving the film will check and compare again.

6\. Film business establishments submitting films for approval must send someone to explain in cases where the film is directly screened for the Approval Board.

7\. Film business establishments submitting films for approval must pay the film approval fee in accordance with current regulations; upon permission to disseminate the film, they must deposit a copy according to the regulations.

8\. Film importers specified in Article 2 of this Circular who have registered business for film distribution, after screening the film at their own theater, are entitled to distribute the film. It is strictly prohibited to exploit the right to import feature films solely for the purpose of distribution.

9\. The function of distributing films by FAFIM VN Company still applies according to the current regulations of the Ministry of Culture and Information.

Article 5: The Cultural Goods Import-Export Management Office under the Ministry of Culture and Information's Office, and the Provincial Departments of Culture and Information directly under the central government are responsible for checking the content, completing the procedures for importing films for film business establishments specified in Article 2 of this Circular according to the plan approved by the Cinema Bureau, and checking the content and completing the procedures for exporting films for the establishments specified in Article 1 of this Circular according to their assigned functions and tasks.

Article 6: The Cinema Bureau is responsible for guiding the implementation of this Circular.

Article 7: This Circular takes effect fifteen days after its issuance date, and all previous provisions contrary to this Circular are abolished.