Decision No. 31/2007/QD-BTC on the system of collection, payment, management, and use of fees and charges related to the exploitation and protection of aquatic resources

Pursuant to …;

Regulations on the collection, payment, management, and use of fees and charges related to the exploitation and protection of aquatic resources

Regarding the work of exploiting and protecting aquatic resources

__________________

THE MINISTER OF FINANCE

Pursuant to the Fisheries Law No. 17/2003/QH11 dated November 26, 2003;

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

Pursuant to the Agreement on Cooperation in Fisheries in the Gulf of Tonkin between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of the People's Republic of China dated December 25, 2003;

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

After receiving comments from the Ministry of Fisheries (in Circular No. 487/TS-KHTC dated March 9, 2006 and Circular No. 2899/BTS-KHTC dated December 11, 2006);

At the proposal of the Director General of the General Department of Taxation,

DECISION:

Article 1. This Decision annexes the Table of Fee and Charge Rates for the Work of Exploiting and Protecting Aquatic Resources.

Article 2. Organizations and individuals, both domestic and foreign, engaged in production and business activities in the fisheries sector, when obtaining permits for operations, safety inspections of fishing vessels and equipment from competent authorities within the fisheries sector, must pay fees and charges according to the rates specified in Article 1 of this Decision.

Fees and charges shall be collected in Vietnamese Dong (VND). 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 exchange rate on the inter-bank foreign exchange market published by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of payment. If international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party provide different provisions from those set forth in this Decision, such treaties shall prevail.

Article 3. The state management agencies responsible for the exploitation and protection of aquatic resources (including the Directorate of Fishery Resource Exploitation and Protection, Fishery Resource Protection Branches, Quality Management and Fishery Resource Protection Branches, Fishery Branches, and Fishery Centers) have the responsibility to organize the collection, payment, management, and use of fees and charges in accordance with this Decision (hereinafter referred to collectively as the collecting agency).

Article 4. Fees and charges for the exploitation and protection of aquatic resources are revenue items under the state budget, managed and utilized as follows:

1. The collecting agency is entitled to retain 90% of the total amount of fees and charges collected to cover expenses for the work of exploiting and protecting aquatic resources, specifically as follows:

a) Payment to individuals directly performing the work, services, and fee collection: salaries, wages, allowances, contributions as prescribed based on salary (health insurance, social insurance, and trade union fees), excluding salary costs for civil servants and employees already receiving salary from the state budget according to established regulations;

b) Direct expenses for the performance of work, services, and fee collection, including office supplies, office materials, communication, electricity, water, travel expenses (transportation, accommodation rental, lodging expenses) according to current standards and norms;

c) Regular maintenance and major repair costs for assets, machinery, and equipment directly serving the performance of work, services, and fee collection; depreciation of fixed assets for the performance of work, services, and fee collection. In cases where fixed assets are used for both state management activities or other production and business activities outside of fee collection, these costs may be allocated according to the ratio of the time spent using fixed assets for each type of activity to the total time spent using fixed assets, or according to the ratio of income from fee collection activities to the total income from fee collection and other production and business activities. The level of depreciation of fixed assets is implemented in accordance with Decision No. 206/2003/QĐ-BTC dated December 12, 2003 of the Minister of Finance on the management, use, and depreciation of fixed assets;

d) Expenses for purchasing materials, raw materials, and other expenses directly related to the performance of work, services, and fee collection;

đ) Expenses for hiring domestic and foreign experts; renting means of transportation and facilities to serve fee collection activities;

e) Expenses for printing (buying) declaration forms, licenses, and seals serving the fee collection work;

g) Rewards and welfare for staff directly performing work, services, and fee collection within the unit, averaged annually, not exceeding three months' actual salary if the annual collection exceeds the previous year, and not more than two months' actual salary if it is lower or equal to the previous year, after ensuring the expenses specified in points a, b, c, d, and e above;

2. The entire amount retained according to the provisions above must be used for its intended purpose, with legal documentation as required, and the annual settlement of all retained fees and charges must be completed in accordance with regulations; if unused in the year, it can be carried over to the next year for continued expenditure according to established regulations.

3. The total amount of fees and charges actually collected, after deducting the amount retained according to the ratio specified in Clause 1 of this Article (10%), the remaining amount must be paid into the state budget according to the corresponding chapters, types, sections, sub-sections, and sub-subsections of the current state budget classification.

4. Annually, based on the fee rates and expenditure items stipulated in this Decision and the current financial expenditure regulations, the fee collecting agency prepares a detailed budget for revenue and expenditure according to the current state budget classification, and submits it to the supervising authority for approval. The fee collecting agency implements the annual settlement of the use of receipt vouchers for fees; the amount of fees collected; the amount retained for the unit, the amount to be paid into the budget, the amount already paid, and the amount still to be paid into the state budget with the Tax Authority; and the settlement of the use of the retained amount with the finance department at the same level in accordance with regulations.

Article 5

1. This Decision shall take effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette; It replaces Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, and Section 25 Part A, Part B of Decision No. 20/2000/QĐ-BTC dated February 21, 2000 of the Minister of Finance on the issuance of the Fee and Charge Schedule for fishery resource protection work, and abolishes Circular No. 77/2000/TT-BTC dated July 25, 2000 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the management and use of fees and charges for fishery resource protection work.

2. Matters related to the collection, payment, management, use, revenue receipts, publicizing the fee and charge system not addressed in this Decision shall be implemented according to the guidance provided in Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of laws 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 on fees and charges.

3. Any provisions regarding fees and charges for fishery resource exploitation and protection that conflict with this Decision are hereby abolished.

4. In the course of implementation, if there are any difficulties, the relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals are requested to promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Finance for study and supplementary guidance./.