Circular No. 34/2014/TT-BTNMT on the construction, management, and exploitation of land information systems

CIRCULAR

Regulations on construction, management, and exploitation

of land information systemsi

____________

 The Government issues this Decree on management and development of industrial clusters.

Pursuant to Decree No. 21/2013/NĐ-CP dated March 4, 2013, promulgated by the Government, stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

||| Pursuant to Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP dated May 15, 2014 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Land Law;

At the request of the Director General of the Land Administration General Department and the Head of the Legal Department,

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment issues this Circular on the construction, management, and exploitation of land information systems.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular stipulates the construction, management, and exploitation of land information systems; conditions for organizations and individuals engaged in consulting on the construction of land information systems.

Article 2. Applicability

1. State administrative agencies for natural resources and environment; specialized agencies for natural resources and environment; land administration officials at commune, ward, and town levels.

2. Other organizations and individuals related to the construction, management, and exploitation of land information systems.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

In this Circular, the following terms are understood as follows:

1. Land data is land information in numerical form expressed through symbols, writing, numbers, images, sounds, or similar formats.

2. Sharing land data involves providing data files or transferring data between land information systems and other information systems.

3. A land information portal is the sole access point for land management agencies on the internet, linking and integrating various channels of information, services, and applications about land, through which users can access and exploit land information.

Article 4. Principles for the construction, management, and exploitation of land information systems

1. Land information systems shall be constructed according to the following principles:

a) Constructed according to a unified design system nationwide; provide land data for multiple user groups and serve multiple purposes;

b) Ensure security, confidentiality, and continuous operation;

c) Ensure openness, allowing sharing with information systems and databases of relevant sectors and levels.

2. Management and exploitation of land information systems shall follow the following principles:

a) Serve state management work promptly and meet socio-economic development requirements, ensuring national defense and security;

b) Ensure accuracy, honesty, and objectivity;

c) Ensure scientificity and convenience for exploitation and use;

d) Ensure updates, completeness, and systematicness;

đ) Use data for their intended purposes;

e) Exploitation and use of data must fulfill financial obligations;

g) Comply with laws on protecting state secrets.

Chapter II

CONSTRUCTION, MANAGEMENT AND EXPLOITATION OF LAND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

LAND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Section 1

CONSTRUCTION OF LAND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Article 5. Overall model of the land information system

1. The land information system is a component of the natural resources and environment information system.

2. The land information system shall be constructed, connected, synchronized, shared, managed, and operated at the central and provincial levels as follows:

a) At the central level, it is the national land database managed and operated by the Land Data and Information Center under the Department of Land Administration, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

The national land database is connected and shares data with other national databases and databases of ministries and sectors related to land use.

b) At the local level, it is the provincial land database managed, operated, and updated by the Land Registration Office;

The provincial land database is compiled from the land databases of districts, counties, towns, and cities within the province (hereinafter referred to as district-level land databases).

The district-level land database is built based on the compilation of land data from communes, wards, and towns.

The provincial land database is connected and shares data with other provincial departmental databases.

The provincial land database is connected and synchronized with the national land database via a dedicated network.

c) Units under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment; Environmental Resource Departments; land administration officials at commune, ward, and town levels may access the provincial land database through a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) to exploit and update information within their jurisdiction.

3. The overall design of the land information system to be uniformly applied nationwide must be approved by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

Article 6. Construction of land information system

1. The land information system includes the land information technology infrastructure; software systems consisting of operating system software, system software, application software, and national land database.

2. The land information technology infrastructure must ensure operation according to the model specified in Article 5 of this Circular and the following provisions:

a) The land information technology infrastructure includes server systems, storage systems, network devices, workstations, peripheral devices, and other supporting equipment;

b) The network infrastructure uses specialized data transmission networks of Party and State agencies, wide area networks of natural resources and environment departments, or data transmission networks provided by service providers; prioritizing the use of specialized data transmission networks of Party and State agencies.

3. Software systems must ensure overall design of the land information system approved by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment and meet the following requirements:

a) Ensuring convenient data entry, management, and updating for all land data;

b) Ensuring information security and data safety during data updating and modification; ensuring strict hierarchical access rights within the database;

c) Displaying current land information and retaining historical records of land use changes;

d) Facilitating quick and accurate extraction of land information.

4. The national land database must comply with the overall design of the land information system and data standards issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

a) The central national land database is built from land data stored centrally; integrated and synchronized from local land databases; incorporates basic survey results and related land data provided by ministries and sectors; land-related legal regulations;

b) Local land databases are constructed from cadastral surveys, land registration, cadastral file establishment, issuance of land use right certificates, house ownership certificates, and certificates for other assets attached to land; land statistics and inventory; land planning and utilization plans; land prices and land price maps; basic land surveys; inspections, checks, dispute resolution, complaints, and denunciations regarding land; land-related legal regulations.

5. Components of the land information system are established or procured by state agencies.

Article 7. Technical Standards for Land Information System

1. The land information technology infrastructure must comply with technical standards for information technology infrastructure as prescribed by the Minister of Information and Communications.

2. Software systems, content, structure, and types of land database information must comply with technical standards for land software and databases issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

Section 2

MANAGEMENT AND EXPLOITATION OF LAND INFORMATION SYSTEM

Article 8. Management of Land Information System

1. The General Department of Land Administration is responsible for assisting the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in managing the land information system as follows:

a) Constructing, managing, operating, and exploiting the land information system, national land database, and implementing electronic public services in the field of land;

b) Integrating basic survey results and related land data provided by relevant ministries, sectors, and agencies;

c) Guiding, inspecting, and supervising the construction, management, updating, and exploitation of the land information system and implementation of electronic public services in the field of land at the local level;

d) Establishing and submitting to the Minister for promulgation regulations on access permissions to the land information system; managing connections, sharing, and provision of data with databases of central and local ministries, sectors, and agencies;

e) Leading and coordinating with relevant agencies to review and submit to the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment for approval software in the land information system.

2. Provincial People's Committees are responsible for directing implementation and inspecting the construction, management, updating, and exploitation of the land information system at the local level.

3. Departments of Natural Resources and Environment are responsible for assisting provincial People's Committees in performing the following tasks:

a) Preparing plans for constructing the land information system within the province to be submitted for approval by the provincial People's Committee;

b) Directing the Land Registration Office to update and exploit the local land database; the Information Technology Center manages the land information technology infrastructure, ensuring local database security, safety, and confidentiality;

c) Directing the construction, management, exploitation, and updating of the land database within the province.

Article 9. Forms of land information exploitation

1. Exploiting land information through the internet, land information portal, SMS service.

2. Exploiting land information through request forms or documents at the competent authority providing land data.

3. The exploitation of land information must be paid for according to the provisions of the law, except for cases stipulated in Clause 4, Clause 5 of this Article and the following cases:

a) The list of data in the land database;

b) Information on land planning and land use plans that have been approved by the competent state agency;

c) Land price framework and land price lists that have been published;

d) Information about administrative procedures in the field of land;

d) Legal documents on land.

4. In cases where land data is provided to serve national defense and security purposes, to meet direct leadership requirements of the Party and State, or in emergency situations, the land data-providing agency shall organize implementation according to the directive of the agency head without charging for the exploitation and use of land data.

5. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, local natural resources and environment agencies, and all levels of People's Committees are provided with land data free of charge for the purpose of performing state management tasks related to land.

Article 10. Exploitation of data on the internet, land information portal, SMS service

1. Organizations and individuals exploiting land data on the internet or through the land information portal must register and be granted access rights to exploit data from the land information system.

2. Organizations and individuals granted access rights shall be responsible for:

a) Accessing the correct address and password; not disclosing the address and password granted;

b) Exploiting data within the scope granted, using data for the intended purpose, and not illegally accessing the land database;

c) Managing the content of exploited data, not providing it to other organizations or individuals unless agreed upon and permitted in writing by the land data-providing agency;

d) Not altering, deleting, canceling, copying, disclosing, displaying, or transferring data improperly, either partially or entirely; not creating or disseminating software programs that disrupt, alter, or damage the land information system; promptly reporting to the land data-providing agency about any errors in the provided data.

3. The land data-providing agency shall be responsible for:

a) Ensuring convenient access for organizations and individuals; providing easy-to-use search tools that yield accurate results;

b) Ensuring the format of data according to technical standards and norms for easy downloading, quick display, and printing via common electronic means;

c) Supporting organizations and individuals in accessing the land information system;

d) Ensuring the accuracy and consistency of data content, regularly updating and timely maintaining data in the land information system;

e) Specifying the online retention period for each type of information;

f) Implementing the provisions of the law on protecting state secrets.

4. In cases where data provision and related services on the network are temporarily suspended, the land data-providing agency shall be responsible for:

a) Publicly announcing at least seven working days before proactively suspending data provision and related services on the network for repairs, maintenance, upgrades, or expansion of infrastructure; the announcement content must clearly specify the expected recovery time for data provision and related services on the network, except in cases of force majeure;

b) Immediately taking measures to resolve issues when the land information system malfunctions during operation, seriously affecting or causing the suspension of data provision and related services on the network.

Article 11. Data extraction through request forms or request documents

1. Organizations and individuals with a need to extract land data shall submit request forms or send request documents to the land data providing agencies according to Form No. 01/PYC issued together with this Circular.

2. Upon receiving valid request forms or request documents from organizations and individuals, the land data providing agencies shall provide data to the requesting organizations and individuals. In case of refusal to provide data, they must issue a document clearly stating the reasons.

3. The process of extracting data through request forms or request documents shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Article 12. Procedures and formalities for providing land data

1. The submission of request documents or request forms for land data provision shall be conducted through one of the following methods:

a) Submitting directly at the land data providing agency;

b) Sending via official correspondence, fax, or postal service;

c) Sending via email or through the land information portal.

2. The land data providing agency shall accept, process, and notify financial obligations (in cases where financial obligations must be fulfilled) to organizations and individuals. In case of refusal to provide data, they must clearly state the reasons and inform the organizations and individuals concerned.

3. After organizations and individuals have completed their financial obligations, the land data providing agency shall provide land data according to the request.

4. The deadline for providing land data shall be implemented according to the following regulations:

a) If the request is received before 15:00, it must be provided on the same day; if the request is received after 15:00, the provision of land data shall be carried out on the next working day;

b) For requests for land data provision in the form of consolidated information, the deadline for providing land data shall be determined by agreement between the land data providing agency and the requester in the form of a contract.

Article 13. Cases Where Data Is Not Provided

1. Request documents or request forms for data provision whose contents are unclear or vague; requests for data provision that fall within the scope of state secrets but do not comply with regulations.

2. Request documents without the signature of the authorized person and confirmation stamp for organizations; request forms without the signature, name, and specific address of the individual requesting data provision.

3. The purpose of using data does not comply with legal regulations.

4. Failure to fulfill financial obligations as prescribed.

Article 14. Data Extraction Through Contracts

In cases where data extraction requires prior consolidation and processing before being provided to organizations and individuals, it must be carried out through a contract in accordance with the Civil Code between the land data providing agency and the organizations and individuals requiring data extraction. The model contract for providing and extracting land data is Form No. 02 issued together with this Circular.

Article 15. Land Data Providing Agencies

1. The central land data providing agency is the Land Data and Information Center under the General Department of Land Administration, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

2. The local land data providing agency is the Land Registration Office.

For areas that have not yet established a land database, the Land Registration Office and the People's Committee of the commune shall be responsible for providing land data from the land records according to the hierarchical management of land records.

Article 16. Fees and Costs for Providing Land Data

1. The fees and costs payable for obtaining land data include the following items:

a) Fees for exploiting and using land documents;

b) Costs for printing and copying files and documents;

c) Costs for sending documents (if applicable).

2. The General Department of Land Administration shall draft and submit to the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment for the competent authority to issue the fee collection levels for exploiting and using land documents.

3. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall draft and submit to the People's Committee at the provincial level for approval by the People's Council on the fee collection levels for exploiting and using land documents.

Article 17. Sharing of Land Data Among Ministries, Sectors, and Provincial People's Committees

The sharing of land data shall be carried out according to the following provisions:

1. Ministries, sectors, and relevant agencies have the responsibility to provide basic survey results and related land data and information to the General Department of Land Administration for updating into the national land database and land information system.

2. The General Department of Land Administration shall provide ministries, sectors, localities with access rights to use data from the land information system.

3. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall provide departments, units, and district-level People's Committees, commune-level People's Committees with access rights to use data from the land information system.

4. Data management agencies and agencies receiving shared data must take necessary technical measures to ensure safe, accurate, and timely data sharing.

Article 18. Ensuring Safety of Land Data

1. The agency managing the land information system must implement management, operational, and technical measures to ensure data safety, confidentiality, computer security, and network security as follows:

a) Ensuring the readiness, stability, and effective operation of storage devices such as computer hard drives, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, and other electronic media;

b) Data must be secured according to the principles and formats of the database systems, avoiding intentional damage to the structure and content of the data;

c) Ensuring information security, preventing unauthorized access, and information leakage from the land information system through firewalls and antivirus software.

2. The land information system must have backup systems to ensure stable and continuous operation under conditions of natural disasters, fires, and other incidents. The construction of backup systems shall comply with laws on information technology.

3. The land database must be backed up onto storage devices periodically on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis to prevent data loss during management and use.

Weekly backups must be retained for a minimum of three months; monthly backups must be retained for a minimum of one year; annual backups must be retained permanently, and backup data must be stored in at least two locations.

Article 19. Confidentiality Regime for Land Data

1. Printing, copying, transporting, delivering, transmitting, storing, providing data, and other activities related to data within the scope of state secrets must comply with regulations on protecting state secrets.

2. The agency providing land data shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant units to monitor and detect insecure data to address them promptly.

3. Officials, civil servants, and employees who update and exploit the land database shall be granted access and update permissions in each data component, ensuring strict control over access and update rights to information in the land database.

4. Classified documents about land belong to the list of state secrets defined in the Prime Minister's Decision on the list of state secrets of Confidential level in the field of natural resources and environment and the Decision of the Minister of Public Security on the list of state secrets of Secret level in the field of natural resources and environment.

Section 3

CONDITIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS ENGAGED IN LAND INFORMATION SYSTEM ADVISORY SERVICES

REGARDING THE LAND INFORMATION SYSTEM

Article 20. Conditions for organizations and individuals engaged in advisory services on the construction of technical infrastructure and information technology software

The conditions for organizations and individuals engaged in advisory services on the construction of technical infrastructure and information technology software for the land information system shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the laws on the management of investment in the application of information technology using state budget funds.

Article 21. Scope of advisory services for the construction of land database

The scope of advisory services for the construction of land database includes:

1. Advisory services for the construction of land database at the district level.

2. Advisory services for the construction of land database at the provincial level.

3. Advisory services for the construction of national land database.

Article 22. Conditions for organizations engaged in advisory services for the construction of land database

1. Having the function of providing advisory services for the construction of land database.

2. Having individuals meeting the conditions for engaging in advisory services for the construction of land database as stipulated in Article 23 of this Circular, as follows:

a) At least 10 individuals for advisory services for the construction of land database at the district level;

b) At least 15 individuals for advisory services for the construction of land database at the provincial level and national land database.

Article 23. Conditions for individuals engaged in advisory services for the construction of land database

An individual may engage in advisory services for the construction of land database within an organization having the function of providing advisory services for the construction of land database if they meet the following conditions:

1. Having civil capacity.

2. Holding a bachelor's degree or higher in information technology, land management, cadastral affairs, cartography, and having at least three years of experience in constructing land databases.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 24. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect from August 13, 2014.

Article 25. Responsibility for Implementation

1. The Land Management General Department is responsible for monitoring the implementation of this Circular.

2. Provincial People's Committees and municipal people's committees directly under the central government shall be responsible for disseminating, directing, and implementing this Circular.

3. Departments of Natural Resources and Environment shall be responsible for implementing this Circular at the local level.

During implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, agencies, organizations, and individuals are requested to report to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for consideration and decision./.