Joint Circular No. 343/TTLB on the payment of fees for reviewing economic and technical justifications for mineral reserve calculation criteria and geological exploration reports at the Mineral Reserve Review Board

JOINT CIRCULAR

MINISTRY OF FINANCE - STATE COMMITTEE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Regarding the payment of fees for reviewing economic and technical justifications for mineral resource consumption standards and geological exploration reports at the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council

concerning mineral reserves and geological exploration results at the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council

minerals

Pursuant to Decision No. 8/CP dated January 13, 1970 of the Council of Ministers on the establishment of the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council and Decision No. 100/HDBT dated August 25, 1986 on supplementing the tasks, composition, and organization of the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council. To enhance responsibility and quality in the work of establishing, reviewing, and examining economic and technical justifications for consumption standards and geological exploration reports, while promoting economic accounting throughout all stages of work in all Ministries, sectors, and organizations involved in exploration and exploitation of mineral resources, the Ministry of Finance and the State Committee for Science and Technology hereby unify the regulations on the payment of review fees for economic and technical justifications, consumption standards, and geological exploration reports at the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council as follows:

2. Individuals who have registered as the principal investigator of a Research Project or Pilot Production Project and those participating in its implementation shall not participate in the Evaluation and Selection Council for that Research Project or Pilot Production Project (hereinafter referred to as the Council). In necessary cases, members of the Council may be staff members of the organization registering as the principal investigator of the Research Project or Pilot Production Project, but not more than one person and they cannot serve as Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, or reviewing member.

1. The payment of fees for conducting examination, inspection, and evaluation activities, and preparing approval documents is a mandatory requirement for all Ministries, sectors, and exploration and exploitation agencies that submit geological exploration reports or economic and technical justifications for consumption standards for minerals for review at the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council.

For geological exploration reports and consumption standard justifications managed under decentralized management by Ministries and sectors, they are not required to pay fees according to this Circular.

2. The review fee for economic and technical justifications and geological exploration reports is the amount of money that the submitting agency must pay to the Office of the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council to organize the work of examination, inspection, preparation of comments, organizing technical meetings, preparation of approval documents, and convening sessions of the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council for geological exploration reports or consumption standard justifications.

The basis for determining the fee level is based on the average cost per task, including direct costs for conducting inspection and review tasks, and common costs for all activities of the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council.

3. Based on general regulations regarding the procedures for submission and review at the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council, taking into account the specific volume and complexity of the submitted materials, the submitting agency will negotiate and sign a contract with the Office of the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council regarding the submission and inspection and review of reports or standards. If one party breaches the contract causing economic damage and affecting the other party's work schedule, penalties will be imposed.

4. The purpose of paying the review fee is to achieve the following requirements and effects:

- For agencies submitting geological exploration reports and economic and technical justifications for consumption standards, it ensures full accounting of exploration costs from surveying, planning, construction, preparing economic and technical justifications for consumption standards, and final reports up to the review stage at the Council.

- For the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council, it facilitates transitioning from budgetary support to self-funding all expenses for its operations.

It strengthens responsibility in the work, thereby shortening time and saving costs in all stages of establishing, inspecting, and reviewing economic and technical justifications for consumption standards and geological exploration reports.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1. The entities required to pay the review fee include all geological exploration organizations, enterprises, joint-stock companies, institutes, or agencies under Ministries, sectors, and localities that have economic and technical justifications for consumption standards or geological exploration reports for submission and review at the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council.

2. Payment of the review fee shall be made by bank transfer.

3. Time of payment. Upon receiving the notification of receipt of materials from the Office of the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council based on the signed contract, the submitting agency shall pay the review fee. Only after receiving the bank transfer of the fee will the Office of the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council commence the examination and review process.

4. Content and level of the fee. The review fee is set as a percentage of the actual total exploration costs, including the approved budgeted costs and adjusted increases or decreases, which have been approved by the competent authority.

The fee ranges from 0.5% to 2% of the actual total exploration costs, depending on the value and complexity of the submitted materials. Specifically:

For economic and technical justifications for mineral reserve consumption standards, the fee rate is calculated based on the actual costs of preliminary exploration.

5. If either party breaches the signed contract causing economic damage or affecting the other party's schedule, penalties will be imposed:

- The agency submitting materials that breaches the contract must pay an additional 10% of the already paid fee.

- The Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council that breaches the contract will have its collected fees reduced by 10% from the submitting agency.

6. The funds for the submitting agency to pay the review fee to the Office of the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council shall come from the costs of geological exploration plans and are recorded separately in the budget according to the ratio specified in Point 4, Part II of this Circular.

7. The Office of the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council is responsible for collecting and managing the fees for geological exploration reports submitted for review at the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council.

8. The collected fees are used to fund the activities of the Mineral Resource Reserve Review Council according to the budget approved by the State Committee for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance.

The excess fees not used compared to the budget and approved plan shall be submitted to the State Budget, temporarily recorded under type II, clause 56, category 4, other revenue items of the State Budget. In cases where the actual reasonable expenses of the Mineral Reserve Review Council exceed the amount of collected fees, they will be considered and resolved by the State Science and Technology Committee and the Ministry of Finance.

The financial operation regulations of the Office of the Mineral Reserve Review Council will be specifically stipulated later.

9. The Office of the Mineral Reserve Review Council is permitted to open a separate account and must fully implement the reporting and statistical-accounting system regarding the collection of fees, usage, and surplus fee payments to the State Science and Technology Committee and the Ministry of Finance.

III. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

1. This Circular takes effect from the date of signature.

2. All geological exploration reports, economic-technical justifications for mineral reserve calculation criteria, or reports on mineral reserve calculations currently being reviewed by the Mineral Reserve Review Council must comply with this Circular.

Agencies submitting economic-technical justifications for calculation criteria or reports on mineral reserve calculations shall enter into agreements on inspection and review work to pay fees according to the regulations.

3. The Office of the Mineral Reserve Review Council is responsible for completing the procedures for fee deductions. Researching the financial operation mechanism of the Office of the Mineral Reserve Review Council for approval and issuance by the State Science and Technology Committee and the Ministry of Finance.

4. The level of fee deduction will be revised when there are changes in state policies regarding prices, wages, or other changes affecting the budget for geological exploration work and the operations of the Office of the Mineral Reserve Review Council./.