Circular No. 35/1999/TT-BTC guiding financial management and use of the Agent Orange Victim Support Fund

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Financial Management and Utilization

of the Agent Orange Victim Support Fund

Pursuant to Decision No. 105/1998/QĐ-TTg dated June 9, 1998 of the Prime Minister allowing the Vietnam Red Cross Society to establish the Agent Orange Victim Support Fund;

Pursuant to Decree No. 87-CP dated December 19, 1996 and Decree No. 51/1998/NĐ-CP dated July 18, 1998 of the Government detailing the division of management authority, budget preparation, implementation, and settlement of state budget;

Pursuant to Decision No. 222/1998/TCCP-TC dated July 23, 1998 of the Government Organizational-Cadre Board approving the charter of organization and operation of the Agent Orange Victim Support Fund established due to the war in Vietnam;

After reaching consensus with the Vietnam Red Cross Society, the Ministry of Finance hereby provides guidelines for financial management and utilization of the Agent Orange Victim Support Fund as follows:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The Agent Orange Victim Support Fund is a non-profit humanitarian fund. The Fund has the function of building and developing financial resources to contribute to supporting Agent Orange victims in stabilizing their family lives and integrating into society.

2. The beneficiaries of the Fund's support are those Agent Orange victims as concluded by competent authorities.

3. The Agent Orange Victim Support Fund must open and deposit its account at a state-owned commercial bank, and may use idle funds from the Fund to save in state-owned commercial banks' savings funds or purchase treasury bills, government bonds, and commercial bills of state-owned commercial banks and the State Bank. The account holder is the Fund's Executive Director or a person authorized by the Director.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1. Sources of income for the Agent Orange Victim Support Fund include:

a. Humanitarian donations, contributions, and aid from governments, international organizations, economic organizations, collectives, and individuals both domestically and abroad.

b. Interest from deposits, savings, treasury bills, and government bonds.

c. A portion of the state budget allocated to cover operational expenses and a necessary number of staff positions for the Fund, according to the approved budget estimate by the competent authority.

d. Other sources of income.

2. Expenditure items of the Agent Orange Victim Support Fund:

a. Assistance to Agent Orange victims in cases of medical examination and treatment, corrective surgery, functional recovery, vocational training, and job placement, as well as provision of essential means for victims confirmed to be in extreme hardship by local authorities. This expenditure item uses 90% of the income.

b. Administrative and management costs of the Fund according to current national standards and norms. This expenditure item uses 8.5% of annual income. Of this, 3.5% of income is allocated for counterpart funding for assistance projects. Any surplus at year-end is returned to the Fund to support Agent Orange victims affected by the toxic agent.

 c. Awards and incentives for Fund staff and individuals or units with outstanding achievements in establishing the Fund, as approved by the Fund Management Council, and emergency hardship allowances for Fund staff according to state regulations (capped at three months' actual salary). This expenditure item uses 1.5% of annual income. Any surplus at year-end is returned to the Fund to support Agent Orange victims.

3. Budget preparation, accounting, and settlement of income and expenditure of the Fund:

- The preparation of budgets, management, and settlement of expenses supported by the state budget shall be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 103/1998/TT-BTC dated July 18, 1998 of the Ministry of Finance. Annually, along with the time for preparing the state budget, the Agent Orange Victim Support Fund is responsible for preparing the Fund's income and expenditure budget, including the portion of state budget support, to be submitted for approval by the Fund Management Council and sent to the Vietnam Red Cross Society for consolidation and reporting to the Ministry of Finance.

- The Agent Orange Victim Support Fund must maintain accounting records and organize accounting work to monitor all activities of income and expenditure of the Fund and ensure proper and lawful use in accordance with this circular.

- For aid sources: The Fund must comply with current state regulations on receiving, managing, and utilizing aid sources.

- The quarterly and annual accounting and settlement of expenses of the Agent Orange Victim Support Fund shall be carried out in accordance with Decision No. 999-TC/QĐ/CĐKT dated November 2, 1996 of the Minister of Finance on issuing the system of accounting regulations for administrative and public services and other current state documents.

- The Ministry of Finance will cooperate with the Vietnam Red Cross Society to inspect the management and use of the Fund's expenses. The Director of the Agent Orange Victim Support Fund is responsible under the law for the management of income, expenditure, and assets of the Fund.

III. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS.

This circular takes effect fifteen days from the date of signature. During implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, they should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for study and appropriate amendments.