JOINT CIRCULAR

OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND INVESTMENT

MINISTRY OF FINANCE NUMBER 35/2009/TTLT-BNNPTNT-KHĐT-TC

JUNE 15, 2009 GUIDELINES ON THE MANAGEMENT, USE AND SETTLEMENT OF STATE BUDGET FUNDS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE NATIONAL ACTION PROGRAM TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION FOR THE PERIOD 2006-2010 AND OUTLOOK UNTIL 2020

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Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 10, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 26/2008/NĐ-CP dated March 5, 2008 of the Government on the management and use of state budget funds for international treaty work and international agreement work;  ensure the work on international treaties and the work on international agreements;

Pursuant to Decision No. 204/2006/QĐ-TTg dated September 2, 2006 of the Prime Minister approving the "National Action Program to Combat Desertification for the period 2006-2010 and Outlook until 2020".

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Finance jointly issue guidelines on the management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for implementing the National Action Program to Combat Desertification for the period 2006-2010 and Outlook until 2020 as follows:

Article 1. Scope of Application

These guidelines provide for the management, use, and settlement of state budget funds for implementing the National Action Program to Combat Desertification for the period 2006-2010 and Outlook until 2020, issued pursuant to Decision No. 204/2006/QĐ-TTg dated September 2, 2006 of the Prime Minister (hereinafter referred to as the Program).

Article 2. Sources of Funding to Ensure Implementation of the Program

1. State budget funds; ODA funds; funds from international cooperation programs; funds from domestic and foreign organizations and individuals; contributions from people in areas benefiting from the Program.

2. Funds for implementing tasks and projects led by central ministries and agencies shall be guaranteed by the central budget. Funds for implementing tasks and projects led by provincial-level People's Committees shall be guaranteed by local budgets according to current budget allocation regulations.

Article 3. Principles for Using Program Funds

Units using Program funds must ensure that they are used for their intended purposes, in accordance with established regulations, efficiently and economically; they must be subject to inspection and supervision by competent authorities; and they must comply with annual settlement and project completion regulations currently in force.

Article 4. Regulations on Management, Use, and Settlement of State Budget Funds for Implementing the Program

1. Sources of funds for implementing the Program according to prioritized projects (assigned responsibilities by the Prime Minister to relevant central ministries and agencies and provincial People's Committees under Decision No. 204/2006/QĐ-TTg) are as follows:

a) Expenditure from development investment funds:

- Construction and improvement of integrated monitoring stations related to desertification prevention and control.

- Planting sand-fixing forests, improving inland dune areas, and limiting drought and soil degradation in Central Coast provinces.

- Planting flood-resistant protective forests at major hydroelectric reservoirs (Hoà Bình, Trị An, Sơn La...).

- Utilizing and restoring degraded lateritic soils in the Central Highlands (This project may mobilize additional funding from other sources).

- Implementing successful pilot models for desertification/land degradation prevention and control, focusing on four priority regions: Northwest, Central Coast, Central Highlands, and Mekong Delta.

- Establishing a center for data storage and a complete database system to support desertification prevention and control efforts, based on upgrading and supplementing existing systems.

b) Recurrent expenditure:

- Expenditure from training and education funds:

Enhancing community awareness about desertification prevention and control tasks. Developing training materials for sustainable livelihood skills for farmers in desertified areas.

Developing and implementing policies, plans, and training programs for cadres (with particular attention to grassroots cadres) to serve desertification prevention and control efforts.

Training specialized personnel with sufficient expertise in risk assessment, risk management, and identifying causes of desertification/land degradation.

- Expenditure from scientific research funds:

Applying modern and traditional technologies in the protection and sustainable development of forest resources, land resources, and water resources to support desertification prevention and control tasks.

Identifying natural and social factors causing desertification/land degradation in Vietnam, particularly in four priority regions, and proposing specific solutions for prevention and control.

Developing pilot models for using technologies to restore and improve degraded lands due to pollution, lack of water, etc., and community-linked activities from agricultural and forestry production to markets for effective and sustainable cultivation in desertified areas, focusing on four priority regions (Northwest, Central Coast, Central Highlands, and Mekong Delta).

Studying and evaluating the current hydrological status of forests in Vietnam for each region and river system affected by drought.

Studying strategies for poverty reduction and economic-social development in desertified/land-degraded areas, harmonizing with other regions nationwide.

Studying the rehabilitation of degraded agricultural land, barren hills, and areas heavily affected by drought and desertification in four priority regions.

- Expenditure from economic funds:

Maintaining the operation of the center for data storage and a complete database system to support desertification prevention and control efforts.

Conduct basic investigations and assess the current status of desertification in Vietnam and its impact on economic and social development, with a focus on four priority regions: Northwest, Central Coast, Central Highlands, and Mekong Delta.

Plan for agricultural land that has degraded, barren mountainous areas, and regions heavily affected by drought and desertification in the four priority regions.

Plan for three types of forests, delineate boundaries on-site, and allocate forestry land to serve the mission of preventing desertification.

Develop comprehensive management plans for special ecosystems in the four priority regions for combating desertification.

Plan and develop surface water and groundwater resource utilization strategies in desertified and semi-desertified regions.

Allocate funds for trade promotion activities and market consumption of agricultural and forestry products in desertified and semi-desertified regions.

Apply information technology in collecting, storing, and processing national information to support efforts in preventing and combating desertification.

Enhance information exchange, establish bilateral and multilateral partnerships, and develop sub-projects to strengthen cooperation with specialized networks at the national level during the implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification.

- Expenditure from environmental public service funds:

Assess erosion, runoff, salinization, and acidification processes in Central Vietnam, Central Highlands, and Mekong Delta.

Establish experimental models, risk assessment, and risk management and monitoring systems for the use of land, water, and forest resources.

Classify drought levels for each region and river system in areas severely affected by drought.

c) Expenditure from administrative management and other investment sources through bilateral and multilateral international cooperation programs; domestic and foreign corporate, organizational, and individual capital for desertification and semi-desertification prevention and control according to legal regulations:

- Develop, supplement, and amend policies, regulatory legal documents, and management organizations under the Law on Forest Protection and Development, Water Resources Law, Land Law, Environmental Protection Law, etc., related to the mission of preventing and combating desertification.

- Develop socialization policies, particularly rural credit policies, and benefit policies for people and organizations serving the work of preventing and combating desertification as a basis for localities to proactively guide implementation in each area.

- Develop mechanisms for collaboration between ministries and sectors, between central and local authorities, and management mechanisms for programs and projects under the Convention to Combat Desertification towards enhancing decentralized management for sectors and localities.

- Strengthen the capacity of the Convention to Combat Desertification Office.

- Develop mechanisms for mobilizing and utilizing financial support for combating desertification and establishing a Fund for Preventing and Combating Desertification.

2. Expenditure levels:

a) The expenditure level for implementing tasks, projects, and programs under the Program according to current financial expenditure standards and regulations.

b) Some provisions for each source of funding:

- Research and scientific study funding as stipulated in Circular Joint No. 44/2007/TTLT-BTC-BKHCN dated May 7, 2007, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology guiding the establishment and allocation of budget estimates for scientific and technological projects using state budget funds; Circular Joint No. 93/2006/TTLT-BTC-BKHCN dated October 4, 2006, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology guiding the financial quota system for scientific and technological projects using state budget funds, and other relevant documents;

- Environmental public service funding as stipulated in Circular Joint No. 114/2006/TTLT-BTC-BTNMT dated December 29, 2006, issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment guiding the management of environmental public service funding;

- Economic public service funding as stipulated in Circular No. 120/2007/TT-BTC dated October 15, 2007, issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding the management, use, and settlement of public service funding for surveys funded by the state budget and other related documents;

- Develop policy mechanisms according to Circular No. 100/2006/TT-BTC dated October 23, 2006, issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding the management and use of state budget funds to ensure the work of drafting regulatory legal documents.

3. Budget preparation, execution, and settlement:

a) The preparation, execution, and settlement of public service funding (scientific research public service, training public service, environmental public service, economic public service), administrative management expenses, and development investment capital for implementing tasks, projects, and programs against desertification shall be carried out in accordance with the State Budget Law and current guiding documents. This circular specifically guides the following contents:

- Based on the project list issued together with Decision No. 204/2006/QĐ-TTg dated September 2, 2006, of the Prime Minister, current expenditure regulations, and the guidelines in this circular, ministries, sectors, and localities assigned to lead the implementation of approved projects shall prepare detailed annual budgets and funding sources according to current regulations.

- Based on the objectives, content, and nature of the project, the budget preparer shall obtain approval from the competent authority. For project content and tasks without established economic and technical norms and budget unit prices, the budget preparation shall be based on specific workload and current financial regulations.

- For tasks, projects, and programs implemented by ministries and central agencies: Based on the approved tasks and projects, units shall annually prepare budget estimates within their annual state budget expenditure reports, which shall be reported to the central agency leading the task or project for review and consolidation into the central agency's annual state budget report sent to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment for consolidation and reporting to the Government for submission to the National Assembly for approval as prescribed.

- For tasks, projects, and programs implemented by localities: Based on the tasks, projects, and programs approved by the competent authority, each implementing unit shall annually prepare the budget estimate for the state budget expenditure of the unit, submit it to the main managing department for review, and send it to the Department of Finance for consolidation into the local budget estimate to be reported to the Provincial People's Committee for submission to the Provincial People's Council in accordance with current regulations.

b) Settlement of state budget funds:

Units using funds from the Program shall report annual settlement and project completion settlement in accordance with current regulations.

Article 5. Tendering, approval of project outlines, budgets, and annual implementation plans

Based on Decision No. 204/2006/QĐ-TTg dated September 2, 2006, of the Prime Minister, ministries and provincial people's committees shall implement the following contents:

a) Announce widely the implementation of program proposal development and the execution of projects.

b) On the basis of project sponsors' registration, carry out tendering and selection in accordance with current regulations (selecting outline design; project design; selecting construction work for the outline and project).

c) Balance the plan and decide on implementation.

Article 6. Inspection Work

1. Annually, ministries, central agencies, and localities assigned to implement tasks, projects, and programs shall be responsible for reporting the implementation situation to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Permanent Office of the Convention to Combat Desertification). The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall compile the national action program implementation situation and report it to the Prime Minister, simultaneously sending it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance. The implementation report of the Program (attached form).

2. Ministries, central agencies, and localities assigned to implement tasks, projects, and programs shall be responsible for coordinating with relevant ministries and agencies to regularly or urgently inspect the implementation of tasks, projects, and programs, ensuring that funds are used for their intended purposes and effectively.

Article 7. Implementation Organization

1. Responsibilities of ministries, sectors, and people's committees at all levels

a) Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development:

- Compile the annual implementation plan of the Program based on reports from ministries, sectors, and localities, and send it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance for consolidation and reporting to the competent authority for consideration and decision;

- Lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, and donors to evaluate the Program's implementation; compile and report to the Prime Minister, simultaneously sending it to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance.

b) The Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance, according to the division of labor in Decision No. 204/2006/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister, based on the proposals of ministries, sectors, and localities, balance and allocate annual budget funds in accordance with the State Budget Law to implement the Program.

c) Ministries, sectors, and central agencies participating in the Program shall be responsible for complying with the division of labor in Decision No. 204/2006/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister, inspect subordinate units' compliance with regulations, and periodically (quarterly, annually) report progress on management and fund usage, and consolidated settlement of fund usage for Program implementation to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Permanent Office of the Convention to Combat Desertification), the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Finance in accordance with regulations.

d) People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities:

- Organize effective implementation of Program content at the locality level in accordance with the division of labor in Decision No. 204/2006/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister and the approved local plan;

- Integrate resources from other Programs, projects, and proposals within the locality to effectively implement the Program; decide on investment projects to ensure compliance with the project list and tasks issued together with Decision No. 204/2006/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister; allocate sufficient funds under the responsibility of the local budget in accordance with regulations;

- Mobilize resources (contributions from enterprises within the locality, communities, and other lawful sources), direct units to urge enterprise and beneficiary community contributions as committed for desertification control construction; direct and organize the establishment, appraisal, and approval of projects under the Program in accordance with regulations;

- Annually report Program implementation to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for compilation and reporting to the Prime Minister.

2. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect forty-five days from the date of issuance.

During implementation, if there are difficulties, organizations, ministries, central agencies, and localities should reflect them to the Joint Ministry for study and appropriate modification.