Circular No. 35/2015/TT-BTC on the management and use of funds for implementing the National Press Award

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the Management and Use of Funds for Implementing the National Press Award

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Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 215/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 23, 2013, promulgated by the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decision No. 1694/QĐ-TTg dated September 22, 2014 of the Prime Minister approving the Project to Enhance the Quality of the National Press Award;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Administrative and Public Institution Finance.

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular regulating the management and use of funds for implementing the National Press Award.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

Article 1. Scope of Regulation: This Circular stipulates the management and use of funds for implementing the National Press Award.

第二条 组织和实施奖励工作的支出水平，如政府第152/2025/NĐ-CP号决定关于分级授权和奖励领域的分权规定

a) The National Press Award Council.

b) The Vietnam Journalists' Association at the central level and at local levels.

c) Other relevant organizations and individuals.

Article 2. Sources of Funds

1. State budget support sources allocated in the annual budget for cultural information affairs of the Vietnam Journalists' Association.

2. Other lawful support sources from domestic and foreign agencies, organizations, and individuals (if any).

Article 4. Contents of Expenditure

1. Prize money expenditure.

2. Honorariums for members of the Councils:

a) Preliminary Round Judging Council:

Expenditure for honorariums for members of the preliminary round judging council to evaluate, review, and score selected press works at the grassroots level, selecting those press works meeting the preliminary round standards and eligible to participate in the final round.

b) Final Round Judging Council:

Expenditure for honorariums for members of the final round judging council to perform tasks such as reading and evaluating printed newspapers, online newspapers; listening to and watching radio news, television news, and photojournalism; providing comments, reviewing, and assessing press works that have entered the final round; casting secret ballots to select press works meeting the criteria for awards through the final round judging process, reporting to the National Press Award Council for approval according to regulations.

3. Honorariums for meetings of the Councils and Supporting Committees:

a) National Press Award Council: Expenditure for meetings of the National Press Award Council to implement the examination, review, participation in opinions, and approval of guiding documents and directives for implementing the National Press Award within its authority: rules of the award, guidance regulations for selection; examining and deciding on the structure and value of the award, deciding to present awards to press works winning the award annually.

b) Preliminary Round Judging Council: Expenditure for meetings of the preliminary round judging council to implement the examination, participation in opinions in building documents: rules of the award, regulations, working rules of the preliminary round judging council, selection, assessment, and scoring regulations for press works participating in the preliminary round award; discussing, exchanging, and evaluating press works, agreeing to select press works meeting the preliminary round standards and eligible to participate in the final round.

c) Final Round Judging Council: Expenditure for meetings of the final round judging council to implement the examination, participation in opinions in building documents: rules of the award, regulations, working rules of the final round judging council, selection, assessment, and scoring regulations for press works participating in the final round award; discussing, exchanging, and evaluating press works, agreeing to select press works meeting the criteria for awards through the final round judging process.

d) Supporting Committees: Expenditure for meetings of supporting committees to prepare content and issues requiring opinions at council meetings, including: General Secretariat; Financial Committee; Information, Propaganda, and Sponsorship Mobilization Committee.

4. Expenditure for other related activities directly linked to the implementation of the National Press Award:

a) Expenditure for hiring consultants and experts (if any) to serve the work of examining and judging the preliminary and final rounds.

b) Expenditure for grassroots selection work (applicable to the number of works considered for the award): Expenditure for grassroots selection of works participating in the award includes selection costs, printing, and sending press works under consideration for the award (printed newspapers, radio news, television news, online newspapers, and photojournalism) at provincial-level journalists' associations, city-level journalists' associations, and some central-level journalists' associations.

c) Expenditure for drafting guiding documents for the implementation of the award.

d) Other expenditures directly related to the National Press Award:

Expenditure for electricity, water, fuel, office supplies, and other necessary office materials, domestic telephone charges, postal charges, fax charges, rental fees for conference halls (if any), printing and reproduction costs for press works participating in the preliminary and final rounds sent to the preliminary and final round judging councils (photocopying printed works; printing photos of works participating in the final round; recording audio and video works), making award certificates, making award symbols, supporting travel, food, and accommodation expenses for authors working outside Hanoi who come to receive the award, payment for contracts with external parties for necessary services to support the award presentation process.

e) Conference and training travel expenses.

f) Expenses for the award ceremony.

Article 4. Levels of expenditure

1. Prize money expenditure:

The amount of prize money for annual awards is determined by the National Press Award Council based on the financial capacity, scale, and quality of works participating in the award.

2. Honorariums for members of the Councils:

Based on the assigned budget estimate; actual implementation of the task of examining and judging the preliminary and final rounds in the previous year, the National Press Award Council examines and decides on the honorariums for examining, reviewing, and judging the next year's preliminary and final rounds.

3. Honorariums for meetings of the Councils and Supporting Committees:

a) Honorariums for Council meetings:

- Chairperson of the Council: 300,000 VND/person/session;

- Members of the Council: 200,000 VND/session;

- Observers contributing opinions: 100,000 VND/session.

b) Honorariums for meetings of the Supporting Committees:

- Chairperson of the meeting: 150,000 VND/person/session;

- Observers contributing opinions: 100,000 VND/person/session.

4. Expenditure for other related activities directly linked to the implementation of the National Press Award:

a) Expenditure for hiring consultants and experts:

Article ||| In cases where necessary, the Chairman of the National Press Award Council decides on the hiring of consultants and leading experts to conduct an assessment of the effectiveness and authenticity of journalistic works (if any) for the purpose of serving the work of reviewing and awarding prizes. The expenditure level shall be implemented according to Circular No. 02/2015/TT-BLDTBXH dated January 12, 2015, issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, which stipulates the salary level for domestic consulting experts as the basis for budgeting tendered service contracts under time-based usage of state capital.

b) Expenditure for the selection process at the grassroots level:

The maximum expenditure standard for each work submitted to the competition by the Selection Councils at the grassroots level is VND 150,000 per work, including remuneration for the grassroots-level Selection Councils, costs for photocopying and printing of works, and producing CDs, VCDs, DVDs, express delivery fees, and other related expenses. The Fund Management Board is responsible for transferring the funds for this expenditure to the grassroots-level Selection Councils.

c) Expenditure for drafting documents:

- Expenditure for drafting regulations, decisions, and guidelines concerning the implementation of the National Press Awards, to be submitted to the competent authority for approval. The expenditure level shall not exceed VND 1,000,000 per document.

- Expenditure for individuals participating in meetings and seminars to contribute opinions to draft documents and complete documents for submission to the competent authority for approval. The expenditure level is: Chairperson of the meeting: VND 150,000 per person per session; Participants: VND 100,000 per person per session.

- Expenditure for translating reference materials (if any): Translation from English or a language of an EU country into Vietnamese: Maximum VND 120,000 per page of 350 words. Translation from Vietnamese into English or a language of an EU country: Maximum VND 150,000 per page of 350 words.

For languages other than those mentioned above, the expenditure level for written translation may be increased by up to 30% compared to the aforementioned expenditure level for written translation.

- Expenditure for drafting interim and final reports, compilations, to be submitted to the competent authority for approval; based on the tasks of drafting interim and final reports of the National Press Awards and the actual implementation situation annually within the allocated state budget estimate.

d) Other expenditures directly related to the National Press Award:

Expenditure for electricity, water, fuel, office supplies, and other necessary office materials, domestic telephone charges, postal charges, fax services, rental of conference halls for organizing meetings (if any), printing expenses, reproduction of press works participating in preliminary and final rounds of the competition sent to the Preliminary and Final Round Judging Committees (photocopies of printed press works; printing of images of press works participating in the final round; recording discs and tapes of spoken and visual press works), making award certificates, making award symbols, supporting travel, food, and accommodation expenses for authors working outside Hanoi who come to receive awards, payment of contracts with external parties for necessary services to serve the review and awarding of prizes.

The Vietnam Journalists' Association proactively implements these expenditures based on the requirements of the National Press Awards review and awarding process, the actual implementation of the previous year's review and judging tasks economically, effectively, and in accordance with the actual business activities arising when performing the tasks, while adhering to legal provisions regarding invoice and receipt systems.

d) Travel expenses; professional training to serve the National Press Awards process; conferences and seminars for interim and final reviews and evaluations of the National Press Awards results. The expenditure level shall be implemented according to Circular No. 97/2010/TT-BTC dated July 6, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Finance, which stipulates travel expense regulations and expenditure regulations for organizing conferences for state agencies and public service units.

Expenditure for the award ceremony of the National Press Awards:

Expenditure for renting conference halls, decorating conference halls, drinking water, live television broadcasting, and other related expenses: carried out according to the contract between the Vietnam Journalists' Association and the service provider, based on the actual situation at the time of the award ceremony.

5. When new regulations amend, supplement, or replace the regulations referred to in this Article, they shall be applied according to the new regulations.

6. The expenditure levels specified in this Article are the maximum expenditure levels. Depending on the financial capacity and scale and quality of the annual National Press Awards, the Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists' Association shall decide on appropriate expenditure levels and report to the National Press Awards Council.

Article 5. Budget preparation, execution, and settlement of funds

The preparation, execution, and settlement of the National Press Awards budget shall be carried out as follows:

1. Budget Preparation: Annually, based on the results of the previous year's national press award evaluation and corresponding budget estimates; the Vietnam Journalists' Association prepares a plan to use support funds according to the proposal to improve the quality of the National Press Awards that has been approved.

2. Management and utilization:

a) The Vietnam Journalists' Association is responsible for drafting and promulgating the "Regulations on the Use of the National Press Awards Fund" based on open discussions and consensus within the Standing Committee, submitting it to the National Press Awards Council for comments and approval. The "Regulations on the Use of the National Press Awards Fund" shall be publicly disseminated to all members, members of the National Press Awards Council, relevant agencies, and sent to the State Treasury where the unit maintains its transaction account as a basis for controlling expenditures. The content of the "Regulations on the Use of the National Press Awards Fund" shall be guided by Article 6 of this Circular.

b) The Chairpersons of the various levels of the Vietnam Journalists' Associations establish Preliminary Review Councils or Selection Councils to select works for the National Press Awards according to the guidance of the National Press Awards Council and consider the use of funds according to the "Regulations on the Use of the National Press Awards Fund" that has been promulgated, ensuring that funds are spent on the correct recipients, for the intended purposes, efficiently, and economically.

3. Settlement and inspection:

a) Annually, the Vietnam Journalists' Association settles the National Press Awards budget, consolidating it in the annual budget settlement report of the association's agency, and submits it to the financial authority at the same level according to current regulations.

b) Implement financial transparency in accordance with Circular No. 21/2005/TT-BTC dated March 22, 2005, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding the implementation of financial transparency regulations for budgetary units and organizations supported by the state budget, and current regulations.

c) Conduct internal financial and accounting audits at the unit in accordance with current regulations.

Article 6. Contents of the "Regulation on National Press Award Fund Expenditure"

1. Specify the following contents:

a) Participants in the National Press Award;

b) Criteria and topics of works participating in the National Press Award;

c) Time and location for submitting works to participate in the National Press Award.

2. Based on assigned tasks; state expenditure standards and regulations already issued; provisions of this Circular; actual conditions in implementing the National Press Award tasks of the Vietnam Journalists' Association; within the scope of the support fund for the National Press Award; the Vietnam Journalists' Association shall establish specific expenditure levels tied to effectiveness and quality of work, ensuring economy and preventing waste.

3. The use of funds shall be based on the principle of centralization and depending on actual conditions, taking into account the nature of the work, the situation in the previous year's implementation, the Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists' Association shall specify the expenditure level for each task to implement the National Press Award: expenditures for the activities of the National Press Award Council, costs for related activities directly connected to the review and awarding process, and award ceremony expenses.

4. State budget funds supporting the National Press Award shall not be used for purposes other than those specified in Decision No. 1694/QĐ-TTg dated September 22, 2014 of the Prime Minister.

Article 7. Implementation Provisions

1. This Circular takes effect from May 5, 2015, and replaces Circular No. 100/2007/TT-BTC dated August 15, 2007, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding the management and use of the National Press Award fund.

2. In the course of implementation, if any difficulties arise, they should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for study, amendment, and supplementation as appropriate./.