Decree No. 40/2015/ND-CP amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 157/2013/ND-CP dated November 11, 2013, of the Government on administrative penalties for forest management, forest development, forest protection, and forest product management.

DECREE

Provincial People's Committees set specific pricesamending and supplementing certain articles N |||Decision No. 157/2013/ND-CP

dated November 11, 2013 of Cthe Government on administrative penalties for violations related to forest management, forest development, forest protection, and forest product management

Article 1. This Decision amends and supplements certain provisions of Decision No. 157/2013/ND-CP dated November 11, 2013 of the Government on administrative penalties for violations related to forest management, forest development, forest protection, and forest product management.

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Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the State Machinery dated December 25,amend20011;

The Government issues this Decree on mechanisms and policies to encourage forest protection, encirclement and regeneration of forests, afforestation, development of non-timber forest products, and increased income in connection with policies to quickly reduce poverty, sustainably and to support ethnic minority groups during the period 2015-2020.

CamendPursuant to the Law on Administrative Penalties for Administrative Violations reason dated June 20,"b) In addition to the lists of public services issued according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decree, specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees shall report to the provincial People's Committee for decision-making on amending, supplementing, or issuing the list of public services funded by the state budget within their jurisdiction and consistent with the local budget capacity within the approved budget by the Provincial People's Assembly, and send it to the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and sectors for supervision during implementation."20012;

At the request of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,

At the proposal of to amend Decision No.supplementedand supplementing some provisions of Circular No. 41/2011/TT-BYT dated November 14,No. 157/2013/ND-CP dated November 11 12013 of the Government on administrative penalties for violations related to forest management, forest development, forest protection, and forest product management. 11 Article 2. This Decision specifies acts of violation, forms of penalty, levels of penalty, measures to remedy consequences for acts of administrative violation, authority to impose penalties, and authority to issue administrative violation records regarding forest management, forest development, forest protection, and forest product management."b) In addition to the lists of public services issued according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decree, specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees shall report to the provincial People's Committee for decision-making on amending, supplementing, or issuing the list of public services funded by the state budget within their jurisdiction and consistent with the local budget capacity within the approved budget by the Provincial People's Assembly, and send it to the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and sectors for supervision during implementation."This Decision does not regulate wild animals and plants in the List of Rare and Precious Species Prioritized for Protection as prescribed by the Government. reason 2. Amend and supplement Clause 2 of Article 3 as follows: "2. Forest products are plant and animal products and their parts and derivatives originating from forests (including aquatic animals with native or non-native origins but permitted by competent authorities to be raised or released in ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams within forests)."3. Supplement Clause 9 of Article 3 as follows:

Article 1. "9. Forest environmental services as stipulated in Article 9a of this Decision include:

1. Amend and supplement Article 1 as follows:

a) Protecting land, limiting erosion and sedimentation in lake, river, and stream beds;

b) Regulating and maintaining water sources for production and social life;

c) Absorbing and retaining carbon dioxide from forests, reducing greenhouse gas emissions through measures to prevent forest degradation, reduce forest area, and promote sustainable forest development;

d) Protecting natural landscapes and conserving biodiversity in forest ecosystems for tourism services;

đ) Providing natural breeding grounds, food, and seedlings, and using forest water resources for aquaculture."

4. Supplement Clauses 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Article 4 as follows:

"4. Compel signing contracts for payment of forest environmental services.

5. Compel declaration of the amount of money required to pay for forest environmental services.

6. Compel full payment of the cost of using forest environmental services and interest accrued from delayed payments (if any) corresponding to the amount and duration of delay.

7. Compel full payment of forest environmental service fees to forest protection contractors under signed contracts."

5. Amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 7 as follows:

"1. The monetary fines prescribed in Chapter II of this Decision apply to individuals (except in cases stipulated in Clause 4 of Article 9a of this Decision); organizations committing violations shall be fined twice the amount imposed on individuals with the same behavior and level of violation."

6. Supplement Point d of Clause 10 of Article 22 as follows:

"d) Wild animals or their parts and derivatives belonging to critically endangered, precious, and rare species group IB valued at over 100 million VND."

7. Supplement Point d of Clause 10 of Article 23 as follows:

8. Supplement "Article 9a. Violations of policies on payment for forest environmental services" as follows:

"Article 9a. Violations of regulations on payment for forest environmental services

1. Users of forest environmental services who fail to sign contracts for payment of forest environmental service usage fees within three months from the date of service use shall be penalized as follows:

a) A fine of VND 500,000 to VND 1,000,000 if no contract is signed with the forest owner providing forest environmental services in direct payment cases;

b) A fine of VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 if no contract is signed with the Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund in indirect payment cases;

c) A fine of VND 40,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 if no contract is signed with the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund in indirect payment cases;

b) A fine of VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 if no contract is signed with the Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund in indirect payment cases;

d) Measures to remedy consequences

Compel application of remedial measures as prescribed in Clause 4 of Article 4 of this Decision within one month from the date of receipt of the penalty decision, for persons violating administrative acts as stipulated in Points a, b, and c of this Clause.

2. Users of forest environmental services who fail to declare the amount of money required to pay for forest environmental services in indirect payment cases shall be penalized as follows:

a) A fine of VND 200,000 to VND 500,000 if the amount due is up to VND 50,000,000;

b) A fine of VND 500,000 to VND 1,000,000 if the amount due is over VND 50,000,000 to VND 200,000,000;

c) A fine of VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 if the amount due is over VND 200,000,000 to VND 300,000,000;

d) A fine of VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 if the amount due is over VND 300,000,000 to VND 500,000,000;

đ) A fine of VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 if the amount due exceeds VND 500,000,000;

e) Measures to remedy consequences

Compel application of remedial measures as prescribed in Clause 5 of Article 4 of this Decision within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the penalty decision, for violators as stipulated in Points a, b, c, d, and đ of this Clause.

3. Users of forest environmental services who fail to pay or pay insufficiently for the use of services shall be penalized as follows:

a) A fine of VND 500,000 to VND 1,000,000 if they fail to pay or pay insufficiently for the use of services beyond three months from the contract signing date with an amount up to VND 20,000,000;

b) A fine of VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 if they fail to pay or pay insufficiently for the use of services beyond three months from the contract signing date with an amount from VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000;

c) A fine of VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 if they fail to pay or pay insufficiently for the use of services beyond three months from the contract signing date with an amount from VND 30,000,000 to VND 50,000,000;

e) Measures to remedy consequences

Order the application of measures to remedy consequences as provided for in Clause 5, Article 4 of this Decree within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the penalty decision, for persons violating the provisions at Points a, b, c, d, and e of this Clause.

3. A person using forest environmental services who fails to pay or pays inadequately for the use of such services shall be subject to the following penalties:

a) A fine of VND 500,000 to VND 1,000,000 if they fail to pay or pay inadequately for the use of services exceeding three months beyond the deadline stipulated in the contract, with the amount up to VND 20,000,000;

b) A fine of VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 if they fail to pay or pay inadequately for the use of services exceeding three months beyond the deadline stipulated in the contract, with the amount from over VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000;

c) A fine of VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 if they fail to pay or pay inadequately for the use of services exceeding three months beyond the deadline stipulated in the contract, with the amount from over VND 30,000,000 to VND 50,000,000;

d) A fine of from five million to ten million Vietnamese dong if payment for service usage is not made or is not fully made within more than three months from the date specified in the contract, where the amount exceeds fifty million to one hundred million Vietnamese dong;

đ) A fine of from ten million to twenty million Vietnamese dong if payment for service usage is not made or is not fully made within more than three months from the date specified in the contract, where the amount exceeds one hundred million to two hundred million Vietnamese dong;

e) A fine of from twenty million to thirty million Vietnamese dong if payment for service usage is not made or is not fully made within more than three months from the date specified in the contract, where the amount exceeds two hundred million to five hundred million Vietnamese dong;

g) A fine of from thirty million to fifty million Vietnamese dong if payment for service usage is not made or is not fully made within more than three months from the date specified in the contract, where the amount exceeds five hundred million Vietnamese dong;

h) Measures to address consequences

Compel the application of measures to address consequences as stipulated in Clause 6, Article 4 of this Decree within one month from the date of receipt of the administrative penalty decision, for those who commit administrative violations as provided in Points a, b, c, d, đ, e, and g of this Clause;

Interest shall be calculated based on the overdue payment amount, the period of delay in payment, and the basic interest rate published by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time closest to the date of issuance of the administrative violation penalty decision;

For forest owners who are organizations assigned forests by the State and fail to make payment or make insufficient or untimely payments of revenue from forest environmental services to the forest protection contractors as stipulated in the contract between the forest owner and the forest protection contractor, penalties shall be imposed as follows:

a) A fine of from two hundred thousand to five hundred thousand Vietnamese dong if the amount due for payment does not exceed five million Vietnamese dong;

b) A fine of from one million to three million Vietnamese dong if the amount due for payment exceeds five million to twenty million Vietnamese dong;

c) A fine of from three million to five million Vietnamese dong if the amount due for payment exceeds twenty million to fifty million Vietnamese dong;

d) A fine of from five million to ten million Vietnamese dong if the amount due for payment exceeds fifty million Vietnamese dong;

đ) Measures to address consequences

Compel the application of measures to address consequences as stipulated in Clause 7, Article 4 of this Decree within one month from the date of receipt of the administrative penalty decision, for those who commit violations as provided in Point a, b, c, and d of this Clause;"

9. Repeal Clause 2, Article 7; Clause 5 and Clause 6, Article 24.

Article 2. Effective Date

This Decree takes effect from June 20, 2015.

This Circular takes effect from December 25, 2025/.

1. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for guiding and organizing the implementation of this Decree.

2. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government-affiliated agencies, Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees directly under the central government shall be responsible for enforcing this Decree./.