Circular No. 46/2012/TT-BNNPTNT amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 44/2009/TT-BNNPTNT dated July 21, 2009 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development guiding the financial management of foreign aid within the scope managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No. 44/2009/TT-BNNPTNT dated July 21, 2009

of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development guiding financial management of foreign support funds

under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

_________________________

Pursuant to Decree No. 01/2008/NĐ-CP dated January 3, 2008 of the Government and Decree No. 75/2009/NĐ-CP dated September 10, 2009 amending Article 3 of Decree No. 01/2008/NĐ-CP dated January 3, 2008 of the Government stipulating functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

Based on Decree No. 221/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 30, 2013 of the Government stipulating the system of applying administrative handling measures for placement in compulsory drug rehabilitation facilities (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 221/2013/NĐ-CP);

Pursuant to Decree No. 131/2006/NĐ-CP dated November 9, 2006 of the Government promulgating the Regulation on Management and Use of Official Development Assistance Funds;

Pursuant to Decree No. 93/2009/NĐ-CP dated October 22, 2009 of the Government promulgating the Regulation on Management and Use of Non-Governmental Foreign Aid;

Pursuant to Circular No. 108/2007/TT-BTC dated September 7, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the financial management mechanism for official development assistance (ODA) programs and projects;

Pursuant to Circular No. 40/2011/TT-BTC dated March 22, 2011 and Circular No. 107/2011/TT-BTC dated July 20, 2011 of the Ministry of Finance amending and supplementing some points of Circular No. 108/2007/TT-BTC dated September 7, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the financial management mechanism for official development assistance (ODA) programs and projects;

Pursuant to Circular No. 225/2010/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2010 of the Ministry of Finance stipulating the financial management regime for non-reimbursable foreign aid from state budget revenue;

Pursuant to Circular No. 87/2010/TT-BTC dated June 15, 2010 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the management and handling of assets of projects funded by the state budget when the project ends;

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development issues this Circular amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No. 44/2009/TT-BNNPTNT dated July 21, 2009 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development guiding financial management of foreign support funds under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as follows:

Article 1. Amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No. 44/2009/TT-BNNPTNT dated July 21, 2009 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development guiding financial management of foreign support funds under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

1. Clause 2 of Article 4 shall be amended as follows:

“2. In addition to the above contents, for independent grant programs/projects (not accompanied by loan projects), the confirmation of grants by the Ministry of Finance (Department of Debt Management and External Financial Affairs) must also be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 225/2010/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2010 of the Ministry of Finance stipulating the financial management regime for non-reimbursable foreign aid from state budget revenue and any subsequent guidance, amendments, supplements, or replacements thereof (if any).”

2. Clause 1 and 2 of Article 9 shall be amended as follows:

“1. Confirmation of grant money and goods with the Ministry of Finance (Department of Debt Management and External Financial Affairs), and reporting on the receipt and use of grants shall only apply to independent grant programs/projects.

The declaration form and the time for confirming grants shall be implemented in accordance with Circular No. 255/2010/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2010 of the Ministry of Finance stipulating the financial management regime for non-reimbursable foreign aid from state budget revenue and any subsequent guidance, amendments, supplements, or replacements thereof (if any).

2. Within 15 days after the end of each quarter, the project owner must submit a report on provisional advance payments for grant funds received during that quarter to the Ministry (Financial Department) for consolidation and submission to the Ministry of Finance.”

3. Clause 1 of Article 10 shall be amended as follows:

“1. Expenditure standards in cases where domestic counterpart funds and loans through cooperation programs/projects with foreign countries are used shall be applied in accordance with Circular No. 219/2009/TT-BTC dated November 19, 2009 of the Ministry of Finance stipulating certain expenditure standards applicable to ODA-funded programs/projects, Circular No. 192/2011/TT-BTC dated December 26, 2011 of the Ministry of Finance amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 219/2009/TT-BTC dated November 19, 2009 of the Ministry of Finance, and any subsequent guidance, amendments, supplements, or replacements thereof (if any).”

4. Clause 5 of Article 12 shall be amended as follows:

“5. For non-reimbursable grant projects:

a) Budget accounting for grant goods: When the project owner/unit confirms the grant, the Ministry of Finance will record actual revenue and expenditures in the budget simultaneously.

b) Budget accounting for grant money:

- Based on the declaration form confirming the grant of the project/unit, the Ministry of Finance will record actual revenue and provisional advance payments in the budget simultaneously.

- The project/unit will implement expenditures and periodically prepare quarterly reports on provisional advance payments for submission to the Ministry (through the Financial Department) for verification and consolidation, and then request the Ministry of Finance to complete the provisional advance payment and record actual expenditures for the project/unit.”

5. Abolish Point 2 of Clause 6 of Article 12.

6. Article 13 shall be supplemented with Clause 3 as follows:

“3. For programs/projects that cease operations or have been dissolved or merged within the fiscal year, the project director and accounting officer must be responsible for settling all revenues and expenditures and completing the final report on grant expenditures up to the cessation date, dissolution date, or merger date before being transferred to another position and bear legal responsibility for any violations (if any) during their tenure.”

7. Article 14 shall be supplemented with Clause 4 as follows:

“4. For projects required to submit original vouchers to the donor, the project owner must make copies of accounting vouchers in accordance with Article 18 of Decree No. 128/2004/NĐ-CP dated May 31, 2004 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Accounting Law applicable in the field of state accounting.”

8. Clause 2 and 3 of Article 17 shall be amended as follows:

"2. For construction investment projects, the annual project settlement shall be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 210/2010/TT-BTC dated December 20, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Finance on the regulations for annual budget settlement of state capital for basic construction projects and any guiding, amending, supplementing, or replacing circulars (if any)."

"3. For construction operation projects, the annual project settlement shall be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 01/2007/TT-BTC dated January 2, 2007, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding the examination, review, and notification of annual settlement for administrative agencies, public institutions, and organizations supported by the state budget and any guiding, amending, supplementing, or replacing circulars (if any)."

9. Clause 2 of Article 18 is amended as follows:

“2. The final project investment capital settlement report shall be prepared in accordance with the provisions of Circular No. 19/2011/TT-BTC dated February 14, 2011, issued by the Ministry of Finance on the regulations for final settlement of projects completed from state funds and any guiding, amending, supplementing, or replacing circulars (if any).”

10. Article 21 is amended as follows:

“Article 21. Handling assets during the usage period and after the completion of the project.”

The handling of assets of projects upon their completion shall be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 87/2010/TT-BTC dated June 15, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding the management and disposal of assets of projects funded by state budgets upon their completion and Article 15 of Circular No. 225/2010/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2010, issued by the Ministry of Finance, stipulating the financial management system for non-reimbursable foreign aid included in the state budget revenue and any guiding, amending, supplementing, or replacing circulars (if any).

11. Article 21a is added after Article 21 as follows:

“Article 21a. Handling surplus funds and exchange rate differences at the end of the project:

1. Surplus funds are the amounts transferred by the donor to Vietnam for project activities that remain in the recipient account after the project's completion. After the project's completion, if not required to be returned to the donor according to international agreements, these surplus funds shall be deposited into a separate account of the Ministry.

2. Exchange rate differences between the accounting exchange rate and the actual exchange rate arising during the accounting and conversion of foreign currency aid to domestic currency shall be recorded separately and treated as part of the project's annual expenses or income. After the project's completion, if there is no specific agreement with the donor, the positive difference amount shall be deposited into a separate account of the Ministry.

3. Management and utilization of surplus funds shall be conducted as follows:

a) Opening and using an account:

- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall instruct its Office to open a separate account at a commercial bank; use the Office's seal to manage the receipt, deposit, and use of surplus funds.

- Through the audit of final settlements and financial inspections (if any), the Project Owners, Project Management Boards, and receiving units must transfer surplus funds to the aforementioned account within fifteen days of receiving the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's (Financial Department) notification.

b) Management organization, rights, and responsibilities of the parties involved:

- The Office shall utilize existing personnel and accounting systems to manage, record, monitor, and prepare reports reflecting the receipt and use of surplus funds transferred to the aforementioned account in accordance with regulations.

- The Financial Department is responsible for directly notifying the Project Owners, Project Management Boards, and receiving units about the deposit of surplus funds; simultaneously, it will assign leaders and specialized staff to direct, coordinate, supervise, and inspect the management and use of the aforementioned funds in conjunction with the Office.

- Staff members of the Office and the Financial Department who concurrently manage the aforementioned funds shall be entitled to allowances corresponding to the proportion of time spent on concurrent duties as recorded in the decision assigning personnel and task distribution, and such allowances shall be paid based on the actual balance of surplus funds in each phase; the payment procedures for allowances shall follow current regulations.

c) Utilization of surplus funds transferred to the Ministry's account for the following purposes:

- Enhancing management capacity for programs/projects under the Ministry, including organizing training courses, attending and hosting seminars; sending for in-country and overseas training, skill enhancement;

- Investing in infrastructure, purchasing equipment, and means of supervision for the implementation of foreign-assisted programs/projects;

- Supporting the auditing and approval of final settlements for completed non-reimbursable aid projects (including organizing meetings, printing and photocopying documents, office supplies, translation services, remuneration for Council and Audit Team members);

- Travel expenses for supervising and evaluating the progress of implementing foreign-assisted programs/projects;

- Overtime pay and concurrent duty allowances for staff involved in managing the funds;

- Other tasks as directed and prioritized by the Ministry.

d) Prior to the Office disbursing and paying out all the above expenditures from surplus funds, the project specialist must prepare a detailed budget proposal for approval by the Financial Department Director based on the agreed-upon overall budget items/content with the Ministry of Finance (Debt Management and External Financial Affairs Department).

đ) Any unutilized surplus funds at the end of the year shall be carried over to the next year for continued use.

e) Expenditure standards shall be implemented in accordance with current national regulations. In cases where specific regulations regarding expenditure objects, standards, and quotas have not been established, the Financial Department shall prepare documents to submit to the Ministry for agreement with the Ministry of Finance (Debt Management and External Financial Affairs Department) as the basis for decision-making.

g) Accounting and reporting system: The Office of the Ministry shall open accounting books and organize accounting records to reflect the situation of receiving and using the aforementioned financial resources; quarterly and annually, it shall be responsible for compiling financial statements and settling revenues and expenditures of surplus funds together with the financial statements and settlements of the unit, and submit them to the competent authority for examination, verification, and approval in accordance with current regulations.”

Article 2. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from November 1, 2012.

2. During implementation, if there are any difficulties, the relevant agencies and units are requested to promptly report to the Ministry for guidance and coordination in resolving them./.