Circular No. 46/2014/TT-BTNMT stipulates on the drafting and issuance of regulatory legal documents within the scope of management under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the development and issuance of normative legal documents

within the scope of management under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

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Pursuant to the Law on Issuing Normative Legal Documents dated June 3, 2008;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Consolidating Normative Legal Documents dated March 22, 2012;

Pursuant to Decree No. 24/2009/NĐ-CP dated March 5, 2009, of the Government detailing and providing measures for implementing the Law on Legislative Documents;

Pursuant to Decree No. 63/2010/NĐ-CP dated June 8, 2010 of the Government on administrative procedure control and Decree No. 48/2013/NĐ-CP dated May 14, 2013 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of related decrees concerning administrative procedure control;

Pursuant to Decree No. 55/2011/NĐ-CP dated July 4, 2011 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of legal affairs bodies;

On the basis of Decree No. 21/2013/NĐ-CP dated March 4, 2013 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

At the proposal of the Director of the Legal Department;

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment issues this Circular regulating the procedures for developing and issuing normative legal documents within the scope of management under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

1. This Circular stipulates the procedures and formalities for proposing and drafting the Program for Developing Normative Legal Documents; drafting, reviewing, issuing, and consolidating normative legal documents issued by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (hereinafter referred to as the Minister), jointly issued, or submitted to competent authorities for issuance.

Article 2. Regulatory legal documents specified in this Circular include:

a) Laws of the National Assembly; ordinances of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly;

b) Resolutions of the National Assembly, Standing Committee of the National Assembly;

c) Decrees of the Government; joint resolutions between the Government and central agencies of political-social organizations; decisions of the Prime Minister;

d) Circulars of the Minister; joint circulars between the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment and other Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court, Procurator General of the Supreme People's Procuracy.

3. The drafting and issuance of Circulars on national technical standards in the field of natural resources and environment shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of laws on technical standards and this Circular.

Article 2. Applicability

This Circular applies to Departments, Bureaus, Divisions, the Office of the Ministry, the Inspectorate of the Ministry, subordinate units of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (hereinafter referred to as units under the Ministry); Provincial Departments of Natural Resources and Environment under centrally governed cities; organizations and individuals related to the development and issuance of normative legal documents within the scope of management under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Article 3. Form, language, and presentation techniques of normative legal documents

1. The form, language, and presentation techniques of documents shall be implemented in accordance with Article 5 and Article 7 of the Law on Issuing Normative Legal Documents; Resolution No. 1139/2007/UBTVQH11 dated July 3, 2007 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly promulgating the Regulation on Presentation Techniques of Draft Normative Legal Documents of the National Assembly, Standing Committee of the National Assembly; Article 60 of Decree No. 24/2009/NĐ-CP dated March 5, 2009 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Issuing Normative Legal Documents (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 24/2009/NĐ-CP); Circular No. 25/2011/TT-BTP dated December 27, 2011 of the Minister of Justice on the form, presentation techniques of normative legal documents of the Government, Prime Minister, Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, and joint normative legal documents and attached models in this Circular, specifically:

a) Proposal for developing documents: Model No. 01;

b) Detailed outline and planned schedule for organizing the drafting of documents: Model No. 02;

c) Decision establishing the Drafting Board, Editorial Team, Drafting Team: Model No. 03;

d) Report on issuing documents, including: Report to the Government for issuing decrees, joint resolutions, Report to the Prime Minister for issuing decisions, and Report to the Minister for issuing circulars, joint circulars: Model No. 04;

đ) Summary of explanations on adopting comments on draft normative legal documents: Model No. 05;

e) Letter requesting review, including: Letter sent to the Ministry of Justice and Letter sent to the Legal Department: Model No. 06;

g) Detailed explanatory report on draft normative legal documents: Model No. 07;

h) Preliminary impact assessment report on documents: Model No. 08;

i) Impact assessment report on documents: Model No. 09;

k) Press release: Model No. 10;

l) Review letter from the Legal Department: Model No. 11.

2. The technique for citing related documents is as follows:

a) Fully record the name of the document; number, code of the document; name of the agency or organization issuing the document; date, month, year of issuance of the document. In cases where parts, chapters, sections of a normative legal document are cited, it must specify these parts, chapters, sections of the document;

b) In cases where clauses, points are cited, there is no need to clearly identify the structural unit containing the clause, point;

c) In cases where parts, chapters, sections, clauses, points of a normative legal document are cited, they must be cited in ascending order and the name of the document; if citing from one clause, point to another clause, point within the same article or from one section, article to another section, article within the same chapter of the same document, there is no need to specify the name of the document but must cite specifically.

Article 4. Impact assessment of legal documents and administrative procedures

1. The impact assessment report of a legal document includes:

a) Preliminary impact assessment report of a legal document: The leading unit drafting when proposing to establish laws, ordinances, decrees shall be responsible for preparing the preliminary impact assessment report according to Model No. 08 issued together with this Circular.

The draft of the preliminary impact assessment report must be published on the Ministry's electronic portal for at least 20 (twenty) days to allow agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments. The agency conducting the preliminary impact assessment shall be responsible for completing the report based on the received comments.

b) Impact assessment report of a legal document: Based on the results of the preliminary impact assessment, the leading unit drafting shall be responsible for preparing the impact assessment report before and during the drafting process of the legal document according to Model No. 09 issued together with this Circular. The draft of the impact assessment report of the legal document must be published along with relevant data, cost-benefit calculations, and the draft legal document on the Government’s electronic portal and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s electronic portal for at least 30 (thirty) days to allow agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments; the agency conducting the impact assessment shall be responsible for completing the impact assessment report based on the received comments.

c) Impact assessment report of a legal document three years after the date the law, ordinance, or decree takes effect. The leading unit drafting shall be responsible for preparing the impact assessment report of the legal document according to the following provisions:

- The content of the impact assessment report of the legal document after implementation includes: analysis of actual costs, benefits, and other impacts; compliance levels of different groups implementing the document; and recommendations for enforcement measures or amendments to or abolition of the document if necessary;

- The draft of the impact assessment report of the legal document after implementation must be published along with relevant data and cost-benefit calculations on the Ministry's electronic portal for at least 30 (thirty) days to allow agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments;

- The agency conducting the impact assessment shall be responsible for completing the report based on the received comments and submitting it to the Ministry of Justice for consolidation and reporting to the Government.

2. The leading unit drafting legal documents that include administrative procedures must organize the impact assessment of administrative procedures according to the provisions of Decree No. 63/2010/NĐ-CP dated June 8, 2010 of the Government on administrative procedure control (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 63/2010/NĐ-CP); Decree No. 48/2013/NĐ-CP dated May 14, 2013 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of related decrees concerning administrative procedure control (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 48/2013/NĐ-CP), and Circular No. 07/2014/TT-BTP dated February 24, 2014 of the Minister of Justice guiding the impact assessment of administrative procedures and the review and assessment of administrative procedures (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 07/2014/TT-BTP).

Article 5. Effective Date of Legal Normative Documents

1. The effective date of legal normative documents is specifically determined in the document but shall not be earlier than 45 (forty-five) days from the date of publication or issuance.

2. For legal normative documents containing content related to international agreements and treaties to which Vietnam is a party, their effectiveness will be applied according to such international agreements and treaties.

Article 6. Compliance with regulations on protecting state secrets

The drafting, soliciting opinions, reviewing, examining, sending, and promulgating normative legal documents containing items listed in the state secret directory must comply with the provisions of the law on protecting state secrets.

Article 7. Budget for building normative legal documents

1. The budget for building normative legal documents includes:

a) State budget funds;

b) Aid and other sources as prescribed by law.

2. The Legal Affairs Department is responsible for consolidating the budget for the Ministry's activities to build normative legal documents, submitting it to the Finance Department to develop a distribution plan and submit it to the Ministry for decision-making on allocating the budget as stipulated in Point a Clause 1 Article 7 to relevant units for implementation.

3. Annually, the Legal Affairs Department takes the lead and coordinates with the International Cooperation Department to compile a list of priority normative legal documents for mobilizing and using Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding, to be submitted to the Minister for approval; they also consolidate and report to the Minister on the management and use of ODA funding for the Ministry's activities to build normative legal documents.

Chapter II

PROGRAM FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEGAL REGULATORY DOCUMENTS

Article 8. Program for Building Normative Legal Documents

1. The program for building normative legal documents of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment includes:

a) The program for building laws and resolutions of the National Assembly; ordinances and resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly during their term and annually, which the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is assigned to draft and submit to the competent authority for promulgation (hereinafter referred to collectively as the program for building laws and ordinances);

b) The program for building decrees and joint resolutions, which the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is assigned to draft and submit to the Government for promulgation (hereinafter referred to collectively as the program for building decrees);

c) The program for building decisions of the Prime Minister, which the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is assigned to draft and submit to the Government for promulgation (hereinafter referred to collectively as the program for building decisions);

d) The program for building circulars of the Minister and joint circulars, which the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is assigned to draft (hereinafter referred to collectively as the program for building circulars).

2. Basis for establishing the program for building normative legal documents:

a) Assigned according to the provisions of laws, resolutions of the National Assembly; ordinances and resolutions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly; decrees and joint resolutions of the Government, decisions of the Prime Minister, or documents of competent state agencies;

b) Proposals from subordinate units of the Ministry;

c) Results of reviews and proposals for simplifying administrative procedures approved by competent state agencies;

d) Proposals and recommendations from provincial natural resources and environment departments and related organizations and individuals.

3. Proposals for building documents, detailed outlines, and anticipated plans for organizing the drafting of documents shall be made according to Model No. 01 and Model No. 02 issued together with this Circular.

4. Annually, the Minister approves the program for building normative legal documents of the Ministry as specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 9. Proposing to Build Laws and Ordinances

1. Documentation for proposing to build laws and ordinances

a) Documentation for proposing to build laws and ordinances during the term of the National Assembly includes:

- Explanation of the proposal to build laws and ordinances: The explanation of the proposal to build laws and ordinances must clearly state the name of the document and the necessity of issuing the document; the subjects and scope regulated by the document; the main contents of the document; basic policies of the document and policy objectives; measures to implement the policy; positive and negative impacts of the policy; anticipated resources and conditions for drafting the document; proposed drafting agency and time frame for submission to the National Assembly and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly;

- Preliminary impact assessment report of the document.

b) Documentation for proposing to build laws and ordinances annually includes:

- Explanation of the proposal to build laws and ordinances: The explanation of the proposal to build laws and ordinances must clearly state the necessity of issuing laws and ordinances; guiding principles for drafting and preparation process; basic policies of the document and policy objectives; positive and negative impacts of the policy and measures to implement the policy;

- Summary of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals;

- Opinions of the Ministry of Finance on the rationality of the anticipated financial resources, and opinions of the Ministry of Home Affairs on the rationality of the anticipated human resources;

- Detailed outline of the draft document.

2. Units proposing to build laws and ordinances are responsible for submitting annual documentation or documentation for the entire term of the National Assembly to the Legal Affairs Department within the following deadlines:

a) Before February 1st of the first year of the National Assembly term for documentation proposing to build laws and ordinances for the term of the National Assembly;

b) At least 45 days before January 1st of the year preceding the year in which the National Assembly and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly are expected to be submitted for documentation proposing to build laws and ordinances annually.

3. The Legal Affairs Department shall be responsible for:

a) Consolidate annual proposals to build laws and ordinances and those for the entire term based on proposals from subordinate units of the Ministry and recommendations from agencies, organizations, and individuals;

b) Propose the leadership of the Ministry to convene meetings with units under the Ministry, with the participation of representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the Government, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Home Affairs to provide opinions on proposals to build laws and ordinances if deemed necessary;

c) Take the lead and coordinate with relevant agencies and units to refine and complete the documentation for proposals to build laws and ordinances for submission to the Minister for consideration and decision, and send it to the Ministry of Justice.

Article 10. Proposing to establish a decree

1. The unit proposing to establish a decree shall be responsible for:

a) Organizing to collect opinions from related units on the proposal to establish a decree; publishing the explanatory memorandum on the proposal to establish a decree and the preliminary impact assessment report of the document on the Ministry's electronic portal for at least 20 (twenty) days to allow agencies, organizations, and individuals to participate in providing opinions;

b) Taking the lead and coordinating with related units to study and perfect the proposal establishment dossier based on the feedback received, and submitting the proposal dossier to the Legal Department no later than July 1st of the preceding year for consolidation. The dossier includes:

- An explanatory memorandum on the proposal to establish the Decree, specifying the name of the document, the necessity of issuing the document, the basis for issuance, the purpose of issuance, basic policies, main contents of the document; proposed list of administrative procedures (if applicable);

- A list of decrees proposed to be included in the program, including the name of the document, the drafting agency, the expected time to submit to the Government;

- Preliminary impact assessment report of the document.

2. The Legal Department shall be responsible for:

a) Establishing a proposal to establish a decree based on the proposals of subordinate units within the Ministry, suggestions from agencies, organizations, and individuals, and according to the requirements for establishing a decree proposal;

b) In case of necessity, requesting the Ministry's leadership to convene a meeting with related units to provide opinions on the proposal to establish a decree;

c) Coordinating with the Ministry's Office to submit the proposal to establish a decree concerning natural resources and environment to the Government Office and the Ministry of Justice no later than August 1st of the preceding year.

Article 11. Proposing to establish a Prime Minister's Decision

1. The unit proposing to establish a decision shall be responsible for preparing the proposal establishment dossier and submitting it to the Legal Department no later than July 1st of the preceding year. The dossier includes:

a) An explanatory memorandum on the proposal to establish the Decision, specifying the name of the document, the necessity of issuing the document, the basis for issuance, and the main contents of the document;

b) The name of the leading drafting unit, the submission time.

2. The Legal Department shall be responsible for coordinating with the Ministry's Office to submit the proposal to establish a decision to the Government Office and the Ministry of Justice no later than August 1st of the preceding year.

Article 12. Establishing a program to draft circulars and joint circulars

1. Units under the Ministry, based on their assigned functions and tasks, proposals, and suggestions from provincial Natural Resources and Environment Departments, relevant organizations, and individuals, and actual needs, shall propose circulars and joint circulars that need to be established and send them to the Legal Department before July 1st of the preceding year of the planned issuance year.

For units under the Ministry that are public service entities, the proposed list of regulatory documents to be issued must have written comments from the General Department or Bureau designated to assist the Minister in exercising state management functions in their respective fields before being sent to the Legal Department for consolidation.

The content of the proposal shall clearly specify: the name of the document, the necessity of issuing, legal basis, scope of regulation, subjects of application, proposed list of administrative procedures (if applicable), expected issuance time (by month), leading unit, cooperating unit, conditions to ensure the establishment and enforcement of the document.

2. Within 20 (twenty) working days from the date of receipt of the proposed list of circulars and joint circulars to be issued from units, the Legal Department shall be responsible for consolidating and collecting opinions on the proposal to establish circulars and joint circulars to seek approval from the Ministry's leadership and submit to the Minister for approval of the program to establish circulars and joint circulars.

If the proposal establishment dossier of units does not meet the requirements stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article, within three (3) working days, the Legal Department shall issue a document requesting units to supplement and perfect. If the unit proposing to establish the document does not supplement and perfect, it will not be included in the Ministry's program to establish regulatory documents.

3. In case of necessity, the Legal Department may organize meetings to provide opinions on the draft program to establish circulars of the Ministry; request the unit proposing to establish the document to explain issues that need further clarification.

Article 13. Supervision of administrative procedures during the process of proposing to establish regulatory legal documents

1. For proposals to establish regulatory legal documents containing provisions on administrative procedures, the units planning to register shall be responsible for implementing the following supplementary activities to serve as the basis for proposing to establish documents containing provisions on administrative procedures:

a) For proposals to establish new documents: study clearly the quantity, form, and proposed provisions on administrative procedures, and estimate the number of entities affected by the administrative procedures stipulated in the document;

b) For proposals to amend or supplement existing documents: evaluate the practical effectiveness and appropriateness of the current administrative procedures stipulated in the regulatory legal documents proposed for amendment or supplementation with respect to the objectives and management context at the time of issuance of the document and at the time of amendment or supplementation.

2. When establishing proposals to create regulatory legal documents containing provisions on administrative procedures, the units shall be responsible for supplementing in the explanatory memorandum of the proposal the contents clearly stating the practical basis, necessity, estimated quantity, form, and methods of implementing administrative procedures. In cases where the document proposed for establishment is an amendment or supplementation of an existing document, only the contents related to amendments on administrative procedures shall be explained.

Article 14. Adjustment and supplementation of the program for establishing regulatory legal documents

1. The adjustment and supplementation of the program for establishing regulatory legal documents shall be carried out in the following cases:

a) Removing from the program regulatory legal documents that are not necessary to issue or are no longer necessary to issue due to changes in economic and social conditions;

b) Supplementing the program with regulatory legal documents required urgently for managing various aspects of social life or must be amended according to newly issued documents to ensure the consistency of the legal system or to implement international commitments;

c) Adjusting the submission time due to delays in drafting regulatory legal documents;

d) Adjusting the submission time due to the draft regulatory legal document not meeting quality requirements.

2. Proposals for adjusting and supplementing the program for establishing regulatory legal documents shall be implemented according to the procedures for proposing established under this Circular.

In cases where a proposal is made to remove from the program or adjust the submission time of regulatory legal documents, the proposing agency must submit a report clearly stating the reasons, directions, solutions, and implementation timeline.

3. When there is an adjustment or supplementation of the program for establishing regulatory legal documents, the units proposing the adjustment or supplementation shall be responsible for:

a) Reporting to the Deputy Minister in charge about the adjustment or supplementation of the program for establishing regulatory legal documents to seek guidance;

b) Sending the Legal Affairs Department the document proposing the adjustment or supplementation of the program for establishing regulatory legal documents (clearly indicating the content to be adjusted or supplemented and providing detailed explanations) to carry out the necessary procedures for adjusting or supplementing the program for establishing regulatory legal documents;

c) The Legal Affairs Department shall compile and report to the Minister for signing the document sent to the Office of the Government regarding adjustments or supplements to the program for establishing laws, ordinances, resolutions, decrees, decisions; submitting the Minister's decision to adjust or supplement the annual program for establishing regulatory legal documents of the Ministry.

4. The implementation of adjustments or supplements to the program for establishing regulatory legal documents can only be carried out once annually in June.

Article 15. Compilation, monitoring, urging, and reporting on the implementation of the program to build regulatory legal documents

1. The head of the unit responsible for drafting shall be responsible for:

a) Ensuring the progress, procedures, and quality of regulatory legal documents;

b) Implementing regular reporting systems (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually) or ad hoc reports on the implementation of the program to build regulatory legal documents to the Legal Department for consolidation and reporting to the Minister or competent authority;

For regulatory legal documents that are behind schedule, the head of the unit must report clearly the reasons for the delay and propose measures to address it;

c) Reports shall be submitted six months before June 15th and annually before November 15th each year.

2. Departments and General Departments assigned by the Minister to manage state administration functions in their respective fields shall be responsible for compiling, monitoring, urging, and reporting on the implementation of the program to build regulatory legal documents in their managed areas.

Legal departments of Departments and General Departments shall assist in compiling, monitoring, urging, and reporting on the implementation of the program to build regulatory legal documents within their Departments and General Departments; monitoring and consolidating the progress of building regulatory legal documents of subordinate public institutions in their managed areas.

3. The Legal Affairs Department shall be responsible for:

a) Urging and consolidating reports on the progress of implementing the program to build regulatory legal documents of the Ministry;

b) Reporting to the Minister on issues arising during the implementation of the program to build regulatory legal documents of the Ministry;

c) Drafting reports every six months, annually, or ad hoc on the work of building regulatory legal documents for submission to the Minister for signature and transmission to the competent authority.

4. The results of implementing the program to build regulatory legal documents of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment are one of the criteria for annual commendation and reward evaluation of units under the Ministry.

Chapter III

DRAFTING AND ISSUANCE OF NORMATIVE LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Section 1

DRAFTING LAWS, ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS, DECREES, DECISIONS

Article 16. Drafting Board

1. The authority to decide on the establishment, composition, tasks of the Drafting Board, duties of the Chairperson of the Drafting Board, responsibilities of members of the Drafting Board, and activities of the Drafting Board shall be implemented according to the provisions of Articles 30, 31, 32, and Article 60 of the Law on Issuing Regulatory Legal Documents, Articles 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 of Decree No. 24/2009/NĐ-CP, and other relevant laws.

2. The establishment of the Drafting Board for decisions of the Prime Minister shall be proposed by the leading drafting unit if deemed necessary.

Article 17. Editorial Team

1. In cases where a Drafting Board is established, the Chairperson of the Drafting Board shall establish an Editorial Team to assist the Drafting Board in performing its tasks. If no Drafting Board is established, and if deemed necessary, the leading drafting unit shall propose and submit to the Ministry's leadership for decision on establishing an Editorial Team.

2. The Editorial Team operates under the direction of the Chairperson of the Drafting Board.

Members of the Editorial Team include representatives from related subordinate units of the Ministry and the Ministry’s legal department, General Departments, and Departments, including the focal point officer for administrative procedure control of the leading drafting unit (for draft regulatory legal documents containing administrative procedures); experts from agencies and organizations whose representatives are members of the Drafting Board, experts and scientists knowledgeable about the specialized issues covered by the draft regulatory legal documents. The number of members of the Editorial Team shall be at least nine (9) people.

3. For law and ordinance projects, the Head of the Editorial Team is a member of the Drafting Board and the head of the leading drafting unit. For other drafts, the Head of the Editorial Team is the leader of the leading drafting unit.

4. The Head of the Editorial Team is responsible to the Chairperson of the Drafting Board for the progress and quality of the draft regulatory legal documents.

Article 18. Responsibilities of the Leading Unit in Drafting

1. Organizing the establishment of the Drafting Board and developing the work plan

a) Taking the lead and coordinating with the Legal Affairs Department to prepare the draft Decision on establishing the Drafting Board and the Editorial Team for submission to the Ministry's leadership for consideration and decision;

b) Developing the work plan for the Drafting Board; preparing relevant materials related to the content of regulatory legal documents; drafting the work plan; preparing outlines and compiling draft regulatory legal documents according to the guidance of the Drafting Board Chair;

c) Performing other tasks assigned by the Drafting Board Chair.

2. Organizing the drafting of legal documents

a) Summarizing the implementation of laws, evaluating current regulatory legal documents related to the draft regulatory legal document; surveying and researching actual conditions at localities, bases, or foreign countries; assessing the current social relations related to the main content of the draft regulatory legal document;

b) Organizing the drafting of regulatory legal documents according to schedule, ensuring quality. Promptly seeking opinions and guidance from the Deputy Minister responsible for important contents of the draft regulatory legal document;

c) Assessing the impact of administrative procedures (for draft regulatory legal documents containing provisions on administrative procedures);

d) Organizing the collection of opinions and studying, incorporating opinions of relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals regarding the regulatory legal document;

đ) Editing the draft regulatory legal document, completing the dossier, drafting the draft Memorandum for the Minister's approval, sending it to the Legal Affairs Department for review and joint submission of the draft regulatory legal document;

e) Submitting the draft regulatory legal document dossier to the Minister before widely soliciting opinions; sending it to the Ministry of Justice for verification;

g) Completing the draft regulatory legal document after receiving comments and reviews from competent authorities; submitting it to the Government or the Prime Minister;

3. Taking the lead and coordinating with units under the Ministry to ensure the operational conditions of the Drafting Board and the Editorial Team; preparing meetings of the Drafting Board and the Editorial Team, seminars, and conferences on draft regulatory legal documents;

4. Being responsible to the Minister and the Drafting Board Chair for the content, quality, and progress of drafting regulatory legal documents.

Article 19. Organization of Soliciting Opinions During the Drafting Process of Regulatory Legal Documents

1. The draft regulatory legal document must be solicited for opinions from relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals, and directly affected entities according to Articles 35, 62, Clause 2 Article 67 of the Law on Enacting Regulatory Legal Documents and Articles 27, Clause 5 Article 31 of Decree No. 24/2009/NĐ-CP.

2. Soliciting Opinions from Units Related to the Ministry

The leading unit in drafting is responsible for organizing the solicitation of opinions from directly related units under the Ministry regarding the draft regulatory legal document. Units under the Ministry are responsible for providing opinions when requested to participate in the opinion-gathering process; the head of the unit providing opinions shall be responsible to the Minister for not participating or delaying participation in the opinion-gathering process and any resulting issues related to the content within the unit’s management responsibility.

3. Soliciting Opinions from Legal Departments at General Departments and Bureaus under the Ministry

The leading unit in drafting is responsible for soliciting opinions from its own legal department regarding the draft regulatory legal document. The legal department is responsible for participating in the opinion-gathering process for draft regulatory legal documents drafted by units under the General Departments and Bureaus.

4. For draft regulatory legal documents related to the rights and obligations of enterprises, the leading unit in drafting is responsible for submitting the draft to the Minister for decision to send to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry to solicit opinions from enterprises.

5. For draft regulatory legal documents related to technical trade barriers (TBT), the leading unit in drafting sends the draft regulatory legal document to the TBT Vietnam Office to notify the WTO Secretariat and member countries for their opinions. The time for soliciting opinions is at least sixty days.

6. For draft regulatory legal documents containing provisions on administrative procedures:

a) The leading unit in drafting is responsible for soliciting opinions from the Administrative Procedure Control Department of the Ministry of Justice prior to submitting the draft regulatory legal document to the Ministry of Justice for verification for draft regulatory legal documents within the authority of the Government, the Prime Minister; draft regulatory legal documents submitted by the Government to the National Assembly, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly;

b) The Legal Affairs Department leads and coordinates with the leading unit in drafting to organize the solicitation of opinions from relevant agencies, organizations, and affected entities through consultations, conferences, and seminars for new administrative procedure provisions; administrative procedures stipulated in projects and drafts that have significant impacts on regulated entities; where there are differing opinions on administrative procedure provisions among ministries and sectors or between ministries and sectors and individuals or organizations; complex administrative procedure provisions involving two or more ministries and sectors.

Article 20. Compilation, Incorporation of Opinions and Revision of Draft Regulatory Legal Documents

1. The leading unit responsible for drafting shall be responsible for compiling, studying, incorporating, and explaining opinions on contributions from agencies, organizations, individuals; opinions of the Administrative Procedure Control Department and the Ministry of Justice regarding administrative procedure provisions in draft regulatory legal documents. In cases where opinions are not incorporated, the leading unit responsible for drafting must provide specific explanations.

The incorporation of opinions on administrative procedure provisions in draft regulatory legal documents shall be reflected as a separate part in the document for incorporating and explaining opinions, to be sent to the Administrative Procedure Control Department and the Ministry of Justice.

2. After revising the draft regulatory legal document, the leading unit responsible for drafting shall report and seek guidance from the Head of the Drafting Board on progress, content, complex issues, and issues with differing opinions concerning the draft regulatory legal document.

3. After receiving guidance from the Head of the Drafting Board, the head of the leading unit responsible for drafting and the Editorial Team shall be responsible for revising the draft regulatory legal document. If deemed necessary, the leading unit responsible for drafting may continue to seek participation opinions from relevant agencies, units, organizations, and individuals both within and outside the Ministry.

Article 21. Review and Joint Signature of Draft Regulatory Legal Documents

1. Before submitting the draft regulatory legal document for review and signature by the Minister for submission to the Ministry of Justice for examination and approval, and then to the Government and the Prime Minister for consideration and issuance, the leading unit responsible for drafting shall be responsible for sending the draft regulatory legal document dossier to the Legal Affairs Department for review and joint signature.

2. Within three working days from the date of receipt of the draft regulatory legal document dossier, the Legal Affairs Department shall be responsible for reviewing the dossier and signing the joint signature.

During the review process, if necessary, the Legal Affairs Department shall work with the leading unit responsible for drafting to exchange and clarify issues related to the joint signature dossier. In cases of disagreement, the Legal Affairs Department shall provide written comments to report to the Minister for consideration and decision.

Article 22. Submission of Draft Regulatory Legal Document Dossier for Examination by the Ministry of Justice

1. The draft regulatory legal document shall be submitted to the Ministry of Justice for examination before being submitted to the Government and the Prime Minister for consideration and issuance.

2. The dossier for examination of draft laws, ordinances, and resolutions includes:

a) A letter requesting review;

b) A report from the Government on the draft law, ordinance, or resolution;

c) The draft document after having studied and incorporated opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals;

d) A detailed explanation of the draft law, ordinance, or resolution and a report on the impact assessment of the draft document; an impact assessment on administrative procedures;

đ) A report summarizing the implementation of the law and evaluating the current social relations related to the main content of the draft law, ordinance, or resolution;

e) A summary of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals on the content of the draft law, ordinance, or resolution; copies of opinions from ministries, equivalent ministries, and government agencies; reports explaining and incorporating opinions on the draft law, ordinance, or resolution;

g) Other documents (if any).

3. The dossier for examination of draft decrees includes:

a) A letter requesting review;

b) A report from the Government on the draft decree;

c) The draft decree after having studied and incorporated opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals;

d) A detailed explanation and a report on the impact assessment of the draft document; an impact assessment on administrative procedures for cases where the draft decree contains provisions on administrative procedures;

đ) A summary of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals directly affected by the document; copies of opinions from ministries, equivalent ministries, and government agencies; a report explaining the incorporation of opinions;

e) Other documents (if any).

4. The dossier for examination of draft decisions of the Prime Minister includes:

a) A letter requesting review;

b) A draft report to the Prime Minister on the issuance of the document;

c) A detailed explanation of the draft; an impact assessment on administrative procedures for cases where the draft decision contains provisions on administrative procedures;

d) The draft document after incorporating opinions;

đ) A summary of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals on the draft document; copies of opinions from ministries, equivalent ministries, and government agencies; a report explaining and incorporating opinions on the draft.

5. The leading unit responsible for drafting shall be responsible for:

a) Sending the complete draft regulatory legal document dossier as stipulated in Clause 2, 3, and 4 of this Article to the Ministry of Justice;

b) Providing necessary information and materials related to the draft regulatory legal document upon request of the examining agency.

6. The Legal Affairs Department shall be responsible for coordinating with the leading unit responsible for drafting to prepare the dossier for submission to the Ministry of Justice for examination.

Article 23. Research, adopt comments for review, and perfect draft regulatory legal documents

The leading unit responsible for drafting shall be responsible for taking the lead and coordinating with the Legal Department to research and adopt the comments from the Ministry of Justice for editing and perfecting the draft regulatory legal document. The document explaining the adoption and non-adoption of the review comments must be sent to the Ministry of Justice.

Article 24. Submitting draft regulatory legal documents to the Government and the Prime Minister

The leading unit responsible for drafting shall be responsible for taking the lead and coordinating with the Legal Department to prepare the dossier of the draft regulatory legal document for submission to the Minister for submission to the Government and the Prime Minister according to the following provisions:

1. The dossier of the draft Law, Ordinance, and draft Resolution submitted to the Government includes:

a) Submission letter to the Government;

b) Draft document;

c) Detailed explanation about the draft project and draft, and report on the impact assessment of the draft document;

d) Report on review, explanation, adoption of review comments, and summary of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals regarding the draft project and draft;

đ) Report on the summary of the implementation of laws and evaluation of the current social relations related to the main content of the draft project and draft;

e) Other documents (if any).

2. The dossier of the draft Decree submitted to the Government includes:

a) The Government’s report on the draft decree;

b) Draft Decree after adopting comments from the reviewing agency and opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals;

c) Review comments from the Ministry of Justice;

d) Explanation and adoption of review comments and adoption of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals;

đ) Opinions of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly and explanations on the adoption of opinions from the Standing Committee of the National Assembly for draft Decrees that require the opinion of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly before issuance;

e) Detailed explanation and report on the impact assessment of the draft Decree;

g) Summary of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals and suggestions from agencies, organizations, and individuals;

h) Other documents (if any).

3. The dossier of the draft Decision submitted to the Prime Minister includes:

a) Submission letter to the Prime Minister regarding the draft Decision;

b) Draft Decision after adopting comments from the reviewing agency and opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals;

c) Review comments from the Ministry of Justice;

d) Explanation and adoption of review comments and adoption of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals;

đ) Summary of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals and suggestions from agencies, organizations, and individuals;

e) Other documents (if any).

Article 25. Providing information for press release construction

1. Within three working days from the date the Government Decree or Prime Minister Decision is signed and issued, the leading unit responsible for drafting must send the Legal Department the information to construct the Press Release according to Model No. 10 issued together with this Circular. Information submission for the Press Release is carried out through official letters and email.

2. Within two working days from the date of receiving the information sent by units according to Clause 1 of this Article, the Legal Department is responsible for compiling and providing information to the Ministry of Justice about the regulatory legal documents of the Government and the Prime Minister drafted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to serve the construction of the Press Release.

Section 2

DRAFTING CIRCULARS AND JOINT CIRCULARS

Article 26. Drafting Team

1. Within thirty days from the date the Minister approves the Program for Building Regulatory Legal Documents within the scope of the Ministry's administrative management, the unit assigned to take the lead in drafting must complete the draft decision on establishing the Drafting Team for submission to the Minister for consideration and decision.

2. Composition of the Drafting Team:

a) The Head of the Drafting Team is the Leader of the unit assigned by the Minister to take the lead in drafting;

b) Members of the Drafting Team include representatives of relevant units under the Ministry, the legal department of the Ministry, General Departments, specialized Bureaus, experts, and scientists who are knowledgeable about the specialized issues covered by the draft regulatory legal document.

In case the draft regulatory legal document is led by a public service unit under the Ministry, the Deputy Head of the Drafting Team is the Leader of the General Department or Bureau assigned by the Ministry to perform state management functions in the field.

For draft regulatory legal documents containing administrative procedures, members of the Drafting Team must include the focal point staff member responsible for supervising administrative procedures of the leading drafting unit.

For technical regulations, technical standards, and economic-technical norms, the leading drafting unit has the responsibility to invite civil servants from the Science and Technology Department and the Planning Department to join the Drafting Team.

c) The Drafting Team consists of no more than eleven people.

3. Responsibilities of the Head of the Drafting Team:

The Head of the Drafting Team is responsible for determining the purpose, requirements, content, scope, and regulated subjects of the draft regulatory legal document; directing, assigning, and managing tasks to ensure the quality of the drafted document and the progress of its implementation.

4. Responsibilities of the members of the Drafting Team:

a) Implement tasks related to the construction of the document according to the assignment of the Head;

b) Attend all meetings and activities of the Drafting Team;

c) Propose opinions related to the contents of the document and the construction of the document.

5. The Drafting Team must organize at least three meetings throughout the entire drafting process.

6. In cases where necessary, for urgent issues not included in the Program for Building Regulatory Legal Documents within the scope of the Ministry's administrative management, the leading unit assigned or proposing to draft in coordination with the Legal Department may report to the Minister for permission not to establish a Drafting Team.

Article 27. Drafting of Documents

1. The leading unit drafting the document and the Drafting Team shall be responsible for:

a) Summarizing and evaluating the current status of legal provisions and the implementation of laws; surveying and assessing the current social relations related to the draft; researching relevant information and materials; preparing outlines, compiling, and revising the draft; organizing the solicitation of opinions; preparing the proposal and related documents for the draft.

During the drafting process, the leading unit may mobilize the participation of research institutes, universities, associations, organizations, or experts and scientists with sufficient conditions and capabilities in summarizing and evaluating the situation of implementing laws; reviewing and evaluating existing legal normative documents; conducting sociological surveys and investigations; assessing the current social relations related to the content of the draft; collecting, studying, and comparing relevant materials, international treaties, and agreements related to the draft;

b) Evaluating the impact of administrative procedures (for drafts of circulars stipulating administrative procedures);

c) Organizing the solicitation of opinions and researching, incorporating opinions from relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals on the draft in accordance with Articles 28 and 29 of this Circular;

d) Preparing a proposal to the Minister for issuing the document. The proposal must clearly state the necessity of issuing the document; the subjects and scope regulated by the document; the drafting process and the solicitation of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals; issues with differing opinions; explaining the main content of the document, including its objectives and key policy issues to be addressed, solutions to these issues, positive and negative impacts of the solutions based on qualitative or quantitative analysis of costs and benefits, and clearly stating the optimal solution to address the issue;

đ) Completing the draft circular;

e) Incorporating and explaining comments from the Legal Affairs Department's legal review; comments from the Science and Technology Department's specialized review for technical regulations and technical standards; comments from the Planning Department for drafts of economic and technical norms;

g) Submitting to the Vice Minister in charge for guidance during the drafting of the circular;

h) Submitting to the Minister for guidance; considering and promulgating.

2. The Legal Department shall be responsible for:

a) Participating in drafting the circular; providing comments and reviewing the draft circular;

b) Coordinating with the leading units drafting the circular to submit to the Ministry's leadership for consideration and signing to promulgate the circular.

3. Subordinate units under the Ministry, Provincial Departments of Natural Resources and Environment shall participate in the Drafting Team of the circular at the request of the leading unit drafting the circular; provide comments on the draft circular when it is sent out for soliciting opinions.

Article 28. Solicitation of Opinions

1. The draft circular must solicit opinions from relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals directly affected by the document through direct solicitation, sending the draft for comments, seminars, and conferences. The draft circular must be posted on the Ministry's electronic portal for at least 60 (sixty) days to solicit opinions from organizations, individuals, and businesses.

In cases where the draft circular includes administrative procedures, in addition to participating in commenting on the content of the draft, the Legal Affairs Department is responsible for providing comments on administrative procedures for draft circulars that include administrative procedures.

2. For draft circulars related to the rights and obligations of citizens and businesses; involving multiple Ministries, sectors, or localities, or requiring clear delineation of responsibilities and cooperation among relevant parties, the leading unit drafting the circular shall submit a letter to the Ministry of Justice, relevant Ministries and sectors, and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry for their opinions.

Article 29. Compilation, Incorporation of Opinions and Revision of Draft Circulars

1. The leading unit responsible for drafting shall be responsible for researching, incorporating, and explaining opinions from agencies, units, organizations, and individuals. In cases where opinions are not incorporated, the leading unit must provide a written explanation.

The incorporation of opinions on administrative procedures in draft circulars shall be reflected as a separate part in the document of incorporation and explanation, to be sent to the Legal Department.

2. The leading unit responsible for drafting shall report to the Deputy Minister in charge to seek guidance on the incorporation of opinions and revision of the draft.

3. The leading unit responsible for drafting shall report to the Minister on progress, content, complex issues, differing opinions, and seek guidance.

4. After receiving the Minister's guidance, the leading unit responsible for drafting and the drafting team shall be responsible for revising the draft. If deemed necessary, the leading unit may continue to solicit participation opinions from relevant agencies, units, organizations, and individuals inside and outside the Ministry.

Article 30. Organization of Review and Examination of Draft Circulars

1. The Legal Department shall be responsible for reviewing draft circulars prepared by units under the Ministry before submitting them to the Minister for consideration and signature.

2. For draft circulars stipulating technical regulations, technical standards, economic-technical norms, the review of expertise shall be carried out as follows:

a) The Science and Technology Department shall be responsible for reviewing and examining the expertise of draft circulars stipulating technical regulations and technical standards. The application dossier for review and examination includes:

- A letter requesting review and examination;

- The draft memorandum to the Minister;

- The draft document after incorporating opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals;

- A summary of explanations and incorporation of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals; copies of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals (if any);

- Other related documents (if any).

Within ten working days from the date of receipt of complete valid files, the Science and Technology Department shall be responsible for reviewing the expertise of draft circulars stipulating technical regulations, examining draft technical standards, and returning the document to the leading unit for completion. For complex technical regulations and technical standards, the review and examination period can be extended but not exceeding fifteen working days.

b) The Planning Department shall be responsible for reviewing the expertise of draft circulars stipulating economic-technical norms. The application dossier for review includes:

- A letter requesting review;

- The draft memorandum to the Minister;

- The draft document after incorporating opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals;

- A summary of explanations and incorporation of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals; copies of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals (if any);

- Technical regulations approved by competent authorities;

- Other related documents (if any).

Within ten working days from the date of receipt of complete valid files, the Planning Department shall be responsible for reviewing the expertise of draft circulars stipulating economic-technical norms and returning the document to the leading unit for completion. For complex economic-technical norms, the review period can be extended but not exceeding fifteen working days.

c) The Legal Department shall only review the legality after receiving the expertise review and examination opinions of the Departments as stipulated in Points a and b of this Clause.

3. The review dossier includes:

a) A letter requesting review;

b) The draft memorandum to the Minister;

c) The draft document after incorporating opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals;

d) A summary of explanations and incorporation of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals; explanations of the Legal Department's opinions on administrative procedure provisions in draft circulars (for draft circulars stipulating administrative procedures); copies of opinions from agencies, organizations, and individuals (if any);

đ) An impact assessment on administrative procedures in draft circulars (for draft circulars stipulating administrative procedures);

e) Opinions of the legal departments of General Departments and Bureaus assisting the Minister in performing state management functions in their respective fields for draft circulars prepared by public service units;

g) Opinions on review and explanations of incorporation of expertise review and examination opinions on draft circulars stipulating technical regulations, technical standards, and economic-technical norms;

h) Opinions and explanations of incorporation of opinions from General Departments and Bureaus assisting the Minister in performing state management functions in their respective fields for draft circulars prepared by public service units;

i) Other related documents (if any).

4. The number of files submitted to the Legal Department for review is two (2) sets or according to the number of members of the Review Board (in case of establishment of a Review Board) and an electronic copy.

5. The review period is seven (7) working days from the date the Legal Department receives complete valid files. In cases where the review files do not meet the requirements stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article, within two (2) working days, the Legal Department shall request the leading unit to supplement the files.

In cases where a Review Board needs to be established for draft circulars stipulating administrative procedures, the review period is fifteen (15) working days from the date the Legal Department receives complete valid files.

6. The content of the review includes:

a) The necessity of issuing the document, the subject, and scope regulated by the draft document;

b) The consistency of the content of the draft document with the Party's guidelines, policies, and strategies;

c) The constitutionality, legality, and consistency of the draft document with the legal system and compatibility with international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member;

d) The feasibility of the draft document, including the suitability between the provisions of the draft document and practical requirements, the level of social development, and conditions for implementation;

đ) Language and technical aspects of drafting the document.

In addition to the above review contents, for draft documents stipulating administrative procedures, the Legal Department shall be responsible for reviewing the provisions on administrative procedures and reflecting this content in the review report.

7. During the review process, if necessary, the Legal Department may request the leading unit to provide additional relevant information, documents, or explanations of related issues to clarify the content of the draft.

8. For drafts prepared by the Legal Department or drafts with complex content related to the expertise of multiple units and fields, the Legal Department may propose the Ministry's leadership to establish a Review Board.

9. The comments from the Legal Affairs Department and the Review Board must be studied by the main drafting unit, with a report explaining the adoption and adjustment of the comments to perfect the draft circular before submitting it for the Minister's review and signature.

In cases where there are differing opinions, the Legal Affairs Department shall issue a letter to the main drafting unit or directly record in the document submission form regarding the retention of their opinion. The main drafting unit shall report and submit to the Minister for consideration and decision.

Article 31. Review Board

1. The Review Board is established to review draft circulars as stipulated in Clause 8, Article 30 of this Circular.

2. The Legal Affairs Department is responsible for drafting the Decision to establish the Review Board for issuance by the Ministry Leadership. The Review Board consists of representatives from relevant agencies and units. Experts and scientists may also be invited to participate.

3. Members of the Review Board are responsible for studying the draft circular and providing comments at the review meeting or in writing to the Legal Affairs Department.

4. The Review Board must consist of a minimum of seven (7) members, which must be an odd number. The Chairman of the Review Board is the Leader of the Legal Affairs Department.

5. The Review Board operates on a collective basis, with decisions made by majority vote. The Review Board ceases operations and dissolves itself upon completion of its review activities.

Article 32. Submission for Issuance of Circular

1. The dossier submitted to the Minister for signing and issuing the circular includes:

a) Proposal of the Minister regarding the draft circular;

b) The draft circular after incorporating comments from the review, verification, and opinions of agencies, organizations, and individuals;

c) A summary of comments and explanations on the adoption or non-adoption of comments from agencies, units, organizations, and individuals; explanations on the Legal Affairs Department's comments on administrative procedures in the draft circular (for draft circulars concerning administrative procedures);

d) An impact assessment of administrative procedures in the draft circular (for draft circulars concerning administrative procedures);

đ) Comments and explanations on the adoption of comments on technical matters, technical standards, and economic-technical norms in the draft circular;

e) Suggestions and explanations on the adoption of suggestions from General Directorates and Bureaus assisting the Minister in managing state affairs in the field for draft circulars primarily drafted by public service units;

g) Comments from the Legal Affairs Department and explanations on the adoption of those comments;

h) Other related documents (if any).

2. Submission for Issuance of Circular:

a) The draft circular submitted to the Minister for review and signature must include all required documents as specified in Clause 1 of this Article;

b) The head of the main drafting unit signs the draft circular for submission and initialing at the end of the page containing the Minister's signature, bearing responsibility for the content and feasibility of the document;

For draft circulars concerning technical matters, technical standards, and economic-technical norms, the document for submission for issuance of the circular must have the signature of the Leader of the Planning Department (for economic-technical norms) and the Science and Technology Department (for technical regulations and standards);

c) The Legal Affairs Department co-signs the draft circular and bears responsibility for its consistency with existing laws and regulations;

d) The coordinating drafting unit (if any) co-signs the draft circular and bears responsibility for the content within its functional scope;

đ) The Ministry Office is responsible for receiving the dossier in accordance with the regulations;

If the dossier is incomplete, the Ministry Office will request the main drafting unit to complete the dossier before submitting it to the Minister.

3. The main drafting unit is responsible for seeking the opinion of the Deputy Minister in charge prior to submitting to the Minister. For complex drafts involving multiple fields or significant issues, the Minister will direct the solicitation of opinions from all Deputy Ministers. The main drafting unit is responsible for researching, compiling, and explaining the opinions of the Deputy Ministers, reporting to the Minister for decision.

Article 33. Drafting and Issuing Joint Circulars

1. In cases where the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is the leading agency, the drafting and issuance of the document shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Section 2, Chapter III of this Circular and submitted to the legal organization of the joint issuing agency for review of the draft joint circular.

2. In cases where the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment participates in drafting joint circulars, the following procedures shall be followed:

a) If the content of the draft joint circular pertains to the field managed by a specific unit, that unit shall be responsible for coordinating with the leading agency in drafting the document; if the content of the draft joint circular pertains to two or more fields, the Legal Department shall be responsible for presenting to the leadership of the Ministry to assign a functional unit of the Ministry to coordinate in drafting the joint circular.

b) The Legal Department shall review the draft joint circular;

c) The unit assigned by the Ministry to coordinate in drafting the joint circular shall be responsible for researching, incorporating comments from the review to perfect the draft and file before submitting to the Minister and the head of the leading agency for co-signature and issuance.

3. The unit responsible for leading and coordinating in drafting the joint circular as stipulated in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article shall be responsible for issuing the joint document.

Article 34. Issuance, Publication in the Official Gazette, Sending, and Announcing Joint Circulars as Normative Legal Documents

1. Issuance of the Document

a) After the document has been signed and issued by the leadership of the Ministry, the leading drafting unit shall be responsible for sending two (2) signed copies along with the electronic version to the Ministry Office and shall be responsible for the accuracy of the electronic version compared to the original joint circular;

b) The Ministry Office shall be responsible for numbering the joint circular; affixing the seal; storing; reproducing, and sending the joint circular to agencies, organizations, and individuals according to the "recipients" list, and returning the submission file to the leading drafting unit.

2. Publication in the Official Gazette, Sending, and Announcing the Document

a) The publication in the Official Gazette, sending, and announcing the joint circular shall be carried out in accordance with the Law on Enacting Normative Legal Documents, guiding documents, and regulations on protecting state secrets;

b) Within the latest period of two (2) working days from the date of signing and issuing the joint circular, the Ministry Office shall be responsible for sending the original and electronic versions of the normative legal document to the Official Gazette, the Government's Electronic Portal, and posting it on the Ministry's Electronic Portal, except for documents containing state secrets;

c) Within the latest period of three (3) working days from the date of signing and issuing, the Ministry Office shall send the joint circular of the Ministry to the Inspection Department of Normative Legal Documents of the Ministry of Justice, relevant ministries, sectors, and the Legal Department for inspection.

4. The draft joint circular and the original must be stored in accordance with the law on archiving.

5. The Legal Department shall be responsible for leading and coordinating with the Vietnam Natural Resources and Environment Newspaper to regularly publish a list of enacted normative legal documents on the Vietnam Natural Resources and Environment Newspaper every six (6) months; coordinating with the Department of Awards, Honors, and Propaganda to announce the list at regular press conferences of the Ministry.

Article 35. Amending, supplementing, replacing, abolishing, revoking, or suspending the enforcement of regulatory legal documents within the promulgation authority of the Minister

1. Regulatory legal documents within the promulgation authority of the Minister may only be amended, supplemented, replaced, abolished, or revoked by another regulatory legal document issued by the Minister, jointly issued, or suspended from enforcement, abolished, or revoked by a document of a state agency with the authority to do so.

2. A document amending, supplementing, replacing, abolishing, revoking, or suspending the enforcement of another document must clearly specify the name of the document, article, clause, or point being amended, supplemented, replaced, abolished, revoked, or suspended from enforcement.

Article 36. Consolidating Regulatory Legal Documents

1. A document amending or supplementing certain provisions of a regulatory legal document must be consolidated with the document being amended or supplemented, including:

a) Regulatory legal documents of the President, Government, Prime Minister, joint documents between the Government and central agencies of political-social organizations related to natural resources and the environment drafted primarily by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

b) Circulars of the Minister and joint circulars primarily drafted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

2. Procedure for consolidating documents

a) Within two (2) working days from the date of receipt of the document specified in Point a Clause 1 of this Article and from the date of signing issuance for the document specified in Point b Clause 1 of this Article, the drafting unit primarily responsible for the draft regulatory legal document shall consolidate the document according to the provisions of Chapter III of the Ordinance on Consolidating Regulatory Legal Documents and send it to the Department of Legal Affairs;

b) Within two (2) working days from the date of receipt of the draft consolidated document, the Department of Legal Affairs shall check the accuracy of the content and technical consolidation of the draft consolidated document sent by the drafting unit;

c) Within one (1) working day from the date of receipt of comments from the Department of Legal Affairs, the drafting unit shall complete the draft consolidated document and submit it to the Minister for signature confirmation;

d) Within two (2) working days from the date of signature confirmation, the drafting unit shall send the consolidated document for the document specified in Point a Clause 1 of this Article to the Ministry's Office to be submitted to the Government's Office for publication in the Official Gazette and on the Government’s electronic portal.

Within two (2) working days from the date of signature confirmation, the drafting unit shall send the consolidated document for the document specified in Point b Clause 1 of this Article to the Ministry's Office to publish the consolidated document on the Ministry’s electronic portal.

3. The unit primarily responsible for consolidating documents shall report periodically every six (6) months, annually, or at any time on the implementation of consolidating regulatory legal documents of their unit to the Department of Legal Affairs for consolidation and reporting to the Ministry's leadership.

Article 37. Announcing and Publicly Posting Administrative Procedures

1. All administrative procedures after being issued, amended, supplemented, replaced, abolished, or revoked must be publicly announced by Decision of the Minister in accordance with Decree No. 63/2010/ND-CP; Decree No. 48/2013/ND-CP; Circular No. 05/2014/TT-BTP dated February 7, 2014 of the Minister of Justice guiding the announcement, public posting of administrative procedures, and reporting on the implementation and results of administrative procedure control (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 05/2014/TT-BTP).

2. The process of building and issuing the Decision announcing administrative procedures in accordance with Circular No. 05/2014/TT-BTP.

3. Publicly posting administrative procedures:

a) Scope, requirements, and methods of publicly posting administrative procedures according to Circular No. 05/2014/TT-BTP;

b) Units under the Ministry with functions to handle administrative procedures for organizations and individuals have the responsibility to publicly post these procedures in accordance with regulations;

c) The Department of Legal Affairs has the responsibility to guide, inspect, and urge units in publicly posting administrative procedures.

Article 38. Correction of regulatory legal documents

1. After being issued and published in the Official Gazette, if errors are discovered, such documents must be corrected. The correction must be made by a decision of the Minister and must be published in the Official Gazette.

2. The correction of regulatory legal documents that have been issued or published in the Official Gazette must be based on comparison with the original document and shall not change the content of the provisions in the original document. Corrections shall only be made for typographical errors or errors in the format and technical presentation of the regulatory legal document. Corrections shall not apply to errors in the basis for issuance, authority, or content of the regulatory legal document.

Article 39. Construction of a database of regulatory legal documents on natural resources and the environment

The Information Technology Department and the Legal Affairs Department are responsible for coordinating to construct a database of regulatory legal documents and administrative procedures related to natural resources and the environment on the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's Electronic Portal, and regularly updating this database fully and promptly.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 40. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from September 16, 2014.

2. Decision No. 21/2007/QD-BTNMT dated December 10, 2007 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment promulgating the Rules on the construction and issuance of regulatory legal documents in the field of natural resources and the environment shall cease to be effective from the date this Circular takes effect.

Article 41. Implementation Organization

1. The Legal Affairs Department is responsible for monitoring, evaluating, organizing, and inspecting the implementation of this Circular.

2. Units under the Ministry and related organizations and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular.

3. During the implementation of this Circular, if there are difficulties or obstacles, agencies, units, organizations, and individuals should report them to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (through the Legal Affairs Department) for consolidation and submission to the Minister for consideration and decision./.