Decree No. 67-CP Issuing the Regulation on Management of Geological Survey Activities, Mining, Processing, and Trading of Precious Stones

DECREE

ISSUING REGULATIONS ON THE MANAGEMENT OF GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION ACTIVITIES, MINING, PROCESSING AND TRADING OF PRECIOUS STONES

MINES, WORKING AND TRADING IN PRECIOUS STONES

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Government Organization Law dated September 30, 1992;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Mineral Resources dated July 28, 1989, and Decree No. 95/HĐBT dated March 25, 1992, regarding the implementation of the Ordinance on Mineral Resources;

At the proposal of the Minister of Heavy Industry, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Interior, and the Governor of the State Bank;

DECREE:

Article 1. - These Regulations on the management of geological investigation activities, mining, processing, and trading of precious stones are hereby promulgated together with this Decree.

Article 2. - This Decree replaces Decision No. 333-CT dated October 23, 1991, of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers on the organization of management of geological investigation activities, exploration, mining, processing, and trading of precious stones.

Article 3. - The Ministers of Heavy Industry, Finance, Interior, and the Governor of the State Bank shall issue Circulars guiding the implementation of this Decree, replacing the Regulations guiding the implementation of Decision No. 333-CT dated October 23, 1991, and the temporary Regulations previously issued.

Article 4. - This Decree takes effect from the date of signature. The Ministers, Heads of Ministries at the level of ministries, Heads of government agencies, Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities are responsible for implementing this Decree.

 

REGULATIONS

MANAGEMENT OF GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION ACTIVITIES, MINING,

PROCESSING AND TRADING OF PRECIOUS STONES

(Issued together with Decree No. 67-CP dated October 7, 1993 of the Government)

 

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Precious stones referred to in these Regulations include natural gems such as diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds...

Article 2. Mining of precious stones and establishment of enterprises for mining precious stones must be permitted by the Prime Minister.

All geological investigation, mining, processing, and trading activities of precious stones (including import and export) must comply with the provisions of these Regulations and be subject to inspection and supervision by relevant state management agencies and local authorities at all levels.

Article 3. The Ministry of Heavy Industry shall unify the state management of geological investigation work, mining, protection of precious stone resources, and environmental protection related to mining of precious stones.

The State Bank shall unify the state management of processing, trading, organizing the domestic market for precious stones, and issuing permits for exporting and importing precious stones.

The Ministry of Finance shall submit to the Prime Minister for issuance or issue within its authority guiding documents for the implementation of taxes related to the production and business of precious stones; and chair the bidding council for mining precious stones.

The Ministry of Interior shall issue and supervise the implementation of regulations to protect geological investigation, exploration, mining, processing, and trading activities of precious stones.

The State Committee for Cooperation and Investment shall organize the appraisal to issue investment licenses for foreign-invested projects, coordinate with relevant sectors and localities to monitor and inspect the operations of enterprises with foreign investment capital and joint venture contracts for mining, processing, and trading of precious stones.

Article 4. Local People's Committees at all levels shall perform administrative state management functions within their territorial jurisdiction as prescribed by law, supervise and control the implementation of state regulations on resource management, land, environmental protection, tax obligations and other financial obligations of organizations and individuals engaged in mining and trading of precious stones according to law; inspect and supervise the implementation and handle according to law any illegal activities in geological investigation, exploration, mining of precious stone deposits, processing, and trading of precious stones as stipulated in these Regulations and other regulations of relevant state management agencies. Local People's Committees have the responsibility to protect areas with precious stones, including those without mining permits, prevent unauthorized mining and trading of precious stones.

Article 5. Economic organizations and Vietnamese citizens with legal capacity, meeting the financial and business conditions as prescribed by the Ministry of Heavy Industry and the State Bank who wish to engage in mining, processing, and trading of precious stones must obtain permission from competent state agencies as prescribed.

The State encourages, creates favorable conditions, and protects the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals permitted by the State to mine, process, and trade in precious stones.

Article 6The State encourages foreign economic organizations and individuals to invest in the field of mining, processing, and trading of precious stones under various forms in accordance with the Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam.

 

II. GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION WORK AND ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL FOR EXPLORATION OF PRECIOUS STONE DEPOSITS

, Clause 1, Clause 2 Article 7a of this Regulation.The Ministry of Heavy Industry shall organize the implementation of geological investigation work, assessment of potential and prospects of precious stones throughout the country as a basis for planning the development of the precious stone industry according to the national plan using state funds. Exploration and assessment of industrial reserves of precious stone deposits in areas granted mining permits shall be carried out by mining enterprises at their own expense.

The Minister of Heavy Industry shall examine and decide on geological investigation tasks of precious stones in line with the industry development plan. The results of the investigation must assess prospects, potential, delineate valuable areas as a basis for organizing bidding for mining.

Geological data on precious stones shall be managed and used under the state's confidential document regime. Any organization or individual involved in the establishment, storage, and use of geological data on precious stones must bear the responsibility to keep the confidentiality of the documents in accordance with the state's confidentiality protection regulations.

Geological units conducting tasks of investigating and searching for precious stones operating in any locality shall cooperate with the local authorities and police to organize protective work in the spirit of Decree No. 223-HĐBT dated June 19, 1990, of the Council of Ministers (now the Government). These geological units shall not engage in mining or trading of precious stones in any form.

 

III. MINING OF PRECIOUS STONE DEPOSITS

Article 8. Based on the results of geological investigations as stipulated in Article 7, the Ministry of Heavy Industry shall delineate precious stone mining areas, classify mines according to the value of resources and economic-technical conditions for mining as a basis for lot allocation and bidding.

Except for "mines" or "plots" of land containing precious stones that have been granted exploitation permits before the issuance of this Regulation, and the cases stipulated in Article 15 regarding the granting of exploitation permits for "mines" or "plots" of land containing precious stones, all such permits must be awarded through bidding.

Bidding for the exploitation of mines or plots of land containing precious stones involves organizing the selection of enterprises (or individuals) who commit to paying the State once or multiple times the value of the raw precious stone resources and associated minerals that can be extracted from the plot being auctioned (after deducting reasonable extraction costs, income tax, retained profits for the enterprise, and other fees as prescribed). The winning bidder is the enterprise offering the highest bid among those participating in the bidding process, combined with having the best mining and environmental protection plan. Excluding resource taxes and land rental fees, the winning bidder still has to fulfill other financial obligations as prescribed by law, permits, and contracts. In cases where significant risks are audited in production and business operations, the winning bidder may be considered for a reduction in the purchase price or exemption/reduction of taxes according to the law. The authority to consider reductions in the purchase price or tax exemptions/reductions rests with the Prime Minister based on the proposal of the Minister of Heavy Industry and the Minister of Finance.

All economic organizations, Vietnamese individuals, and foreign individuals meeting the necessary conditions for exploiting precious stone mines as prescribed by the Ministry of Heavy Industry are eligible to participate in bidding for the exploitation of precious stones.

In subsequent bidding rounds, enterprises currently exploiting the mine will be given priority when bidding for plots of land within the protected area assigned to them or adjacent plots next to their current permitted exploitation area.

Article 9. Enterprises participating in the bidding for the exploitation of precious stones shall be provided with geological and economic information about the mines by the Ministry of Heavy Industry, and they are allowed to conduct practical research on the mines according to the bidding regulations.

Article 10. The bidding price level is determined by the Bidding Committee depending on each specific mine.

The bidding regulation is issued by the Ministry of Finance after receiving comments from the Ministry of Heavy Industry, the State Bank, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Economic Arbitration Council, and the People's Committees of provinces with precious stone mines.

The organization and management of the bidding process are carried out by the Bidding Committee for the exploitation of precious stones, ensuring objectivity, honesty, and compliance with the law.

Article 11. Enterprises engaged in the exploitation, processing, and trading of precious stones as stipulated in Articles 5 and 6 of this Regulation have equal rights to bid for plots of land containing precious stones.

After obtaining approval from the Prime Minister to exploit the mine and completing the required financial procedures as prescribed, the winning bidder will be granted an exploitation permit and a land use permit according to the Land Law.

The winning bidder must commence operations at the mine no later than one year from the date of receiving the exploitation permit.

Article 12. Exploitation of precious stones must be conducted using appropriate technology to minimize adverse effects on the environment, primarily water, soil, and forests, and must implement plans for environmental recovery and management.

All enterprises exploiting precious stones must deposit a security fund for environmental recovery and management according to the economic and technical feasibility study and can withdraw funds gradually to carry out environmental protection work.

Article 13. State-owned enterprises and enterprises with foreign investment capital must apply advanced mining technologies to protect products at the mine, strictly control sorting, storage, preservation, and transportation of precious stone products.

Article 14The State reserves the right to purchase particularly valuable gemstones, initially defined as rubies weighing 50 carats or more and sapphires weighing 100 carats or more, regardless of whether they are obtained by any organization or individual through exploitation or collection. The purchase price of these valuable gems will be based on market prices. Any organization or individual deliberately concealing such valuable gems will face penalties.

Article 15. For special areas or mines with unique characteristics as proposed by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and the Minister of Heavy Industry, the allocation of mines or land for exploration and exploitation of precious stones in these cases will be reviewed separately by the Prime Minister.

Article 16. The exploiter has the right to transfer inheritance rights for exploitation, and can transfer the exploitation area with the approval of the Prime Minister. If the mine being exploited is reclaimed or requisitioned by the State due to national security needs, the exploiter will be compensated for losses and may be allocated another exploitation area. The law protects the exploiter when the legitimate use rights of the exploitation area are infringed upon.

The exploitation area will be reclaimed or exploitation halted if the exploiter breaches commitments to the State or violates the law.

 

IV. PROCESSING AND TRADING OF PRECIOUS STONES

Article 17. All economic organizations and Vietnamese citizens meeting the conditions for processing and trading precious stones as prescribed by the State Bank, and holding a license issued by the State Bank, are eligible to process and manufacture jewelry with embedded precious stones and trade in precious stones, including contracts for processing with foreign entities.

Article 18Foreign economic organizations wishing to engage in the processing and trading of precious stones in Vietnam must obtain permission from the State Bank and be granted a business license by the State Committee for Cooperation and Investment under the Foreign Investment Law in Vietnam.

Article 19. The State Bank uniformly manages the domestic market for precious stones, imports and exports of precious stones, and operates retail stores for precious stones abroad.

The State encourages the export of processed precious stones and the import of precious and semi-precious stones into Vietnam for processing and export.

The State Bank prescribes procedures for exporting or importing precious stones.

Article 20. All transactions involving the sale and purchase of precious stones as raw materials within Vietnam must take place at licensed trading centers or shops. Unauthorized trading or exchange of precious stones outside the legal market in any form is strictly prohibited.

The State Bank collaborates with local People's Committees to manage trading establishments, issue regulations on the organization and operation of trading centers or markets, and shops for precious stones.

Article 21. Pursuant to the tax framework established by the National Assembly, the Ministry of Finance, in coordination with the State Bank, shall submit to the Prime Minister for issuance of import and export tax rates applicable to raw precious stones and processed precious stones; regulations on the collection of fees in the purchase, sale, and import/export of precious stones.

Article 22. The State encourages scientific centers, universities, and research institutions to develop or apply technology for processing and quality inspection of precious stones by enterprises; financial incentives shall be provided for scientific and technological activities in the field of processing precious stones in accordance with the spirit of Decree No. 35-HĐBT dated January 28, 1992, of the Council of Ministers (now the Government).

Article 23. The Ministry of Trade, the Central Market Management Steering Board shall coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the General Department of Customs, and the State Bank to combat illegal trading and smuggling of precious stones. The establishment of purchasing and selling facilities for raw precious stones must be carried out concurrently with the dismantling of illegal precious stone sales points in mining areas and localities.

 

V. REWARDS AND PENALTIES

Article 24. Any geological survey activities concerning precious stones that do not comply with the regulations of the Heavy Industry Ministry, and the provision of geological information about precious stones for personal or sectional purposes are illegal activities that must be strictly dealt with according to current laws.

Article 25. Precious stone mining enterprises established by provinces and ministries without permission from the Prime Minister must reapply procedures under this Regulation and Decree No. 95-HĐBT dated March 25, 1992, regarding the implementation of the Ordinance on Mineral Resources.

Article 26. Trading and importing/exporting precious stones not in accordance with the regulations of the State Bank constitute a violation of the law and shall be punished as prescribed by law.

Individuals or organizations violating the regulations will be subject to administrative penalties or criminal prosecution (for individuals), depending on the severity of the offense. In all cases, illegally traded precious stones will be confiscated and handed over to the National Treasury or the Provincial/City Treasury for disposal.

Individuals or organizations contributing to the detection, reporting, and prevention of precious stone smuggling shall be rewarded both materially and spiritually according to current regulations.

Article 27. Individuals or organizations responsible for protecting precious stone enterprises who abuse their positions or powers to infringe upon state property or citizens' property, or who fail to fulfill their responsibilities causing serious damage to state property and citizens due to negligence, shall be required to compensate for losses and be subject to administrative penalties or criminal prosecution (for individuals) as stipulated by law.

 

VI. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 28This Regulation takes effect from the date of signature; all previous regulations on the above matters that conflict with this Regulation are hereby abolished.

Article 29. Within thirty days from the date of issuance of this Regulation, the Ministers of the Heavy Industry Ministry, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Governor of the State Bank shall have the responsibility to issue guiding documents for its implementation./.