Joint Circular No. 70/2007/TTLT-BTC-BLDTBXH guides the management and use of funds for implementing the National Program on Occupational Safety and Health Protection until 2010.

JOINT CIRCULAR

OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND THE MINISTRY OF LABOR, WAR INVALIDS AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS NUMBER 70/2007/TTLT-BTC-BLDTBXH DATE JUNE 26, 2007 GUIDELINES FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND USE OF FUNDS TO IMPLEMENT THE NATIONAL PROGRAM ON WORK SAFETY, HEALTH AND LABOR HYGIENE UNTIL 2010 

Pursuant to Decision No. 233/2006/QĐ-TTg dated October 18, 2006 of the Prime Minister approving the National Program on Work Safety, Health and Labor Hygiene until 2010;

Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 10, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on State Budget;

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs hereby provide guidelines for the management and use of funds to implement the National Program on Work Safety, Health and Labor Hygiene until 2010 as follows:

This technical regulation sets out technical requirements, testing methods, sampling procedures; management requirements; responsibilities of organizations and individuals producing, trading, and importing cigarettes.

1. Projects under the National Program on Work Safety, Health and Labor Hygiene (hereinafter referred to as the Work Safety Program) pursuant to Decision No. 233/2006/QĐ-TTg dated October 18, 2006 of the Prime Minister include:

a) Enhancing capacity and effectiveness in state management of work safety;

b) Improving working conditions in enterprises, focusing on reducing workplace accidents in the mining, electricity, and construction sectors;

c) Strengthening preventive measures against workplace accidents and occupational diseases in agricultural production and rural industries;

d) Improving the quality of work safety activities in small and medium-sized enterprises;

đ) Strengthening prevention and control of occupational diseases;

e) Promoting education, training, and raising awareness among all levels, sectors, organizations, and individuals, and encouraging public participation in work safety activities;

f) Enhancing research capabilities in applying science and technology for work safety and hygiene.

2. Financial management mechanisms for the Work Safety Program shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the Law on State Budget and related guiding documents; current regulations on managing and implementing national target programs.

3. The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs is the leading agency responsible for coordinating the implementation of the Work Safety Program, and is responsible for summarizing and evaluating the progress, content, and effectiveness of fund utilization of the Work Safety Program.

4. Annual funding for the Work Safety Program is allocated within the budget estimates of the ministries and sectors leading the projects and supplementary central budget estimates for provincial budgets of centrally-administered cities directly implementing the program's tasks (if applicable). In addition to the supplementary central budget, provinces and centrally-administered cities prioritize local budget allocations; integrate with other relevant programs and activities on their territories to implement the objectives of the Work Safety Program as stipulated in Decision No. 233/2006/QĐ-TTg dated October 18, 2006 of the Prime Minister.

5. For projects under the Work Safety Program Installation that involve investment in basic construction, funding will be allocated from the program's basic construction capital and implemented according to current regulations on managing basic construction investment.

            II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1. Content and expenditure levels for projects under the program

1.1. Expenditure for building and perfecting policies on work safety, health and labor hygiene: content and expenditure levels are carried out in accordance with Circular No. 100/2006/TT-BTC dated October 23, 2006 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the management and use of state budget funds to ensure the development of legal normative documents.

1.2. Expenditure for surveys according to the specialized content of each project approved by the ministry or sector leading the project: specific content and expenditure levels are applied according to current regulations on managing survey expenses from state budget funds.

- For surveys requiring measurement of the work environment, expenditure for measuring and inspecting the work environment is applied according to the rates specified in Circular No. 83/2002/TT-BTC dated September 25, 2002 of the Ministry of Finance regarding the collection, payment, and management of fees and charges for standards, measurements, and quality control;

- For surveys requiring detection of occupational diseases, the content and expenditure for these activities are applied according to current regulations on the management and use of preventive healthcare fees and charges.

1.3. Expenditure for developing materials and teaching guides on work safety, health and labor hygiene: expenditure levels are in accordance with current regulations on the content and levels of expenditure for compiling framework programs and course textbooks. Among which:

- Expenditure for developing training materials for workers is applied at the level for developing textbooks for vocational colleges and secondary technical schools.

- Expenditure for developing training materials for employers, instructors, and specialists in occupational safety and hygiene is applied at the level for developing textbooks for universities.

1.4. Expenditure for information dissemination and publicity, including:

a) Expenditure for disseminating information through mass media such as radio, television, and newspapers: carried out through contracts between the publicity agencies and mass media outlets;

b) Expenditure for printing publications, books, posters, films on CDs; expenditure for making banners, slogans, designing and upgrading websites: expenditure levels are based on actual products and market prices;

  1.5. Expenditure for training and capacity building:

  a) Training and capacity building for civil servants and trade union officials responsible for work safety at grassroots levels on work safety, health and labor hygiene. Content and expenditure levels are carried out in accordance with current regulations of the Ministry of Finance on training and capacity building for civil servants.

b) Training and capacity building for employers, workers, and grassroots-level trade union officials involved in work safety:

- The state budget supports from the Work Safety Program funds for the following contents:

+ Remuneration for lecturers; travel, food, and accommodation expenses for lecturers;

+ Class organization costs, including: renting conference halls, classrooms, equipment for learning activities; office supplies, teaching materials, textbooks; examination fees, invigilation, marking; organizing field trips for trainees; food and accommodation expenses for management staff of the training institution when classes must be organized away from the training base.

The expenditure levels shall be implemented according to the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance on training and capacity building for civil servants.

- Agencies and units sending personnel to study shall support travel, food, and accommodation expenses for the labor users and workers: the expenditure levels shall be implemented according to Circular No. 23/2007/TT-BTC dated March 21, 2007, of the Ministry of Finance stipulating the working expense system and meeting expense system for state agencies and public service units.

1.6. Costs for specialized conferences, summary meetings on the implementation of the Project; professional training; inspection and supervision of project implementation: the content and expenditure levels shall be implemented according to Circular No. 23/2007/TT-BTC dated March 21, 2007, of the Ministry of Finance stipulating the working expense system and meeting expense system for state agencies and public service units.

1.7. Costs for organizing competitions, including the following expenditure items:

a) Compiling test questions and answers (including scoring criteria): maximum not exceeding VND 500,000 per test question;

b) Examination marking allowance, Competition Board members, and announcing competition results: maximum not exceeding VND 200,000 per person per day.

c) Organizing Committee member allowance: maximum not exceeding VND 150,000 per person per day;

d) Renting venues, conference halls, means, machinery, equipment, tools, raw materials suitable for professional requirements;

đ) Prizes:

+ Team prizes: from VND 200,000 per prize to VND 2,000,000 per prize.

+ Individual prizes: from VND 100,000 per prize to VND 1,000,000 per prize.

Depending on the scale of the competition (central level, provincial level, grassroots level), the Head of the agency or unit primarily responsible for organizing the competition shall decide on the specific prize expenditure levels within the aforementioned range within the budget estimate already assigned by the competent authority.

e) Summarizing and reporting competition results: VND 500,000 per report.

1.8. Costs for scientific research and experimental production technology deployment linked to the project content according to the approved research outline by the lead ministry or sector: the content and expenditure levels shall be implemented according to the provisions of Joint Circular No. 93/2006/TTLT/BTC-BKH&CN dated October 4, 2006, of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology guiding the cost allocation system for implementing science and technology projects funded by the state budget and Joint Circular No. 44/2007/TTLT/BTC-BKH&CN dated May 7, 2007, of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology guiding the construction and distribution standards for the budget of science and technology projects funded by the state budget.

1.9. Costs for supporting the establishment of occupational safety and health management models in enterprises:

a) Research costs for establishing models: the content and expenditure levels shall be implemented according to the current scientific and technological expenditure system.

b) Costs for activities to implement occupational safety and health management model pilot points: training and guiding the model; surveying, learning experiences from the model; supporting trial operation of the model; inspecting, supervising, and evaluating the model. The content and expenditure levels shall be implemented according to the current national regulations.

c) Purchase costs for the intellectual property rights of the management model must be tied to the specific model approved by the competent authority. The State will support up to 70% of the purchase cost (excluding factory, net house, greenhouse, and technology equipment purchase costs). The scale and support level for each specific model will be decided by the Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs.

1.10. For other expenditure items: Based on legal invoices and expenditure vouchers according to current regulations.

2. Budget preparation, management, utilization, and settlement of funds for the Program:

The financial resources of the Occupational Safety Program are managed, budgeted, allocated, and settled according to the current regulations of the State Budget Law and related guiding documents. Additionally, this Circular supplements some specific points as follows:

2.1. Budget Preparation:

a) Based on the content and total capital for implementing the Program approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 233/2006/QĐ-TTg dated October 18, 2006, the project's main managing agency shall coordinate with relevant agencies to establish the total budget for each project and allocate it annually, submitting it to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs for review and consolidation before sending it to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment for inclusion in the annual state budget proposal for approval by the competent authority according to the State Budget Law.

b) Annually, during the time for preparing the state budget according to the State Budget Law, based on the annual allocation of each project's budget, the project's main managing agency shall coordinate with relevant agencies to prepare detailed budgets for project activities in the year, submitting them to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment before July 20th for consolidation into the state budget proposal for approval by the competent authority.

2.2. Allocation and Assignment of Budget:

a) Annually, based on the total budget for the Occupational Safety Program announced by the competent authority, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs shall coordinate with the main project managing agencies to allocate the budget to ministries, sectors, and centrally-administered cities and provinces in accordance with the objectives and tasks to be carried out in the year. The allocation results shall be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for consolidation into the budget proposals of ministries, sectors, and localities for submission to the Prime Minister for approval by the National Assembly according to the State Budget Law.

Based on the assigned budget, ministries, sectors, centrally-administered cities, and provinces shall implement the allocation and assignment of the budget to units responsible for implementing the project together with other state budget expenditures according to current regulations.

b) The funds for implementing the Occupational Safety and Health Program shall be allocated according to the type, item, and group of sub-items in the state budget classification, and simultaneously allocated and accounted for according to the program's code number. The Ministry of Finance will specify the program's code number for the Occupational Safety and Health Program in a separate document.

2.3. Use and settlement of funds:

a) The sources of funds for the Occupational Safety and Health Program shall be managed, used, and settled in accordance with the State Budget Law, Accounting Law, and other guiding documents. Agencies and units using funds from the Occupational Safety and Health Program must maintain accounting books to record, account for, and settle the sources of funds for the Occupational Safety and Health Program in accordance with the administrative and public service accounting system. The settlement of funds for the Occupational Safety and Health Program shall be consolidated into the annual budget settlement of ministries, central agencies, and localities as stipulated.

b) For activities of the Occupational Safety and Health Program carried out by the project leading agency signing contracts with cooperating agencies, the vouchers serving as the basis for settlement shall be kept at the project leading agency, including: Contract for performing tasks (accompanied by detailed budget estimates approved by the project leading agency), acceptance report, contract termination report, authorization to pay or payment voucher, and related documents; specific expenditure vouchers shall be retained by the directly implementing agency in accordance with current regulations.

c) Enterprises that implement activities under the Occupational Safety and Health Program (outside of state budget support) may allocate expenses according to the content and levels specified in this Circular and account for them as reasonable costs before calculating corporate income tax in accordance with the Corporate Income Tax Law and other guiding documents.

d) Projects under the Occupational Safety and Health Program purchasing equipment, goods, and materials shall comply with the legal provisions on bidding; for goods and services ordered and performed in accordance with Circular No. 05/2004/TT-BTC dated January 30, 2004, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding the management of prices for goods and services ordered by the state and paid for with state budget funds.

2.4. Reporting System:

Heads of ministries and sectors leading projects, Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities are responsible for reporting financial status and results of implementation of projects to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment in accordance with current regulations for the National Target Program.

III. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

This Circular shall take effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

During implementation, if there are any difficulties, units are advised to reflect them to the Ministry of Finance - Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs for research, amendment, and supplementation as appropriate.