Joint Circular No. 70/2007/TTLT/BTC-BLDTBXH guiding the management and use of funds to implement the National Program on Labor Protection, Occupational Safety, and Health until 2010.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for managing and using funds to implement the National Program on Occupational 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 Occupational 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;

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

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

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

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

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

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

đ) Strengthening prevention and control of occupational diseases;

e) Promoting education, training, and raising awareness at all levels, organizations, and individuals, and mobilizing public participation in occupational safety work;

f) Enhancing research and application of science and technology in occupational safety and hygiene;

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

3. The Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs is the leading agency responsible for coordinating the implementation of the Occupational Safety Program, and is responsible for summarizing and evaluating the implementation of the program's objectives, contents, and the effectiveness of fund usage.

4. Annual funding for the Occupational Safety Program is allocated within the budget estimates of ministries and sectors leading projects and supplementary central budget estimates for provincial budgets directly implementing tasks under the program (if applicable). In addition to the central supplementary budget, provinces prioritize allocating local budgets and integrate with other related programs and activities on their territories to implement the objectives of the Occupational Safety Program according to Decision No. 233/2006/QĐ-TTg dated October 18, 2006 of

5. For projects under the Occupational Safety Program involving investment in basic construction, such funding will be arranged from the program's basic construction capital and implemented in accordance with current regulations on the management of basic construction investment.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1. Contents and expenditure levels for projects under the program

1.1. Expenditure for building and perfecting policies on occupational safety, health, and labor hygiene: the content and expenditure level shall be 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: the specific content and expenditure level shall be applied in accordance with current regulations on guiding the management of funds for surveys funded from the state budget.

- For surveys requiring measurement of the working environment, expenditure for environmental measurement and inspection activities shall be applied according to the fees stipulated 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.

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

1.3. Expenditure for developing teaching materials and curricula on occupational safety, health, and labor hygiene: the expenditure level shall be in accordance with current regulations on guiding the content and expenditure levels for compiling framework curricula and subject textbooks. Among them:

- Expenditure for developing training materials for workers shall be applied at the level for compiling textbooks for colleges and vocational high schools.

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

1.4. Expenditure for information dissemination and promotion, including:

a) Expenditure for disseminating information through mass media such as radio, television, and press: this shall be carried out through contracts between the promoting agencies and mass media outlets;

b) Expenditure for printing publications, books, posters, films, and CD-ROMs for promotional purposes; expenditure for making banners, slogans, and website design and upgrades: the expenditure level shall be based on actual products and market prices;

1.5. Expenditure for training and retraining staff:

a) Training and retraining of civil servants and trade union officials at grassroots levels responsible for occupational safety, health, and labor hygiene: the content and expenditure level shall be carried out in accordance with current regulations of the Ministry of Finance on training and retraining of civil servants.

b) Training, retraining, and instruction on occupational safety, health, and labor hygiene for employers, workers, and grassroots-level trade union officials responsible for occupational safety:

- The state budget will support from the Occupational Safety Program funds for the following expenditures:

+ Instructor honoraria; travel, food, and accommodation expenses for instructors;

||| Costs for organizing classes, including: renting conference halls, classrooms, equipment for learning; office supplies, materials, teaching textbooks; costs for setting up exams, supervising exams, grading exams; costs for organizing field trips for students; food and accommodation expenses for management staff of the training institution when organizing classes away from the training institution.

||| The level of expenditure shall be implemented in accordance with the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance on training and upgrading cadres and civil servants.

||| - Agencies and units sending people to study shall support travel, food, and accommodation expenses for the employee and laborer: the level of expenditure 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 the expense system for organizing conferences for state agencies and public service units.

||| 1.6. Costs for specialized seminars, summarizing the implementation of the Project; professional training; inspecting and supervising the implementation of projects: the content and level of expenditure 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 the expense system for organizing conferences for state agencies and public service units.

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

||| a) Compiling examination questions and answers (including scoring criteria): a maximum of VND 500,000 per examination question.

||| b) Supporting examination marking, Competition Board members, and announcing examination results: a maximum of VND 200,000 per person per day.

||| c) Supporting members of the Organizing Committee: a maximum of 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 organizing the competition (central, provincial, grassroots level), the head of the agency or unit primarily responsible for organizing the competition shall decide on the specific level of expenditure for prizes within the above-mentioned range within the budget estimate already assigned by the competent authority.

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

||| 1.8. Costs for scientific research and implementing production trial technology linked to the project's content according to the research outline approved by the lead ministry or sector: the content and level of expenditure 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 - Ministry of Science and Technology guiding the system of allocated funds for implementing scientific and technological projects using state budget and Joint Circular No. 44/2007/TTLT/BTC-BKH&CN dated May 7, 2007 of the Ministry of Finance - Ministry of Science and Technology guiding the standard for building and allocating the budget for scientific and technological projects using state budget.

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

||| a) Research costs for constructing models: the content and level of expenditure shall be implemented according to the current expense system for scientific and technological tasks.

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

||| c) Purchase costs for the intellectual property rights of the management model must be tied to a specific model approved by the competent authority. The State will support up to 70% of the cost of purchasing intellectual property rights (excluding the cost of purchasing workshops, nets, greenhouses, and technological equipment). The scale and level of support for each specific model will be decided by the Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs.

||| 1.10. For other expenditures: Based on legal invoices and expense vouchers according to current regulations.

||| 2. Budget preparation, management, utilization, and settlement of funds for implementing 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. In addition, 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 at Decision No. 233/2006/QĐ-TTg dated October 18, 2006, the main managing agency of the project shall coordinate with relevant agencies to establish the total budget for each project and allocate the budget annually, send it to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs for review and consolidation of the entire Program to be sent to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment for annual budget allocation based on the State Budget Law.

||| b) Annually, during the time of preparing the state budget according to the State Budget Law, based on the annual allocation of each project's budget, the main project agency shall coordinate with relevant agencies to prepare detailed budgets for project activities in the year, send 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 Transfer 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 agencies to allocate the budget to ministries, sectors, and centrally-administered cities and provinces in line with the goals and tasks to be implemented in the year. The results of the allocation shall be sent to the Ministry of Finance for consolidation into the budget estimates of ministries, sectors, and localities to be submitted to the Prime Minister for submission to the National Assembly according to the State Budget Law.

||| Based on the allocated budget, ministries, sectors, centrally-administered cities, and provinces shall implement the allocation and transfer 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 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 Program in a separate document.

2.3. Use and settlement of funds:

a) The sources of funds for the Occupational Safety 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 Program must maintain accounting books to record, account for, and settle the sources of funds for the Occupational Safety Program in accordance with the administrative and public service accounting system. The settlement of funds for the Occupational Safety Program shall be consolidated into the annual budget settlement of ministries, central agencies, and localities as prescribed.

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

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

d) Projects under the Occupational Safety Program purchasing equipment, goods, and materials shall comply with the bidding laws; for ordered goods and services, they shall follow the provisions of Circular No. 05/2004/TT-BTC dated January 30, 2004, issued by the Ministry of Finance on managing prices of 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, Chairmen 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 takes 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 to ensure appropriateness.