Circular No. 70/2011/TT-BTC detailing certain contents of Decision No. 15/2011/QĐ-TTg dated March 9, 2011 of the Prime Minister on purchasing state food reserves annually.

CIRCULAR

Providing detailed provisions on certain contents of Decision No. 15/2011/QĐ-TTg dated March 9, 2011 of the Government on the annual purchase of state food reserves

Decision No. 15/2011/QĐ-TTg dated March 9, 2011 of the Government on the annual purchase of state food reserves

 

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Pursuant to the Decree No. 118/2008/NĐ-CP dated November 27, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

On the basis of Decision No. 15/2011/QĐ-TTg dated March 9, 2011 of the Government on the annual purchase of state food reserves;

The Ministry of Finance provides detailed provisions on certain contents of Decision No. 15/2011/QĐ-TTg dated March 9, 2011 of the Government on the annual purchase of state food reserves.

PART I

SCOPE OF REGULATION, SUBJECTS OF APPLICATION.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation.

This Circular stipulates the method, price, and quality of state food reserves purchased annually by the State Food Reserve General Department pursuant to Decision No. 15/2011/QĐ-TTg dated March 9, 2011 of the Government on the annual purchase of state food reserves. Decision No. 15/2011/QĐ-TTg dated March 9, 2011 of the Government on the annual purchase of state food reserves.

Article 2. Scope of Application.

1. The State Food Reserve General Department, the State Food Reserve Regional Department, and the State Food Reserve Branches are assigned the task of purchasing state food reserves annually.

2. Organizations and individuals related to the activity of purchasing state food reserves.

Chapter II

METHODS FOR PURCHASING STATE FOOD RESERVES.

Article 3. Methods for purchasing national food reserves.

1. Open tendering

a) Purchasing national food reserves through open tendering must be approved in the tender plan based on compliance with the provisions of the Bidding Law.

- The tender plan shall be prepared in accordance with Circular No. 02/2009/TT-BKH dated February 17, 2009 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment guiding the preparation of tender plans.

- The tender invitation document shall be prepared in accordance with Circular No. 05/2010/TT-BKH dated February 10, 2010 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment detailing the preparation of tender invitation documents for procurement of goods.

b) The process of open tendering shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Articles 23, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33 of Decree No. 85/2009/NĐ-CP dated October 15, 2009 of the Government guiding the implementation of the Bidding Law.

2. Direct award

a) Direct award may only be applied when it is necessary to immediately purchase the quantity of rice to replenish the portion that has been allocated according to the decision of the Prime Minister in cases where there are not sufficient conditions to organize open tendering to ensure adequate state food reserves ready to meet the requirements for relief, aid, and disaster relief, fire fighting, and epidemic control.

Cases applying direct award to purchase rice:

- In the allocation decision of the Prime Minister, it specifies the immediate purchase of the quantity of rice to replenish the portion that has been allocated.

- When purchasing food, the remaining time from organizing the tender to the end of the harvest season is less than 30 days and the total inventory of food is below 300 thousand tons of paddy (the reserve ensuring readiness to meet the demand for relief and aid).

b) The application of the direct award method must be approved in the tender plan based on compliance with the provisions of the Bidding Law.

c) The process of direct award shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 41 of Decree No. 85/2009/NĐ-CP dated October 15, 2009 of the Government guiding the implementation of the Bidding Law.

3. Direct purchase

a) Direct purchase can be applied when the contract for the tender package with similar content was signed no more than six months ago. The six-month period is calculated from the date of signing the original contract to the approval of the direct purchase result.

A tender package with similar content is a package similar in type, quality standards of rice, volume of the tender package already signed under the contract accounting for 70% or more of the volume of the direct purchase tender package, the unit price of the tender package applied in direct purchase shall not exceed the unit price of the tender package signed in the previous contract.

b) The application of the direct purchase method must be approved in the tender plan based on compliance with the provisions of the Bidding Law.

c) The process of direct purchase shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 42 of Decree No. 85/2009/NĐ-CP dated October 15, 2009 of the Government guiding the implementation of the Bidding Law.

4. Competitive bidding

a) Competitive bidding may be applied in cases where the tender package for purchasing rice has a package value under two billion VND.

b) The application of the competitive bidding method must be approved in the tender plan based on compliance with the provisions of the Bidding Law.

c) The process of competitive bidding shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 43 of Decree No. 85/2009/NĐ-CP dated October 15, 2009 of the Government guiding the implementation of the Bidding Law.

The request document for competitive bidding shall be implemented in accordance with Circular No. 11/2010/TT-BKH dated May 27, 2010 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment detailing competitive bidding.

Article 4. Methods for purchasing state reserve rice.

1. Direct assignment bidding shall be applied in cases where rice is purchased to make up for quantities sold for disaster relief, mitigating the consequences of natural disasters, fires, and epidemics.

2. Competitive bidding shall be applied in cases where the tender package price for purchasing rice is under two billion dong.

The procedures and processes for applying direct assignment bidding and competitive bidding for purchasing state reserve rice shall be implemented similarly to those for purchasing state reserve rice as stipulated in Clause 2 and Clause 4, Article 3 of this Circular.

3. Direct and wide purchase from all entities.

a) Direct and wide purchase from all entities is a method of directly purchasing rice at state reserve warehouses from all entities with rice meeting the quality standards for state reserve storage. Staff members of agencies assigned the task of purchasing state reserves may not participate in selling rice to state reserves in any form.

b) The Director of the State Reserve Agency shall submit to the Minister of Finance for consideration and decision on purchasing state reserve rice through the method of direct and wide purchase from all entities.

c) The Director of the State Reserve Agency shall approve the plan for direct and wide purchase from all entities.

The plan for direct and wide purchase from all entities shall include the following main contents: quantity, quality, warehouse entry location, purchase price, announcement time on local mass media and the website of the State Reserve Agency, opening time of the warehouse, and end time of purchase.

d) The Director of the Regional State Reserve Agency shall perform the following tasks:

- Based on the harvest season of rice in each locality, develop the plan for direct and wide purchase from all entities, and submit it to the Director of the State Reserve Agency for approval.

- Report to the People's Committee of the province or centrally-administered city where the state reserve warehouse is located about the policy and plan for direct and wide purchase from all entities, and seek assistance from relevant departments in the locality during the implementation of the assigned tasks.

- Announce the purchase plan on local mass media and the website of the State Reserve Agency, and simultaneously post the purchase price, quantity, and quality of rice entering the state reserve warehouse at the purchase warehouse.

đ) The Provincial State Reserve Agency shall perform the following tasks:

 - Purchase rice for state reserve storage according to the division of labor and authority of the Regional State Reserve Agency.

- Pay the seller in accordance with the regulations of the State on invoices and accounting systems applicable to state reserve units.

The Regional State Reserve Agency and the Provincial State Reserve Agency shall organize the direct and wide purchase from all entities based on the assigned purchase plan, ensuring sufficient quantity and meeting the required quality and time frame.

The implementation of purchasing state reserve rice through the method of direct and wide purchase from all entities as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 4 of this Circular shall be applied from the date when Decision No. 15/2011/QĐ-TTg dated March 9, 2011 of the Prime Minister takes effect.

Chapter III

 PRICES AND QUALITY OF STATE RESERVE FOODSTUFFS

Article 5. State-owned food reserve purchase price.

1. Based on the proposed pricing scheme of the National Food Reserve General Department, the Price Management Agency shall appraise and submit to the Minister of Finance for deciding the maximum purchase price limit for organizing the purchase of state-owned food reserves.

2. On the basis of the maximum purchase price limit decided by the Minister of Finance, the Director of the National Food Reserve General Department shall decide the specific purchase price at each time period and location when purchasing state-owned food reserves, while reporting to the Minister of Finance and bearing legal responsibility for their decision.

3. The state-owned food reserve purchase price is determined at the storage warehouse entrance, consistent with the market price in the area at the time, corresponding to the quality purchased. Based on the maximum purchase price limit prescribed by the Minister of Finance, the Director of the National Food Reserve General Department shall decide the purchase price as follows:

- Deciding the tender package price for cases where the bidding method is applied (open bidding, direct award, direct purchase, competitive quotation).

- Deciding the unit price (VND/kg) for cases of direct purchase from all entities.

The tender package price and purchase unit price for state-owned food reserves already include value-added tax; specifically, the tender package price for rice purchases includes packaging costs.

Article 6. Quality of food entering state-owned reserve warehouses.

1. Food entering state-owned reserve warehouses must comply with national technical standards for state-owned food reserves, technical requirements, storage procedures, and management work as stipulated currently.

2. Specific quality criteria for food entering state-owned reserve warehouses annually shall be implemented according to the regulations of the Ministry of Finance.

Chapter IV

ORGANIZATION AND IMPLEMENTATION

Article 7. Responsibility for Implementation

1. The Director of the National Food Reserve General Department shall direct the implementation of tasks related to the purchase of state-owned food reserves in accordance with the provisions of this Circular, relevant laws, and annual tasks assigned by the Minister of Finance.

2. The Director of the National Food Reserve General Department shall direct the inspection and supervision of subordinate units' implementation of state-owned food reserve purchases to ensure completion of assigned targets and compile reports to the Minister of Finance.

3. Units and individuals involved in the activity of purchasing state-owned food reserves are responsible for implementing this Circular.

Article 8. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect 45 days from the date of signature, and state-owned food reserve procurement activities under Decision No. 15/2011/QĐ-TTg dated March 9, 2011 of the Prime Minister will end on December 31, 2012.

During implementation, if any difficulties arise, agencies, units, organizations, and individuals are requested to promptly report to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and resolution./.