CIRCULAR

GUIDING THE REGIMES OF MANAGEMENT AND USE OF THE FEE FOR QUOTAS OF GARMENTS AND TEXTILES TO BE EXPORTED TO THE QUOTA-REGULATED EU AND CANADIAN MARKETS; AND THE LICENSING FEE FOR SETTING UP RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES OF FOREIGN ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS IN VIETNAM

Pursuant to the Government’s Decrees No. 87/CP of December 19, 1996 and No. 51/1998/ND-CP of July 18, 1998 detailing the assignment, management, elaboration, execution and settlement of the State budget;
Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 04/1999/ND-CP of January 30, 1999 on charges and fees belonging to the State budget;
Pursuant to Circular No. 99/1999/QD-BTC of August 27, 1999 of the Minister of Finance promulgating the table of the fee levels for quotas of textiles and garments to be exported to the EU and Canadian markets; and Circular No. 73/1999/TT-BTC of June 14, 1999 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the collection of the licensing fee for setting up resident representative offices of foreign economic organizations in Vietnam;
Pursuant to Circular No. 150/1999/TT-BTC of December 21, 1999 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 195/1999/QD-TTg of September 27, 1999 on the setting up, use and management of the Export Support Fund, which stipulates that agencies and units organizing the collection of fees for export/import quotas; and licensing fees for the establishment and operation of representative offices of foreign economic organizations in Vietnam shall be entitled to enjoy an amount equal to 10% of the collected fee amounts at most, and must remit the remainder (90%) into the Export Support Fund.
After consulting with the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Finance hereby guides the regimes of management and use of fees for quotas of garments and textiles to be exported to the EU and Canadian markets; and licensing fees for setting up resident representatives offices of foreign economic organizations in Vietnam, as follows:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. Fees for quotas of garments and textiles to be exported to the EU and Canadian markets; and licensing fees for setting up resident representatives offices of foreign economic organizations in Vietnam constitute a source of State budget revenues, which are collected to partly cover the expenses for activities of State management, and the granting of permits for export of garments and textiles to the quota-regulated EU and Canadian markets, and licenses for setting up resident representative offices of foreign economic organizations in Vietnam.

2. Annually, estimates on the use of fees for granting permits for export of garments and textiles to the quota-regulated EU and Canadian markets; and licensing fees for the setting up of resident representative offices of foreign economic organizations in Vietnam must be elaborated and approved by competent authorities.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1. Spending contents:

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- Expenses for printing of application forms

- Expenses for the purchase of stationary

- Expenses for exchange of information, and collection of translated information and materials on the implementation of Agreement on garments and textiles trading between Vietnam and quota-regulated markets.

- Expenses for Vietnamese specialists going abroad for study and invitation of foreign specialists to Vietnam for exchange of experiences on the implementation of the Agreement on garments and textiles trading between Vietnam and quota-regulated markets (excluding expenses for specialists being entrepreneurs).

- Expenses for organization of seminars, and for the dissemination, advertisement and exhibition on Vietnamese garments and textiles to be exported to quota-regulated markets.

- Expenses for activities aiming to promote the quick rise in quotas of Vietnam’s garments and textiles to be exported to quota-regulated markets.

- Expenses for regular and irregular inspection of the fulfillment of quotas in order to raise the efficiency in implementing the agreements signed between Vietnam and quota-regulated markets.

- Expenses for payment of wages and contributions to contractual laborers according to prescribed regimes.

- Expenses for payment of night-work and over-time work allowances to officials and employees engaged in fee collection that falls beyond their assigned functions and tasks.

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1.2. Deduction of funds for reward to officials and employees directly engaged in fee collection. The annual average per-head deduction level of bonus fund shall not exceed 3 (three) months’ paid wages.

The 10% of collected fee amount deducted and left for the Ministry of Trade shall be spent according to the spending contents prescribed at the above-mentioned Points 1.1 and 1.2, Section II, without any additional allocation from the State budget. If such amount has not yet been used up by the year-end, the remainder must be remitted into the State budget.

2. Elaboration and execution of estimates on collection and spending of fees for granting permits for export of garments and textiles to the quota-regulated EU and Canadian markets; and licensing fees for setting up resident representative offices of foreign economic organizations in Vietnam

2.1. Annually, basing itself on the collection levels prescribed by the Ministry of Finance in the table of levels of fees for granting permits for export of garments and textiles to the quota-regulated EU and Canadian markets; and licensing fees for setting up resident representative offices of foreign economic organizations in Vietnam, as well as the spending contents stipulated in this Circular and current financial spending regimes, the Ministry of Trade shall make detailed fee collection and spending estimates according to current State Budget Contents, and send it to the Ministry of Finance.

2.2. Basing itself on the collection and spending estimates already approved by competent agencies, the Ministry of Trade shall work out quarterly detailed collection and spending estimates according to the current State Budget Contents, and send them to the State Treasury where its transactions are carried out and the Ministry of Finance for use as basis for collection and spending control.

2.3. The Ministry of Trade shall have to open the fee-and-charge-collecting account at the State Treasury where its transactions are carried out. The collected charge and fee amount must be fully remitted to the unit’s revenue accounts opened at the State Treasury where its transactions are carried out.

2.4. Basing itself on the collected fee amounts, the spending estimates already approved by competent authorities, the spending-approval orders of the head of the unit, and the lawful and valid vouchers and dossiers, the State Treasury shall make advances or payment for the unit according to current regulations on the regimes of management, allocation and payment of State budget expenditures through the State Treasuries, as well as the provisions of this Circular. The expenses outside the estimates already approved by competent authorities shall be paid out, and recovered for remittance into the State budget. Persons issuing wrong spending orders shall have to pay compensation to the public fund and be handled according to law provisions.

2.5. The Ministry of Trade shall have to declare, collect, remit and manage the collected fee amounts in strict accordance with current regulations.

3. Final settlements on collection and spending of fees for granting permits for export of garments and textiles to the quota-regulated EU and Canadian markets; licensing fees for setting up resident representative offices of foreign economic organizations in Vietnam

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- The Ministry of Trade shall have to ratify final settlements on collection and spending of fees for granting permits for export of garments and textiles to the quota-regulated EU and Canadian markets; licensing fees for setting up resident representative offices of foreign economic organizations in Vietnam, set by its attached units, sum them up in a general settlement, then sent it to the Ministry of Finance for the evaluation and announcement of approval of such settlements, together with the settlement made by the Ministry of Trade.

- The Ministry of Trade shall have to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in organizing regular (or irregular) inspection, thus ensuring that the collection and spending shall strictly comply with the prescribed regimes.

III. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS:

The provisions of this Circular apply from January 1, 2000. Other regulations on the use of fees for granting permits for export of garments and textiles to the quota-regulated EU and Canadian markets; licensing fees for setting up resident representative offices of foreign economic organizations in Vietnam, which are contrary to this Circular, are hereby annulled.

In the course of implementation, if any problems arise, the Ministry of Trade is requested to timely report them to the Ministry of Finance for study and settlement.

FOR THE MINISTER OF FINANCE
VICE MINISTER




Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan