Laws of Vietnam

A. CHARGES AND FEES FOR STATE MANAGEMENT OVER STANDARDIZATION, MEASUREMENT AND QUALITY CONTROL

I. PAYERS AND COLLECTION LEVELS

1. Vietnamese and foreign organizations and individuals shall have to pay charges and fees for State management over standardization, measurement and quality control under the provisions of this Circular when the State management agencies in charge of standardization, measurement and quality control or authorized agencies carry out the registration, testing and State inspection of product and goods quality as well as the checking of measuring equipment for them according to current law provisions.

2. The rates of standardization, measurement and quality control charges and fees are specified in the tables of charge and fee rates, issued together with this Circular, including:

- The table in Appendix No. 1: The rates of charges, including the charge for testing of product or goods quality; the charge for State inspection of product or goods quality; and the charge for checking of measuring devices.

- The table in Appendix No. 2: The rates of the charges for registration and granting of standardization, measurement and quality control certificates

3. Standardization, measurement and quality control charges and fees specified in this Circular shall be collected in Vietnam dong (VND).

II. ORGANIZATION OF THE COLLECTION, REMITTANCE, USE MANAGEMENT

1. The standardization, measurement and quality control agencies that register, test, inspect product and goods quality and/or check measuring devices according to law provisions shall have to:

a/ Organize the collection and remittance of standardization, measurement and quality control charges and fees strictly according to the provisions of this Circular. Announce (or post up publicly) the rates of standardization, measurement and quality control charges and fees at the head offices of the charge- and/or fee-collecting agencies. When collecting charges and fees, issue charge or fee receipts (of a type issued by the Ministry of Finance) to the payers.

b/ Open accounting books to monitor the collected and remitted amounts and used charge and fee amounts strictly according to the current legislation on accounting and statistics.

c/ Register, declare, and remit standardization, measurement and quality control charges and fees under the guidance of the tax offices of the localities where they are headquartered.

d/ Make payment and settlement for charge and fee receipts as well as settlement of the charge and fee collection and remittance with the direct managing tax offices according to the regime of management of receipts and stamps prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.

2. The collected amounts of standardization, measurement and quality control charges and fees shall be managed and used as follows:

a/ Before remitting the collected charge and fee amounts into the State budget, the standardization, measurement and quality control agencies may retain a portion in percentage (%) of the total collected charge and fee amounts. Concretely:

- 85% (eighty five per cent) of the charge for testing of product or goods quality, the charge for State inspection of product and goods quality, and the charge for checking of measuring devices.

- 10% (ten per cent) of the fee for registration and granting of standardization, measurement and quality control certificates.

b/ They remit into the State budget the remainder (the total amount of actually collected charges and fees minus the amounts retained according to the percentages specified at Item a of this point, including:

- 15% (fifteen per cent) of the charge for testing of product or goods quality; the charge for State inspection of product and goods quality, and the charge for checking of measuring devices.

- 90% (ninety per cent) of the fee for registration and granting of standardization, measurement and quality control certificates.

3. The standardization, measurement and quality control agencies may spend the charge and fee amounts retained according to the percentages specified at Item a, Point 2 of this Section on the collection of standardization, measurement and quality control charges and fees according to the following particular spending contents:

a/ Payment of salaries, remunerations, allowances and expenses for working in hazardous conditions (including labor safety expenses, if any) to the charge and/or fee-collecting laborers, salary- and wage-based contributions belonging to the employers’ responsibility according to the prescribed regime. Where the units receive funding from the State budget to pay salaries to their officials and employees on official payroll, they shall be only allowed to pay remunerations according to the prescribed regime to laborers hired from the outside to collect charges and fees.

b/ Payments for services purchased from the outside to serve the charge and fee collection, such as purchase of office supplies, electricity, water, telephone, information and communication, working-trip allowances (travel, accommodation, sojourn allowance…), printing (purchase) of forms, permits and other prints according to the current spending criteria and norms.

c/ Expenses for meetings, seminars, professional training and fostering, propaganda and advertising in service of the charge and fee collection.

d/ Expenses for regular repair, overhaul of assets, machinery and equipment in direct service of the charge and fee collection.

e/ Expenses for purchase of supplies, raw materials, equipment, working instruments and other expenses in service of the charge and fee collection according to the estimates already approved by competent authorities.

f/ Payment of prescribed yearly dues to international standardization, measurement and quality control organizations that Vietnam has joined, which have not yet been funded by the State budget.

g/ Deductions for the reward and welfare funds for officials and employees involved in the charge and fee collection. The deduction level for setting up these two funds must not exceed the annual average of three months’ actually-paid salary per person, if the collected amount is higher than that of the previous year, or of two months’ actually-paid salary if the collected amount is equal to or lower than that of the previous year.

The standardization, measurement and quality control agencies shall have to manage and use the retained charge amounts for the above-said purposes and with valid vouchers, and to annually settle the revenues and expenditures that have actually arise. After they effect the settlement according to the prescribed regime, if they have not yet spent all the retained amounts, they may carry forward the unspent amounts to the subsequent year for continued spending according to the prescribed regime.

4. Procedures for declaration and remittance into the State budget of the collected amounts of standardization, measurement and quality control charges and fees are prescribed as follows:

- The standardization, measurement and quality control agencies that collect charges and/or fees shall make and submit to the direct managing tax offices within the first 5 days of the subsequent month monthly declarations on the collected charge and/or fee amounts, the retained charge and/or fee amounts and the monthly charge and/or fee amounts remittable into the State budget and submit the declaration forms to and shall take responsibility for the accuracy of their declarations. Where no fee or charge is collected in the month, they must still make and submit declaration forms to the tax offices.

- On the basis of declaration forms, the standardization, measurement and quality control agencies shall remit the remittable charge and fee amounts into the State budget. The deadline for remitting the previous month’s amounts into the State budget is the 15th day of the current month at the latest (into the corresponding chapter, category and clause, item 045, sub-item 04 of the current State budget classification) at the State treasuries of the places where the standardization, measurement and quality control agencies are headquartered. The charge and fee amounts collected by the centrally-run agencies and remitted into the State budget shall be channeled into the central budget; the charge and fee amounts collected by locally-run agencies and remitted into the State budget shall be channeled into the local budgets.

- Upon receiving the charge and fee declaration forms of the standardization, measurement and quality control agencies, the tax offices shall check and compare them with the receipts already issued and the receipts used so as to determine the collected charge and fee amounts, the amounts to be retained and the amounts remittable into the State budget in the period, then notify the standardization, measurement and quality control agencies of the amounts they must remit into the State budget.

- The standardization, measurement and quality control agencies shall compare the to be-remitted charge and fee amounts as notified by the tax offices with the charge and fee amounts actually remitted into the State budget in the period, if they have not yet remitted them fully, they shall have to remit the deficient amounts into the State budget; if they have remitted them in excess, the over-remitted amounts shall be subtracted from the amounts to be remitted into the State budget in the subsequent period.

5. Making and execution of charge and fee revenue and expenditure estimates:

a/ Annually, on the basis of the rates of standardization, measurement and quality control charges and fees, the spending contents guided in this Circular as well as the current financial expenditure regime, the standardization, measurement and quality control agencies shall make revenue and expenditure estimates of standardization, measurement and quality control charges and fees according to the current State budget classification and send them to their managing agencies for consideration, approval and synthesization before sending them to the same-level finance offices competent to approve them.

b/ On the basis of the annual revenue and expenditure estimates already approved by competent authorities, the standardization, measurement and quality control agencies shall make detailed quarterly revenue and expenditure estimates according to the current State budget classification and send them to their managing agencies and the State treasuries where they have transactions as well as the same-level finance offices as a basis for revenue and expenditure control.

6. Final settlement of charge and fee revenues and expenditures:

a/ The standardization, measurement and quality control agencies shall have to open accounting books to record, account and settle charge and fee revenues and expenditures under the Finance Minister’s Decision No. 999/TC/QD/CDKT of November 2, 1996 issuing the administrative and non-business accounting system and regime; to effect the settlement of receipts of charges and fees already collected and remitted into the State budget; to submit the annual final settlement reports on the collected and remitted standardization, measurement and quality control charges and fees to the tax offices before the last day of February of the year following the reporting year; and to submit fully the deficient charge and/or fee amounts into the State budget within 10 days after the date of submission of their reports.

b/ The tax offices shall effect the settlement of the collected amounts according to their receipts, the total collected amounts, the retained amounts and the amounts remittable into the State budget. The finance offices and the tax offices shall settle the expenditures from the standardization, measurement and quality control charges and fee amounts that the units are permit to retain under the provisions at Point 3, Section II, Part A of this Circular.

c/ The superior managing agencies shall have to check and certify the settlement of the collected and spent amounts of standardization, measurement and quality control charges and fees of their subordinate standardization, measurement and quality control agencies, sum up and incorporate them into their annual final settlement reports and send such reports to the finance offices for evaluation and issuance of notices of approval of the settlement together with the settlement of the superior management agencies according to the provisions of the current State Budget Law.

B. OTHER REVENUES

The standardization, measurement and quality control agencies that earn revenues other than those charges and fees belonging to the State budget specified in Part A of this Circular (such as those collected from the provision of scientific and technical services…) shall be obliged to:

1. Fix the collection levels on the principles of full retrieval of capital within a reasonable time and compatibility with the payers’ capability to make contributions as agreed upon.

2. Abide by the law-prescribed invoice and voucher regime. Where the provided services are of a value lower than the level at which invoices must not be made and the customers request no invoices, the list thereof must be made as prescribed.

3. To open accounting books to monitor and account separately expenses and turnovers of other revenues stated in this part (apart from those charges and fees belonging to the State budget) under the current law provisions on accounting and statistics.

4. To pay value added tax, enterprise income tax and other payable amounts (if any) according to current law provisions; the remainder shall be managed and used under the provisions of the Government’s Decree No. 10/2002/ND-CP of January 16, 2002 and the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 25/2002/TT-BTC of March 21, 2002 guiding the financial regime applicable to non-business units having revenues and other relevant documents.

C. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. This Circular takes effect 15 days after its signing. All provisions on the collection, remittance and use of charges and fees for testing, measurement and other standardization, measurement and quality control activities in Inter-Ministerial Circular No. 65/TT-LB of August 19, 1995 of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment and the regime of collection of fees for testing of measuring devices prescribed in the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 120/1998/TT/BTC of August 27, 1998 are hereby annulled.

2. The State management agencies in charge of standardization, measurement and quality control shall collect, remit and use charges and fees in the standardization, measurement and quality control domain according to the provisions of this Circular.

3. If any problems arise in the course of implementation, the agencies, organizations and individuals should promptly report them to the Ministry of Finance for study and additional guidance.

For the Minister of Finance
Vice Minister
TRUONG CHI TRUNG

THE MECHANICAL FIELD

Notes:

(1) This expense applies to the cases where the test samples are brought by the customers and tested at PTN, not covering expenses for travelling, transportation of equipment, fixtures, preparatory work… as well as other expenses that arise upon field tests.

FIELD: CONSUMER GOODS