Jurisdiction and procedures for deciding on the policy of forest land use conversion by the Prime Minister of Vietnam

Jurisdiction and procedures for deciding on the policy of forest land use conversion by the Prime Minister of Vietnam​ (Illustrative image)

Decree 83/2020/ND-CP amends Article 41 of Decree 156/2018/ND-CP regarding the authority, order, and procedures for deciding the policy of converting forest land use purpose to other purposes by the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam:

- The Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam decides on the policy of converting forest land use purpose to other purposes as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 20 of the Forestry Law 2017.

- Form of dossier submission: Organizations and individuals proposing to convert forest land use purpose shall directly submit or send by post 01 set of dossiers to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development where the forest area proposed for conversion is located.

- Dossiers include:

• Letter proposing the conversion of forest land use purpose;
• Project proposal report or pre-feasibility study report enclosed with the appraisal document of the competent state authority;
• Documents on the environmental impact assessment of the project as stipulated by the law on environmental protection, investment, and public investment;
• Explanatory report, current forest status map (map scale 1/2,000 for forest area proposed for conversion under 500 ha, scale 1/5,000 for forest area proposed for conversion from 500 ha or more), results of the forest survey in the area proposed for policy decision on forest land use conversion (forest area, forest reserves).

- Within 05 working days from the date of receiving a complete and valid dossier, the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reports to the Provincial People's Committee. If the dossier is incomplete, within 03 working days from the date of receiving the dossier, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development responds in writing to the organization or individual.

- Within 20 working days from the date of receiving a complete and valid dossier, the Provincial People's Committee shall organize an appraisal of the content submitted for approval of the policy on forest land use conversion. If the appraisal results do not meet the conditions, the Provincial People's Committee replies in writing to the organization or individual and states the reason. The approval content includes:

• Legal basis;
• Components, content of the dossier;
• Necessity of project investment;
• Location (plot, section, sub-region, administrative location), results of the forest survey (forest area, forest reserves); area by: forest type (special-use forest, protection forest, production forest), formation origin (natural forest, planted forest), site conditions, reserves (for natural forests), tree species (for planted forests);
• Compliance with relevant legal regulations;
• Consistency with land use planning, national forestry planning by planning law;
• Socio-economic efficiency;
• Documents on environmental impact assessment of the project as stipulated by the law on environmental protection, investment, and public investment;
• For projects converting natural forest land use: Appraisal on the content determining that the project must be implemented on the area containing natural forests due to the impossibility of arranging other land areas.

- Within 05 working days from the date of organizing the appraisal, the Provincial People's Committee shall send the dossier to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The dossier includes: Submission of the Provincial People's Committee, dossiers as stipulated above, and other related documents (if any). The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee is responsible before the law for the completeness, comprehensiveness, and accuracy of the dossier content submitted.

- Within 25 working days from the date of receiving a complete dossier from the Provincial People's Committee, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in cooperation with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and related ministries and central authorities, shall organize dossier appraisal; aggregate, and submit to the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam for consideration and decision on forest land use conversion policy. If the dossier is incomplete, within 03 working days from the date of receiving the dossier, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development responds in writing to the Provincial People's Committee.

The dossier appraisal content includes:

• Compliance with legal regulations;
• Consistency with land use planning, national forestry planning by planning law;
• Necessity of project investment meeting criteria as stipulated in this Decree.
• Documents on environmental impact assessment of the project as stipulated by the law on environmental protection, investment, and public investment;

The dossier submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to the Prime Minister includes: 

• Letter of proposal from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;
• Appraisal document (appraisal council meeting minutes or comprehensive appraisal report of related ministries, central authorities, and local authorities);
• Dossier from the Provincial People's Committee to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;
• Letters from related ministries, central authorities, and local authorities (if any).

Note: In case of appraising by collecting opinions in writing, the consulted ministries, central authorities, and local authorities are responsible for responding in writing to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development within 10 working days.

For more details, refer to Decree 83/2020/ND-CP effective from July 15, 2020.

Ty Na

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