Are there penalties for use of paddy land for other purposes without permission of regulatory authorities in Vietnam?

Are there penalties for use of paddy land for other purposes without permission of regulatory authorities in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 9 of Decree 91/2019/ND-CP stipulating use of paddy land for other purposes without permission of regulatory authorities as specified in Points a and d Clause 1 Article 57 of Land Law:

1. Conversion of paddy land to land for perennial plants, land for forests (except for cases specified in Clause 7 Article 14 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP and amendments thereto at Clause 11 Article 2 of Decree 01/2017/ND-CP) shall be sanctioned as follows:

a) A fine ranging from VND 2,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is less than 0.5 hectare;

b) A fine ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 0.5 hectare to less than 1 hectare;

c) A fine ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 1 hectare to less than 3 hectare;

d) A fine ranging from VND 20,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is 03 hectare or more.

2. Conversion of paddy land to land for aquaculture or salt production shall be sanctioned as follows:

a) A fine ranging from VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is less than 0.1 hectare;

b) A fine ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 0.1 hectare to less than 0.5 hectare;

c) A fine ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 0.5 hectare to less than 1 hectare;

c) A fine ranging from VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 1 hectare to less than 3 hectare;

dd) A fine ranging from VND 30,000,000 to VND 70,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is 03 hectare or more.

3. Conversion of paddy land to non-agricultural land in rural area shall be sanctioned as follows:

a) A fine ranging from VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is less than 0,01 hectare;

b) A fine ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 0,01 hectare to less than 0,02 hectare;

c) A fine ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 0.02 hectare to less than 0.05 hectare;

c) A fine ranging from VND 15,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 0.05 hectare to less than 1 hectare;

dd) A fine ranging from VND 30,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 0.1 hectare to less than 0.5 hectare;

e) A fine ranging from VND 50,000,000 to VND 80,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 0.5 hectare to less than 01 hectare;

g) A fine ranging from VND 80,000,000 to VND 120,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 01 hectare to less than 03 hectare;

h) A fine ranging from VND 120,000,000 to VND 250,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is 03 hectare or more.

4. In case of conversion of paddy land to non-agricultural land in urban areas, amount of sanctions to be imposed shall equal twice (02) the amounts specified in Clause 3 of this Article.

5. Rectification measures:

a) Enforced restoration of land to its original conditions before the violations with respect to cases specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article, except cases specified in Point b of this Clause;

b) Enforced land registration as per the law in case of eligible to be recognized for land use rights according to Article 22 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP;

c) Enforced submission of illegal revenues generated by committing violations in cases specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article, the illegal revenues shall be determined according to Clause 1 Article 7 of this Decree.

At Points a and d, Clause 1, Article 57 of the 2013 Land Law, it is prescribed as follows:

1. Cases in which change of land use purpose requires permission by competent state agencies:

a/ Change of land for rice cultivation to land for perennial crops, forests, aquaculture or salt production;

b/ Change of land for other annual crops to land for saltwater aquaculture, salt production or aquaculture in ponds, lakes or marshlands;

c/ Change of land for special-use forests, protection forests or production forests to land for other purposes within the type of agricultural land;

d/ Change of agricultural land to non-agricultural land;

e/ Change of non-agricultural land which is allocated by the State without land use levy to non-agricultural land which is allocated by the State with land use levy, or to leased land;

f/ Change of non-agricultural land which is not residential land to residential land;

g/ Change of land for construction of non-business facilities or land for public purposes involving commercial purpose, or non-agricultural land for business and production purposes which is not land for trading or services to land for trading or services; change of land for trading or services or land for construction of non-commercial facilities to land for non-agricultural production establishments.

Thus, according to current regulations compared to the case you mentioned, the act of using 200m2 of of paddy land for housing construction without permission of regulatory authorities in Vietnam will be fined from 5,000,000 VND to 10,000,000 VND. Forced to restore the original condition of the land before construction, in addition, forced to return the illegal profits obtained from committing violations.

What are penalties for use of land for protection forests for other purposes without permission of regulatory authorities in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 10 of Decree 91/2019/ND-CP stipulating use of land for protection forests, reserve forests or production forest for other purposes without permission of regulatory authorities as specified in Points c and d Clause 1 Article 57 of Land Law as follows:

1. Conversion of land for cultivated reserve forests, cultivated protection forests or cultivated production forests to other purposes mentioned in agricultural land category shall be sanctioned as follows:

a) A fine ranging from VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is less than 0,5 hectare;

b) A fine ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 0.5 hectare to less than 1 hectare;

c) A fine ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 01 hectare to less than 05 hectare;

d) A fine ranging from VND 20,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is 05 hectare or more.

2. Conversion of land for cultivated reserve forests, cultivated protection forests or cultivated production forests to non-agricultural land shall be sanctioned as follows:

a) A fine ranging from VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is less than 0.02 hectare;

b) A fine ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 0.02 hectare to less than 0.05 hectare;

c) A fine ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 0.05 hectare to less than 0.1 hectare;

d) A fine ranging from VND 15,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 0.1 hectare to less than 0.5 hectare;

dd) A fine ranging from VND 30,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 0.5 hectare to less than 01 hectare;

e) A fine ranging from VND 50,000,000 to VND 100,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is from 01 hectare to less than 05 hectare;

g) A fine ranging from VND 100,000,000 to VND 250,000,000 shall be imposed if area of land illegally repurposed is 05 hectare or more.

3. Conversion of natural reserve forests, natural protection forests or natural production forests to other purposes shall be met with twice the fine corresponding to each case of repurposing specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

4. Rectification measures:

a) Enforced restoration of land to its original conditions before the violations with respect to cases specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, except cases specified in Point b of this Clause;

b) Enforced land registration as per the law in case of eligible to be recognized for land use rights according to Article 22 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP;

c) Enforced submission of illegal revenues generated by committing the violations specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article; the illegal revenues shall be determined according to Clause 1 Article 7 of this Decree.

Thus, acts of use of land for protection forests, reserve forests or production forest for other purposes without permission of the above-mentioned regulatory authorities in Vietnam will be subject to the above fines, in addition to being forced to pay the fines as above and applied remedial measures on a case-by-case basis.

Best Regards!