Circular 18: Procedures for Liquidation of Non-forest Plantations

According to the provisions of Article 5 of Circular 18/2013/TT-BTC, during the investment, care, and protection of forests, in cases where factors such as land, climate, weather and other causes lead to planted forests not becoming forests and need to be liquidated to implement new forest planting projects or converted to other purposes according to the local land use plan approved by the competent authority, the investor must establish a team to inspect and verify on the field.

Illustration (source internet)

The authority to decide on the liquidation of planted forests belonging to local investment decisions is determined by the Provincial People's Committee.

The procedure for liquidating planted forests not becoming forests for forests managed by localities is carried out through the following steps:

Step 1: Based on the Verification Record of the field, the investor prepares a dossier requesting liquidation of planted forests and reports to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The dossier requesting liquidation of planted forests includes:

- The application for liquidation of planted forests not becoming forests.- The Verification Record of the field with confirmation from the District People's Committee where the planted forests are not becoming forests.- The liquidation plan for planted forests, including the following contents:+ The location, area of planted forests proposed for liquidation and the amount of invested capital.+ The form of liquidation and the recovery of salvageable forest products appropriate to the type of forest and specific local conditions where the forests are proposed for liquidation.+ The estimated cost of liquidation and handling of salvageable forest products (if any) when liquidating planted forests.+ The plan for managing and using the amount of money obtained from the salvageable forest products.

After receiving the dossier requesting liquidation of planted forests from the investor, within 30 working days, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinates with the Department of Finance and related agencies to appraise and report to the Provincial People's Committee for decision on the liquidation of planted forests not becoming forests. If necessary, the Provincial People's Committee directs the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to establish a team to re-verify the field before making a decision.

Step 2: After completing the organization of liquidation of planted forests not becoming forests and recovering salvageable forest products, the investor reports the results to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and sends it to the Department of Finance for asset reduction and value reduction of assets invested on the land as the area of planted forests not becoming forests has been liquidated.

Note the following special cases:

- In cases where the investor is not simultaneously the forest owner (after completing the investment in forest planting, the investor transfers it to another agency, organization, or individual for management), the forest owner is responsible for monitoring and reporting to the investor upon discovering the planted forests not becoming forests during the management and care process to prepare dossiers and organize the liquidation according to the above procedure. After completing the organization of the liquidation of the planted forests not becoming forests, the forest owner carries out asset reduction, value reduction of assets as the area of planted forests managed with the state budget.- In cases where after basic construction investment, the investor transfers the planted forests for the forest owner to continue to protect, care, and manage, and the investor dissolves itself according to the decision of the competent authority, the forest owner is responsible for preparing dossiers and reporting to the competent authority for permission to liquidate the forests and organize the liquidation according to the above procedure.- In cases of liquidation of planted forests not becoming forests for protection forests, the District People's Committee where the forest to be liquidated is located establishes a team to verify the field (including representatives of households, individuals, communities), prepares a dossier requesting liquidation of the forest and organizes the liquidation of the planted forests and recovers forest products according to the above procedure.

See additional regulations at Circular 18/2013/TT-BTC effective from April 05, 2013.

Thu Ba

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