Newest guideline on management and use of revenue from planted forest liquidation in Vietnam

Newest guidance on management and use of revenue from planted forest liquidation in Vietnam (Image from Internet)

On October 25, 2024, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 140/2024/ND-CP regulating the planted forest liquidation in Vietnam.

Newest guidance on management and use of revenue from planted forest liquidation in Vietnam

According to the provisions of Article 12 of Decree 140/2024/ND-CP, the management and use of revenue from planted forest liquidation in Vietnam are as follows:

- Content of expenditures and expenditure levels

+ Content of expenditures: expenditures for activities such as preparing the liquidation proposal file, surveying, measuring, calculating reserves and value (if any), felling, loading, and transporting utilized timber from liquidated forest plantations and other expenditures under the provisions of Clause 4, Article 36 of Decree 151/2017/ND-CP by the Government of Vietnam, as amended and supplemented in Clause 29, Article 1 of Decree 114/2024/ND-CP;

“Article 36. Management and Use of Funds Obtained from Handling Public Assets in State Agencies

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4. Contents of costs related to handling public assets include:

a) Asset inventory costs.

b) Costs of measuring and drawing houses, land.

c) Costs of determining and appraising asset values.

d) Costs of moving, dismantling, destroying, annulling assets.

đ) Fees and costs related to asset auction activities.

e) Costs of publishing, publicly announcing, displaying assets, selecting purchasers in the case of asset sale by listing prices.

g) Other reasonable costs related to handling public assets.”

+ Expenditure levels: implemented as stipulated in Clause 5, Article 36 of Decree 151/2017/ND-CP

“5. Expenditure levels:

a) For expenditures with standards, norms, policies provided by competent authorities, implementation is according to the standards, norms, and policies provided by competent authorities;

b) For expenditures on hiring services related to asset handling, implementation is according to the contract signed as per regulations between the agency assigned the task of handling assets and the service provider. Selection of service providers related to asset handling is conducted according to legal provisions;

c) For expenditures beyond the scope of point a, point b of this clause, the head of the agency assigned the task of handling assets decides the expenditure level, ensuring compliance with the state’s current financial management policies and being responsible for their decision.”

- Revenue from the sale of exploited timber (if any) is allocated to activities organizing the planted forest liquidation as specified in Clause 1, Article 12 of Decree 140/2024/ND-CP. The remaining amount after deducting forest plantation liquidation costs is implemented as per Decree 151/2017/ND-CP and Decree 114/2024/ND-CP.

- Costs for forest plantation liquidation are estimated in the liquidation plan. The estimation, compliance with the estimate, and settlement of liquidation expenses are performed in accordance with the legal regulations on the state budget. In case there is no revenue from timber sales or revenue from timber sales is less than the costs of forest plantation liquidation, it is handled as follows:

+ Provincial People's Councils consider handling through the local budget for forest plantations managed locally;

+ Ministries or central agencies consider handling through the annual allocated budget for forest plantations under the management of ministries or central agencies.

More details can be found in Decree 140/2024/ND-CP, which comes into force in Vietnam from October 25, 2024.

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