Provision of more than 7 thousand tons of rice from national reserves to localities to relieve people's hunger during Tet in Vietnam

Provision of more than 7 thousand tons of rice from national reserves to localities to relieve people's hunger during Tet in Vietnam (Internet image) 

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Provision of more than 7 thousand tons of rice from national reserves to localities to relieve people's hunger during Tet in Vietnam

On February 2, 2024, the Prime Minister issued Decision 141/QD-TTg regarding the allocation of rice from the national reserve to localities for the occasion of the Lunar New Year of the Dragon and the transitional period in 2024.

Assign the Ministry of Finance to provide free of charge 7,315,335 tons of rice from the national reserve to localities to relieve hunger for the People during the Lunar New Year of the Dragon and the transitional period in 2024, specifically:

- Providing 5,704,365 tons of rice to relieve hunger for people during the Lunar New Year:

+ Cao Bang province: 666,015 tons of rice.

+ Binh Dinh province: 170.85 tons of rice.

+ Gia Lai province: 606,675 tons of rice.

+ Nghe An Province: 1,080,255 tons of rice.

+ Bac Lieu province: 483,735 tons of rice.

+ Dak Nong province: 317.85 tons of rice.

+ Ninh Thuan province: 982.05 tons of rice.

+ Dak Lak province: 920.13 tons of rice.

+ Binh Phuoc province: 476,805 tons of rice.

- Provision of 1,610.97 tons of rice to relieve hunger for the people during the 2024 harvest season:

+ Gia Lai province: 588,375 tons of rice.

+ Dak Nong province: 315,825 tons of rice.

+ Dak Lak province: 706.77 tons of rice.

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs will handle it specifically according to regulations; according to assigned functions and tasks, responsible for reporting bases, information, and data. The People's Committees of the provinces: Cao Bang, Binh Dinh, Gia Lai, Nghe An, Bac Lieu, Dak Nong, Ninh Thuan, Dak Lak, and Binh Phuoc are responsible for the accuracy of the reported data and for providing timely and appropriate support to the eligible beneficiaries according to the regulations during the Lunar New Year and the transitional period in 2024.

Decision 141/QD-TTg takes effect on February 2, 2024.

2. What are the cases in which  commodities in national reserve are stored and released in Vietnam?

According to Article 34 of the Law on National Reserve 2012, the cases in which  commodities in national reserve are stored and released are as follows:

2.1 Storage and release of commodities in national reserve under the Prime Minister's decisions

The Prime Minister shall decide the storage and release of commodities in national reserve when:

- Presidents of People's Committees of central-affiliated cities and provinces (hereinafter referred to as provincial People's Committees) announce the occurrence of an epidemic in their localities;

- Preventing and suppressing, and alleviating consequences of natural disasters, catastrophes, epidemics, fires, or relieving famine;

- Market prices fluctuate;

- Satisfying the demands of the defense or security.

2.2 Storage and release of commodities in national reserve in emergencies

In the emergencies specified in Clause 8, Article 4 of the Law on National Reserve 2012, the authority to decide the storage or release of national commodities is exercised as follows:

- The Prime Minister shall promptly decide the storage or release of commodities in national reserve.

- The Minister of Finance, the Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development shall decide the storage and release of commodities in national reserve according to the following provisions:

+ Temporarily release national reserves supplies and equipment to timely serve arising tasks; after the tasks are fulfilled, immediately recover them for maintenance, replenishment and preservation according to regulations or send reports to the Prime Minister for decision.

+ Immediately store or release for free supply commodities in national reserve with a value within the legal authority of the Minister of Finance to decide the  budget expenditure prescribed in the Law on the State Budget 2015 for promptly performing every task that may arise.

+ Persons competent to decide the storage or release of commodities in national reserve shall manage and use the commodities for proper purposes and subjects; send reports to the Prime Minister and notify it to the Ministry of Finance within 3 working days from the day on which the decision is made and take responsibility for their decisions.

+ The Ministry of Finance shall inspect the storage and release of commodities in national reserve prescribed in this Article, report violations to the Prime Minister for timely handling and take responsibility for inspection results.

2.3 Storage and release of commodities in national reserve under plans and exchange of commodities in national reserve

-. The storage and release of commodities in national reserve under plans and exchange of commodities in national reserve must be carried out annually. The agencies in charge of commodities in national reserve shall draw up plans on storage, exchange and release of commodities in national reserve and send them to the Ministry of Finance for summarization and sending reports to the Prime Minister for decision.

- Heads the Ministries and agencies in charge of the management of commodities in national reserve shall organize the implementation of the plans for storage, release and exchange of commodities in national reserve, if the plans are not completed in the planning year, they shall send reports to the Ministry of Finance for submission to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.

- If the amount of money earned from the sale of commodities for rotation are not enough for the purchase of commodities with adequate quantities under the approved plans due to changes in price, the Ministries and agencies in charge of the management of commodities in national reserve shall purchase an amount of commodities in proportion to the amount of money earned.

- When purchasing commodities in national reserve of seasonal nature, if new commodities must be purchased before old commodities are sold, the Minister of Finance shall consider and decide the advance payment of the state budget for such purchase; the Ministries and agencies in charge of the management of commodities in national reserve  shall repay the advance payment within the planning year.

2.4 Storage and release of commodities in national reserve in other cases

Heads of the ministries and agencies in charge of the management of commodities in national reserve shall decide the storage and release of commodities in national reserve in other cases, including:

- Release of commodities in national reserve for liquidation and destruction;

- Storage of commodities in national reserve for excessive commodity quantities upon actual inventory compared to those stated in the accounting books.

Nguyen Ngoc Que Anh

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