Circular No. 01/2014/TT-BTTTT dated February20, 2014 on stipulating in detail priority in investment in and procurement of domestically manufactured or provided information technology products and services using state budget funds

Circular

Stipulating in detail priority in investment in and procurement of domestically manufactured or provided information technology products and services using state budget funds[1]

Pursuant to the June 29, 2006 Law on Information Technology;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 64/2007/ND-CP of April 10, 2007, providing the application of information technology in operations of state agencies;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 71/2007/ND-CP of May 3, 2007, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Information Technology regarding the information technology industry;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 169/2006/QD-TTg of July 17, 2006, providing the investment in and procurement of information technology products by agencies and organizations using state budget funds, and Decision No. 223/2006/QD-TTg of October 4, 2006, amending a number of articles of Decision No. 169/2006/QD-TTg;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 132/2013/ND-CP of October 16, 2013, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Information and Communications;

At the proposal of the Director of the Information Technology Department,

The Minister of Information and Communications promulgates the Circular stipulating in detail priority in investment in and procurement of domestically manufactured or provided information technology products and services using state budget funds.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.Scope of regulation

This Circular provides:

1. The criteria and list of domestically manufactured or provided information technology products and services which are prioritized for investment and procurement by state agencies and organizations.

2. Priority for cases of investment in and procurement of information technology products or services using state budget funds or funds originating from the state budget for non-commercial purposes, specifically:

a/ Procurement of assets and other articles to maintain regular operations;

b/ Procurement and investment under investment projects;

c/ Other activities involving investment in and procurement of information technology products and services.

Article 2.Subjects of application

1. This Circular applies to state agencies, state non-business units, political organizations, socio-political organizations, and armed forces’ agencies and units (below referred to as agencies and organizations).

2. Organizations and enterprises other than those specified in Clause 1 of this Article are encouraged to apply this Circular when investing in or procuring information technology products and services.

Chapter II

PROVISIONS ON DOMESTICALLY MANUFACTURED OR PROVIDED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES PRIORITIZED FOR INVESTMENT AND PROCUREMENT

Article 3.Domestically manufactured or provided information technology products and services prioritized for investment and procurement

Domestically manufactured or provided information technology products and services prioritized for investment and procurement using state budget or state budget-originated funds (below referred to as domestic products and services) are products and services that meet the following conditions:

1. Being on the list of domestic products and services (below referred to as the list) prescribed in Article 4 of this Circular.

2. Satisfying the general criteria prescribed in Article 5 and specific criteria for each type of product or service prescribed in Article 6 of this Circular.

Article 4.Provisions on the list

1. The list is provided in Appendix I to this Circular.

2. The list shall be updated and supplemented to suit actual developments.

Article 5.General criteria for identification of domestic products and services

Domestic products and services must satisfy the following general criteria:

1. They are manufactured or provided in Vietnam by enterprises in which Vietnamese legal or natural entities have the controlling right or hold dominant shares (for joint-stock companies) or dominant capital contributions (for enterprises of other forms).

2. They have their trademarks registered and protected in accordance with Vietnam’s law, or have been registered and satisfy all requirements and conditions for provision of products and services (if any) in accordance with Vietnam’s law.

3. They have technical documents and use instructions in Vietnamese.

4. They have clear commitments on warranty, suppliers’ responsibilities, after-sales and other related policies.

Article 6.Specific criteria for identification of domestic products and services

Domestic products and services must satisfy the following specific criteria:

1. For a hardware or electronic product:

a/ It has an annual turnover of at least VND 10 billion in the last 2 years or has been used by at least 5 state agencies or 10 organizations and enterprises or 500 individuals;

b/ Its domestic production costs account for at least 20% of its total production costs or its production requires at least 50 Vietnamese laborers specialized in hardware or electronics, including research and development staff members, quality inspectors, engineers and workers, stably working for 1 year or more;

c/ It has been announced to be conformable with relevant national standards and certified and announced to be conformable with relevant technical regulations, for products on the list of information and communication technology products subject to certification and announcement of conformity with technical regulations, or the product has been announced to be conformable with relevant technical regulations, for products on the list of information and communication technology products subject to announcement of conformity with technical regulations;

d/ It is manufactured by an organization or enterprise that has applied at least one of the following systems for quality management or environment management in hardware or electronics production: TCVN ISO 9001: 2008; TCVN ISO 14001:2004; TCVN ISO 17025: 2005, or the equivalent.

2. For a software product:

a/ It has an annual turnover of at least VND 500 million in the last 2 years or has been used by at least 2 state agencies or 5 organizations and enterprises or 500 individuals;

b/ Its functions and technical properties suit professional requirements or corresponding regulations and guidelines on application of information technology in state agencies (if any) or the product is developed based on open-source software in compliance with open standards;

c/ Its domestic production costs account for at least 30% of its total production costs or its production requires at least 20 Vietnamese laborers specialized in software, including research and development staff members, quality inspectors and software engineers and developers, stably working for 1 year or more;

d/ It is produced by an organization or enterprise having been certified as reaching the Capability Maturity Model Integration at level 3 or a higher level or TVCN ISO 9001:2008 for software manufacturing, or it records an open-source maturity model (OSMM) point of 60 or more or a point of failure (PoF) of 50 or less.

3. For a digital content product:

a/ It complies with the law on provision and use of digital content and information on the internet (if the product is provided via the internet);

b/ It has an annual turnover of at least VND 2 billion in the last 2 years or has been used by at least 20 organizations and enterprises or 500 individuals;

c/ Its domestic production costs account for at least 30% of its total production costs or its production requires at least 20 Vietnamese laborers specialized in software, including research and development staff members, quality inspectors and software engineers and developers, stably working for 1 year or more.

4. For an information technology service:

a/ It has an turnover of at least VND 2 billion in the last 2 years or has been used by at least 20 organizations and enterprises or 500 individuals;

b/ It is provided by an organization or enterprise that is applying a service quality management system reaching ISO standards, with priority given to organizations and enterprises reaching the standard TCVN ISO 27001;

c/ For services related to customers’ data, service providers shall take measures to ensure safety and confidentiality for customers’ information and data.

Article 7.Announcement of domestic products and services

1. For an information technology product or service that satisfies the general criteria prescribed in Article 5 and the specific criteria for each type of product or service prescribed in Article 6 of this Circular, the organization or enterprise concerned shall:

a/ Make an announcement on the product’s or service’s satisfaction of the criteria for investment and procurement priority according to the form provided in Appendix II to this Circular and publish such announcement in the mass media and on its website (if any), and take responsibility for the accuracy of information relating to such product or service;

b/ Notify information relating to the announced product or service to the Ministry of Information and Communications (the Information Technology Department - 18 Nguyen Du street, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi) according to the form provided in Appendix III to this Circular;

c/ Make an announcement on supplementation of or change in information on the product or service upon occurrence of any change to the announced product or service in the mass media or its website and notify such change to the Ministry of Information and Communications (the Information Technology Department) according to the form provided in Appendix IV to this Circular;

d/ In case of suspending the supply of, or provision of support for, the announced product or service, make an announcement in the mass media and on its website (if any) and notify such to the Ministry of Information and Communications (the Information Technology Department) according to the form provided in Appendix V to this Circular;

dd/ Ensure the quality of the product and service as announced.

2. Within 10 working days after receiving the organization’s or enterprise’s notice (made according to the form provided in Appendix III, IV or V to this Circular), the Ministry of Information and Communications shall:

a/ Consider publishing on its website atwww.mic.gov.vninformation on the product or service for reference by agencies and organizations that wish to invest in or procure information and technology products and services;

b/ Examine the product’s or service’ satisfaction of the criteria as announced by the organization or enterprise (when necessary) and publish examination results on its website atwww.mic.gov.vn.

3. To encourage information technology units of ministries, ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies, and provincial-level Departments of Information and Communications to verify, evaluate and announce information technology products and services in the sectors or localities under their management that satisfy the prescribed criteria for investment and procurement priority.

Chapter III

PROVISIONS ON PRIORITY IN INVESTMENT IN AND PROCUREMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Article 8.Provisions on priority in investment in and procurement of information technology products and services

1. Project owners and heads of agencies and organizations in charge of investment or procurement (below referred to as project owners), when using state budget or state budget-originated funds to invest in or procure information technology products or services, or to implement projects on information technology application and development shall prioritize domestic products and goods prescribed in Article 3 of this Circular.

2. Responsibilities of project owners:

a/ Not to set out in preliminary designs, construction designs, bidding plans, investment plans, bidding dossiers, requests for sale offers, request for price quotations and procurement-related requests any requirements, conditions and features which may exclude domestic information technology products and services;

b/ To devise rating and marking scales giving priority points to contractors and suppliers that offer domestic information technology products and services in accordance with current bidding regulations;

c/ To clearly state in bidding dossiers, requests for price quotations or other similar documents specific criteria for prioritizing domestic products and services defined in Article 3 of this Circular;

d/ To consider information technology products and services announced by organizations and enterprises under Article 7 of this Circular so as to select suitable products and services in accordance with this Circular.

3. For a project which needs to invest in or procure information technology products and services on the list provided in Appendix I to this Circular but due to the project’s specific technical requirements, the project owner does not invest in or procure domestic products and services, it shall make an explanatory dossier and comply with the provisions of Article 9 of this Circular.

Article 9.Appraisal and approval of cases of non-investment in or non-procurement of domestic products and services

1. Appraisal process:

a/ The project owner shall make an explanatory dossier and send it to the information technology unit under its managing ministry, sector or locality for professional opinion. In case the project owner is an information technology unit, an independent advisory team shall be formed to consider and give opinions on the investment or procurement proposal. The independent advisory team shall be formed by the agency competent to decide on investment or procurement and must be composed of at least 3 members who are not staff members of the project owner and possess relevant qualifications and experiences;

b/ Contents of the document stating the professional opinions: Evaluation of the project owner’s explanatory dossier; analyses of use purposes of the to-be-invested or -procured products or services so as to identify requirements on such products or services; evaluation of domestic products’ or services’ possibility to satisfy the requirements on to-be-invested or -procured products or services; the reasonability of the non-investment in or non-procurement of domestic products or services and conclusions on the project owner’s proposal;

c/ Within 5 working days after receiving a valid explanatory dossier, the information technology unit or independent advisory team shall issue a document stating its opinions and send such document to the agency competent to decide on the investment or procurement and the project owner;

d/ On the basis of the professional opinions, the project owner shall submit the explanatory dossier to the agency competent to decide on investment or procurement for approval of the non-investment in or non-procurement of domestic products and services and shall take responsibility for the truthfulness of documents as well as analyses and arguments in the explanatory dossier;

dd/ Within 10 working days after receiving the project owner’s explanatory dossier, the head of the agency competent to decide on the investment or procurement shall assign functional agencies to conduct appraisal so as to obtain grounds for approving the non-investment in or non-procurement of domestic products and services and shall take direct responsibility for his/her decision.

2. An explanatory dossier comprises:

a/ A document explaining the purpose of the investment in products or services and specific requirements which domestic products or services cannot satisfy;

b/ A document describing the requirements on the functions and technical specifications of to-be-invested or -procured products or services in compliance with project’s requirements;

c/ Documents proving that domestic products’ or services’ functions and technical specifications fail to match those required for to-be-invested or -procured products or services;

d/ The document stating professional opinions of the information technology unit or independent advisory team and other relevant documents (if any).

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 10.Responsibilities of related agencies

1. The Information Technology Department shall:

a/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, guiding the implementation of this Circular;

b/ Evaluate information technology products and services and submit evaluation results to the Minister of Information and Communications for the latter to consider updating and supplementing the list;

c/ Summarize and report on implementation results of this Circular to the Minister of Information and Communications for reporting to the Prime Minister.

2. Information technology units under ministries, ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies and provincial-level Departments of Information and Communications shall:

a/ Guide and disseminate the provisions of this Circular to agencies and units under their ministries, sectors or localities, and urge them to comply with this Circular;

b/ Give and take responsibility for their written professional opinions on projects or plans on investment in or procurement of information technology products and services using state budget funds of agencies and units under their ministries, sectors or localities;

c/ Request project owners under their ministries, sectors or localities to report on the implementation of this Circular; summarize and submit annual reports, made according to the form provided in Appendix VI to this Circular, to the Ministry of Information and Communications (the Information Technology Department) before March 31 every year, for summarization and reporting to the Prime Minister;

d/ Provincial-level Departments of Information and Communications and ministerial and sectoral inspection agencies and units shall conduct periodical or unexpected inspections and examinations of the implementation of regulations on priority in investment in or procurement of domestic information technology products and services using state budget funds in their localities, ministries or sectors.

Article 11.Transitional provisions

1. In case the investment in or procurement of domestic information technology products and services has been appraised, approved and carried out before the effective date of this Circular, the investment or procurement shall continue to comply with Circular No. 42/2009/TT-BTTTT of December 30, 2009, stipulating in detail priority in investment in or procurement of domestically manufactured or provided information technology products and services using state budget or state budget-originated funds.

2. In case the investment in or procurement of domestically manufactured or provided information technology products and services has been appraised and approved but not yet carried out, it must comply with this Circular.

Article 12.Effect

1. This Circular takes effect on April 8, 2014.

2. This Circular replaces the Minister of Information and Communications’ Circular No. 42/2009/TT-BTTT of December 30, 2009, stipulating in detail priority in investment in or procurement of domestically manufacture or provided information technology products and services using state budget or state budget-originated funds.

3. Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Information and Communications (the Information Technology Department) for prompt settlement.

4. The director of the Office, the director of the Information Technology Department, directors of provincial-level Departments of Information and Communications and related agencies, organizations, enterprises and individuals shall implement this Circular.-

Minister of Information and Communications
NGUYEN BAC SON

Appendix I

LIST OF DOMESTICALLY MANUFACTURED OR PROVIDED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

(To the Minister of Information and Communications’ Circular
No. 01/2014/TT-BTTTT of February 20, 2014)

* Other appendices to this Circular are not translated.-