Circular 13/2019/TT-BNNPTNT planting of alternative forests upon forest conversion

CIRCULAR

Prescribing the planting of alternative forests upon forest conversion^[1]

Pursuant to the February 17, 2017 Decree No. 15/2017/ND-CP, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

Pursuant to the November 15, 2017 Law on Forestry;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 156/2018/ND-CP of November 16, 2018, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Forestry;

At the proposal of the General Director of the Vietnam Administration of Forestry;

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development promulgates the Circular prescribing the planting of alternative forests upon forest conversion.

Article 1.Scope of regulation, subjects of application

1. Scope of regulation

This Circular prescribes the planting of alternative forests upon forest conversion.

2. Subjects of application

Agencies, organizations, households, individuals and residential communities involved in the planting of alternative forests upon forest conversion.

Article 2.General provisions

1. Organizations and individuals involved in the planting of alternative forests upon forest conversion shall comply with the law on forestry and other relevant laws. Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall be held responsible for the results of alternative forest planting in their localities.

2. Organizations and individuals whose forest conversion plans are approved by competent state agencies (below collectively referred to as project owners) are obliged to plant alternative forests.

a/ In case project owners cannot plant alternative forests by themselves, they shall fulfill the obligation to plant alternative forests by paying a sum of money to forest protection and development funds for planting of alternative forests under Article 4 of this Circular.

b/ In case project owners plant alternative forests by themselves but do not have enough land for forest planting, thus the area of alternative forests is smaller than the area of forests required to be planted, they shall fulfill the obligation to plant alternative forests by paying to forest protection and development fund a sum of money corresponding to the deficient area.

3. The amounts of money for planting alternative forests paid by project owners to forest protection and development funds shall be used in the following order of priority: planting special-use forests, planting protection forests; providing support for the planting of production forests; planting protection forests and special-use forests in other localities.

7. The determination of to-be-converted forest areas must comply with Article 42 of the Government’s Decree No. 156/2018/ND-CP of November 16, 2018, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Forestry (below referred to as Decree No. 156/2018/ND-CP).

5. Expenses for planting alternative forests shall be included in the total investment of projects involving forest conversion.

6. All forest products harvested upon forest conversion shall be handled in accordance with the current law.

7. The pre-acceptance testing of alternative forests must comply with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s regulations on management of investment in silvicultural works and the State’s current regulations. Expenses for pre-acceptance tests shall be included in the total cost estimates of alternative forests.

Article 3.Planting alternative forests by project owners

1. A project owner shall plant alternative forests by itself/himself/herself if:

a/ It/he/she has an unforested land area which is planned for development of protection forests or special-use forests and allocated by the State to it/him/her for afforestation in accordance with law, for cases of conversion of special-use forests or protection forests or natural production forests to other uses.

b/ It/he/she has an unforested land area, which is planned for forest development and allocated or leased by the State to it/him/her for afforestation in accordance with law, for cases of conversion of planted production forests to other uses.

2. Preparation of a plan on planting alternative forests

The project owner shall make a plan on planting alternative forests according to the form provided in Appendix I to this Circular. In case the to-be-converted land area lies in more than one province or centrally run city, the project owner shall make a separate plan for each province or centrally run city.

3. Dossier of request for approval of a plan on planting alternative forests

a/ The dossier must comprise:

The plan on planting alternative forests, made according to the form provided in Appendix I to this Circular;

A written request for approval, made according to the form provided in Appendix II to this Circular;

The decision on forest conversion of a competent state agency and other relevant documents (if any).

b/ In case the dossier is in a foreign language, its Vietnamese translation is required.

4. Receipt of the dossier of request for approval of a plan on planting alternative forests

a/ The project owner shall submit directly or send by post or via the cyberspace (national single-window mechanism, online public services, electronic software, email or fax) 1 set of the dossier specified in Clause 3 of this Article to the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the locality where exists the land area to be planted with alternative forests;

If the dossier is submitted directly or sent by post, documents included therein must be originals or certified copies;

If the dossier is sent via the cyberspace: documents included therein must be copies scanned or duplicated from the originals;

The project owner shall be responsible for the validity of the submitted dossier.

b/ If the dossier is valid, the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall receive it and immediately issue a dossier receipt stating the date of notification of dossier processing results to the project owner;

If the dossier is invalid, the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall immediately notify such to the project owner, in case the dossier is submitted directly, or issue a notice within 2 working days after receiving it, in case the dossier is submitted by other modes.

5. Order of appraisal and approval of a plan on planting alternative forests

a/ Within 20 working days after receiving a valid dossier from the project owner, the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall complete the appraisal of the plan on planting  alternative forests. When necessary to conduct field verification of the actual state of the to-be-converted forest area and the location planned for alternative forests, the duration for completing the appraisal of the plan on planting alternative forests may be prolonged for at most 15 working days.

The appraisal council shall be composed of representatives from the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Planning and Investment, and the district-level People’s Committee of the locality where exists the land area planned for planting alternative forests; representatives of related science organizations may be invited to join the council. The Council must have at least 5 members with 1 leader of the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development as its chairperson. In case the project’s total land area planned for planting alternative forests is less than 10 hectares, the Director of the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall decide on the composition of the council with fewer members.

b/ Within 3 working days after completing the appraisal of the plan on planting alternative forests, the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall submit such plan to the People’s Committee of the province or centrally-run city (below referred to as provincial-level People’s Committee) for consideration and approval. If deciding not to propose the provincial-level People’s Committee to consider and approve the plan, the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall notify such in writing to the project owner, clearly stating the reason.

c/ Within 10 working days after receiving the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s proposal for approval of the plan, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall approve such plan and send the approval  decision to the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and project owner. In case of refusal, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall notify such in writing to the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and project owner.

6. Organization of the planting of alternative forests

a/ After a plan on planting replacement forests is approved, the project owner shall make designs and cost estimates for afforestation according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s regulations on management of investment in silvicultural works and current regulations for submission to competent authorities for approval.

When approving designs and cost estimates for afforestation, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall decide on the specific time for planting forests and the number of years of tending and protection of alternative forests in conformity with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Circular No. 29/2018/TT-BNNPTNT of November 16, 2018, prescribing silvicultural measures, and local practical conditions so as to ensure sufficient time for completing the pre-acceptance test of planted forests under regulations.

b/ The project owner shall plant forests within 12 months after the plan on planting alternative forests is approved.

7. Time for fulfillment of the obligation to plant alternative forests

The project owner shall be considered having fulfilled its/his/her obligation to plant alternative forests when the planted forests pass the pre-acceptance test according to regulations.

Article 4.Cases in which project owners do not plant alternative forests by themselves

1. Dossier of request for approval of a plan on payment of money for planting alternative forests

a/ The dossier must comprise:

A document made by the project owner to request the provincial-level People’s Committee to approve the plan on payment of money for planting alternative forests;

The decision on forest conversion, issued by a competent state agency;

A report on the area and actual state of the to-be-converted forests (based on use purpose, the origin of forests, forest owner); and other relevant documents (if any).

b/ If the dossier is in a foreign language, its Vietnamese translation is required.

2. Receipt of a dossier of request for approval of the plan on payment of money for planting alternative forests

a/ The project owner shall submit directly or send by post or via the cyberspace (national single-window mechanism, online public services, electronic software, email or fax) 1 set of the dossier under Clause 1 of this Article to the provincial-level People’s Committee of the locality where exists the land area planned for planting alternative forests;

If the dossier is submitted directly or sent by post, documents included therein must be the originals or certified copies;

If the dossier is sent via the cyberspace, documents included therein must be copies scanned or duplicated from the originals;

The project owner shall be responsible for the validity of the submitted dossier.

b/ If the dossier is valid, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall receive it and immediately issue a dossier receipt stating the date of notification of dossier processing results to the project owner;

If the dossier is invalid, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall notify such to the project owner immediately upon receiving it, if the dossier is submitted directly, or issue a notice within 2 working days, if the dossier is submitted by other modes.

3. Order of approval of the payment of money for planting alternative forests in case the provincial-level People’s Committee can arrange land for planting alternative forests in the locality

a/ Within 15 working days after receiving a valid dossier from the project owner prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall process it and notify in writing the results to the project owner;

The provincial-level People’s Committee shall decide on the afforestation unit price, total amount payable and deadline for the project owner to fulfill the obligation to pay money for planting alternative forests. The unit price of planting of alternative forests shall be calculated based on afforestation cost estimates (for protection forests and special-use forests) applied in the locality at the time the project owner requests the provincial-level People’s Committee to allow it/him/her to pay money for planting alternative forests;

The afforestation unit price shall be determined based on techno-economic norms of forest planting, tending and protection; the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s regulations on management of investment in silvicultural works; man-day rates and prices of materials and seedlings in the locality.

b/ Within 30 working days after the provincial-level People’s Committee issues a written approval of the plan on payment of money for planting alternative forests, the project owner shall pay the whole amount of money into the provincial-level Forest Protection and Development Fund (or to the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development if the Forest Protection and Development Fund has yet been established).

c/ The provincial-level Forest Protection and Development Fund (or the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development if the Forest Protection and Development Fund has yet been established) shall receive the amount of money for planting alternative forests under the provincial-level People’s Committee’s document approving the plan on payment of money for planting alternative forests in order to organize the planting of alternative forests under regulations.

d/ In case the project owner has paid a money amount into the provincial-level Forest Protection and Development Fund (or the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development if the Forest Protection and Development Fund has yet been established) under Points b and c of this Clause but the provincial-level People’s Committee cannot arrange or sufficiently arrange a land area for planting alternative forests, within 12 months after the project owner makes payment, the provincial-level Forest Protection and Development Fund (or the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development if the Forest Protection and Development Fund has yet been established) shall transfer such money amount to the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund for planting alternative forests in another locality.

4. Order of approval of payment of money for planting alternative forests in case a locality runs out of land planned for forest development to plant alternative forests

a/ Within 5 working days after receiving a valid dossier from the project owner under Clause 1 of this Article, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall send a dossier prescribed at Point b of this Clause to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and request the latter to approve the plan on payment of money into the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund for the organization of planting alternative forests in another locality.

b/ The dossier of request of the provincial-level People’s Committee must comprise:

A document of a provincial-level People’s Committee requesting the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, clearly stating the reason why there is no land planned for forest development left for planting alternative forests, enclosed with a list of projects obliged to pay money for planting alternative forests, made according to the form provided in Appendix III to this Circular;

The project owner’s request dossier prescribed with Clause 1 of this Article.

c/ Receipt of the request dossier of the provincial-level People’s Committee

The provincial-level People’s Committee shall submit directly or send by post or via the cyberspace (national single-window mechanism, online public services, electronic software, email or fax) 1 set of the dossier specified  at Point b of this Article to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

If the dossier is submitted directly or sent by post, documents included therein must be the originals or certified copies;

If the dossier is sent via the cyberspace, documents included therein must be copies scanned or duplicated from the originals;

The provincial-level People’s Committee shall be responsible for the validity of the submitted dossier.

If the dossier is valid, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall receive it and immediately issue a dossier receipt stating the date of notification of dossier processing results to the provincial-level People’s Committee;

In case the dossier is invalid, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall notify such immediately to the provincial-level People’s Committee if the dossier is submitted directly or issue a notice within 2 working days after receiving it, if the dossier is submitted by other modes.

d/ Within 20 working days after receiving a valid dossier of the provincial-level People’s Committee, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall consider arranging planting of alternative forests in another province or centrally run city (below referred to as the locality where alternative forests will be planted); and make a document requesting the provincial-level People’s Committee of the locality where alternative forests will be planted to make and approve designs and cost estimates of afforestation (for protection forests and special-use forests).

dd/ Within 30 working days after receiving the written request of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the provincial-level People’s Committee of the locality where alternative forests will be planted shall approve and send the designs and cost estimates for planting alternative forests to the Ministry.

Unit prices of planting of alternative forests shall be decided by the provincial-level People’s Committee of the locality where alternative forests will be planted at the time of receiving the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s notice of the approval of the planting of alternative forests in the locality and determined based on techno-economic norms of forest planting, tending and protection; the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s regulations on management of investment in silvicultural works; man-day rates and prices of materials and seedlings in the locality.

e/ Within 10 working days after receiving the decision approving afforestation designs and cost estimates of the provincial-level People’s Committee of the locality where alternative forests will be planted, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (or the agency authorized by the Ministry) shall notify in writing the money amount payable by the project owner for planting alternative forests to the related provincial-level People’s Committee, the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund and the project owner.

g/ Within 30 working days after the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (or the agency authorized by the Ministry) issues a notice of the money amount payable for planting alternative forests, the project owner shall pay such amount to the provincial-level Forest Protection and Development Fund to which it/he/she has submitted the dossier (or the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development if the Forest Protection and Development Fund has yet been established).

h/ Within 10 working days after the project owner pays money for planting alternative forests, the provincial-level Forest Protection and Development Fund (or the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development if the Forest Protection and Development Fund has yet been established) shall transfer such money amount to the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund.

5. The project owner is considered having fulfilled the obligation to plant alternative forests after the Forest Protection and Development Fund into which the project owner has paid the money amount issues a notice of the fulfillment of the obligation to pay money for planting alternative forests.

6. Receipt and use of money amounts paid for planting alternative forests

a/ Money mounts paid for planting alternative forests shall be managed, used, finalized and paid via the State Treasury under the State’s current regulations.

b/ The Forest Protection and Development Fund shall open a state treasury account under Point a, Clause 2, Article 77 of Decree No. 156/2018/ND-CP.

c/ Organizations and units assigned with the tasks of planting alternative forests shall open state treasury accounts to receive funds for planting alternative forests, and manage and control the spending of such funds.

d/ Funds for planting alternative forests shall be used for planting protection forests or special-use forests under Clause 7 of this Article.

For money amounts for planting alternative forests paid into the provincial-level Forest Protection and Development Fund (or provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development if the Forest Protection and Development Fund has yet been established): The provincial-level People’s Committee shall decide to provide support for planting production forests under Clause 8 of this Article in case the locality has no land left for planting protection forests or special-use forests.

7. Planting of protection forests or special-use forests

a/ The provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall advise the provincial-level People’s Committee to assign tasks and allocate funds from the source of money amounts for planting alternative forests paid by project owners or transferred from the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund to forest management boards or other organizations and units having appropriate functions for the latter to plant alternative forests on the land areas planned for protection forests or special-use forests.

Based on the provincial-level People’s Committee-approved plan on allocation of funds for planting alternative forests to forest management boards or organizations and units having appropriate functions, the provincial-level Forest Protection and Development Fund (or the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development if the Forest Protection and Development Fund has yet been established) shall transfer such funds to organizations and units planting alternative forests in accordance with law.

b/ The Vietnam Administration of Forestry shall advise the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on the plan on allocation of funds for planting alternative forests on land areas planned for protection forests or special-use forests to localities from the source of funds transferred from localities to the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund under Point d, Clause 3, and Clause 4, of this Article.

Based on the plan on allocation of funds for planting alternative forests to localities approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund shall transfer the money amounts paid for planting alternative forests to the provincial-level Forest Protection and Development Fund (or the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development if the Forest Protection and Development Fund has yet been established) of the locality where alternative forests will be planted in accordance with law.

The provincial-level Forest Protection and Development Fund (or the provincial-level Department of Agriculture and Rural Development if the Forest Protection and Development Fund has yet been established) of the locality where alternative forests will be planted shall transfer the money amounts paid for planting alternative forests to organizations and units for planting alternative forests in accordance with law.

c/ Organizations and units assigned to plant alternative forests shall make and submit for approval alternative forest planting designs and cost estimates, plant alternative forests and conduct forest tending and protection until such alternative forests go through pre-acceptance testing as prescribed in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s regulations on management of investment in silvicultural works and current laws.

8. Support for planting of production forests

a/ Beneficiaries are ethnic minority households and poor Kinh households stably living in communes with socio-economic difficulties (regions II and III), prescribed in Article 2 of the Government’s Decree No. 75/2015/ND-CP of September 9, 2015, on mechanisms and policies on forest protection and development, in combination with sustainable and fast poverty alleviation and support for ethnic minority groups during 2015-2020 (below referred to as Decree No. 75/2015/ND-CP), who wish to receive support for planting of production forests on unforested land areas planned for development of production forests.

b/ Support contents and levels must comply with Article 5 of Decree No. 75/2015/ND-CP.

c/ List of beneficiaries, areas eligible for, and demands to receive, support for planting of production forests shall be summarized according to Appendix IV to this Circular.

Article 5.Management and use of post-investment alternative forests

1. For forests planted by project owners themselves under Article 3 of this Circular, project owners shall further manage, protect, develop and use such forest areas; and benefit from and fulfill obligations for such forest areas as prescribed by law for special-use forests, protection forests and production forests.

2. For special-use forests and protection forests planted with money amounts paid by project owners for planting alternative forests, forest management boards and related units shall further manage, protect and develop such forest areas in accordance with the law on special-use forests and protection forests.

3. For production forests planted by households with support from the source of funds for planting alternative forests paid by project owners, households shall manage, protect, develop and use such forest areas; and may enjoy the whole value of harvested forest products after fulfilling their financial obligations as prescribed by law for production forests.

Article 6.Handling of natural disaster risks

1. Production forest areas damaged by natural disasters are entitled to support under the Government’s Decree No. 02/2017/ND-CP of January 9, 2017, on mechanisms and policies on support for agricultural production to restore production in areas suffering damage caused by natural disasters and epidemics.

2. Protection forests and special-use forests damaged by natural disasters shall be liquidated under the Minister of Finance’s Circular No. 18/2013/TT-BTC of February 20, 2013, guiding the order and procedures for liquidation of planted forests and management and use of the proceeds from liquidation of planted forests not yet developed into forests or unlikely to be developed into forests.

3. The making of statistics of and assessment of damage caused by natural disasters must comply with Joint Circular No. 43/2015/TTLT-BNNPTNT-BKHDT of November 23, 2015 of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Minister of Planning and Investment, guiding the making of statistics of and assessment of damage caused by natural disasters.

4. The process of provision of financial support must comply with  the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 01/2016/QD-TTg of January 19, 2016, on mechanisms and process of financial support to localities for the remediation of natural disaster consequences.

Article 7.Implementation responsibility

1. The Vietnam Administration of Forestry shall sum up, report, inspect and examine the planting of alternative forests nationwide and propose plans for removing obstacles during the planting of alternative forests nationwide.

2. Provincial-level Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development shall organize the planting of alternative forests in their localities.

3. Forest Protection and Development Funds shall receive and disburse money amounts paid for planting alternative forests by project owners and take part in supervising the planting of alternative forests by units and organizations assigned with funds for the planting of alternative forests.

4. Project owners and units and organizations assigned funds for the planting of alternative forests shall comply with current regulations on planting of alternative forests; organize forest planting, tending and protection until these forest go through the pre-acceptance tests under regulations; and report implementation results according to regulations.

Article 8.Effect

1. This Circular takes effect on January 1, 2020.

2. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Circular No. 23/2017/TT-BNNPTNT of November 15, 2017, prescribing the planting of alternative forests upon forest conversion, ceases to be effective on the effective date of this Circular.

3. Should relevant legal documents referred to in this Circular be amended, supplemented or replaced under the State’s current regulations, the amending, supplementing or replacing documents shall prevail.

4. Any problems arising in the course of implementation of this Circular should be reported in writing to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for consideration and settlement.

Article 9.Transitional provisions

1. Plans on planting of alternative forests which are being carried out under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Circular No. 23/2017/TT-BNNPTNT of November 15, 2017, or have been approved with their contents complying with Clause 1, Article 3 of this Circular but have not been implemented before the effective date of this Circular, shall continue to be carried out.

2. In case projects owners have received competent authorities’ approval of plans on payment for planting alternative forests into Forest Protection and Development Funds, which are conformable with the Law on Forestry but fail to make payment before this Circular takes effect, they shall pay money for planting alternative forests under this Circular but are not required to re-carry out procedures to request approval of such plans.

3. Projects owners that submit dossiers of request for approval of plans on planting alternative forests or dossiers of request for approval of plans on payment of money for planting alternative forests before the effective date of this Circular but not yet received approval of their dossiers shall comply with this Circular.

4. For state budget-funded projects under which forest conversion has been conducted before the effective date of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Circular No. 23/2017/TT-BNNPTNT of November 15, 2017, but expenses for planting alternative forests have not yet been included in projects’ total investment, provincial-level Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development shall summarize the list of these projects and areas of alternative forests to be planted and report thereon to provincial-level People’s Committees for inclusion into provinces’ annual new afforestation plans.-

For the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
Deputy Minister
HA CONG TUAN

* The appendices to this Circular are not translated.