Decree 04/2022/ND-CP amend decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations on land

DECREE

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations of provisions on land; water resources and minerals; hydrometeorology; topography and cartography

Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization of June 19, 2015; the Law on Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Government Organization and Law on Local Government Organization of November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to Law on Handling of Administrative Violations of June 20, 2012; the Law on Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of Law on Handling of Administrative Violations of November 13, 2020;

Pursuant to the Law on Land of November 29, 2013;

Pursuant to Law on Water Resources of June 21, 2012;

Pursuant to the Mineral Law of November 17, 2010;

Pursuant to the Law on Hydrometeorology of November 23, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Topography and Cartography of June 14, 2018;

At the request of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment;

The Government promulgates a Decree on amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations of provisions on land; water resources and minerals; hydrometeorology; topography and cartography.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 91/2019/ND-CP of November 19, 2019 on sanctioning of administrative violations of provisions on land

1. To amend and supplement Point c Clause 2 Article 3 as follows:

“c) Use land allocated or leased by the Government when the use period has expired without being extended by the Government and with decision on expropriation that has been announced and implemented but the land user does not comply (except for cases where households or individuals directly conducting agricultural activities use agricultural land);”.

2. To amend and supplement Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and to add Clause 10 Article 7 as follows:

“1. In case of using land for other purpose without permission of competent state agencies as defined in Articles 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of this Decree, amount of unlawful profits obtained from committing the violations shall be the difference between prices of types of land before and after the violations and calculated from the area of repurposed land during the violation period (being from the date of repurposing to the date of making records of administrative violations). Land prices of the land type before and after the violations shall equal land price listed under land price lists defined by provincial-level People’s Committees (for the price of land type before the violations) and at the time of making records of administrative violations (for the price of land type after repurposing). Revenues illegally obtained from repurposing land shall be calculated using the following formula:

Type of land before violation shall be determined in accordance with Article 3 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP that is amended and supplemented in Clause 1 Article 2 of decree No. 01/2017/ND-CP; type of land after violation shall be determined in accordance with factual conditions at the time of making records of administrative violations.

2. In case of using land gained by invading or appropriating as defined in Article 14 of this Decree, unlawful profits obtained from committing the violations shall be determined by price of the encroached or occupied land area during the violation period (from the date on which the encroached or occupied land is used to the date of making records of administrative violations) calculated based on land price in the land price lists defined by provincial-level People’s Committees for the encroached or occupied land type being used at the time of making records of administrative violations by using the following formula:

3. For cases of ineligible transfer of land use rights or contribution of land use rights as capital in cases defined in Clause 3 Article 18, Clause 3 Article 19, Clause 1 Article 22, Article 25, Clause 3 Article 27 of this Decree, unlawful profits obtained from violations shall be determined by price of actual transferred land use rights in accordance with signed contracts, period of transfer but no under value calculated based on land price in the land price lists defined by the provincial-level People’s Committees at the time of making records of administrative sanctions by using the following formula:

4. In case of leasing or subleasing land use rights that is ineligible in cases defined in Clause 3 Article 18, Clauses 2 and 4 Article 19, Article 20, Clause 2 Article 27 of this Decree, unlawful profits obtained from violations shall equal actual lease value or sublet value in accordance with signed contract, calculated during lease or sublet period but no under land rents in accordance with unit price of land rent for annual payment in accordance with the laws at the time of making records of administrative violations multiplies (x) area of leased or sublet land (x) years of leasing or subleasing (with land price in land price lists defined by provincial-level People’s Committees)

10. The payment of revenue illegally obtained from committing violations before the effective date of Decree No. 91/2019/ND-CP shall only apply to violations that the previous Decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations of provisions on land (effective before Decree No. 91/2019/ND-CP) regulate payment of unlawful profits. The period used to calculate unlawful profits shall be from the effective date of Decree regulating violations subject to payment of unlawful profits, or from the date of occurrence of the violation if the violation is committed after the effective date of Decree on sanctioning of administrative violations of provisions on land that regulates submission of unlawful profits. The determination of unlawful profits obtained from committing violations shall comply with this Decree.”

3. To amend and supplement Point b Clause 5 Article 9; Point b Clause 4 Article 10; Point b Clause 4 Article 11; Point b Clause 5 Article 12; Point b Clause 7 Article 14 as follows;

“b) Forcible land registration in accordance with the laws for cases eligible to be recognized for land use rights and cases where the land user violating the law can temporarily use the land until the Government recoverthe land in accordance with Article 22 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP;”.

4. To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 1, Clause 2 Article 13 as follows:

“1. Sanctions and sanctioning levels for the act of conversion of crop restructuring on paddy land without the consent of the commune-level People's Committees in accordance with Point c Clause 3 Article 13 of Decree No. 94/2019/ND-CP of December 13, 2019 of the Government on guiding a number of articles of the Law on Crop Production regarding plant varieties and crop cultivation shall be as follows:

2. Sanctions and sanctioning levels for the act of conversion of crops mechanism on paddy land violating Point a, b, c Clause 1 Article 13 of the Government’s Decree No. 94/2019/ND-CP of December 13, 2019 on guiding a number of articles of the Law on Crop Production regarding plant varieties and crop cultivation shall be as follows:”

5. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 21 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 1 and Clause 2 as follows:

“1. Sanctions and sanctioning levels for the act of trade of land use rights in form of dividing into parcels and selling vacant land in projects for construction investment of houses for sale or a combination of for sale and for rent without meeting any of conditions defined in Clause 1 Article 41 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 17 Article 1 of the Government's Decree No. 148/2020/ND-CP of December 18, 2020 on amending and supplementing a number of Decrees detailing the implementation of the Land Law) or meeting all conditions defined in Clause 1 Article 41 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 17 Article 1 of the Government's Decree No. 148/2020/ND-CP of December 18, 2020 on amending and supplementing a number of Decrees detailing the implementation of the Land Law) without permission of provincial-level People’s Committees as defined at Point a Clause 1 Article 194 of Land Law shall be as follows:

2. Sanctions and sanctioning levels for the act of trade of land use rights in form of dividing into parcels and selling vacant land in projects for construction investment of houses for sale or a combination of for sale and for rent without meeting two or more conditions defined in Clause 1 Article 41 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 17 Article 1 of Decree No. 148/2020/ND-CP) shall be as follows:

b) To amend and supplement Points b, c Clause 4 as follows:

“4. Remedial measures:

b) Enforce project owners to complete  infrastructural constructions in accordance with the approved 1/500 detailed planning map; fulfill financial obligations relating to land in case of unsatisfactory to conditions defined at Points b and c Clause 1 Article 41 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP (amended and supplemented to Points a and b Clause 1 Article 43 Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP in Clause 17 Article 1 of Decree No. 148/2020/ND-CP);

c) Enforce project owners to take responsibility in completing house construction in accordance with the approved design in case of ineligibility of conditions defined in Point d Clause 1 Article 41 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP (amended and supplemented to Point c Clause 1 Article 43 Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP in Clause 17 Article 1 of Decree No. 148/2020/ND-CP);”.

6. To amend and supplement Clause 2 Article 22 as follows:

“2. A fine of between VND 50,000,000 and VND 100,000,000 shall be imposed on persons receiving the trade of land use rights accompanied by partial or total trade of completed investment projects if they do not operate within the business lines appropriate to intended use of the land or aim of the investment projects, make deposit margin in accordance with investment laws, have financial capacity as defined in Clause 2 Article 14 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP, or they violate any regulations and law on land in case of using land and land tax allocated by the government for implementation of other investment projects.”

7. To amend and supplement some clauses of Article 37 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Organizations violating conditions for consulting services for planning and land use schemes production shall be sanctioned as follows:

a) To impose a fine of between VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000 on the act of consulting for production of planning and land use schemes without being certified for consulting services for production of planning and land use schemes or without having two personnel operating in consulting services for production of planning and land use schemes defined in Clause 2 Article 10 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 8 Article 1 of Decree No. 148/2020/ND-CP).

b) To impose a fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 on the act of consulting for production of planning and land use schemes without being certified for consulting services for production of planning and land use schemes and without having two personnel operating in consulting services for production of planning and land use schemes defined in Clause 2 Article 10 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 8 Article 1 of Decree No. 148/2020/ND-CP).”.

b) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. Additional sanctions:

a) Deprivation of the right to use license for a definite time of between 6 and 9 months, for organizations possessing an operation license from the effective date of the decision on sanctioning of administrative violations;

b) Suspension of operation for a definite time of between 9 and 12 months for organizations without any operation license from the effective date of the decision on sanctioning of administrative violations.”.

8. To amend and supplement Point b Clause 2 Article 38 as follows:

“b) Impose a fine of at most VND 100,000,000;”

9. To amend and supplement Clause 1 Article 40 as follows:

“1. The making of records of administrative violations related to land management shall comply with Article 58 of Law on Handling of Administrative Violations and Decree on detailing a number of articles and implementation measures of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.”.

10. To amend and supplement Clause 4 Article 43 as follows:

“4. To repeal Point c Clause 2, Point k Clause 3, Clause 5 Article 4; Clause 4 Article 38 and Clause 6 Article 39 of the Government’s Decree No. 91/2019/ND-CP of November 19, 2019.”

Article 2. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of Government’s Decree No. 36/2020/ND-CP of March 24, 2020 on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of water resources and minerals

1. To amend and supplement Point b Clause 2 Article 2 as follows:

“b) Organizations established under foreign laws and carrying out their business investment activities in Vietnam; foreign-invested economic organizations; representative offices and branches of foreign traders in Vietnam; representative offices of foreign trade promotion organizations in Vietnam;”

2. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 4 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point c Clause 1 as follows:

“c) Deprivation of the right to use the mineral exploration license or the mining license for a definite time of between 01 and 24 months from the effective date of the decision on sanctioning of administrative violations;”

b) To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Additional sanctions:

Depending on the nature and severity of the violation, the organization or individual who commits administrative violations may also be imposed one or several additional sanctions as follows:

a) Deprivation of the right to use license to explore or exploit water resources; the groundwater drilling practice license; the mineral exploration license or the mineral mining license for a definite time of between 01 and 24 months from the effective date of the decision on sanctioning of administrative violations;

b) Suspension of the formulation or realization of water resources projects or schemes; suspension of the exploration, exploitation or use of water resources; practicing of groundwater drilling; exploration or mining of minerals for a definite time of between 01 and 24 months from the effective date of the decision on sanctioning of administrative violations;

c) Confiscation of the material evidences (including specimens which are minerals and other evidences) and/or means used for the commission of administrative violations.”

c) To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“a) Forcible restoration of the original state by performing measures including: Forcible adoption of remedial measures against land subsidence or other emergencies; Forcible implementation of measures for land restoration and environmental remediation;

b) Forcible demolition of works or parts of works that are constructed without a license or constructed not in accordance with licenses, including the following measures: Forcible leveling or demolition of illegally built works; Forcible demolition or relocation of obstacles to flows; Forcible movement of machinery, equipment and/or assets to out of the mineral exploration/mining areas;

c) Forcible implementation of remedial measures against environmental pollution, degradation and depletion of water resources; Forcible filling and sealing of wells; Forcible implementation of measures to prevent environmental pollution and negative impacts on human health; solutions for environmental restoration in mining areas;

d) Forcible compliance with reservoir and inter-reservoir operating procedures issued by competent state agencies; operation measures to lower the water level of reservoir to the water level before flood; operation measures to reduce floods hitting downstream; operation measures to ensure annual low-water flow after operation of works during dry season; operation measures to ensure the minimum water level of the reservoir during the dry season; and measures to overcome water shortage in the downstream of the reservoir;

dd) Forcible compensation for damage for violations causing floods, drought that affect the people’s production and daily activities downstream of the reservoir;

e) Forcible leveling of exploration works; implementation of measures to protect unexploited minerals, restore the environment, and transfer of mineral specimens and its information about minerals to competent state management agencies on minerals;

g) Forcible leveling of exploration works and environmental restoration in the area already explored beyond the licensed exploration area; Forcible restoration of environment in the explored area; Forcible leveling, environmental renovation and restoration;

h) Forcible implementation of measures to bring exploited areas beyond the licensed exploration area to the safe state; Forcible restoration of land according to mine closure project approved by the competent authorities;

i) Forcible mining of minerals complying with the mining methods defined in the mineral mining license; the clearance and preparation system (for underground mining), seam opening systems (for open-cast mining); mining procedures; mining systems; parameters of the exploitation system, including: bench height and bench face angle; Forcible dispose of waste at the location determined in the approved mine design/technical-economic report; within mining time frame or with quantity and type of exploitation equipment stated in the license or written permission by the competent agency (regarding sand and gravel in rivers, streams, and lakes);

k) Forcible implementation of measures to renovate environmental protection works, remedial measures against environmental pollution, damage to technical infrastructure caused by exploitation beyond capacity;

l) Forcible implementation of remedial measures against damage to technical infrastructure; Forcible upgrading, maintenance and construction of roads;

m) Forcible transfer of mineral specimens and information about minerals to the competent state management agency on minerals;

o) Forcible correction of incorrect information and data due to acts of violation;

p) Forcible payment of the entire amount of money of using information on minerals as notified by the competent state management agency, and additional payment of late payment fines to the state budget;

q) Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of administrative violations or forcible return of the money equal to the value of material evidence used for the commission of administrative violations that were consumed, dispersed, or destroyed in contravention of the law, specifically:

In the case of water exploitation for hydroelectric power production and clean water production and trading, the illegal profits obtained from a violation in the field of water resources shall be equal to the total proceeds from the act of violation minus (-) the direct water extraction cost. If an organization or individual extracts water for purposes of non-agricultural production other than the hydroelectric power production and clean water production and trading, the illegal profits obtained from an act of violation shall be equal to (=) total quantity of water extracted multiplied by (x) prices of clean water for production and trading in the province minus (-) the direct extraction cost for water exploitation and use.

The illegal profits obtained from commission of acts of violation related to minerals shall be equal to the entire amount corresponding to the total volume of minerals exploited multiplied (x) by the price of a unit of mineral volume (ton, m³, kg, etc.) minus (-) the direct mining cost.

In case the organization or individual has paid fees for granting rights to exploit water resources, fees for granting mineral exploitation rights, royalties, environmental protection fees, other charges and fees, such payments shall be deducted upon calculation of the illegal profits.

In case the minerals have been sold, dispersed or destroyed in contravention of the law, the money subject to forcible return shall be equal to the value of the entire material evidence being the minerals that have been consumed, dispersed, or destroyed. It shall be the total volume of such minerals multiplied by (x) the price of a unit of mineral volume (ton, m³, kg, etc.). The unit price to calculate the illegal profits obtained from the commission of act of violation related to minerals and calculate the money equivalent to the value of material evidence being all minerals sold, dispersed or destroyed shall be based on the priority order defined in Clause 2 Article 60 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.

r) Forcible payment of fees for expert examination, inspection and measurement in case of acts of violation;

s) Forcible implementation of solutions to improve and restore the environment of the exploited area, and measures to bring mining areas to the safe state.

t) Forcible revocation of erased or falsified license to the competent granting agency for cases defined in Clause 1 Article 12 of this Decree.”.

d) To add Clause 4 after Clause 3 as follows:

“4.  Enforcement of remedial measure which is return of erased or falsified license for cases defined in Clause 1 Article 12 of this Decree.

The violator shall submit its license which has been erased and falsified to the person who may impose sanctioning of administrative violations. If a person competent to issue the decision on sanctioning of administrative violations is not concurrently the agency or person competent to grant the license, within 05 working days from the date of issuance of the decision imposing sanctioning of administrative violations, the person competent to issue the decision on sanctioning of administrative violations shall send a notification of the application of forcible return of erased or falsified license to the agency or person competent to grant the license (except for license issued by the foreign agency).”

3. To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 3 Article 5 and to add Articles 5a and 5b after Article 5 as follows:

“1. The fines defined in Chapter II and Chapter III of this Decree are imposed on acts of administrative violation committed by individuals. The fines imposed on acts of administrative violation committed by business households; branches or representative offices outside the scope and time limit authorized by the enterprise are the same as those imposed on individuals. The fine imposed on an organization (including a branch or representative office committing acts of administrative violation within the scope and time limit authorized by the enterprise) shall be equal to twice as much as the fine applied to an individual for the same act of violation.

3. In case of mining in the corridor of protection for infrastructure works without license, in addition to the fines defined in this Decree, the sanctions in accordance with the specialized law shall also be considered for application.

Article 5a. Statute of limitations for sanctioning of administrative violations, completed acts of administrative violation, in-progress acts of administrative violation of provisions on water resources

1. The statute of limitations for sanctioning of an administrative violation for violation of provisions on water resources shall be 02 years.

2. A completed act of administrative violation and the time when the violation stops:

The time when the violation stops is the time on which an organization or individual stops the time limit for report, notification, declaration, submission of dossiers or publication and collection of opinions as defined in Decree No. 36/2020/ND-CP for the following acts of violation:

a) The acts defined in Clause 1, Clause 2 and Clause 4 Article 6 regarding violations of provisions on capacity conditions for implementing basic investigation projects and schemes or consulting on water resources master plans;

b) Failure to report the monitoring and supervision results to competent state agencies as defined in Clause 1 Article 8;

c) Failure to provide complete data and information on water resources in a truthful manner in areas of exploration, extraction and use of water resources at the request of competent state agencies defined in Clause 1 Article 10;

d) Failure to report water resource exploitation and use activities to competent agency as defined at Point a Clause 2 Article 10;

dd) Failure to fully and truthfully report the extraction and use of water resources, or failure to report the extraction and use of water resources under the regime to the competent agency as defined at Point b, Clause 2, Article 10;

e) Failure to make comprehensive reports on groundwater drilling works on an annual basis as defined at Point a Clause 2 Article 11;

g) Failure to comply with regimes on notification and reporting related to operation of works as defined at Point b Clause 2 Article 13;

h) Failure to notify or report the results of unused well filling and sealing to the competent state agency as defined at Point a Clause 1 Article 22;

i) Failure to promptly report to competent state agencies unusual incidents regarding water quality or water level in exploited wells as defined at Point b Clause 1 Article 22;

k) Failure to notify the time and location of filling and sealing of drilled wells to the competent state management agency as defined at Point d Clause 1 Article 22;

l) Failure to disclose the information related to the exploitation and use of water resources or discharge of wastewater into water source of the project as defined at Point b Clause 5 Article 29;

m) Failure to consult relevant communities, organizations and individuals as defined at Point b Clause 6 Article 29;

n) Failure to submit the dossiers of calculation of fees for granting rights to exploit water resources as defined at Point d Clause 6 Article 29;

o) Failure to submit the dossiers of adjustment to fees for granting rights to exploit water resources in case of adjustment as defined at Point dd Clause 6 Article 29;

3. For other acts of violation defined in Decree No. 36/2020/ND-CP due to failure to comply or improper implementation of the law on water resources, the ending time of violations is the time on which organization or individual no longer has the obligation to comply with regulations.

4. Acts of administrative violation related to water resources other than those defined in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article that have ended before the time on which the competent person on duty detects the violations shall be determined as a completed act of administrative violation.

5. Acts of administrative violation related to water resources defined in this Decree but not defined in Clauses 2, 3 and 4 of this Article shall be handled as in-progress ones.”.

Article 5b. Statute of limitations for sanctioning of administrative violations, completed acts of administrative violation, in-progress acts of administrative violation of provisions on minerals

The statute of limitations for sanctioning of an administrative violation, the time to calculate the statute of limitations for sanctioning of an administrative violation, a completed act of administrative violation and the time when the violation stops and in-progress acts of administrative violation of provisions on minerals are regulated as follows:

1. The statute of limitations for sanctioning of an administrative violation for acts of violation related to minerals shall be 02 years.

2. A completed act of administrative violation and the time when the violation stops:

a) Failure to notify the exploration plan as defined at Clause 1 Article 31; Failure to notify or register the date of commencement of basic mine construction or the date of commencement of exploitation, acts related to exploration and upgrading of reserves and resources as defined at Point a, Clauses 1 and 2 Article 36 of this Decree; failure to notify the plan as defined at Clause 5 Article 36 of this Decree; Failure to send a report to the competent exploitation license-granting agency in case of suspension of exploitation for 01 year or more; failure to register the geological baseline survey of minerals as defined at Clause 1 Article 53 of this Decree. The time when the violation stops is the time of commencement of geological baseline survey of minerals, exploration, exploration for upgrade, fundamental construction, extraction or re-extraction.

b) Act of reporting without complying with Clause 3 Article 31 of this Decree. The ending time of violations is the time of report;

c) Act of carrying out field surveys and taking samples from land surface as defined at Article 30 of this Decree; failing to fully meeting the conditions for practicing mineral exploration project as defined at Clause 6 Article 31 of this Decree; failing to implement or failure to comply with regulations of mineral exploration project, mineral exploration license, mining license; act of exploring, mining using an unexpired license or without license; exploring minerals before the mineral exploration license is obtained; taking advantage of exploration activities for mining purposes; acts of violations related to mine design as defined in Clause 3 Article 38 of this Decree; acts of violations related to mine executive director as defined at Point b Clause 1 Article 39 of this Decree; acts of violations against Articles 43 and 44 of this Decree; acts of violations related to mine closure as defined at Clause 5 Article 49 of this Decree; act of removing minerals in the process of implementation of project on closure of mine; acts of violations related to use of mineral information as defined at Clause 1 Article 51 of this Decree; exploring and using minerals as defined at Point b Clause 3 Article 52 of this Decree; acts of violations of Point a Clause 2, Points a and d Clause 3 Article 53 of this Decree; acts of violations of Article 54a of this Decree; exceeding the limits on loss of minerals as defined at Clause 2 Article 54 of this Decree. The ending time of violations is the time of completion of the violations defined at this point.

d) Acts of violation of provisions on planting boundary markers at corner points of a licensed mineral exploration area; acts of violation of provisions on obligations to be fulfilled upon the expiry of mineral exploration license; acts of violation of provisions on exploration of toxic minerals; failure to submit the dossiers of calculation of fees for granting mining rights in accordance with regulations; failure to include complete information in the periodical report on mining in accordance with the form as defined; act of submitting the dossiers of calculation of fees for granting mining rights without complying with provisions on fees for granting mining right; failure to store the information about results of mineral exploration carried out to upgrade mineral reserves and resources; acts of violations related to mine design at Clauses 1, 2 and 4 Article 38 of this Decree; acts of violations related to mine executive director at Point a Clause 1, Clause 2 and Clause 3 Article 39 of this Decree; failure to install weigh station, camera system in a warehouse or place where crude minerals are moved from the mine; acts of violations of Clauses 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 Article 40; acts of violation of provisions on submission of dossiers of adjustment to the mining license; acts of violations related to obligations of a mining right auction winner as defined at Clauses 1 and 2 Article 46 of this Decree; acts of violations related to mine closure as defined at Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 Article 49 of this Decree; acts of violations related to legitimate interests of local authorities and people in mining areas; failure to report types of minerals discovered or failure to report all types of minerals discovered; failure to implement or to fully implementing request of the competent state management agency; acts of failing to sufficiently reimbursing or failing to reimburse the costs of conducting the geological baseline survey of minerals or mineral exploration; acts of violations of Points b and c Clause 2, Points b and c Clauses 3 and 4 Article 53 of this Decree; acts of violations related of Clauses 3 and 4 Article 54 of this Decree. The ending time of violations is the time at which the tasks defined in this Point has been fully performed in accordance with regulations on minerals.

dd) Acts of late submitting or failing to submit periodic reports on mineral exploration and mining; late submitting the ad hoc reports; failing to send or to send in the deadline statistical or stocktaking results of the mineral reserves; failing to submit a report on geological baseline survey of minerals and geological specimens to the state management agency on minerals in the deadline. The ending time of violations is the deadline for submission in accordance with regulations.

e) Acts of transferring mineral exploration and extraction rights or receiving the transferred mineral exploration or extraction rights; transferring the mining right auction result without obtaining a written approval from the competent state management agency. The ending time of violations is the time on which the obligations of the parties are fulfilled under the signed contract or document.

g) Acts of failing to apply for approval for mineral reserves that have been explored or exploration to upgrade mineral reserves; failing to submit a report on mineral exploration results together with the decision on approval for mineral reserves to be included in geological achieves. The ending time of violations defined in this point is the time at which all dossiers and documents have been fully submitted and approved by the competent receiving agency in accordance with regulations.

h) If the violators cannot prove the ending time of acts of administrative violation defined at Points a, b, c, d, dd, e and g of this Clause, such acts of violation shall be determined to be within the limitation period for sanctioning of administrative sanctions.

3. The administrative violations of provisions on minerals defined in this Decree but not defined in Clause 2 of this Article shall be handled as in-progress ones.”

4. To add Point c after Point 2 and to repeal some points of Article 8 as follows:

a) To add Point a Clause 2 as follows:

“c) Failure to install monitoring equipment in accordance with regulations.”.

b) To repeal the phrase “discharge wastewater into water sources” at Point a Clause 6 and Clause 7.

5. To amend and supplement Clause 3 and add Clause 4 Article 12 as follows:

“3. Additional sanctions:

Deprivation of the right to use the license for a definite time of between 06 and 12 months for the acts of violation defined at Clause 2 of this Article.

4. Remedial measures:

Forcible return of erased or falsified license, for the acts of violation defined in Clause 1 of this Article.”.

6. To amend and supplement Point a Clause 2 and Clause 11 Article 13 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point a Clause 2 as follows:

“Using the surface area of the reservoir for aquaculture or provision of tourism and/or entertainment services without the written approval by the water resources authority, if the reservoir is in the system of irrigation works, regulations on sanctioning of administrative violations of provisions on irrigation shall apply;”.

b) To amend and supplement Clause 11 as follows:

“The violator is compelled to follow procedures for operation of reservoir if any of the violations defined at Point g Clause 7, Point c Clause 8 and Clause 9 of this Article results in unexpected flash floods that cause adverse impacts on production activities and life of the people in lowland of the reservoir/spillway.”.

7. To repeal Article 20. Acts of discharging wastewater into water sources without license as specified

8. To repeal Article 21. Violations of regulations on license to discharge wastewater into water sources

9. To amend and supplement Point b Clause 11 Article 22 as follows:

“b) Forcible demolition of the works for the acts of violation defined in Clause 7 and Clause 8 of this Article;”.

10. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 25 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. To impose a fine of between VND 15,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 on the act of carrying out mineral mining or construction of a work or architectural object floating on the river, a bridge/river port/wharf to receive ships and another hydraulic work within the scope of water source protection corridor or in the river/lake bed, bank and terrace against the technical regulations on flood control and relevant technical requirements defined by law resulting in obstruction of water flows.”

b) To amend and supplement Point a Clause 4 as follows:

“a) Dredging or clearing channels to open, upgrade inland channels and routes (except for periodic maintenance of existing inland routes); building embankments, fortifying river bank (except for embankment works, river diversion for natural disaster prevention and control); improving landscape in riparian zones against the plan approved by the competent state agency;”.

c) To amend and supplement Clause 7 as follows:

“7. Violations defined in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 5 of this Article in connection with channels or canals of irrigation work systems shall be handled in accordance with regulations on sanctioning of administrative violations of provisions on irrigation.”.

d) To amend and supplement Points b and c Clause 9 as follows:

“b) Forcible demolition of the works or removal or relocation of the obstacles to the flow for the acts of violation defined in this Article.

c) Forcible demolition of the works or removal or relocation of the obstacles on the area of the encroached river for the act of violation defined at Point b Clause 6 of this Article.

11. To amend and supplement Point a Clause 5 Article 26 as follows:

“a) Forcible demolition of the violating works defined in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article;

12. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 29 as follows:

a) To repeal Point d Clause 5, Point c Article 6.

b) To amend and supplement Points a and e Clause 6 as follows:

“a) Including inaccurate information in the request for license to explore, extract or use water resources;

e) Failure to submit the application for adjustment or re-issuance of the license to explore, extract or use water resources, practice groundwater drilling in case the adjustment or re-issuance is required.”

c) To amend and supplement Point b Clause 9 as follows:

“b) Forcible demolition or relocation of the works, for the act of violation defined at Point a Clause 7 of this Article is committed.”

13. To amend and supplement Clause 2 and add Clause 2a after Clause 2 Article 31 as follows:

“2. A fine of between VND 20,000,000 and VND 30,000,000 on the act of failure to submit a periodic report on mineral exploration within a period of from 30 days to under 60 days from February 01 of the year succeeding the reporting period to the competent authority.

2a. A fine of between VND 30,000,000 and VND 40,000,000 on the act of failure to submit a periodic report on mineral exploration to the competent authority in accordance with regulations. If an organization or individual submits a periodic report on mineral exploration at least 60 days after the deadline, which is February 01 of the year succeeding the reporting period, it shall be considered as failure to submit periodical reports on mineral exploration.”

14. To amend and supplement Clause 4 and to add Clause 4a after Clause 4 Article 36 as follows:

“4. To impose a fine of between VND 30,000,000 and VND 50,000,000 on the act of failure to submit a periodic report on mineral mining within a period of from 30 days to under 60 days from February 1 of the year succeeding the reporting period to the competent authority.

4a. To impose a fine of between VND 50,000,000 and VND 60,000,000 on the act of failing to submit a periodic report on mineral mining to the competent authority. If an organization or individual submits a periodic report on mineral mining at least 60 days after the deadline, which is February 01 of the year succeeding the reporting period, it shall be considered as failure to submit periodical reports on mineral mining.”

15. To amend and supplement the first paragraphs of Clauses 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 Article 37 as follows:

“3. To impose fines on the act of extraction of minerals (except for sand and gravel in river/stream/lake bed, estuary, internal waters) with a total extraction area exceeding the boundary of licensed mining area up to under 0.1 hectare (by surface); from 0.5 m to under 01 m (by depth or height) with an area of 0.01 hectare or more:

4. To impose fines on the act of extraction of minerals (except for sand and gravel in river/stream/lake bed, estuary, internal waters) with a total extraction area exceeding the boundary of licensed mining area (by surface) from 0.1 hectare to under 0.5 hectare; from 01 m to under 02 m (by depth or height) with an area of 0.01 hectare or more:

5. To impose fines on the act of extraction of minerals (except for sand and gravel in river/stream/lake bed, estuary, internal waters) with a total extraction area exceeding the boundary of licensed mining area (by surface) from 0.5 hectare to under 01 hectare; from 02 m to under 03 m (by depth or height) with an area of 0.01 hectare or more:

6. To impose fines on the act of extraction of minerals (except for sand and gravel in river/stream/lake bed, estuary, internal waters) with a total extraction area exceeding the boundary of licensed mining area (by surface) from 01 hectare to under 1.5 hectare; from 03 m to under 05 m (by depth or height) with an area of 0.01 hectare or more:

7. The acts of extraction of minerals (except for sand and gravel in river/stream/lake bed, estuary, internal waters) with a total extraction area exceeding the boundary of licensed mining area 01 hectare or more (by surface) in case of the business household (1.5 hectare or more, for other cases); 05 m or more (by depth or height) with an area of 0.01 hectare or more shall be considered as the act of mining minerals without obtaining the mining license from a competent state agency shall be imposed as follows:

a) To impose a fine of between VND 40,000,000 and VND 50,000,000 on the act of mining minerals used as common building materials without using industrial explosives;

b) To impose a fine of between VND 70,000,000 and VND 100,000,000 on a business household’s act of mining minerals used as common building materials by using industrial explosives;

c) To impose a fine of between VND 200,000,000 and VND 300,000,000 if the mining is licensed by the provincial-level People’s Committee, except for the cases defined at Points a, b and dd of this Clause;

d) To impose a fine of between VND 300,000,000 and VND 500,000,000 if the collection of mineral samples is licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, except for mineral samples defined at Point dd of this Clause;

dd) To impose a fine of between VND 800,000,000 and VND 1,000,000,000 on the act of mining gold, silver, precious stones, platinum or toxic minerals.

8. To impose fines on the act of extraction of sand and gravel in river/stream/lake bed, estuary, internal waters with a total extraction area exceeding the boundary of licensed mining area (by surface) or exceeding the permissible depth as follows:”

16. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 38 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement the first paragraph and Points b and d Clause 3 as follows:

“3. To impose a fine on any of the following acts of violation: failure to mine minerals according to the mining methods stated in the mining license, the mine opening and preparation systems (for underground mining) or opening system (for open-pit mining), the mining procedures, the mining system; mining minerals in excess of 10% of one of the parameters of a mining system, including bench height and bench face angle, dumping waste at a location other than that defined in the approved mine design or economic - technical report without written approval by a competent state agency; failure to mine minerals within mining time frame or with mining equipment; mining minerals in excess of the quantity of mining equipment defined in the license or written permission granted by the competent agency with respect to river, stream and lake bed sand and gravel. To be specific:

a) To impose a fine of between VND 20,000,000 and VND 30,000,000 on the act of mining peat or minerals used as common building materials without using industrial explosives, except for cases defined at Point a of this Clause;

d) To impose a fine of between VND 50,000,000 and VND 70,000,000 on the act of mining minerals by employing open-pit mining methods (both extraction of mineral water and hot water), except for the cases defined at Points a, b, c and e of this Clause;”.

b) To amend and supplement Point d Clause 4 as follows:

“d) To impose a fine of between VND 100,000,000 and VND 200,000,000 on the act of mining minerals by employing open-pit mining methods (both extraction of mineral water and hot water), except for the cases defined at Points a, b, c and e of this Clause;”.

17. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 40 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 2 as follows:

 “2. To impose a warning or fine on the act of failing to install weigh station in a place where crude minerals are moved from the mine to monitor and store the related information (except for the business household’s mining of minerals used as common building materials; extraction of sand and gravel in river/stream/lake bed, estuary, internal waters with equipment to pump and load on ships, boats and directly transport to a place of consumption where a weighing station cannot be installed); failing to install equipment for monitoring the journey and storing data and information about the location and movement of the vehicle in case of extraction of sand and gravel in river/stream/lake bed, estuary, internal waters with equipment to pump and load on ships, boats and directly transport to a place of consumption where a weighing station cannot be installed, specifically:

b) To amend and supplement Point d Clause 3 as follows:

“d) To impose a fine of between VND 30,000,000 and VND 50,000,000 on the act of mining minerals by employing open-pit mining methods (both extraction of mineral water and hot water), except for the cases defined at Points a, b, c and e of this Clause;”.

c) To amend and supplement the first paragraphs of Clauses 4 and 5 as follows:

“4. To impose a warning or fine on the act of preparing a mine status quo map or cross-section drawing of the licensed mining area without containing adequate  and correct information about the mining situation (except for extraction of sand and gravel in river/stream/lake bed, estuary, internal waters; extraction of hot water or mineral water); failing to prepare sufficient relevant books and documents to determine the actual annual exploitation output or providing inaccurate information data; actual mining output statistics contrary to the procedures and forms prescribed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, specifically:

5. To impose a fine on the act of failing to develop or update the mine status quo map or a cross-section drawing of the licensed mining area within 01 year in case of extraction of hot water, mineral water and minerals used as common building materials with permissible mining capacity of under 50.000 m³ of crude minerals per year; or within 06 months in case of extraction of the other minerals, specifically:”

18. To amend and supplement some points and clause of Article 41 as follows:

a) To repeal Clause 1.

b) To amend and supplement Points b and c Clause 2 as follows:

“b) To impose a fine of between VND 30,000,000 and VND 50,000,000 on the act of mining peat, hot water, mineral water or minerals used as common building materials without using industrial explosives, except for river, stream, lake or sea bed sand and gravel and the case defined at Point a of this Clause;

c) To impose a fine of between VND 70,000,000 and VND 100,000,000 on the act of mining river, stream or lake bed sand and gravel; minerals used as common building materials by using industrial explosives, except for the case defined at Point a of this Clause;”

c) To amend and supplement Points b and c Clause 3 as follows:

“b) To impose a fine of between VND 50,000,000 and VND 70,000,000 on the act of mining peat, hot water, mineral water or minerals used as common building materials without using industrial explosives, except for river, stream, lake or sea bed sand and gravel and the case defined at Point a of this Clause;

c) To impose a fine of between VND 100,000,000 to VND 200,000,000 on the act of mining river, stream or lake bed sand and gravel; minerals used as common building materials by using industrial explosives, except for the case defined at Point a of this Clause;”

d) To amend and supplement Points b and c Clause 4 as follows:

“b) To impose a fine of between VND 100,000,000 and VND 200,000,000 on the act of mining peat, hot water, mineral water or minerals used as common building materials without using industrial explosives, except for river, stream, lake or sea bed sand and gravel and the case defined at Point a of this Clause;

c) To impose a fine of between VND 300,000,000 and VND 400,000,000 on the act of mining river, stream or lake bed sand and gravel; minerals used as common building materials by using industrial explosives, except for the case defined at Point a of this Clause;”

dd) To amend and supplement Points b and c Clause 5 as follows:

“b) To impose a fine of between VND 200,000,000 and VND 300,000,000 on the act of mining peat, hot water, mineral water or minerals used as common building materials without using industrial explosives, except for river, stream, lake or sea bed sand and gravel and the case defined at Point a of this Clause;

c) To impose a fine of between VND 400,000,000 and VND 500,000,000 on the act of mining river, stream or lake bed sand and gravel; minerals used as common building materials by using industrial explosives, except for the case defined at Point a of this Clause;”

e) To amend and supplement Clause 6 as follows:

“6. Additional sanctions:

Suspension of the mineral exploration in case of re-commission of violations for a definite time of between 02 and 03 months, between 03 and 04 months, between 04 and 05 months, or between 05 and 06 months if any of the violations defined in Clause 2, Clause 3, Clause 4 and Clause 5 of this Article is committed respectively.”

g) To amend and supplement Clause 7 as follows:

“7. Remedial measures:

a) Forcible adoption of measures to improve environmental protection works, remedial measures against environmental pollution and/or damage caused by the act of exceeding permissible mining capacity to technical infrastructures defined in Clauses 2,3,4 and 5 of this Article;

“b) Forcible payment of fees for expert examination, verification and measurement for the acts of violation defined in Clauses 2, 3, 4 and 5 Clause 5 of this Article.”

19. To amend and supplement Article 42 as follows:

“Article 42. Violations of provisions on adjustment to the mining license

1. To impose a fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 20,000,000 on the act of failing to submit a dossier for adjustment to the mining license; or submitting a dossier for adjustment to the mining license without being received by the competent agency in accordance with provisions upon change of name of the mining organization or individual at least 01 year.

2. To impose a fine of between VND 30,000,000 and VND 50,000,000 on the act of mining in accordance with the contents to be proposed for adjustment without being approved by the competent agency to adjust the mining license in accordance with provisions, except for the case defined in Clause 1 of this Article and acts of violation related to permissible mining capacity defined in this Decree.”.

20. To amend and supplement some clauses of Article 44 as follows:

a) To repeal Clause 2.

b) To change Clause 3 into Clause 2 and to amend and supplement it as follows:

“2. Remedial measures:

a) Forcible return of benefits illegally obtained from the commission of the violation in Clause 1 of this Article;

b) Forcible payment of fees for expert examination, verification and measurement for the acts of violation defined in Clause 1 of this Article.”.

21. To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 2; to repeal Clause 4 Article 46 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 2 as follows:

“1. To impose a fine of between VND 5,000,000 and VND 10,000,000 in  case the winning organization or individual having the right to mine minerals in an area where the minerals has not been explored fails to submit a valid and full dossier of request for grant of exploration license in accordance with the law on minerals to the licensing state agency within the time limit from the date of the end of the auction; or the winning organization or individual having the right to mine minerals in an area where the minerals has not been explored fails to submit a valid and full dossier of request for grant of mining license in accordance with the law on minerals to the state agency after issuance of the exploration license within the time limit from the date on which the competent authority approves mineral reserves.

2. To impose a fine of between VND 10,000,000 and VND 30,000,000 in case the winning organization or individual having the right to mine minerals in an area with mineral exploration results fails to submit a valid and full dossier of request for grant of mining license in accordance with the law on minerals to the licensing state agency within the time limit from the date of the end of the auction.”.

b) To repeal Clause 4.

22. To amend and supplement Clause 4; to add Point c Clause 5 Article 47 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. Additional sanctions:

Confiscation of all of the material evidences being minerals which have not been sold, dispersed or destroyed; confiscate instrumentalities used for the commission of administrative violations if any of the violations defined in Clause 1, Clause 2 and Clause 3 of this Article is committed.”

b) To add Point c Clause 5 as follows:

“c) Forcible return of the money equivalent to the value of minerals obtained from administrative violations for the acts of violation defined in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article in case of the minerals which have been sold, dispersed or destroyed contrary to the law provisions.”.

23. To amend and supplement Article 48 as follows:

“Article 48. Violations of provisions on mining of sand and gravel in river/stream/lake bed, estuary or internal waters without obtaining a mining license from the competent authority

1. To impose fines on the act of mining sand and gravel in river/stream/lake bed, estuary or internal waters without obtaining a mining license from the competent authority. To be specific:

a) To impose a fine of between VND 20,000,000 and VND 30,000,000 in case the total volume of mined minerals is under 10 m³ at the time of detecting the act of violation;

b) To impose a fine of between VND 30,000,000 and VND 50,000,000 in case the total volume of mined minerals is from 10 m³ to under 20 m³ at the time of detecting the act of violation;

c) To impose a fine of between VND 50,000,000 and VND 80,000,000 in case the total volume of mined minerals is from 20 m³ to under 30 m³ at the time of detecting the act of violation;

d) To impose a fine of between VND 80,000,000 and VND 100,000,000 in case the total volume of mined minerals is from 30 m³ to under 40 m³ at the time of detecting the act of violation;

dd) To impose a fine of between VND 100,000,000 and VND 150,000,000 in case the total volume of mined minerals is from 40 m³ to under 50 m³ at the time of detecting the act of violation;

e) To impose a fine of between VND 150,000,000 and VND 200,000,000 in case the total volume of mined minerals is 50 m³ or more at the time of detecting the act of violation;

2. Additional sanctions:

Confiscation of all of the material evidences being minerals which have not been sold, dispersed or destroyed; confiscate means (both direct extraction and indirect participation) used for the commission of administrative violations, for the act of violation defined in Clause 1 this Article.

3. Remedial measures:

a) Forcible implementation of measures to improve and remediate environment; measures to bring mined areas to the safe state; compensation and payment for repairing damage caused by the violations defined in Clause 1 of this Article to dykes, other technical infrastructural constructions and civil constructions;

b) Forcible payment of fees for expert examination, verification and measurement if any of the violations defined in Clause 1 of this Article is committed.

c) Forcible return of the money equivalent to the value of minerals obtained from administrative violations for the acts of violation defined in Clause 1 of this Article in case of the minerals which have been sold, dispersed or destroyed contrary to the law provisions.”

24. To amend and supplement some clauses of Article 49 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. To impose fines on the act of failing to submit a dossier of request for mine closure to the competent state agency in accordance with provisions 06 months or more after the expiration date of the mining license; failing to complete or insufficiently supplement the dossier of request for mine closure in accordance with provisions 90 days or more after the deadline stated in the written request or the date of signing the written request (in case of the written request not stating the time limit) of the competent state management agency, specifically:

a) A fine of between VND 30,000,000 and VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed on a business household for mining minerals used as common building materials;

b) A fine of between VND 60,000,000 and VND 80,000,000 shall be imposed if the mining is licensed by the provincial-level People’s Committee, except for the case defined at Point a of this Clause;

c) A fine of between VND 80,000,000 and VND 150,000,000 shall be imposed if the mining is licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.”.

b) Clause 4a shall be added to Clause 4 as follows:

 “4a. Fines on the act of removal of minerals during the process of implementation of the project on mine closure without the consent of the competent authority. To be specific:

a) A fine of between VND 80,000,000 and VND 100,000,000 shall be imposed if the mining is licensed by the provincial People’s Committee;

b) A fine of between VND 100,000,000 and VND 160,000,000 shall be imposed if the mining is licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.”.

c) To amend and supplement Clause 6 as follows:

“6. Remedial measures:

a) Forcible implementation of measures to bring a mining area to safe state or land restoration measures as defined in the mine closure project approved by the competent authority for the acts of violation defined in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article;

b) Forcible return of benefits illegally obtained from the commission of the violation, for the act of violation defined in Clause 4a of this Article;”.

25. To amend and supplement Clause 2 Article 51 as follows:

“2. To impose a fine of between VND 50,000,000 and VND 100,000,000 on the act of failure to sufficient reimburse or reimburse the costs of conducting the geological baseline survey of minerals or mineral exploration upon using minerals-related information to serve mining activities (excluding the geological baseline surveys of minerals or mineral exploration has been previously conducted by an organization as regulated).”

26. To repeal Clause 4 Article 52.

27. To amend and supplement Point a Clause 5 and to add Clause 6 Article 54 shall be added as follows:

“5. Additional sanctions:

a) Confiscation of all of the material evidences being minerals which have not been sold, dispersed or destroyed for the acts of violation defined in Clause 1 of this Article.

6. Remedial measures:

Forcible return of the money equivalent to the value of minerals obtained from administrative violations for the acts of violation defined in Clause 1 of this Article in case of the minerals which have been sold, dispersed or destroyed contrary to the law provisions.

28. To add Article 54a after Article 54 as follows:

 “54a. Violations of provisions on management of minerals in national mineral reserves

1. To impose a fine of from VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 on the act of failing to register and report the volume of mineral removed to the People's Committee of the province where the project is performed.

2. To impose a fine of from VND 30,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 on the act of failing to report to the People's Committee of the province where the project is performed, which will notify the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in writing, to organize inspection and determination of the area containing the affected minerals in case of construction of work items of an investment project in a national mineral reserve that requires land grading, excavating and/or filling directly impacting on reserved minerals without protection for the original state of the reserved minerals; and issue a written approval for the removal to provide the basis for the provincial People’s Committee to decide the removal.

3. To impose a fine of from VND 50,000,000 to VND 100,000,000 on the act of failure to remove minerals in the area and with the volume determined by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment with the permission from the People's Committee of the province where the project is located or make report with correct information about the volume of removed minerals submitted to the People's Committee of the province.

4. A fine of from VND 100,000,000 to VND 150,000,000 on the act of extraction of minerals in national mineral reserves under the guise of investment projects or construction: 

5. Remedial measures:

a) Forcible implementation of measures to improve and remediate environment; measures to bring mined areas beyond the licensed removal area or project area to safe state.

b) Forcible return of benefits illegally obtained from the commission of the violation for the acts of violation defined in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article;”.

c) Forcible payment of fees for expert examination, verification and measurement in case of violations defined in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article.”.

29. To amend and supplement some points and clause of Article 63 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Points c and d Clause 1 as follows:

“c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a and c Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”.

b) To amend and supplement Point d Clause 2 as follows:

“d) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;”.

c) To amend and supplement Point d Clause 3 as follows:

“d) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;”.

d) To amend and supplement Point d Clause 4 as follows:

“d) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;”.

dd) To amend and supplement Point b Clause 5 as follows:

“b) Impose a fine up to the maximum fine defined in Clause 1 Article 4 of this Decree;”.

30. To amend and supplement some points and clause of Article 64 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Points c and d Clause 1 as follows:

“c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, b and c Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”.

b) To amend and supplement Points b, d and dd Clause 2 as follows:

“b) Impose a fine of at most VND 100,000,000;

d) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

dd) Apply the remedial measures defined in Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”.

31. To amend and supplement Article 65 as follows:

“Article 65. Power of inspectors who are assigned to conduct specialized inspections of industry and trade; operation and protection of hydraulic structures and flood control systems

The inspectors who are assigned to conduct specialized inspections of industry and trade; operation and protection of hydraulic structures and flood control systems may impose sanctions for violations of provisions on water resources and minerals for the acts of violation defined in Articles 36, 38, 39 and 48 and Section 2 Chapter III of this Decree. To be specific:

1. The inspectors, persons who are assigned to conduct specialized inspections of industry and trade; operation and protection of hydraulic structures and flood control systems in the performance of their duties may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 500,000;

2. Chief inspectors of provincial-level Departments of Industry and Trade; chiefs of inspectorates established by the Director of the Industrial Safety Techniques and Environment Agency, Directors and Chief Inspectors of provincial-level Departments of Industry and Trade; chief inspectors of provincial-level Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development; chiefs of inspectorates of provincial-level Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development; chiefs of inspectorates of Directorate of Water Resources; Directors or chiefs of inspectorates of Sub-Department in charge of water resource or flood control systems may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 50,000,000;

c) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time in accordance with regulations of this Decree;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined in Clause 6 Article 38 of this Decree.

3. Chiefs of inspectorates established by the Minister and Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Chiefs of inspectorates of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Directorate of Water Resources may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 250,000,000;

c) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time in accordance with regulations of this Decree;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined in Clause 6 Article 38 of this Decree.

4. The Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Director of Industrial Safety Techniques and Environment Agency, the Chief Inspector of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Director General of Directorate of Water Resources may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine up to the maximum fine defined in Clause 1 Article 4 of this Decree;”.

c) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined in Clause 6 Article 38 of this Decree.

32. To amend and supplement the first paragraph, some points and clauses of Article 66 as follows:

a) To amend the first paragraph of Article 66 as follows:

The People’s Public Security Force may impose sanctions for the violations of provisions on water resources and minerals defined in Articles 8, 9, 10, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 52 and 54 of this Decree. To be specific:

b) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Senior officers of the persons defined in Clause 1 of this Article may:”

c) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 3, to amend and supplement Points c and d of Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Chiefs of police stations of communes, captains of squadrons, chiefs of police stations at border checkpoints and export-processing zones may:

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a and c of Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”.

d) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 4, Points d and dd Clause 4 as follows:

“4. Chiefs of district-level police offices, Managers of Specialized Divisions of Traffic Police Department and Heads of provincial-level Police Departments, including Heads of Internal Waterways Police Divisions, Heads of Traffic Police Divisions, Head of Police Divisions for Investigation into Corruption, Economy and Smuggling-related Crimes, Heads of Environment Police Divisions, Heads of Road-Rail Traffic Divisions, Heads of Road Traffic Divisions, chiefs of Economic Security Divisions, fleet commanders may:

d) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

dd) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, p, r, s and t Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”.

c) To amend and supplement Points b, d and dd Clause 5 as follows:

“b) Impose a fine of at most VND 100,000,000;

d) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

dd) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, p, q, r, s and t Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”.

e) To amend and supplement Points b and dd Clause 6 as follows:

“b) Impose a fine up to the maximum fine defined in Clause 1 Article 4 of this Decree;”.

dd) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, p, q, r, s and t Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”.

33. To amend and supplement some points and clause of Article 67 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Article 67 as follows:

“The Border Guard may impose sanctions for the violations of provisions on water resources and minerals defined in Articles 8, 9, 10, 24, 26, 27, 32, 34, 35, 37, 45, 47, 48 and 54 of this Decree in border regions under its management. To be specific:”

b) To add Clause 2a after Clause 2 as follows:

“2a. Team leaders of Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Task Forces affiliated to Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Brigade may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 10,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a and c Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”.

c) To amend and supplement Points c and d Clause 3 as follows:

“c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause.

dd) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, p, r, s and t Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”.

d) To add Clause 3a after Clause 3 as follows:

 “3a. Commanders of Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Brigades affiliated to Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Department of Border Guard High Command may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 100,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

dd) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, p, q, r, s and t Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”.

dd) To amend and supplement the first paragraph, Point d Clause 4, and to add Point dd Clause 4 as follows:

“4. Commanders of provincial Border Guards, Commanders of Coastal Guard Fleets and Director of Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Department affiliated to the Border Guard High Command may:

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, p, q, r, s and t Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree;

dd) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time.”.

34. To amend and supplement some points and clause of Article 68 as follows:

a) To amend the first paragraph of Article 68 as follows:

“The Coast Guard may impose sanctions for the violations of provisions on water resources and minerals defined in Articles 8, 9, 10, 12, 23, 24, 27, 29, 31, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 45, 47, 48, 49 and 54 of this Decree in regions under its management. To be specific:”

b) To amend and supplement Point c Clause 3 as follows:

“c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a and c Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree;”.

c) To amend and supplement Points c and d Clause 4 as follows:

“c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

dd) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, p, r, s and t Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”.

d) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 5, Points c and d of Clause 5 as follows:

“5. Commanders in chief of Coastguard Squadrons, Commanders of Reconnaissance Brigades, Commanders of Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Brigades affiliated to Vietnam Coast Guard may:

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, p, r, s and t Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”.

dd) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 6, Points c and d Clause 6, and to add Point dd Clause 6 as follows:

“6. Commander of Regional Coast Guard, Director of Operation and Law Department affiliated to Vietnam Coast Guard may:

c) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

dd) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, p, r, s and t Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”;

dd) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time;

e) To amend and supplement Points b, d and dd Clause 7 as follows:

“b) Impose a fine up to the maximum fine defined in Clause 1 Article 4 of this Decree;

d) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

dd) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, b, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, p, r, s and t Clause 3 Article 4 of this Decree.”.

35. To amend and supplement Clause 1 Article 69 as follows:

“1. Records on administrative violations of provisions on water resources and minerals shall be made as defined in Article 58 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.”.

36. To repeal Clause 2 and the phrase “discharge wastewater into water sources” at Clauses 4 and 5, Article 70 of Decree No. 36/2020/ND-CP.

Article 3. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of Government’s Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP of November 13, 2013 on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of hydrometeorology; topography and cartography (amended and supplemented by the Government’s Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP of July 18, 2017)

1. To add Article 2a after Article 2 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP as follows:

 “Article 2a. Statute of limitations for sanctioning of administrative violations, completed acts of administrative violation, in-progress acts of administrative violation

The statute of limitations for sanctioning of an administrative violation, the time to calculate the statute of limitations for imposition of administrative violations, a completed act of administrative violation and the time when the violation stops and in-progress acts of administrative violation of provisions on hydrometeorology are regulated as follows:

1. The statute of limitations for sanctioning of an administrative violation for acts of violation related to hydrometeorology shall be 01 year.

2. A completed act of administrative violation and the time when the violation stops:

The time when the violation stops is the time on which an organization or individual stops the time limit for report, notification, declaration, submission of dossiers or publication and collection of opinions as defined at Government’s Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP of November 13, 2013 on sanctioning of administrative violations of provisions on hydrometeorology; topography and cartography (amended and supplemented by the Government’s Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP of July 18, 2017) for the following acts of violation:

a) Failure to organize hydro-meteorological forecasting and warning within 12 consecutive months from the date of issuance of the license without notifying the reason to the licensing agency defined in Clause 4 Article 5 on violations of provisions on license for hydro-meteorological forecasting and warning operation;

b) Act of violation of provisions on fraud in declaration of the contents of request for license defined at Point a, Clause 5 Article 5 on violations of provisions on license for hydro-meteorological forecasting and warning operation;

c) Failure to make report or make full report on the results of hydro-meteorological forecasting and warning defined in Clause 2 Article 5a of this Decree on violations of regulations on hydro-meteorological forecasting and warning of an organization or individual which has been granted a license to operate hydro-meteorological forecasting and warning;

d) Failure to notify the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the provincial-level state management agencies on hydrometeorology where the stations are located after dissolution of the exclusive-use hydro-meteorological stations defined in Clause 1 Article 7a on violations of provisions on establishment, movement and dissolution of exclusive-use hydro-meteorological stations of organizations or individuals.

dd) Failure to notify the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the provincial-level state management agencies on hydrometeorology where the stations are located after movement of the exclusive-use hydro-meteorological stations defined in Clause 2 Article 7a on violations of provisions on establishment, movement and dissolution of exclusive-use hydro-meteorological stations of organizations or individuals.

e) Failure to notify the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the provincial-level state management agencies on hydrometeorology where the stations are located after establishment of the exclusive-use hydro-meteorological stations defined in Clause 3, Article 7a on violations of provisions on establishment, movement and dissolution of exclusive-use hydro-meteorological stations of organizations or individuals.

g) Failure to report exchange of data and information about hydrometeorology and monitoring of climate change to international organizations, foreign organizations and individuals within the time limit defined in Clause 2, Article 9b on violations of provisions on exchange of data and information on hydrometeorology and monitoring of climate change with international organizations, foreign organizations and individuals that are not subjects of treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party;

h) Failure to publicly notify the community in the area before impacts on weather defined in Clause 3, Article 9c on violations related to impacts on weather.

3. For other violations defined in the Government's Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP of November 13, 2013 on sanctioning of administrative violations in the fields of hydrometeorology, topography and cartography (amended ad supplemented by the Government’s Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP of July 18, 2017) due to failure to comply or strictly comply the law on hydrometeorology, the ending time of violations is the time at which the organization or individual terminates the obligation to comply with provisions or the organization or individual begins to strictly comply with provisions.

4. In case of administrative violations of provisions on hydrometeorology that fall outside the cases defined in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article and are completed before the time on which the competent person on duty detects the violations, it shall be determined as a completed act of administrative violation.

5. If the violation is detected before the organization or individual fulfils obligation to comply with regulations or properly comply with the regulations, it shall be considered as an administrative violation in progress.”.

2. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP of November 13, 2013 (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP) as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point b Clause 3 as follows:

“b) Forcible demolition of buildings or parts thereof without permits, illegal parts of works or high-rise buildings within technical corridors of hydro-meteorological works for the acts of violation;” .

b) To amend and supplement Point c Clause 3 as follows:

“c) Forcible recall of products obtained from violations, return of erased or falsified license to the competent authority that has granted license.”.

c) To add Clause 4 after Clause 3 as follows:

“4. Enforcement of remedial measure which is return of erased or falsified license:

The violator shall submit its license which has been erased and falsified to the person competent to sanction administrative violations. If a person competent to issue the decision on sanctioning of administrative violations is not concurrently the agency or person competent to grant the license, within 05 working days from the date of issuance of the decision imposing sanctioning of administrative violations, the person competent to issue the decision on sanctioning of administrative violations shall send a notice on the application of the measure of forcible return of erased or falsified license to the licensing agency or person (except for case where the licenses are issued by the foreign agencies).”.

3. To amend and supplement Point b Clause 8 Article 5 as follows:

“b) Forcible return and submission of the application for re-issuance of the erased or falsified license to the competent authority that has granted license for the acts of violation defined at Point b Clauses 1 of this Article.”.

4. To amend and supplement Point b Clause 10 Article 8 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 10, Article 1 of  Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP) as follows:

“b) Forcible restoration of the original state, for the acts of violation defined at Points a, b Clause 1; Points a, b, c, d Clauses 4 and 5 of this Article.”.

5. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 17 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 16 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP) as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point c and add Point d Clause 1 as follows:

“c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a and b Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended in Clause 4 Article 1 of  Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP);

d) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;”.

b) To amend and supplement Points c, d, and to add Point dd Clause 2 as follows:

“c) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, b, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, k, m, l Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP);

dd) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;”.

c) To amend and supplement Point c, to add Point dd Clause 3 as follows:

“c) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time;

dd) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;”.

6. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 18 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 17 Article 1 of  Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP) as follows:

a) To add Point d Clause 1 as follows:

“d) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;”.

b) To amend and supplement Point c, to add Point dd Clause 2 as follows:

“c) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time;

dd) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;”.

c) To amend and supplement Point c, to add Point dd Clause 3 as follows:

“c) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time;

dd) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;”.

d) To amend and supplement Point c, to add Point dd Clause 4 as follows:

“c) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time;

dd) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;”.

7. To amend and supplement Article 19a of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (added in Clause 18 Article 1 of the Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP) as follows:

“Article 19a. Competence to sanction administrative violations in the field of hydrometeorology of the Public Security Force

The Public Security Force may impose sanctions for the violations defined in Clauses 5, 10, 14 and 15 Article 1 of this Decree. To be specific:

1. Policemen who are on duty may:

2. Chiefs of police stations of communes, chiefs of police stations at border gates or export processing zones, heads of international airport police, battalion chiefs of mobile police battalions and captains of squadrons may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 2,500,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Point a Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of the Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP).

3. Chiefs of district-level police offices, Managers of Specialized Divisions of Traffic Police Department, Managers of Specialized Divisions of Immigration Department and Heads of provincial-level Police Departments, including Heads of Internal Waterways Police Divisions, Heads of Traffic Police Divisions, Heads of Police Divisions for Investigation into Corruption, Economy and Smuggling-related Crimes, Heads of Environment Police Divisions, Heads of Road-Rail Traffic Divisions, Heads of Road Traffic Divisions, chiefs of Economic Security Divisions, Chiefs of Mobile Police Divisions; Directors of Security Guard Divisions, Directors of Immigration Divisions, Colonels of Mobile Police Regiments and fleet commanders may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 10,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, dd, e, g, h, i, l Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of the Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP)

dd) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time.”.

4. Directors of provincial Police Departments may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 25,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, l Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of the Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP)

dd) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time.

5. Director of Traffic Police Department, Director of Police Department for Investigation into Corruption, Economy and Smuggling-related Crimes, Director of Economic Security Department, Director of Environment Police Department, Director of Immigration Department, Commander of the Mobile Police may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 50,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

d) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time;

dd) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, l Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP).”.

8. To amend and supplement Article 19b of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (added in Clause 18 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP) as follows:

 “Article 19b. Competence to sanction administrative violations in the field of hydrometeorology of the Border Guard forces:

The Border Guard forces may impose sanctions for the violations defined in Clauses 10, 14 and 15 Article 1 of this Decree in border regions under its management. To be specific:

1. On-duty soldiers of the Border Guard forces may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 500,000;

2. Heads of Border Guard stations and leaders of the soldiers defined in Clause 1 of this Article may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 2,500,000;

3. Team leaders of Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Task Forces affiliated to Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Brigade may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 5,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Point a Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of the Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP).

4. Heads of Border Guard Posts, Commanders of Border-Guard Flotillas and Commanders of Border Guard Commands at port border gates may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 10,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP)

5. Commanders of Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Brigades affiliated to Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Department of Border Guard High Command may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 25,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, d, h and l Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP).

6. Commanders of provincial-level Border Guard Forces, Commanders of Coastal Guard Fleets, Director of Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Department of Border Guard High Command may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 50,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i, l Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of the Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP);

dd) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time.”.

9. To amend and supplement Article 19c of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (added in Clause 18 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP) as follows:

 “Article 19c. Competence to sanction administrative violations in the field of hydrometeorology of Coast Guards:

The Coast Guards may impose sanctions for the violations defined in Clauses 10, 14 and 15 Article 1 of this Decree under its management. To be specific:

1. The police officers of Coast Guard who are on duty may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 1.000.000;

2. Squad leaders of professional squads of Coast Guard may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 2,500,000;

3. Team leaders of professional teams of Coast Guard, station heads of the Coast Guard stations may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 5,000,000;

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Point a Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP).

4. Captain of Coast Guard Flotilla may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 10,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, dd, e, g, h, i, l Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of the Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP)

5. Captain of Coast Guard Squadron, Head of Reconnaissance Commission, Commander of Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Brigade affiliated to Vietnam Coast Guard may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 15,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, dd, e, g, h, i, l Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of the Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP)

6.  Commander of Regional Coast Guard, Director of Operation and Law Department affiliated to Vietnam Coast Guard may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 25,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, c, dd, e, g, h, i, l Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of the Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP)

dd) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time;

7. Commander of Vietnam Coast Guard may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 50,000,000;

c) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time;

d) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

dd) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, b, c, dd, e, g, h, i, l Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP)

10. To amend and supplement Article 19d of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (added in Clause 18 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP) as follows:

 “Article 19d. Competence to sanction administrative violations in the field of hydrometeorology of Maritime Administrations, Airports Authorities, Inland Waterway Port Authorities:

The Maritime Administrations, Airports Authorities, Inland Waterway Port Authorities may impose sanctions for the violations defined in Clauses 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 Article 1 of this Decree under their management. To be specific:

1. Chief Representatives of the Maritime Administrations, Airports Authorities, Inland Waterway Port Authorities may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 10,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause

2. Directors of the Maritime Administrations, Airports Authorities, Inland Waterway Port Authorities may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 50,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points a, b, d, dd, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP)

dd) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time.”.

11. To amend and supplement Article 19dd of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (added in Clause 18 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP) as follows:

 “Article 19dd. Competence to sanction administrative violations in the field of hydrometeorology of inspectors who are assigned to conduct specialized inspections of transport, industry and trade, agriculture and rural development, science and technology and construction:

The inspectors who are assigned to conduct specialized inspections of transport, industry and trade, agriculture and rural development, science and technology and construction may impose sanctions for the violations defined in Clauses 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 Article 1 of this Decree under their management. To be specific:

1. The inspectors, persons who are assigned to conduct specialized inspections of transport, industry and trade, agriculture and rural development, science and technology and construction in the performance of their duties may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 500,000;

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Point a Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP).

d) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;”.

2. Chief Inspectors of Departments, Chiefs of inspectorates established by Directors and Chief Inspectors of Department of Transport, Department of Industry and Trade, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Construction may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 25,000,000;

c) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time;

dd) Apply the remedial measures defined in Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP)

d) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;”.

3. Chiefs of inspectorates established by the Ministers and Chief Inspectors of Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Construction may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 35,000,000;

c) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined in Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP)

dd) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;”.

4. Chief Inspectors of Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Construction may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 50,000,000;

c) Deprive of the right to use licenses or practicing certificates for a definite time, or suspend the operation for a definite time;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined in Clause 3 Article 3 of Decree No. 173/2013/ND-CP (amended and supplemented in Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 84/2017/ND-CP)

dd) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation.”.

Article 4. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 18/2020/ND-CP of February 11, 2010 on sanctioning of administrative violations of provisions on topography and cartography

1. To amend Point a and add Points h and I after Point g Clause 2 Article 2 as follows:

“a) Enterprises that are duly established and operate in accordance with Vietnamese laws;

h) Branches and representative offices of foreign enterprises operating in Vietnam;

i) Branches, representative offices and business locations of organizations defined at Points a and b of this Clause.”.

2. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 3 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Additional sanctions:

In addition to the sanctions defined in Clause 1 of this Article, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, the organization or individual who commits administrative violations related to topography and cartography may also be impose one or several additional sanctions as follows:

a) Confiscation of the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

b) Expulsion.”.

b) To amend and supplement Point b, and to add Point i after Point h Clause 3 as follows:

“b) Forcible demolition of buildings or parts thereof;

i) Forcible return of licenses/practicing certificates to the competent state agencies which have granted such licenses and certificates.”.

c) To add Clause 4 after Clause 3 as follows:

“4. Enforcement of remedial measure which is return of licenses/practicing certificates:

The violator shall submit its license/practicing certificate to the person who may impose sanctioning of administrative violations. In case a person competent to issue the decision on sanctioning of administrative violations is not concurrently the agency or person competent to grant the license/practicing certificate, within 05 working days from the date of issuance of the decision imposing sanctioning of administrative violations, the person competent to issue the decision on sanctioning of administrative violations shall send a notification of the application of Forcible return of license/practicing certificate to the agency or person competent to grant the license/practicing certificate (except for license issued by the foreign agency).”.

3. To add Clause 4a after Clause 4 as follows:

 “Article 4a. Statute of limitations for sanctioning of administrative violations, completed acts of administrative violation, in-progress acts of administrative violation

The statute of limitations for sanctioning of an administrative violation, the time to calculate the statute of limitations for sanctioning of an administrative violation, a completed act of administrative violation and the time when the violation stops and in-progress acts of administrative violation of provisions on topography and cartography are regulated as follows:

1. The statute of limitations for sanctioning of an administrative violation for acts of violation related to topography and cartography shall be 01 year.

2. A completed act of administrative violation and the time when the violation stops:

The time when the violation stops is the time on which an organization or individual stops the violations. That time is clearly stated in the records, documents and reports which are made in accordance with the regulations on topography and cartography for the following acts of violation:

a) Failing to submit or late submit a report on topography and cartography; change of technical personnel or the headquarters’ address;

b) Falsifying the topography and cartography practicing certificate or license;

c) Forging or falsifying topography and cartography information/data/products while preparing and realizing a topography and cartography project, technical design, cost estimate or task;

d) Forging or falsifying topography and cartography information/data/products during the inspection of topography and cartography product quality;

dd) Inspecting quality of topography and cartography products at investor level when the contractor or entity has yet to sufficiently inspect product quality at construction subcontractor level in accordance with the law on topography and cartography.

e) Inspecting quality of topography and cartography products with insufficient contents or insufficient inspection level in accordance with the law on topography and cartography;

g) Failing to transfer topography and cartography information/data/products for storage under law on topography and cartography;

h) Failing to verify measuring instruments on the list of measuring instruments for topography and cartography subject to verification in accordance with regulations of the Minister of Science and Technology;

i) If the violators cannot prove the ending time of violations defined at Points a, b, c, d, dd, e, g and h of this Clause, the violations are still within the limitation period for sanctioning of administrative violations.

3. The administrative violations of provisions on topography and cartography defined in this Decree but not defined in Clause 2 of this Article are treated as in-progress ones.

4. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 5 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point b Clause 2 as follows:

“b) Practicing topography and cartography without the practicing certificate or during the period of Forcible return of license/practicing certificate to the competent authority that has granted license and certificate;

b) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4) A fine of between VND 40,000,000 and VND 50,000,000 on the act of carrying out topography and cartography activities without the license or during the period of Forcible return of license/practicing certificate to the competent authority that has granted the license and certificate;

c) To amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

“5. Additional sanctions:

Confiscation of the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violations defined at Point a Clauses 1 and 2, Point b Clause 3 of this Article.

d) To amend and supplement Clause 6 as follows:

“6. Remedial measures:

a) Forcible return of licenses/practicing certificates to the competent state agencies which have granted licenses and certificates obtained from violations defined at Point a Clause 1, points a and c Clause 2, point b Clause 3 of this Article;

Regarding topography and cartography activities without maintaining the fulfillment of prescribed conditions for issuance of the topography and cartography license, if the organization proves that it is capable of fulfillment of prescribed conditions for maintenance of topography and cartography activities within 90 days (3 months), the licensing agency shall return the license to carry out topography and cartography activities to the organization.

b) Forcible destruction of topography and cartography data/products obtained from the violations defined at Point b Clause 2 and Clause 4 of this Article without ensuring quality in accordance with regulations of law on topography and cartography.”.

5. To amend and supplement Points b and c Clause 5 Article 6 as follows:

“b) Forcible demolition of buildings or parts thereof for the acts of violation defined at Point a Clause 2 of this Article.

c) Forcible demolition of the GPS satellites for the acts of violation defined in Clause 4 of this Article.”.

6. To repeal Clause 4 Article 7, to add Point c after Point b Clause 5 Article 7 as follows:

“c) Forcible return of licenses/practicing certificates to the competent state agencies which have granted licenses and certificates obtained from violations defined at Point a Clause 3 of this Article.”

7. To repeal Clause 3 Article 8; to amend and supplement Clause 4 Article 8 as follows:

“4. Remedial measures:

a) Forcible destruction of topography and cartography data/products obtained from the violations defined at Points a and b Clause 1 and Point b Clause 2 of this Article;

b) Forcible return of licenses/practicing certificates to the competent state agencies which have granted licenses and certificates obtained from violations defined at Point b Clause 2 of this Article;

8. To repeal Point c Clause 5; to add Point dd after Point d Clause 5 Article 11 as follows:

“c) Forcible destruction of  topography and cartography products, cartography publication, for the acts of violation defined in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article;

dd) Forcible return of licenses/practicing certificates to the competent state agencies which have granted licenses and certificates obtained from violations defined in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article.”.

9. To amend and supplement Clauses 3, 4 Article 13 as follows:

“3. Additional sanctions:

a) Confiscation of the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violations defined in Clause 2 of this Article.

b) In accordance with the violation's seriousness, the foreign individual that commits the administrative violation defined in Clause 2 of this Article may be expelled from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

4. Remedial measures:

a) Forcible refund of illicit profits earned through the commission of administrative violations defined in Clause 2 of this Article;

b) Forcible return of licenses/practicing certificates to the competent state agencies which have granted licenses and certificates obtained from violations defined in Clause 2 of this Article.”.

10. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 14 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Chairpersons of commune-level People’s Committees may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 5,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Point a Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

b) To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Chairpersons of district-level People’s Committees may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 25,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined in Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

c) To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 50,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined in Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

11. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 15 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Points b, to add Point d Clause 1 as follows:

“b) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined in Point d of this Clause;”.

d) Impose a fine of at most VND 500,000.”.

b) To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Chief inspectors of provincial-level Departments of Natural Resources and Environment, Chiefs of inspectorates at the departmental level, Chiefs of inspectorates of agencies who are authorized by the Government to perform the functions of specialized inspection may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 25,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined in Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

c) To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Chiefs of inspectorates at the ministerial level may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 35,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined in Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”;

d) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. Chief Inspector of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Director General of General Department of Geology and Minerals, Director General of Vietnam Environment Administration and Director General of General Department of Land Administration may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 50,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined in Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

12. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 16 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Article 16 as follows:

“The power of the People’s Public Security Force to impose sanctioning of administrative violations and apply the remedial measures shall comply with regulations of Article 39 of Law on Handling of Administrative Violations.”.

b) To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Chiefs of communal police authorities, Chiefs of police stations at border checkpoints and export-processing zones, Chiefs of International Airport Border Gate Police, Captains of Squadrons may:

a) Impose a fine of at most VND 2,500,000;

b) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point a of this Clause;”.

c) Apply the remedial measures defined in Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

c) To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Chiefs of district-level police offices, Managers of Specialized Divisions of Internal Political Security Department, Managers of Specialized Divisions of Police Department for Administrative Management of Social Order, Managers of Specialized Divisions of Traffic Police Department, Managers of Specialized Divisions of Cybersecurity and Hi-tech Crime Prevention and Control Department, Managers of Specialized Divisions of Immigration Department and Heads of provincial-level Police Authorities, including Heads of Police Divisions for Investigation into Corruption, Economy and Smuggling-related Crimes, Heads of Police Divisions for Investigation into Social Order-Related Crimes, Heads of Police Divisions for Administrative Management of Social Order, chiefs of Economic Security Divisions, Heads of Internal Political Security Divisions, Heads of  Cybersecurity and Hi-tech Crime Prevention and Control Divisions, Heads of Traffic Police Divisions, Heads of Immigration Divisions, Captains of Squadrons, Heads of Road-Rail Traffic Divisions, Heads Road Traffic Divisions, Heads of Internal Waterways Police Divisions, Heads of Economic Security Divisions and Heads of Foreign Affairs Divisions may:

a) Impose a fine of at most VND 10,000,000;

b) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point a of this Clause;

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

d) To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Directors of Provincial Police Authorities may:

a) Impose a fine of at most VND 25,000,000;

b) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;”.

c) Expulse;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points g, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

dd) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. Director of Department of Cybersecurity and Hi-tech Crime Prevention and Control, Director of Police Department for Investigation into Social Order-related Crimes, Director of Police Department for Investigation into Corruption, Economy and Smuggling-related Crimes, Director of Police Department for Administrative Management of Social Order, Director of Internal Political Security Department, Director of Economic Security Department, Director of Traffic Police Department, Director of Department of Homeland Security, Director of Environment Police Department may:

a) Impose a fine of at most VND 50,000,000;

b) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;”.

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points g, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

e) To amend and supplement Clause 5 as follows:

“5. Director of Immigration Department may:

a) Impose a fine of at most VND 50,000,000;

b) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;”.

c) Expulse;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points g, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

13. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 17 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Points b and c Clause 1 as follows:

“b) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point a of this Clause;”.

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

b) To add Clause 1a after Clause 1 as follows:

 “1a. Commanders of Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Brigades affiliated to Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Department of Border Guard High Command may:

a) Impose a fine of at most VND 25,000,000;

b) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point a of this Clause;

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points g, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

c) To amend and supplement the first paragraph Clause 2 and Point c Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Commanders of provincial-level Border Guard Forces, Commanders of Coastal Guard Fleets and Director of Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Department of Border Guard High Command may:

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points g, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

14. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 18 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Team leaders of professional teams of Coast Guard, station heads of the Coast Guard stations may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 5,000,000;

c) Apply the remedial measures defined in Point h Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree

b) To amend and supplement Points b and c Clause 2 as follows:

“b) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point a of this Clause;

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

c) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 3, Points b and c Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Commanders in chief of Coastguard Squadrons, Commanders of Reconnaissance Brigades, Commanders of Crime and Drug Prevention and Control Brigades affiliated to Vietnam Coast Guard may:

b) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point a of this Clause;

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

d) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 4, Points b and c Clause 4 as follows:

“4. Commander of Regional Coast Guard, Director of Operation and Law Department affiliated to Vietnam Coast Guard may:

b) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

dd) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 5 and Point c Clause 5 as follows:

“5. Commander of Vietnam Coast Guard may:

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

15. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 19 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Clause 1, Points b and c Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Directors of Sub-departments of Customs; Directors of Post Clearance Audit Sub-Departments; Team Leaders of Control Teams of  Customs Departments of provinces and inter-provinces; Team Leaders of Criminal Investigation Teams; Team Leaders of Anti-smuggling Control Teams; Commanders of Sea Patrol Squadrons and Team Leaders of Anti-smuggling, Counterfeit Product Control and Intellectual Property Teams affiliated to the Smuggling Investigation and Prevention Department; Directors of Post Clearance Audit Sub-Departments affiliated to Post Clearance Audit Department may:

b) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point a of this Clause;

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points g, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

b) To amend and supplement Points b and c Clause 2 as follows:

“b) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points g, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

c) To amend and supplement Point c Clause 3 as follows:

“c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points g, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

16. To amend and supplement the first paragraph, some points and clauses of Article 20 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement the first paragraph of Article 20 as follows:

Persons competent to impose administrative sanctions of the Customs may impose sanctions and apply the remedial measures against the administrative violations at Point b Clause 1 and Clause 3 Article 10, and Clauses 1, 2 and 3 Article 11 of this Decree within their area and their jurisdiction as defined in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article.

b) To amend and supplement the first paragraph, Points b and c Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Team leaders of Market Surveillance Teams and Heads of Specialized Divisions affiliated to Department of Market Surveillance Operation may:

b) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point a of this Clause;

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points d, dd, g, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

c) To amend and supplement the first paragraph Clause 2, Points b and c Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Directors of Provincial Market Surveillance Departments and Director of Market Surveillance Operations Department affiliated to Vietnam Directorate of Market may:

b) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points d, dd, g, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”

d) To amend and supplement Point c Clause 3 as follows:

“c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points d, dd, g, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

17. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 21 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 1 as follows:

“1. Chief Representatives of Maritime Administrations, Airports Authorities, Inland Waterway Port Authorities may:

a) Impose a fine of at most VND 10,000,000;

b) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point a of this Clause;”.

b) To amend and supplement Clause 2 as follows:

“2. Directors of Maritime Administrations, Airports Authorities, Inland Waterway Port Authorities may:

a) Impose a fine of at most VND 50,000,000;

b) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

c) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points g, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

18. To amend and supplement some points and clauses of Article 22 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point b and to add Point d Clause 2 as follows:

“b) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined in Point d of this Clause;

d) Impose a fine of at most VND 500,000.”.

b) To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

“3. Chief Inspectors of Departments, Chiefs of inspectorates at the departmental level, Chiefs of inspectorates of agencies who are authorized by the Government to perform the functions of specialized inspection may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 25,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and means used for the commission of administrative violation, of which the value must not exceed two times the fine defined at Point b of this Clause;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points c, d, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

c) To amend and supplement Clause 4 as follows:

“4. The Chief Inspectors of the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Industry and Trade, and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Director General of Directorate for Roads of Vietnam, Director General of Directorate of Water Resources, Director General of Vietnam Administration of Forestry, Director of Vietnam Railway Authority, Director of Vietnam Maritime Administration and Director of Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam may:

a) Impose a caution;

b) Impose a fine of at most VND 50,000,000;

c) Confiscate the material evidences and/or means used for the commission of administrative violation;

d) Apply the remedial measures defined at Points c, d, h and i Clause 3 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

19. To amend and supplement Clause 2 Article 23 as follows:

“2. Chiefs of topography and cartography inspectorates, officials, public employees and persons of the Army or People's Public Security Force, Customs, market controllers working at regulatory authorities defined in Articles 14 through 22 hereof in their performance of their duties related to topography and cartography inspections.”

Article 5. Effect

1. This Decree takes effect on January 06, 2022.

2. Transitional provisions:

For acts of administrative violation in the fields of land; water resources and minerals; hydrometeorology; topography and cartography defined in this Decree that occurred before the effective date of this Decree but were later detected or are being considered for settlement, the Government's Decree on sanctioning of administrative violations that takes effect at the time of committing the acts of violation shall be applied; In case this Decree does not provide for legal liability or impose less serious legal liability for violations that have occurred, this Decree shall apply.

3. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of governmental agencies, Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities shall take responsibility for implementing this Decree.