New proposal on fund using for Sustainable Forestry Development Program

The Ministry of Finance is currently seeking public feedback on the draft Circular amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 21, which regulates the management and use of operational funds for the implementation of the Sustainable Forestry Development Program for the 2021-2025 period.

Accordingly, the draft adds regulations on funding for activities related to forest protection, forest development, improving forest productivity and quality, and sustainable forest management (added as Article 3a) as follows:

Funding for activities that protect special-use forests, support livelihood development, improve the lives of people in buffer zones of special-use forests, protect protection forests, and support the protection of natural production forests during forest closures.

It also covers activities like promoting natural regeneration, supporting the development of sustainable forest management plans, obtaining sustainable forest management certification, and supporting scattered tree planting and contracted forest protection. The content and level of funding will follow Decree No. 58/2024/NĐ-CP dated May 24, 2024, on certain investment policies in forestry, and the guidance from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) outlined in the Circular regulating certain forestry activities under the Sustainable Forestry Development Program and the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for 2021-2030.

The draft also amends and supplements regulations on expenditure control and payments via the State Treasury (amending and supplementing Clause 1, Article 17) as follows:

Expenditure control and advance payments will be carried out according to the regulations in Decree No. 11/2020/NĐ-CP dated January 20, 2020, which outlines administrative procedures under the State Treasury, and Circular No. 17/2024/TT-BTC dated March 14, 2024, of the Ministry of Finance, which guides controlling and paying regular expenses from the state budget through the State Treasury. At the same time, the draft proposes abolishing Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 13 of Circular No. 21/2023/TT-BTC and abolishing Clause 4, Article 16 of Circular No. 21/2023/TT-BTC.