Laws of Vietnam

THE PRIME MINISTER

DIRECTIVE No.342-TTg OF MAY 22, 1997 ON PROMOTION OF REFORMS OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES

On May 4, 1994 the Government issued Resolution No.38-CP to take another step in reforming the administrative procedures in handling affairs of citizens and organizations. This is the breakthrough in the administrative reforms of the State.

Over the past three years and more, Resolution No.38-CP of the Government has been implemented by all ministries, commissions, branches and localities. In many areas, outdated administrative procedures have been abolished, a number of new administrative procedures have been initiated and have become step by step part of the daily life. These have unraveled many intricacies, limited harassment, helping to create a favorable legal environment, promote production, business, develop investment, further improve the relations between State agencies and the people...At the same time, through the administrative procedures, reforms, we have detected many problems regarding the institution, the organizational mechanism, public affairs and public employees that need to be made into a coherent whole in the State administrative system.

However, compared with demand, the reforms of administrative procedures conducted in the recent past remain very slow and still reveal many weaknesses. Administrative procedures remain very complicated in the various domains of economic and social life. The documents guiding the implementation of some kinds of affair usually are not uniform but instead are repetitive and even contradictory. They may solve one problem but gives rise to another more complicated problem. All these inadequacies have not been handled in time, therefore have left many things unsettled, thus falling short of the expectations of citizens and organizations.

In the leadership work, although some branches and localities have tried to find out and apply positive measures of improvement, but on the whole many branches and localities have not paid adequate attention, so that the reforms of administrative procedures remain perfunctory and formalistic In settling affairs of citizens and organizations, the State agencies and public servants in many branches and levels have not displayed a high sense of responsibility or a good attitude of service, instead have created many complicacies and harrassments which caused resentment among a sector of the population.

In order to develop the initial results already achieved, overcome and settle in time the intricacies and further promote the reforms of administrative procedures and meet the demand of the citizens and organizations, the Prime Minister requests the Ministers, the Heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the Heads of the agencies attached to the Government and the Presidents of the People’s Committees in the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government to take personal responsibility in the immediate guidance of the following work:

1. To review and sum up the execution of Resolution No.38-CP of May 4,1994 of the Government, discuss concrete measures to continue promoting the reforms of the administrative procedures in all spheres, among all branches and at all levels

- To closely observe the contents of Resolution No.38-CP already mentioned, to appreciate correctly the concrete results already achieved and what has not been achieved, the limitations and newly arising problems. In particular, to listen attentively to the ideas of the executors of the administrative procedures in different fields of work such as issuing certificates of land use right and the right to own houses; to found an enterprise, the business licenses, procedures of import and export and investment; entry and exit visas, residence registration and household membership; reception and settlement of complaints and denunciations by citizens... To closely look into the causes of achievements and failures.

- On this basis and within the ambit of their responsibilities and competence, each branch and each locality should closely revise the administrative procedures in all spheres, eliminate repetitions and overlappings or complicated steps; amend or supplement or issue new and necessary procedures which must be simple, easy to understand and to carry out, clearly set the deadline for solving a given kind of work, and by so doing to strengthen the confidence of the people and friends abroad in our ability to overcome weaknesses, raise the managerial efficacity of our State in all branches and levels.

- To make suggestions to the Government to settle questions of administrative procedures that are beyond the competence of the ministries, branches or local authorities.

2. To clearly determine the responsibility of the State agencies and public servants who are assigned the task of directly settling affairs of citizens and organizations:

- Administrative agencies shall, depending on their specific functions, strengthen their organization, increase the number of virtuous and capable cadres to help the agency heads to carry out the administrative procedures. They should have a place to receive the people and considerately settle their affairs; publicly post up the necessary documents and time-limits to settle each kind of affair; assign responsible people to provide detailed, clear and uniform guidance in the completion and reception of the dossiers, and fulfil the administrative dossiers whenever the people or organization need them.

- The ministries and branches at the central level, shall through the review and sum up of the realization of Resolution No.38-CP and depending on their competence, urgently work out their program of training and fostering the knowledge of administrative management in general and administrative procedures in particular in the spirit of the reforms with regard to the cadres and public servants directly in charge of carrying out the administrative procedures under their competence.

- To organize professional courses to ensure that the public servants understand well the system of legal documents and regulations in force of the State. Absolutely not to assign people who have not received professional training or who lack in moral qualities to administrative posts in order to limit and eventually to put an end to the obstructions, roundabounds, harrassments and costly expenditures for the population and organizations.

- The heads of administrative agencies in all branches and at all levels shall have to regulately control and follow the activities and evaluate the results of the work of the officials and public servants who directly handle affairs of citizens and organizations. They must commend and reward those who carry out well the assigned tasks, who are really trusted and loved by the population. They must correct and sternly discipline those who cause harassment and ask for bribes or who are irresponsible in handling affairs of citizens and organizations.

When instances of bribe asking and corruption are detected, they must be resolutely handled according to law and brought to public knowledge.

3. With regard to the following ministries and branches, they must make a deep analysis and review of the execution of administrative procedures in a number of areas already mentioned in Resolution No.38-CP in the spirit of Point 1 of this Directive and report in writing to the Prime Minister before June 30, 1997

- The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall have to revise the administrative procedures in the domain of foreign investment, establishment of enterprises, business registration, ratification of projects, allocation of investment in capital construction, distribution of ODA funds, examination of international cooperation projects...

- The Ministry of Finance shall have to review the administrative procedures in the domain of tax handling, including cases of complaints; distribution and allocation of budget capital, preferential lending of State capital, management of capital and properties at State-owned enterprises when the enterprises need to transfer capital or properties; allocation of tax quotas and collection of taxes from small business households...

- The Ministry of Construction shall have to revise the administrative procedures in the domain of granting of construction permits and certificates of house ownership; tendering and offering bids in construction...

- The Ministry of Trade shall have to revise the administrative procedures in the promulgation of policies on business lines, issuing of export and import permits, controlling the management of goods circulating on the market, granting of permits for Vietnamese economic organizations to set up representative offices or branches abroad, allowing foreign economic organizations to open their representative offices in Vietnam...

- The Ministry of the Interior shall revise the administrative procedures in the domain of entries and exits, household registration, sanctions against violations of civil law, temporary custody...

- The Ministry of Communications and Transport shall revise the administrative procedures in the erection of traffic signs, the registration and check of transport means, the sanctioning against violations of traffic rule...

- The Ministry of Justice shall revise the administrative procedures in the domain of State notarization...

- The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment shall revise the administrative produces in the promulgation of measurement standards, control of the quality of goods before putting them into circulation and before their export, the allocation and granting of funds for scientific research...

- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall revise the administrative procedures in the protection of dykes, culverts, in the epidemiological control of animals and plants before their import and export...

- The Ministry of Culture and Information shall revise the administrative procedures in the issuance of permits for advertisements, trading in cultural products, the opening of karaoke bars and dancing halls...

- The Ministry of Aquacultural Resources shall revise the administrative procedures in the certification the seaworthiness of means of fishing, and raising aquacultural products, certification of the quality of marine products before their import and export...

- The Ministry of Health shall revise the administrative procedures in the certification before import or export the pharmaceuticals and the issue of permits for pharmaceuticals and the permits for the circulation for a number of cosmetics...

- The General Department of Customs shall revise the administrative procedures in the domain of export and import since the promulgation of Decree No.89-CP, in the goods control and reassessment, in the fight against smuggling through border gates; in the inspection of customs officers escorting goods to private storages; in the collection of taxes and fees, including the fees on sealing and unsealing containers; refusing the payment of tax or retroactive collection of tax especially with regard to the refusal of tax payment and retroactive collection of tax after several years...

- The General State Inspector shall revise the administrative procedures in the settlement of complaints and denunciations by citizens in the sanctioning of administrative violations...

- The General Land Administration shall revise the administrative procedures in the granting of land use rights.

Administrative procedures, generally speaking, are the executive mechanism of the State agencies in the realization of the function of management of society. Reforming administrative procedures is a very important task, considered to be the crucial link in the whole process of reforming the current administration of the State. The realization of these reforms is a very complicated struggle closely associated with the renewal of the legal system, the organism of the State agencies, the contingent of public servants and the practical daily work of all citizens and organizations. It must be given special attention by all branches and levels.

The Ministers, the Heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the Heads of the agencies attached to the Government, the Presidents of the People’s Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government must work out programs of action with practical and urgent measures to organize and direct the serious implementation of this Directive, make monthly reports to the Prime Minister on the results of the realization in the areas under the charge of the Ministries, branches or localities.

The mass media should intensify publicity for Resolution No.38-CP and this Directive and together with the population and various organizations discover those localities which have carried out well this task in order to commend them in time and draw up and multiply their experiences and those localities which have not carried out them well in order to criticize and find out means to overcome their weaknesses.

The Prime Minister’s Office shall coordinate with the Administrative Reforms Team of the Government shall have to follow up and promote the deployment of this Directive and make regular reports to the Prime Minister on the overall results of the implementation of this Directive.

For the Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister

PHAN VAN KHAI