Decree No. 92/2017/ND-CP dated August 07, 2017 on amendments to Decrees related to control of administrative procedures

DECREE

AMENDMENTS TO DECREES RELATED TO CONTROL OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES

Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Local Government Organization dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Promulgation of Legislative Documents dated June 22, 2015;

At the request of the Minister, Chairman of the Office of the Government;

The Government hereby promulgates a Decree on amendments the Government’s Decree No. 20/2008/ND-CP dated February 14, 2008 on receipt and handling of individuals’ and organizations’ comments and feedback on administrative regulations; Decree No. 63/2010/ND-CP dated June 08, 2010 on control of administrative procedures; Decree No. 48/2013/ND-CP dated May 14, 2013 on amendments to decrees related to control of administrative procedures; Decree No. 24/2014/ND-CP of April 04, 2014 providing for organizational structures of specialized agencies affiliated to People’s Committees of provinces or central-affiliated cities; Decree No. 37/2014/ND-CP dated May 5, 2014 providing for organizational structures of specialized agencies affiliated to People’s Committees of districts, towns or provincial cities; Decree No. 34/2016/ND-CP dated May 14, 2016 on guidelines for implementation of the Law on Promulgation of Legislative Documents and Decree No. 123/2016/ND-CP dated September 01, 2016 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structures of ministries and ministerial agencies.

Article 1. Amendments to some Articles and Clauses of the Government’s Decree No. 63/2010/ND-CP dated June 08, 2010 on control of administrative procedures:

1. Clause 3 of Article 4 is amended as follows:

“3. Administrative procedures shall be controlled immediately upon making requests for formulation of legislative documents and on a regular and continuous basis in the course of implementing administrative procedures”.

2. Article 8 is amended as follows:

“Article 8. Requirements for imposing administrative procedures

1. Administrative procedures shall be imposed in legislative documents intra vires as prescribed in the Law on Promulgation of Legislative Documents.

2. The imposition of an administrative procedure is considered complete if it fully comprises the following elements:

a) Name of the administrative procedure;

b) Sequence of implementation;

c) Method of submission of documents;

d) Composition and number of documents;

dd) Time limit for handling the administrative procedure;

e) Entities following the administrative procedure;

g) Agency handling the administrative procedure;

h) If the administrative procedure requires application forms or administrative declaration forms; results of implementation of the administrative procedure; requirements or conditions; fees or charges, these will constitute elements of that administrative procedure.

3. As assigned by the National Assembly to impose an administrative procedure in a law, the agency or person that has the power to promulgate legislative documents shall prescribe elements of the administrative procedure in a sufficient, clear, detailed and specific manner as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article”.

3. Article 10 is amended as follows:

“Article 10. Assessment of impacts of administrative procedures

The assessment of impacts of administrative procedures in the requests for formulation of legislative documents and projects/drafts of legislative documents shall be carried out in compliance with the Law on Promulgation of Legislative Documents, Government’s Decree No. 34/2016/ND-CP and guidelines of the Ministry of Justice.”

4. Clause 2 of Article 13 is amended as follows:

“2. Presidents of People’s Committees of provinces and central-affiliated cities (hereinafter referred to as “provincial People’s Committees”) shall announce:

a) Lists of administrative procedures handled by local authorities within provinces and central-affiliated cities, which must specify name, legal bases, time, place of implementation, fees and charges in the case of being assigned or authorized.

b) Administrative procedures which they are assigned to prescribe or elaborate in legislative documents of local authorities within provinces and central-affiliated cities”.

5. Clause 1 Article 15 (amended by Clause 5 Article 1 of the Government’s Decree No. 48/2013/ND-CP) is amended as follows:

“Article 15. Decision on announcement of administrative procedures

The decisions on announcement of administrative procedures of the agencies specified in Clause 1 Article 13 of this Decree shall be announced at least 20 days before the effective date of the legislative documents that provide for such administrative procedures.

The decisions on announcement of administrative procedures of the agencies specified in Clauses 2 and 3 Article 13 of this Decree shall be announced at least 05 days before the effective date of the legislative documents that provide for such administrative procedures.

If a legislative document promulgated under a simplified procedure comes into force from the date on which it is ratified or signed, the decision on announcement of administrative procedures shall be issued at least 03 days after the date of announcing or signing the legislative document that provides for such administrative procedures.

Contents of a decision on announcement of administrative procedures:

1. The decision on announcement of a new administrative procedure shall contain:

a) Elements of the administrative procedure set out in Clause 2 Article 8 of this Decree;

b) Legislative document(s) providing for the administrative procedure”.

6. Article 17 is amended as follows:

“Article 17. Method of making administrative procedures publicly available

1. The administrative procedures already announced by a competent person shall be made publicly available in a sufficient, accurate and prompt manner as follows:

a) On the national database of administrative procedures.

b) At the authority or unit that directly receives and handle administrative procedures by posting or using electronic means relevant to the technical infrastructure on the basis of the decision on announcement of administrative procedures or exporting, connecting or integrating administrative procedure data to or into the national database of administrative procedures.

c) On the web portal of the Government and web portals of ministries, ministerial agencies and provincial People’s Committees on the basis of connecting or integrating the administrative procedures to or into the national database of administrative procedures.

2. In addition to the methods specified in Clause 1 of this Article, administrative procedures may be made publicly available adopting other methods suitable for authorities, units and entities implementing administrative procedures”.

7. Article 24 is amended as follows:

“Article 24. Entering and publishing announced administrative procedures

1. Ministers, heads of ministerial agencies, Presidents of provincial People’s Committees shall organize the entry and publishing of announced administrative procedures and documents providing for such administrative procedures on the national database of administrative procedures and shall take responsibility for the accuracy of the administrative procedures on the national database of administrative procedures.

2. The time limit for entering and publishing announced administrative procedures on the national database of administrative procedures is at least 10 working days from the date on which the Minister or the head of the ministerial agency signs the announcement decision; 05 working days from the date on which the President of the provincial People’s Committee signs the announcement decision; 02 working days from the date of signing the decision on announcement of administrative procedures in the legislative document promulgated under a simplified procedure and coming into force from the date on which it is ratified or signed”.

8. Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 26 are amended as follows:

“Article 26. Responsibility for management of national database of administrative procedures

1. The Office of the Government shall preside over and cooperate with ministries and local authorities in developing and maintaining the national database of administrative procedures; provide guidance on, review and inspect the entry, publishing, exploitation and management of administrative procedure data on the national database of administrative procedures.

2. Ministries, ministerial agencies and provincial People’s Committees shall manage usernames, moderate, publish, check and review administrative procedure data; ensure the consistency between administrative procedures published on the national database, those on the web portals of ministries, departments and local authorities, and those at the place of receiving and handling administrative procedures”.

9. Clause 1 of Article 28 is amended as follows:

“Article 28. Contents of review and assessment

1. The necessity, reasonableness and legitimacy of administrative procedures and regulations related to the administrative procedures, and costs of complying with the administrative procedures under review and assessment”.

10. The phrases “Tổ chức pháp chế ở Bộ, cơ quan ngang Bộ”, “Tổ chức pháp chế của Bộ, cơ quan ngang Bộ” and “Tổ chức pháp chế Bộ, cơ quan ngang Bộ” (“Legal affair organizations of Ministries, ministerial agencies”); “người đứng đầu tổ chức pháp chế” (“heads of legal affair organizations”); and “Giám đốc Sở Tư pháp” (“Directors of Departments of Justice) in Articles 5, 9 and 35a (amended by Clauses 1, 2 and 11 Article 1 of the Government’s Decree No. 48/2013/ND-CP) are replaced with “Văn phòng Bộ, cơ quan ngang Bộ” (“Ministry offices and ministerial agency office”); “Chánh văn phòng Bộ, cơ quan ngang Bộ” (“Chiefs of Ministry offices and ministerial agency office”); and “Chánh văn phòng Ủy ban nhân dân tỉnh, thành phố trực thuộc trung ương” (“Chiefs of Offices of provincial People’s Committees”) respectively.

11. The phrases “dự án, dự thảo văn bản quy phạm pháp luật” (“projects and drafts of legislative documents”); “dự án văn bản quy phạm pháp luật” (“projects of legislative documents”); and “dự thảo văn bản quy phạm pháp luật” (“drafts of legislative documents”) in Articles 9 and 11 (amended by Clauses 2 and 4 Article 1 of the Government’s Decree No. 48/2013/ND-CP) are replaced with “đề nghị xây dựng văn bản quy phạm pháp luật và dự án, dự thảo văn bản quy phạm pháp luật” (“requests for formulation of legislative documents and projects and drafts of legislative documents”); “đề nghị xây dựng văn bản quy phạm pháp luật và dự án văn bản quy phạm pháp luật” (“requests for formulation of legislative documents and projects of legislative documents”); and “đề nghị xây dựng văn bản quy phạm pháp luật và dự thảo văn bản quy phạm pháp luật” (“requests for formulation of legislative documents and drafts of legislative documents”) respectively).

Article 2. Amendments to some Articles and Clauses of the Government’s Decree No. 20/2008/ND-CP dated February 14, 2008 on receipt and handling of individuals’ and organizations’ comments and feedback on administrative regulations:

1. Clause 6 is added to Article 3 as follows:

“6. Information system for receiving and handling comments and feedback (hereinafter referred to as “the information system”) means an electronic information system that has the functions of supporting the receipt, handling and publishing of results of handling of individuals’ and organizations’ comments and feedback on administrative regulations”.

2. Clause 4 is added to Article 6 as follows:

“4. Data messages sent by email to the receiving agency, through web portals of ministries or local authorities or through the information system”.

3. Clause 4 is added to Article 7 as follows:

“4. Requirements on comments and feedback in the form of data messages sent to email of the receiving agency, through web portals of ministries or local authorities or through the information system for receiving and handling comments and feedback:

a) Comments and feedback must be sent to the right email addresses, website addresses of ministries or local authorities or email addresses of the information system published by the receiving agency.

b) Vietnamese language; and Unicode font (under TCVN 6909:200) must be used.

c) Contents of the comment or feedback must be clearly presented.

d) Name, address, phone number, email or postal address of the individual or organization giving comment or feedback must be specified.

dd) Files in appropriate format must be attached as required by the information system.”

4. Clause 3 is added to Article 9 as follows:

“3. Regarding comments and feedback given in the form of data messages, the receiving agency shall follow the procedure below:

a) Instruct individuals and organizations to give comments and feedback as prescribed in Clause 4 Article 7 of this Article;

b) Access web portals of ministries and local authorities or the information system;

c) Research, assess and classify comments and feedback:

- Comments and feedback rejected due to failure to satisfy the requirements specified in Clause 4 Article 7 of this Article;

- Comments and feedback on difficulties arising from implementation of administrative regulations which are caused by state administrative authorities or officials’ acts of delaying or harassing the implementation of or failing to implement or incorrectly implementing administrative regulations.

In this case, the receiving agency shall forward the comments and feedback to competent state administrative agencies in accordance with law for handling through the information system.

- Comments and feedback on administrative regulations handled by the receiving agency;

- Comments and feedback on administrative regulations not handled by the receiving agency;

In this case, the receiving agency shall forward the comments and feedback to competent agencies for handling through the information system within 05 working days from the date on which they are received.

dd) Store data messages about comments and feedback received on the database on the web portals of ministries or local authorities or the information system”.

5. Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 10 are amended as follows:

“2. Set up hotlines and a unit in charge of receiving comments and feedback on the web portals of ministries and local authorities.

3. Make publicly available the address of the agency, postal address, hotlines, email address, website address and email address of the information system address as prescribed in Article 13 hereof”.

6. Point e Clause 2 of Article 14 is amended as follows:

“e) Archive documents concerning handled comments and feedback in accordance with regulations of law on archives, and archive them on the information system”.

7. Clause 3 of Article 16 is amended as follows:

“3. Organize archiving of electronic documents and data on comments and feedback on administrative regulations and handling results”.

8. Clause 1 of Article 19 is amended as follows:

“1. On the information system; web portal or website of the agency”.

9. Article 20 is amended as follows:

“Article 20. Building information system for receiving and handling comments and feedback on administrative regulations

1. The Office of the Government shall:

a) build a uniform information system for receiving and handling comments and feedback on administrative regulations nationwide;

b) publish comments and feedback on administrative regulations handled by competent agencies on the information system for receiving and handling comments and feedback on administrative regulations and web portal of the Government;

c) instruct Ministries, ministerial agencies and provincial People’s Committees to manage, exploit and use the information system for receiving and handling comments and feedback on administrative regulations;

d) organize the connection, integration and exchange of electronic data on comments and feedback on administrative regulations between web portals of ministries and local authorities and the information system for receiving and handling comments and feedback on administrative regulations.

2. Ministries, ministerial agencies and provincial People’s Committees shall:

a) manage, exploit and use the information system for receiving and handling comments and feedback on administrative regulations under the guidance of the Office of the Government.

b) cooperate with the Office of the Government in connecting, integrating and exchanging electronic data on comments and feedback on administrative regulations between web portals of ministries and local authorities and the information system for receiving and handling comments and feedback on administrative regulations; update the process and results of handling of comments and feedback on the information system for receiving and handling comments and feedback on administrative regulations under the guidance of the Office of the Government”.

10. The phrase “sổ tiếp nhận” (“receipt book”) in Point c Clause 1 and Point g Clause 2 of Article 9 is replaced with “Hệ thống thông tin tiếp nhận, xử lý phản ánh, kiến nghị về quy định hành chính” (“information system for receiving and handling comments and feedback on administrative regulations”).

Article 3. Amending and repealing some Articles and Clauses of the Government's Decree No. 24/2014/ND-CP dated April 04, 2014 on organizational structures of specialized agencies affiliated to People’s Committees of provinces or central-affiliated cities

1. The phrase “kiểm soát thủ tục hành chính” (“control of administrative procedures”) is removed from Clause 2 of Article 8.

2. Clause 17 of Article 8 is amended as follows:

“17. The Office of the People's Committee:

Advise and assist the provincial People’s Committee on working programs and plans; control of administrative procedures; organizing single-window handling of administrative procedures by communal, district, provincial-level authorities; organizing, managing and publishing official information on activities of the People's Committee and President of the People's Committee of the province; acting as an agency in charge of web portal, connecting the electronic administrative information system, direction and administration by the People's Committee and the President of the People's Committee of the province; managing gazettes and serving general activities of the provincial People's Committee; assisting the President and Vice Presidents of the provincial People's Committee in performing their duties and exercising their rights within their power; archival management and internal administration by the Office”.

Article 4. Amending and repealing some Articles and Clauses of the Government's Decree No. 37/2014/ND-CP dated May 5, 2014 providing for organizational structures of specialized agencies affiliated to People’s Committees of districts, towns or provincial cities

1. The phrase “kiểm soát thủ tục hành chính” (“control of administrative procedures”) is removed from Clause 2 of Article 7.

2. Clause 10 of Article 7 is amended as follows:

“10. The Office of the People's Council and the People’s Committee

Advise the People's Council and People’s Committee on activities of the People's Council and the People's Committee; advising the President of the People's Committee on his/her direction and administration; control of administrative procedures; providing information in service of management and operation by the People's Council, the People's Committee and local regulatory bodies; providing adequate technical infrastructure for activities of the People's Council and the People's Committee; organizing single-window handling of administrative procedures by district-level authorities; providing guidance and receiving individuals and organizations’ documents on all fields within the jurisdiction of the district-level People's Committee, transferring documents to specialized agencies affiliated to the district-level People's Committee for handling, receiving results and returning them to individuals and organizations.

If a district inhabited by ethnic minorities has yet to satisfy all criteria for establishing an agency in charge of ethnic minority affairs, the Office of the People's Council and the People’s Committee shall advise and assist the People's Committee to exercise the function of state management of ethnic minority affairs.

If a district-level administrative division has national land, sea or island border, the Office of the People's Council and the People’s Committee shall advise and assist the People's Committee to exercise the function of state management of foreign and border affairs”.

Article 5. Amendments to Clauses 1 and 2 Article 19 of the Government’s Decree No. 123/2016/ND-CP dated September 01, 2016 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structures of ministries and ministerial agencies:

“Article 19. Ministerial Office

1. The Office is an organization that is affiliated to a Ministry, exercises the function of providing advice on working programs and plans and serves activities of the Ministry; assists the Minister in supervising organizations and units affiliated to the Ministry implementing working programs and plans of the Ministry; controls administrative procedures and organizes single-window handling of administrative procedures by central government authorities in accordance with law.

2. The Office shall perform tasks related to administrative, clerical and archival work; control and reform administrative procedures, organize single-window handling of administrative procedures by central government authorities; manage technical infrastructure, assets, operating funding, provide adequate working facilities; serve activities of the ministry and its internal administration; and perform other tasks prescribed by law or assigned by the Minister”.

Article 6. Grandfather clauses

1. If the Decree defining the functions, tasks, rights and organizational structures of ministries and ministerial agencies was promulgated before the effective date of this Decree, the Ministry or ministerial agency shall re-organize the Department of Administrative Procedure Control affiliated to the Ministry Office or the ministerial agency office by transferring the Department of Administrative Procedure Control affiliated to the legal affair organization of the Ministry or ministerial agency if the legal affair organization includes such Department or shall establish a Department of Administrative Procedure Control under the Ministry Office or the ministerial agency office in order to exercise the function or perform the task of controlling administrative procedures, reforming administrative procedures and organizing single-window handling of administrative procedures as assigned in accordance with this Decree. Regarding the Ministry of Public Security, the regulations set out in the Law on People’s Public Security Force shall be complied with.

2. The provincial People's Committee shall re-organize the Department of Administrative Procedure Control affiliated to the Office of the provincial People's Committee by transferring the Department of Administrative Procedure Control affiliated to the Department of Justice in order to exercise the function or perform the task of controlling administrative procedures, reforming administrative procedures and organizing single-window handling of administrative procedures in accordance with this Decree.

Article 7. Responsibility for implementation

1. The Office of the Government shall:

a) provide guidelines for announcing and making administrative procedures publicly available; review and assess administrative procedures; develop, manage and operate the national database of administrative procedures; inspect and submit consolidated reports on control of administrative procedures and other tasks as prescribed in this Decree.

b) supervise and inspect the implementation of this Decree.

2. The Ministry of Justice shall review and repeal the Circular of the Minister of Justice in part or in whole as the Circular of the Minister, Chairman of the Office of the Government providing guidelines for implementation of Point a Clause 1 of this Article comes into force.

3. Ministers, heads of ministerial agencies, heads of Governmental agencies, Presidents of provincial People’s Committees, and relevant organizations and individuals are responsible for the implementation of this Decree.

Article 8. Implementation clause

1. This Decree comes into force from September 25, 2017.

2. This Decree repeals Clause 3a Article 3, Clause 3a Article 5 and Clause 3a Article 6 of the Government’s Decree No. 55/2011/ND-CP dated July 04, 2011 (amended by Article 4 of the Government’s Decree No. 48/2013/ND-CP dated May 14, 2013); removes the phrase “kiểm soát thủ tục hành chính” (“control of administrative procedures”) from Point c Clause 2 Article 174 of the Government’s Decree No. 34/2016/ND-CP dated May 14, 2016./.