Decision 2888/QD-BTNMT 2016 Working Regulations of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

DECISION

INTRODUCING WORKING REGULATIONS OF MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

MINISTER OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 21/2013/ND-CP dated March 4, 2013, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 123/2016/ND-CP dated September 1, 2016, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of Ministries and Ministry-level agencies;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 138/2016/ND-CP dated October 1, 2016, issuing the Government’s working regulations;

Upon the request of the Chief of the Ministry Office,

HEREIN DECIDES

Article 1. Working regulations of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment are issued as an annex to this Decision.

Article 2. This Decision is entering into force as from the signature date, replacing the Decision No. 666/QD-BTNMT dated May 9, 2012 of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, introducing the working Regulations of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Article 3. Heads of subordinate units of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall keep each of their staff and senior members thoroughly grasp these Regulations and thereto issue their work rules in line with these Regulations ahead of February 15, 2017.

Minister, Deputy Ministers, Heads of affiliates of the Ministry’s affiliates, Directors of Departments of Natural Resources and Environment of provinces and centrally-affiliated cities, staff and senior members of the Ministry, and relevant organizations or individuals, shall be responsible for enforcing this Decision.

The Chief of the Ministry Office shall be responsible for pushing towards and inspecting the implementation of this Decision./.

WORKING REGULATIONS

OF THE MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
(Issued as an annex to the Decision No. 2888/QD-BTNMT dated December 15, 2016 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment)

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope and subjects of application

1. These Regulations provide for working principles, responsibility regime, work relationship, formalities and procedures for dealing with work of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

2. Minister, Deputy Ministers (hereinafter referred to as Ministry leadership), agencies and units; staff and senior members of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; organizations and individuals involved in working relationship with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, all of whom are governed by these Regulations.

Article 2. Working principles

1. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment works under the authoritarian leadership regime. All activities of the Ministry must submit to the control of the Communist Party of Vietnam, comply with the provisions of the Constitution and legislation, as well as the working regulations of the Ministry. All of the Ministry's staff and senior members must process and deal with work within the scope of responsibilities and entitlements prescribed by law.

2. In the duty assignment and work handling process, each assignment is given to only one agency, unit, or one person who is in charge of and responsible for that assignment. If an assignment is given to an agency or unit, the Head of that agency or unit shall be held accountable for it.

3. Ensuring compliance with the order, procedures and time limit for dealing with work in accordance with the provisions of law, working plans, programs, schedules and working regulations, except when unexpected situation occurs or unless otherwise requested by superior agencies.

4. Actively handling assigned work within the scope of its delegated authority and in accordance with the allowable order and procedures, the working regulations of the Government and the Ministry, ensuring the best use of the capacity and forte of its staff and senior members; promoting coordination in work, exchange of information in the process of dealing with work and in all activities according to the functions, tasks and entitlements prescribed by law.

5. Ensuring democracy, public disclosure, transparency and efficiency in all activities; a unified, modern, and transparent administration system to be in place with the aim of serving the People and being available for public review and supervision.

Chapter II

RESPONSIBILITIES AND RANGE OF DUTIES TO HANDLE WORK AND WORKING RELATIONSHIP

Article 3. Issues to be discussed by the Ministry leadership before receiving the Minister's decisions

1. Issues to be discussed by the Ministry leadership shall comprise the following:

a) Laws, ordinances, sectoral or industrial development strategies and master plans; long-term, medium-term, five-year and annual plans of the Ministry; important projects of the Ministry to be submitted to the Party’s Central Committee, the Politburo, the National Assembly and the Government; key programs, schemes and projects in the natural resources and environment field.

b) The Ministry's program of action aligned with the Government's term of office and annual work programs; entire-term, annual and long-term plans to draft and finalize legal normative documents in the natural resources and environment field.

c) Natural resources and environment plans for execution of important guidelines and policies of the Party and important legal normative documents of the State.

d) Organizational structure of the Ministry; establishment, consolidation, dissolution and reorganization of units directly affiliated to the Ministry.

dd) Allocating funding sources and making the state budget estimates, proposing budgetary allocations to agencies and units, and finalization of annual state budget accounts of the Ministry.

e) Work programs of the Ministry, annual reports and reports on assessment of execution of state plans and review of the Ministry’s performance in its mandate.

g) Other issues under the Ministry’s legal mandate for which the Minister finds it necessary to be discussed by the Ministry leadership before decision.

2. In the absence of conditions required for holding a general discussion on the issues specified in clause 1 of this Article, under the direction of the Minister, the units assigned to be in charge of these issues shall receive written comments from the Deputy Ministers before reporting to the Minister to seek his decision.

Article 4. Responsibilities, range of duties and ways to process and deal with work of the Minister

1. Take personal accountability to the Prime Minister, the Government and the National Assembly for all work falling within his remit and assigned range of duties, even when he has assigned duties or delegated authority to his deputies.

2. Totally direct and administer the Ministry’s operations in accordance with regulations of the Constitution and legislation; the functions, tasks and powers of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; and other regulatory documents that stipulate the decision-making competence of the Minister; directly take control of the implementation of major, important and strategic tasks in the fields of state management of the Ministry and the tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister.

3. Assign the Deputy Ministers to manage the work in a number of fields, and have command of several agencies and units directly affiliated to the Ministry (hereinafter referred to as the Deputy Minister in charge of a particular field); monitor the state management of natural resources and environment of a number of provinces and centrally run cities; adapt to the actual situation to meet the Ministry’s performance requirements.

4. Where necessary, the Minister can directly deal with several tasks assigned to Deputy Ministers.

5. Authorize heads of agencies and units directly affiliated to the Ministry to handle specific tasks under the Minister's competence in accordance with law; proactively coordinate with agencies of the National Assembly, Ministries, central authorities and other organizations to deal with issues related to the Ministry's responsibilities or tasks assigned by the Government or the Prime Minister.

6. Provide instructions about, examine and inspect the activities of Ministries and central authorities; take charge of pushing towards, examining and inspecting the implementation of law and the fulfillment of the tasks assigned or delegated in the fields of state management of the Ministry by the People's Committees at all levels, specialized local agencies, agencies and units directly affiliated to the Ministry and other organizations. 7. Settle, within the Minister’s competence, and take responsibility for his decision on, proposals of relevant ministries, agencies, organizations and individuals concerning issues falling within the scope of responsibility and state management competence of the Ministry, even including those on which related Ministries have dissenting opinions.

8. Consider submitting proposals for settlement of work falling within the competence of the Government and the Prime Minister to the Government and the Prime Minister.

9. Consult with the Ministry and its other agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities, on handling issues falling within their competence that are related to his appropriate functions, sectors or industries falling within his remit.

10. Sign written documents under his authority as stipulated in Article 30 of these Regulations.

11. Ways to process and deal with work of the Minister:

a) Develop the monthly, quarterly and annual work program of his own;

b) Directly, or assign Deputy Ministers, Heads of units directly affiliated to the Ministry to, handle the work on the basis of the submitted documents or dossiers incorporated in the transmittal form of request for the handling of the requested work;

c) In his absence and if deemed necessary, the Minister shall authorize in writing a Deputy Minister to act on his behalf to take command of the Ministry’s work and handle the work directly controlled by the Minister.

d) When a Deputy Minister is absent and if necessary, the Minister shall assign another Deputy Minister to handle or directly handle the work of the absent Deputy Minister.

dd) For major, important, sensitive, unexpected or newly arising, interdisciplinary issues that have been jointly handled by the Deputy Ministers, if there are still dissenting opinions, the Minister shall hold a discussion and make his decision.

e) In addition to the aforesaid ways, the Minister shall handle the work in the following manners: Making formal visitations; examining and pushing towards the implementation of regulatory mechanisms, policies and provisions at local authorities or business establishments; giving explanations or replies to inquiries of National Assembly deputies; responding to voters' petitions; holding press conferences; receiving and meeting with citizens; and others.

Article 5. Responsibilities, area of competence and ways to process and deal with work of the Deputy Ministers

1. Responsibilities to process and deal with the work of Deputy Ministers:

a) Each Deputy Minister shall be assigned to regularly direct and handle specific jobs under the Minister's authority in a number of fields of the Ministry; monitor and direct a number of units directly affiliated to the Ministry; monitor the state management of natural resources and environment issues in several provinces and centrally run cities;

b) Within the scope of their assigned functions, the Deputy Ministers may use the delegated powers of the Minister, act in the name of the Minister to deal with the work under their assigned duties, and be held accountable to the Minister and before law for their decisions; shall regularly report to the Minister on the duties that they are authorized to take charge of;

c) The Deputy Minister shall actively handle the assigned work, except for the cases specified in clause 3 of this Article; while performing their assigned tasks, if there are problems related to the fields under the authority of other Deputy Minister, the Deputy Minister assigned to take charge of handling work should actively coordinate to deal with such work. In case of disagreement among Deputy Ministers, the Deputy Minister currently in charge of handling such work shall report to the Minister to seek his decision.

d) When dealing with the issues related to work at localities or in the general area of activities, the Deputy Minister assigned to take charge of settling the work should actively consult the Deputy Ministers in charge of the relevant area of activities;

dd) When the Minister adjusts the assignments between the Deputy Ministers, the Deputy Ministers must hand over the work, relevant dossiers and documents to the assigned persons and report such handover to the Minister;

e) Design the monthly, quarterly and annual working programs of the Deputy Ministers; take responsibility before the Minister for the entire content and progress of submission of projects, schemes and legislative normative documents that they are assigned to monitor;

g) Deputy Ministers shall not deal with the work if the Minister does not assign or authorize them to do so;

h) The Deputy Minister must not speak and act in breach of the Resolutions of the Ministry's Senior Party Personnel Committee or the Minister's Decisions. Depending on the nature and extent of any violation, it shall be subject to the review conducted by the Ministry leadership to clearly identify who will be charged with such violation;

i) The Deputy Minister can act on behalf of the Minister to sign documents relevant to the field and range of activities that he/she is assigned to direct and settle, and documents that he/she is authorized to sign by the Minister as per Article 31 of these Regulations.

2. Area of competence of the Deputy Minister:

a) For the range of activities or activities that a Deputy Minister is assigned to take charge of or deal with:

- Direct the formulation of strategies, master plans and plans; the formulation of mechanisms, policies, laws, ordinances, draft legal normative documents under the promulgating competence of the Government, the Prime Minister or the Ministry in the fields for which he/she is on assignment.

- Direct, inspect and push towards the organization of implementation of guidelines, policies, regulatory provisions, tasks of plans and state budget in the fields or tasks for which he/she is on assignment; handle, within its appropriate competence, issues arising within his/her remit; detect and propose issues necessary amendment or supplementation.

b) For the units that a Deputy Minister is assigned to take charge of:

- Head, inspect and push towards the units’ completing their assignments.

- Take the lead in dealing with internal issues falling within his/her competence.

c) For provinces and centrally run cities that a Deputy Minister is assigned to oversee:

- Monitor and inspect the implementation of guidelines, policies, regulatory provisions and undertakings in the natural resources and environment sector at localities.

- Cooperate with the People's Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities and the regional interdisciplinary Steering Committees on directing the handling of difficulties, problems and outstanding issues related to the fields under the Ministry leadership.

- l) Monitor and direct the performance of tasks assigned by the Government, the Prime Minister and the regional Steering Committees.

- When making a visitation to a locality, a Deputy Minister must combine his/her assignment with other work falling outside of his/her range of assigned duties; When working with local authorities, he/she must issue his/her general directives relevant to the fields under the state management of the Ministry.

- The Deputy Minister should consult with the Minister before deciding on issues related to guidelines and policies that have not been prescribed by law; important and sensitive issues affecting the country's economic and social situation and activities in the natural resources and environment sector; other matters when the Deputy Minister deems it necessary or upon the Minister’s request.

3. When the Deputy Minister is away on a formal visitation, he/she must report to the Minister so that the Minister can directly take charge of settling or assigning another Deputy Minister to handle the work with the intention of preventing a lot of work from being piled up.

Article 6. Responsibilities and area of competence of the Heads of units directly affiliated to the Ministry

1. Heads of units directly affiliated to the Ministry shall take the lead in performing tasks falling within their area of specialization and competences; bear personal responsibility before the Minister and law for all work under their assigned responsibility and authority, even when these tasks have been assigned or delegated to their deputy; fully implement the communication and reporting regime in accordance with regulatory provisions and regulations of the Ministry.

2. The Directors of Departments/Administrations/Authorities directly affiliated to the Ministry, Chief Inspector of the Ministry, Chief of the Ministry Office shall, in addition to the responsibilities and area of competence mentioned in clause 1 of this Article, perform the advisory, synthesis and inspection tasks, and assist the Minister in directing and administering the work falling within the scope of their functions, tasks and powers.

3. Actively submit proposals to the Minister and in-charge Deputy Ministers for handling the work falling within the competence of the Ministry.

4. Handle issues falling within the scope of responsibility and authority of state management of the units.

5. Actively cooperate with the Heads of other units on performing the general tasks of the Ministry and handling issues related to the work falling within their competence and remit. Upon receipt of consent from the Minister or the Deputy Minister in charge, they can invite leaders of other units to get involved in exchanges or discussions towards handling of related issues, and report the handling results to the Minister or Deputy Minister in charge.

6. Actively grasp the implementation of regulatory policies and provisions in the fields under their assigned functions and tasks; promptly consult with the Ministry leadership on settling issues related to the functions, areas of activities and fields falling within the remit of the units under the jurisdiction of the ministries, the People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities (hereinafter referred to as provincial People's Committee); proactively provide localities, organizations and individuals with instructions to deal with issues within their competence delegated and prescribed by law.

7. Formulate monthly, quarterly and yearly work programs of heads of units and send them to the Ministry Office for the purposes of compiling a final report for submission to the Minister; proactively submit to the Minister proposals for promulgation and revision of necessary guidelines, mechanisms, policies and legal normative documents under their assigned duties. Develop and inspect the implementation of working regulations in their units; assign work to their deputies and staff members under their management.

8. Perform other duties assigned by the Minister or Deputy Ministers in charge.

9. Before carrying out requests for their submitting reports, providing information and proceeding with work related to the responsibilities and authority of the Ministry or the Minister from agencies and organizations outside the Ministry (including in the case where they have assigned or authorized their deputies), they must report and seek the consent from the Minister to ensure the seriousness and consistency.

10. Ways to deal with work:

a) Duly perform assigned powers and tasks (including authorized work), handle work within their competence;

b) Do not transfer work falling under their duties and authority to the Ministry leadership or other units; do not deal with the work falling under the authority of other units, unless otherwise instructed by the Minister;

c) Issues that are beyond their competence, or important, complicated, sensitive, or related to many fields, must be promptly reported to the Ministry leadership to seek their advices and directions;

d) When a Head is absent for more than 01 working day, he/she must report to and obtain the consent from the Ministry leadership (except in unexpected cases or when he/she accompanies the Ministry leadership); must authorize his/her deputy in writing to take on his/her management and administration duties, and notify this to the Ministry Office;

The authorized deputy shall be held accountable to the Head of the unit and legally liable for all operations of the unit during the authorization term;

dd) The Head of the unit must assign a leadership member to perform regular on-call duties at workplace;

e) When necessary, the head of the unit can directly report to the Minister (or the Deputy Minister in charge) for advice and direction towards issues in the fields under his/her state management duties; put forward proposals concerning the Ministry’s general work to the Minister (or Deputy Minister in charge);

g) When being authorized by the Minister or Deputy Minister in charge to represent the Ministry to attend meetings and conferences held by Ministries, central authorities and local authorities, they must actively prepare presentations or reports for submission to the Minister or Deputy Minister in charge for approval before delivering them at these meetings or conferences; shall make review reports on achievements after attending.

11. Heads of units, senior and staff members of the Ministry must have their official email addresses bearing the domain name gov.vn to receive and send information, documents, invitations to meetings; communicate ideas and handle work, with the intention of saving costs and simplifying administrative procedures. Using emails without the domain name gov.vn while on duty shall not be accepted.

Article 7. General requirements of the Ministry’s senior and staff members

1. Actively study, advise on and propose issues that they are assigned to monitor when they fall within their areas of expertise; perform the tasks assigned by the heads of the units or the Ministry leadership according to the corresponding functions and tasks of their units.

2. Take personal responsibility before the heads of the units, the Ministry leadership and before law for recommendations, progress, quality and performance in handling of each assigned work; compliance with regulations on content, form, formalities, order and procedures for issuing regulatory documents and processes of handling assigned work.

3. Do not have authoritarian, bossy and harassing attitudes and behaviors towards organizations and individuals in the process of handling work.

4. Comply with the regulatory provisions whereunder senior and staff members are bound to strictly adhere to administrative rules and discipline; professional ethical standards of cadres, civil servants, public employees and workers in the natural resources and environment sector, regulations on working regimes and hours; to attend meetings on time and by invitation only; practice proper etiquette in the workplace.

5. Develop monthly, quarterly and annual work programs of senior and staff members according to the instructions of the units directly affiliated to the Ministry.

Article 8. Work relationship between the Ministry and other central authorities

Work relationship between the Ministry and bodies of the Party, National Assembly, Government, Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuracy, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and central agencies of mass organizations shall comply with the provisions of the Constitution, the Law on Government Organization, legal normative documents and other relevant regulations.

Article 9. Work relationship between the Ministry and other Ministries, Ministry-level bodies, Governmental agencies or local governments

1. The working relationship between the Minister and other Ministers, the Heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the Presidents of the People's Councils and the Presidents of the provincial People's Committees shall comply with Article 10 and 11 of the Government's Working Regulations.

2. When the hierarchy of the provincial Party Committees, metropolitan Party Committees, National Assembly Delegations, provincial People's Councils, provincial People's Committees make proposals to work directly with the Ministry on matters falling within the remit of the Ministry, the Minister shall directly (or assign the Deputy Minister to) take charge of them.

3. Minister and Deputy Ministers must spend time on formal visitations to local authorities and facilities (periodically or irregularly) to inspect, help along and direct the implementation of jobs under the remit and duties of the Ministry.

4. Heads of agencies and units directly affiliated to the Ministry shall, according to their assigned functions and tasks, have responsibility for handling requests from the hierarchy of the provincial Party Committees, metropolitan Party Committees, National Assembly Delegations, provincial People's Councils and People's Committees within their competence, and must submit to the Ministry draft written replies, ensuring the time limit for handling in accordance with the provisions of clause 1 of Article 23 of these Regulations.

5. Directors of Departments of Natural Resources and Environment of provinces and centrally run cities shall organize the implementation of work programs of the Ministry and relevant central authorities at localities; periodically report to the Ministry on state management performance of the units; fully participate in joint activities and attend meetings convened by the Ministry as requested only; fully implement the Ministry's regulatory provisions for the whole industry; comment upon and formulate legal normative documents under the Ministry’s leadership. Before requesting consultation with the Ministry leadership and units directly affiliated to the Ministry on necessary tasks related to the administration of natural resources and environment activities, it is necessary to carefully prepare documents and send them at least 03 working days in advance.

In case where the Ministry or its directly affiliated units need their comments, their comments must arrive within the time limit stipulated in clause 1 of Article 23, except where that time limit is specified in the written request for comments.

Article 10. Working relationship between the Ministry leadership and Heads of units directly affiliated to the Ministry

1. The working relationship between the Ministry leadership and the units directly affiliated to the Ministry is the hierarchical superior-subordinate relationship in which the units directly affiliated to the Ministry are put in the complete command of the Ministry leadership in terms of their organization, operations, expertise and professional competences.

2. Minister and Deputy Ministers shall, according to their assigned tasks, periodically or irregularly work with the Heads of units or each unit to directly listen to assessment reports and direct the implementation of working programs and plans of the respective units of the Ministry.

3. When performing tasks that require the coordination in working or handling work between various units under the Ministry, the Ministry leadership shall assign a unit to take the lead or act as a focal point in carrying out these tasks.

4. In cases where it is deemed necessary due to the important and urgent nature of the work, the Minister or Deputy Ministers shall directly command staff members to handle the work falling within the competence of the heads of units.

Article 11. Working relationship between the Heads of units directly affiliated to the Ministry

1. When being assigned to take the lead in resolving issues related to the functions, tasks and powers of any other unit, the assignee’s head shall actively confer with the assignor’s head.

a) If the law prescribes the time limit for collecting and replying with written opinions on these issues, the opinion-collecting unit shall clarify the legally prescribed time limit for replying. If the law has not prescribed the time limit for collecting opinions, the time limit for replying must be stated in the written document specified in clause 1 of Article 23 in these Regulations, except where prompt actions against unexpected or emergency issues are required.

b) The head of the consulted unit shall have to reply in accordance with the request of the presiding unit; the written documents requesting opinions from the units directly affiliated to the Ministry must be answered within the time limit specified in clause 1 of Article 23.

c) In case where there is no reply from the consulted units, the consulting units may push the consulted units to send their opinions to complete the dossier submitted to the Ministry leadership. If the consulted units still have no reply to the request for opinions, the Ministry leadership must be informed of this in accordance with the regulations laid down in point e of clause 1 of Article 23 herein.

d) When being invited to a meeting to collect opinions, the head of relevant unit must attend the meeting or nominate competent person to substitute them to attend the meeting. In this situation, an opinion of the participant in the meeting is the opinion of the unit nominating that participant.

2. Heads of units shall cooperate in carrying out projects and programs of the Ministry under the Ministry leadership’s mandate. For issues related to many units that are beyond their competence, if they are not qualified to solve them even when having competence, the heads of the presiding units must actively work with the heads of the relevant units to prepare the complete dossier for submission to the Ministry leadership for consideration and decision.

Article 12. Other work relationship

1. The work relationship between the Ministry leadership and the Ministry's Senior Party Personnel Committee shall comply with the Party Central Committee's regulations and the Working Regulations of the Senior Party Personnel Committee.

2. The relationship between the Ministry leadership and the Ministry's Internal Party Committee shall comply with the Party's regulations and the regulations on coordination in working of which formulation is led by the Ministry.

3. The relationship between the Ministry leadership and socio-political organizations under the Ministry:

a) Every six months, the Minister or Deputy Minister may be authorized to work with the Standing Boards of socio-political organizations under the Ministry to inform the Ministry's working policies and measures to deal with petitions or requests of union or association members, and listen to the contribution opinions of internal collective organizations of the Ministry on the Ministry’s activities;

b) Heads of socio-political organizations under the Ministry are invited to attend meetings and conferences chaired by the Ministry leadership of which content is related to the activities, rights, obligations and legitimate interests of the members of these organizations.

4. Heads of units directly under the Ministry shall, according to their assigned functions and tasks, actively work closely with the Central Office and Party committees, agencies of the National Assembly, the Office of the President, and the Office of the Government, Ministries, central authorities, local authorities, central agencies of socio-political organizations and socio-professional organizations to regularly communicate information, coordinate in, review the implementation of work programs, and handle assigned tasks under the direction and management of the Government, Prime Minister and Minister.

5. Heads of units directly affiliated to the Ministry shall, according to their assigned functions and duties, regularly cooperate with the provincial People's Committees in directing the fulfillment of assigned duties; building and consolidating local specialized agencies; providing training and mentoring courses aimed at improving professional qualifications, competencies, administrative skills and discipline for their senior and staff members to ensure the accomplishment of tasks.

6. Relationships between heads of units directly affiliated to the Ministry and intramural Party committees, mass organizations, senior and staff members of the units:

a) Heads of units shall create favorable conditions for Party organizations and mass organizations to operate in accordance with the charters, principles and purposes; cooperate with Party committees and mass organizations to care for and facilitate working, learning and improvement of political, professional qualifications and competences for senior and staff members of the units; ensure the implementation of the Regulations on democracy at workplace and the construction of workplace culture, discipline, etiquettes and administrative rules.

b) Senior and staff members who are Party members and members of mass organizations must set an example of successfully completing their assigned tasks in accordance with law on public officials and civil servants; strictly complying with regulations on duties and responsibilities of Party members and members of mass organizations and regulations related to the work of public officials and civil servants; dealing with the work according to the prescribed procedure and within the permitted period; take responsibility before the heads of the units for their performance.

Chapter III

MINISTRY’S WORK PROGRAM

Article 13. Types

1. Work programs are classified into: Annual, quarterly, monthly work program of the Ministry, and weekly work program of the Ministry leadership.

2. Annual work program: It presents major orientations, tasks and solutions in all areas of activities; the list of schemes, projects, and legal normative documents (collectively referred to as project) submitted to the Government, the Prime Minister, and circulars submitted to the Minister. It is necessary to clearly define the regulatory authority to which a project is submitted, the unit managing and cooperating in submission of the project and the submission deadline.

3. Quarterly work program: It contains the portfolio of projects submitted to the Government, the Prime Minister, and circulars submitted to the Minister to seek his approval for issuance thereof within a quarter. The first-quarter work program shall be determined in the annual work program.

4. Monthly work program: Each month, units shall consult the quarterly work program to develop and implement the monthly work program. The first-month work program shall be determined in the quarterly work program.

5. Weekly work programs of the Ministry leadership are activities of the Minister and Deputy Ministers within a week.

6. Based on the work programs of the Ministry, and assigned functions, duties and delegated powers of units, these units shall develop their own work programs and plans and implement them. Any update to the weekly work programs of the unit leadership must be input in the document management system and work profile; emailed to the Minister and the Deputy Minister in charge and the Ministry Office (the email address: [email protected]) before 08:00 Monday each week.

The unit’s deputy shall be responsible for directing, checking, monitoring and expediting the completion of the work program. In case where there are subjective or objective difficulties leading to failure to get the work completely done on schedule or according to the given plan, it is obligatory to report to the Deputy Minister in charge and notify the Ministry Office in order to have the general work program revised and seek solutions.

Article 14. Steps in designing work programs

1. Steps in designing an annual work program:

a) Before September 30 each year, based on commissions, assignments and instructions received from the Government Office, the Ministry Office sends an official letter to request the units directly affiliated to the Ministry to review the direction and management in that year, put forward major orientations, tasks and solutions of the Ministry, and register projects to be submitted to the Prime Minister, Government, National Assembly, Secretariat, Politburo and Central Executive Committee.

- The unit directly affiliated to the Minister sends the Ministry Office a report on review of its performance in management and administration activities, and a portfolio of projects registered for submission to the Government, Prime Minister, Secretariat and Politburo for execution in the following year by October 25.

The application for registration of a project should clarify the rationale behind development of the project; the summary of the plan for preparation of each project that presents the necessity, orientations towards content and scope of application, cooperating, reviewing or deciding agencies, proposed schedule of implementation of the project, and final products of the project.

- On the basis of applications for project registration of units and directions of the Central Committee, the Politburo, the Secretariat, the National Assembly, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee, the Government and the Prime Minister, the Department of Legal Affairs takes the lead in, and cooperates with relevant units in, reviewing, verifying, and agreeing to the list of regulatory documents; The Planning Department takes the lead in, and cooperates with relevant units in, reviewing, verifying and agreeing to the list of projects to be submitted to the Prime Minister, Government, National Assembly, Central Executive Committee, Politburo, and Secretariat, send it to the Ministry Office by November 5 for compiling a report to the Ministry leadership.

- The Ministry Office compiles a portfolio of projects for submission to the Government, Prime Minister, Politburo and Secretariat in the following year; to the Ministry leadership for review and comment by November 10 every year; complete and submit to the Minister for signing and delivering it to the Government Office by November 15 every year.

b) Within 05 working days after receiving the annual work programs from the Government and Prime Minister, the Ministry Office takes charge of, and cooperates with the Department of Legal Affairs and the Planning Department in, drafting the annual work program of the Ministry (including the projects registered for submission to the Government, Prime Minister, Secretariat, and Politburo that are conceived in line with the Government's and Prime Minister's work programs; circulars that are submitted to the Minister for signature and promulgation according to the proposed program on elaboration and promulgation of legal documents within the scope of state management of the Ministry), and submitting it to the Ministry leadership for review and comment; preparing a synthesis report to be submitted to the Minister for signing and promulgation, and sending it to the heads of the units directly affiliated to the Ministry, Directors of the Departments of Natural Resources and Environment of provinces and centrally-run cities for implementation; and at the same time, sending it to the Party Committee, Trade Union, Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Veterans Association, Party Committee of the Ministry in Ho Chi Minh city to coordinate in directing and organizing the implementation.

2. Steps in designing a quarterly work program:

a) On the basis of the annual work program, implementation results, direction and administration requirements of the Ministry, and any modification requests of the units directly affiliated to the Ministry, which have been approved by the Minister or the Deputy Minister in charge of the appropriate field, the Ministry Office drafts the Ministry’s quarterly work program. Within the maximum of 03 working days after receiving quarterly work program of the Prime Minister from the Government, the Ministry Office updates the complete draft of the Ministry's quarterly work program.

b) By the 20th day of the final month of the quarter, the unit assigned to take charge of drafting a project sends the progress report to the Ministry Office, the Planning Department and the Department of Legal Affairs for compiling a report to be submitted to the Minister.

3. Steps in designing a monthly work program:

a) On the basis of the quarterly work program, results of implementation of the previous-month and entire-quarter work program, direction and administration requirements of the Ministry, and any modification requests of the units directly affiliated to the Ministry, which have been approved by the Minister or the Deputy Minister in charge of the appropriate field, within the maximum of 03 working days of receipt of the monthly work programs of the Government and Prime Minister, the Ministry Office develops them in detail in the Ministry’s monthly work program.

b) By the 20th day of each month, the unit assigned to take charge of drafting a project sends the progress report to the Ministry Office, the Planning Department and the Department of Legal Affairs for compiling a report to be submitted to the Minister.

4. Steps in designing a weekly work program of the Ministry leadership:

The Ministry Office cooperates with relevant units in preparing the weekly work programs of the Minister and Deputy Ministers for submission to the Ministry leadership for approval, and sending the approved ones to units by 16h30 on Friday in the preceding week. Where there is any change to the Weekly work program of the Ministry Office, the Minister’s Clerk and assistants to Deputy Ministers should update and email such change using the domain name gov.vn to relevant organizations and individuals.

Article 15. Project preparation

1. Based on the annual work program of the Ministry, the Head of the unit assigned to lead the project prepares the detailed plan to formulate the project, clearly defining the scope of the project, work that needs to be done; cooperating units, regulatory authority to which the project is submitted and time limit for submission of the project to the Deputy Minister in charge of the appropriate field, the Department of Legal Affairs, the Planning Department and the Ministry Office for monitoring and pushing towards the implementation of that project.

2. The time limit for submission of the detailed plan to formulate the projects specified in the first-quarter work program, and the remaining other projects the work programs, shall not exceed 07 working days and 15 working days, respectively, from the date of introduction of the annual work program.

3. After receipt of agreement from the Ministry leadership, units shall inform the plan to the Ministry Office for supervising and pushing towards the implementation thereof. The managing unit shall bear responsibility for the plan content and closely cooperate with concerned agencies and units in order to stick to the approved plan.

4. In case where the managing unit wishes to change the time limit for submission, objectives, scope, content,... of the project to be submitted to the Government and the Prime Minister, it must seek the consent from the Minister.

5. If any adjustment to the registered implementation schedule or any application for withdrawal of the project from the work program, except where such withdrawal is needed due to objective causes, is not made, reasons must be clearly stated and a report should be submitted to the Minister for reporting to the Prime Minister.

6. For complicated or important projects related to various industries or localities that it takes a long time to process, the Minister can set up an advisory team that helps the Minister deal with them. Tasks, authority, members and operating time of the advisory team, etc. shall be regulated by the Minister in the team establishment document.

Article 16. Coordination in project preparation

1. The coordination in preparing schemes and projects for submission to the Ministry leadership falls on the responsibility of the Head of the unit taking charge of developing the project (hereinafter referred to as project owner) and the Heads of concerned units. Manners of implementation of schemes and projects shall be aligned with the Regulations on management of schemes, projects and professional duties of the Ministry.

2. The project owner invites the Heads of concerned units to discuss and agree on the preparation of schemes and projects, or requests them to assign their senior or staff members to take part in the project preparation activities. The invited unit is obliged to nominate its staff to participate upon the project owner’s request. The person nominated as the representative of the unit participating in the project preparation stage shall regularly report to and consult with his/her unit's Head during the process of involvement in preparing schemes or projects. These coordinating activities shall not replace the procedures for collection of official opinions prescribed in clause 3 of this Article.

3. After a project has been completely prepared, the project owner shall collect official opinions from concerned units by holding meetings or sending written documents requesting contributed opinions.

In the former case, the unit invited to the meeting must appoint its competent representative to the meeting and his/her voice raised in the meeting shall be deemed the standpoint of the unit that he/she represents.

In the latter case, upon expiration of the deadline for sending written opinions is expired, if the head of the consulted unit does not reply, this means that it agrees to and bears responsibility for the content of project or scheme on which comments are requested.

Article 17. Monitoring and evaluation of implementation of work programs

1. The Department of Legal Affairs shall be in charge of supervising and assessing units implementing the projects which are legal normative documents.

2. The Planning Department shall be in charge of monitoring and evaluating the progress in implementation of schemes, projects and professional tasks.

3. The Ministry Office shall be in charge of compiling monthly progress and performance reports to be submitted to the Ministry leadership.

4. On a monthly basis, the Head of a unit reviews, statistically reports on and evaluates the implementation of work programs of the unit, and sends a review, statistics and evaluation report to the Ministry Office, the Planning Department and the Department of Legal Affairs for compiling a final report to the Minister.

Criteria used for the assessment of implementation of monthly, quarterly and annual work programs of a unit or the Head of a unit are as follows:

a) The number of submitted projects against required total submittals.

b) The number of projects submitted after the time limits set in the work programs.

c) The number of projects returned for further improvements against total submitted projects.

d) The number of projects subject to application for withdrawal or deferment against the required number of submittals.

dd) The number of supplementary projects against the number of projects anticipated in the beginning of the year.

5. The Deputy Minister assigned to take charge of the appropriate field or authorized by the Minister to monitor the appropriate field shall instruct units to develop projects according to the approved plans; report to the Minister before verification, approval or submission thereof to the superiors.

Chapter IV

ORDER AND PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING OF REGULAR WORK

Article 18. Ways to process and deal with regular work of the Ministry leadership

1. Handling and processing of draft legal documents shall comply with the provisions of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents, Regulations on the formulation and promulgation of legal normative documents in the field of natural resources and environment and other relevant documents.

2. For major schemes, projects and reports under the Ministry's work program, the Ministry leadership shall consider dealing with them on the basis of all dossiers, submittals and draft documents of the heads of the managing units, opinions of appraising agencies and relevant agencies. In case where the Ministry leadership has dissenting opinions, the managing unit shall incorporate these opinions to improve them for resubmission.

3. For other regular jobs under the authority of the Ministry leadership, the Ministry leadership shall consider settling them on the basis of the transmittal form of request for the handling of work that is completed using the sample given by the Ministry. The Ministry Office reviews and requests relevant units to complete dossiers, procedures, and drafts written documents to be promulgated for submission to the Ministry leadership for decision.

4. The Ministry leadership may convene a meeting (or authorize a Head of the unit to chair the meeting and report on the meeting results to them), work with leaders of relevant agencies, organizations and experts to consult with them before handling important and necessary issues that cannot be handled immediately by employing the methods specified in clause 1 and 2 of this Article.

5. The Ministry leadership can deal with the work by making inspection visitations; working directly with agencies, units and localities; receiving guests. The Ministry Office shall check them against current regulations, complete the dossier for promulgation of the written notice of opinions of the Minister or Deputy Minister; if any problems are detected or irrelevancies, they shall report them to the Minister or Deputy Minister.

Article 19. Delegation of duties and responsibilities towards preparing projects for submission to the Government and the Prime Minister

1. The head of the managing agency or unit shall be fully responsible for the content and dossiers to be submitted, actively carry out all the consultation procedures and absorb comments from relevant ministries and agencies, including those of designated appraising agencies; shall be accountable for and absorb opinions from appraising agencies and members of the Government to complete the draft project before submission; shall complete the dossier so that the Minister directly signs the letter of transmittal and initials the draft document for submission to the Government and the Prime Minister (the document to be submitted shall be sent to the Ministry Office for monitoring of the processing status); shall closely coordinate with the Government Office in the process of revising and completing the project. A project is considered complete in terms of the design thereof when it has been signed and approved by the Government or the Prime Minister. During the project finalization process, if there are any changes to the contents of the project compared to the draft submittal, the managing unit must report to the Minister before submitting it for signature and promulgation.

2. The Chief of the Ministry Office; Directors of Departments: Legal Affairs, Planning, Finance, Organization and Personnel, Science and Technology, International Cooperation, Emulation, Rewarding and Propaganda; the Chief Inspector of the Ministry, shall, according to his/her assigned functions and tasks, appoint persons to get involved in and monitor the entire project development process; regularly coordinate with the managing agency or unit, push towards and inspect the project preparation process to comment to ensure the project preparation is right on schedule, accords with the order, procedures, ensures objectivity and compliance with the direction of the Government and the Prime Minister; push the appraising agency towards performing its tasks; directly assess the format and structure of the submitted document, order and procedures for submission.

3. The heads of the cooperating agencies or units shall be responsible for nominating persons to participate upon the project owner’s request. The representative of the cooperating agency or unit shall highly responsible to participate in development of a project, and regularly report to and consult with the head of his/her unit or agency during the process of involvement in development of the project.

4. In order to complete the draft project, the agency or unit managing the project must obtain official opinions from relevant agencies and units by holding a meeting or sending a request dossier for their comments. The request dossier for comments may be sent online. Written feedback and explanatory documents for opinions contributed by relevant Ministries and agencies shall be incorporated into the documentation of submittal.

Article 20. Carrying out the work and responsibilities assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister; directives of the Ministry leadership according to the notices of conclusion drawn at the meetings

1. Heads of units shall direct, assign, push toward and regularly inspect the implementation of work and responsibilities assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister, and the directives of the Ministry leadership, to ensure they are right on schedule and meet given quality standards.

2. The Ministry Office shall keep track of the progress in carrying out the work and responsibilities assigned by the Government, the Prime Minister and the Ministry leadership, and prepare monthly performance assessment reports for submission to the Ministry leadership.

Article 21. Written documents and dossiers submitted to Minister or Deputy Ministers for handling of work

1. Documents submitted to the Minister or Deputy Ministers according to their competence shall be completed online as prescribed in the regulations on operation, management and use of the document and dossier management system of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. In case where it is not possible to log in to the document and dossier management system due to any errors, paper documents and dossiers must be submitted to ensure the required schedule is met.

2. Dossiers submitted to the Minister or the Deputy Minister assigned to take charge of schemes, projects or assigned tasks shall comply with relevant law and regulations of the Ministry.

3. The signer of the draft document shall initial the last page of the document and take responsibility for the accuracy and coherence in terms of the content, form and structure of the draft document.

4. A primary copy of the letter of transmittal requesting the handling of work shall be sent to the responsible and competent agency, unit or individual only. Where necessary to send it to relevant units or individuals for their information or cooperation, only the names of these units or individuals are written in the recipient section.

5. For the work related to planning, finance, science and technology, personnel organization and legislation (except for dossiers of submission of legal documents), international cooperation, emulation, commendation, rewarding and propaganda, the Departments shall, according to their assigned functions and tasks, review and appraise submission thereof to the Ministry leadership on the basis of the managing unit’s proposal.

Article 22. Responsibilities of the Ministry Office for request for the Ministry leadership’s handling of work

1. The Ministry Office shall only submit to the Minister and Deputy Minister issues falling within the competence of the Minister and Deputy Minister when the submitted dossier has completed the procedures specified in Article 21 of these Regulations.

2. Upon receipt of project and work dossiers that units and local authorities submit to the Minister or the Deputy Minister, the leadership of the Ministry Office shall be responsible for reviewing the structure and components of the submitted dossier, and commenting on its content if necessary.

3. Within no more than one working day from the date of receipt of the complete and correct dossier, the Ministry Office shall complete the procedures for submission to the Minister, the Deputy Minister, and clearly state its opinion in the transmittal form.

4. The clerical and archival work of the Ministry shall be carried out in accordance with the Regulations on clerical and archival work promulgated by the Minister.

Article 23. Time limits for processing of submitted documents, dossiers and notification of processing status

1. Time limits for processing of written documents

a) Time limit for handling of a document is the required period stated in the document.

b) If the time limit is not stated in the document, the time limit for handling of the written document stating request for comments or consultation on policies on natural resources and environment or proposal that is received from Ministries, central authorities and provincial People's Committees shall not exceed 05 working days from the date of receipt of the document; not exceed 07 days with respect to the document on which feedback is collected from units directly affiliated to the Ministry; 13 days with respect to the document on which feedback is collected from Ministries, central and local authorities, from the date of receipt of the document.

c) Time limit for reply to feedback from relevant units directly affiliated to the Ministry shall not exceed 03 working days.

d) For written documents on administrative procedures, written documents on approval of schemes or projects shall comply with the provisions of legal normative documents and regulations of other relevant ministries.

dd) For written documents, e.g. petition, complaint, denunciation letters, dispute settlement documents, the time limit for handling thereof shall comply with the provisions of law on settlement of complaints and denunciations and other relevant laws.

e) If the head of the consulted unit does not respond in writing or replies after the time limit stipulated above, he/she must be personally accountable to the Minister, and face the criticism where his/her accountability to the Minister is clearly determined. The head of the consulting unit is responsible to report any refusal to reply or any late reply sent after the prescribed time limit to the Ministry Office for compiling a report to the Ministry leadership.

2. Within no more than 02 working days (except for unexpected cases or in case of needing further discussion), from the date of submission by the Ministry Office, the Minister or Deputy Minister is responsible for handling the submitted dossier and giving official comments on the transmittal form.

3. For projects and tasks that require the Minister or Deputy Minister to consult with experts, the Ministry Office is responsible for coordinating with the project owners and relevant units in making full preparations in terms of content and organization in order for the Minister or Deputy Minister to meet and work with experts, project owners and relevant units as prescribed in Article 24 of these Regulations before making its decision.

Where necessary, the Minister or Deputy Minister may authorize the Chief of the Ministry Office or the heads of units directly affiliated to the Ministry to chair the meetings specified in Clause 2 of this Article and report in writing to the Minister or Deputy Minister on the results of these meetings.

4. For the work falling within the remit of the Ministry leadership that requires discussion before the Minister makes his decision as prescribed in Article 3 of these Regulations, the Minister and Deputy Minister in charge of assigned fields shall review the content and nature of each project to make decision.

a) Allow the project owner to complete the regulatory procedures and register with the Ministry Office to arrange to present the project to the Ministry leadership in the coming meeting.

b) Assign the project owner to make further preparations if they see that the content of the project is not satisfactory.

c) Authorize the project owner to carry out procedures for consulting with relevant units as per clause 3 of Article 16 herein.

5. Based on directives of the Minister or the Deputy Minister, the head of the unit shall take the lead and cooperate with the Ministry Office in completing the draft document for signing for promulgation thereof within his/her competence. Contents related to regulatory mechanisms and policies must be presented in writing for submission to concerned units and local authorities. For the issues concerning professional work submitted by units, it is not necessary to issue a document of the Ministry. Once the Ministry leadership has commented on the dossier, the Ministry Office shall notify the submitting unit.

Article 24. Holding the Ministry leadership’s meeting to handle regular work

1. Where necessary, the Minister or Deputy Minister in charge of the appropriate field meets with experts, project owners and representatives of relevant units to listen to counsels or advisory opinions before deciding to solve the work.

a) Responsibilities of the Ministry Office:

- Push units acting as project owners to fully prepare meeting documents, send invitations and documents to the invited participants at least 03 days before the meeting (except in special cases where the Minister or Deputy Minister agrees to send the documents after that period).

- Prepare the venue and conditions necessary for the meeting, coordinate with relevant units to perform tasks if the meeting is held outside the Ministry’s office.

- Write up the meeting minutes and, when necessary, make audio recording; the audio recording of the meeting discussing any state secret shall be subject to consent from the meeting chair.

- Notify the written meeting conclusion of the Minister or Deputy Minister on the content of the meeting (if necessary).

b) Responsibilities of the project owner:

- Prepare all necessary meeting documents according to the notice of the Ministry Office.

- Prepare presentations on issues concerning the meeting content.

- After the meeting, coordinate with the Ministry Office and other relevant units to complete the scheme, project or documents submitted according to the conclusion of the Minister or Deputy Minister.

c) Agencies, units, organizations and individuals are responsible for attending the meeting by invitation only and expressing their opinions as to related issues.

2. The Ministry leadership convenes the meeting to deal with the work specified in Article 3, consults with each other on the work of the Ministry leadership, and holds the mid-month progress, regular monthly and quarterly meeting according to relevant procedures prescribed in Article 25, 27, 28 and 29 of these Regulations.

Article 25. Meetings and conferences chaired by the Ministry leadership

1. Meetings are comprised of: Plenary meeting, thematic meeting (i.e. commencing, conducting preliminary or final review of one or several tasks), professional training conference and anniversary celebration, etc.

2. Based on the job requirements and the range of authority, the Minister decides the time, venue, qualified participants and requirements of the conference and meeting. The Ministry Office chairs or collaborates with the designated unit in holding the meeting or conference according to the principle of practicality, effectiveness and cost efficiency.

3. Meetings and conferences chaired by the Minister or Deputy Minister, including:

a) The meeting aimed at consulting together among members of the Ministry leadership or the thematic progress meeting shall be held every Monday. Qualified participants in and content of the meeting shall be decided by the Minister. For a thematic progress meeting, the unit assigned to take charge of preparing the meeting content is responsible for preparing the meeting documents in advance. If it is necessary to report to the Deputy Minister taking charge of the appropriate field or authorized to monitor the appropriate field before the meeting to seek his/her instructions, these meeting documents must be sent to the Ministry Office 02 working days before the meeting for being forwarded to the Ministry leadership.

b) The monthly progress meeting shall be held before the 5th day of the following month.

Eligible participants: Leaders of the Ministry, Departments, General Directorates, Administrations, Ministry's inspectors, Ministry Office; Heads of units directly affiliated to other ministries in Hanoi; the Ministry’s Standing Party Committee, President of the Ministry’s Trade Union, Secretary of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and others under the direction of the Minister.

Meeting content: Review the accomplishment of tasks in the month, resolve pressing issues, problems, and discuss tasks to be performed in the following month; announce the decision to appoint the head of a unit directly affiliated to the Ministry that the Minister issues in the month.

- Preparations: On the basis of the report of the unit directly affiliated to the Ministry, the actual situation and the requirements of the Deputy Ministers, the Ministry Office prepare the presentation in the meeting; For pressing issues or big problems, it is possible to request the unit in charge of the appropriate field to prepare a separate report. Units shall, according to the assigned functions and tasks, prepare meeting documents in advance. Where necessary, the report shall be submitted to the Deputy Minister in charge of the operating field of the unit before the meeting to seek his/her direction. The Ministry Office sends meeting documents to the Ministry leadership and participants 01 working day before the meeting. Heads of the units and participants in the meeting are responsible for preparing documents and oral presentations in the meeting.

c) The monthly progress meeting shall be held before April 5 and October 5.

Eligible participants: Leaders of the Ministry, the units directly affiliated to the Ministry in Hanoi city, Heads of the units directly affiliated to the Ministry outside Hanoi city, the Ministry’s Standing Party Committee, President of the Ministry’s Trade Union, Secretary of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and others under the direction of the Minister.

Meeting content: Pay attention to reviewing and evaluating performance with respect to the area of activities falling within Ministry’s competence in the quarter; discuss main activities in the next quarter.

- Preparations: The Ministry Office compiles the meeting report on the basis of reports submitted by units directly affiliated to the Ministry, the actual situation and requirements of the Deputy Minister send meeting documents to the Ministry leadership 02 working days before the meeting. In case where there are thematic reports to be presented in the progress meeting, the participating units shall prepare reports for submission to the Ministry Office 02 days before the meeting in order for them to be presented to the Ministry leadership.

c) The meeting about the preliminary review of performance in the first half of the year shall be held before July 15.

Eligible participants: Leaders of the Ministry, the units directly affiliated to the Ministry, the Ministry’s Standing Party Committee, President of the Ministry’s Trade Union, Secretary of the Ministry’s Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and heads of regulatory authorities directly under the General Directorates and others decided by the Minister.

Meeting content: Carry out the comprehensive review of the Ministry's performance in all of their activities in the first half of the year and enter into discussion to carry out tasks and solutions to implementing tasks in the second half of the year.

- Preparations: The Ministry Office prepares the transmittal form to be submitted to the Minister regarding the plan to hold the meeting, including: time, venue, content, eligible participants, budget, assignment of responsibility for implementation and other related matters.

dd) The meeting about assessment of performance in the year of the natural resources and environmental industry shall be held before January 15 of the following year.

Eligible participants: Leaders of the Ministry, the units directly affiliated to the Ministry, the Ministry’s Standing Party Committee, President of the Ministry’s Trade Union, Secretary of the Ministry’s Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Directors of the Departments of Natural Resources and Environment, and others proposed by the Ministry Office for the Minister’s decision.

Meeting content: Conduct the comprehensive review of the Ministry’s performance in all activities and the entire-industry performance, and discuss the plan for implementation of tasks in the following year.

- Preparations: The Ministry Office prepares the transmittal form. The form of transmittal submitted to the Minister is about the plan for organization of the meeting, including: time, venue, content, eligible participants, budget, assignment of responsibility for implementation and other related matters.

e) Meetings over state management tasks related to the natural resources and environment field are organized in areas and regions based on the actual situation according to the Minister's decision on the basis of the proposal of the Planning Department.

- Preparations: The Planning Department takes the lead in cooperating with the Ministry Office in preparing the form of transmittal to the Minister regarding the plan for organization of the meeting, including: time, venue, content, eligible participants, budget, assignment of responsibility for implementation and other related matters.

g) Thematic meetings about the state management of the natural resources and environment industry related to multiple localities are organized based on the actual situation under the Minister's decision issued on the basis of the proposal of regulatory authorities directly affiliated to the Ministry.

h) Meetings or conferences can be held offline or online. Online thematic meetings about the state management of the natural resources and environment industry related to multiple localities are preferred.

4. The anniversary celebration is held every 5 years in even-numbered years in accordance with law on emulation, commendation and rewarding according to the principles of practicality, thrift and efficiency.

5. Leaders of the units attend the meeting by invitation only, and do not nominate unauthorized people to the meeting. Opinions contributed by participants are the official opinions of the units and are the basis for the meeting chair to consider and draw conclusions about the content of the meeting. For any member of the Steering Committee, Committee or Council who is eligible for attending a meeting, in special cases where he/she cannot attend, he/she must notify his/her absence to the Ministry leadership that chair the meeting, and authorize a competent person to act on his/her behalf to attend the meeting with consent from the Ministry leadership.

Article 26. Meetings and conferences chaired by the Heads of units directly affiliated to the Ministry

1. Units directly affiliated to the Ministry organize meetings chaired by unit leaders to deal with the professional and other work according to their assigned functions and tasks.

2. Leaders of units directly affiliated to the Ministry may chair conferences, meetings, and work with representatives of relevant agencies under the mandate of the Minister or Deputy Minister in charge as prescribed in these Regulations.

3. Units having the plan to organize a meeting or conference attended by at least 05 provinces must send the plan to the Ministry Office 10 days in advance. The Ministry Office considers and proposes the Ministry leadership to play the coordinator's role in terms of the time and eligible participants accordingly, ensuring no overlapping and avoiding waste; In case where there is a demand for change, the Ministry Office should notify the managing unit 5 days prior to implementation.

4. Units having the plans to organize meetings or conferences attended by at least 20 provinces must submit these plans to seek the Minister’s consent.

Article 27. Preparation for conferences or meetings chaired by the Minister or Deputy Minister

1. Developing the plans to organize conferences or meetings:

The unit in charge of organizing the meeting takes charge of preparing the meeting content, is responsible for formulating the plan to organize the meeting to consult the Minister or the in-charge Deputy Minister to decide on:

a) Preparatory activities and assignment of responsibilities for the preparation work;

b) Eligible participants, meeting time and venue;

c) Estimated budget (e.g. spending items and financial sources);

d) Proposed establishment of the organizer board (if any);

dd) Proposed meeting agenda;

e) Other necessary matters.

2. Preparing and accepting reports:

a) The head of the unit in charge of organizing a meeting is responsible for drafting the meeting content and submitting it to the Minister or Deputy Minister in charge of the appropriate field for approval of reports and other necessary documents. At the request of the Ministry leadership, the Ministry Office informs the relevant units, prepares more reports and related documents.

b) Time limit for submission of reports to the Ministry leadership to seek their approval:

- Keynote reports must be sent to the Ministry leadership (via the Ministry Office) at least 05 working days before the meeting.

- Major programs or projects that require to be ratified in the Ministry leadership’s meeting must be sent to the Ministry leadership at least 02 working days before the meeting.

- Thematic reports that require to be approved by the Deputy Minister in charge of the appropriate field must be sent at least 02 working days before the meeting.

c) For conferences or meetings whose content is related to many units, the Ministry Office is responsible for soliciting the units to draft reports, synthesize these reports and submit the synthesis report to the Ministry leadership by the prescribed deadline; promptly reporting to the Ministry leadership to solve problems beyond the unit’s competence and authority.

For meetings only discussing a single issue in each area of specialization, the unit hosting them shall prepare the meeting content as planned.

d) For progress meetings, preliminary or final review meetings, the Ministry Office sends meeting documents to the Ministry leadership and participating units 02 working days before the meeting.

dd) Reports that require to be approved by the Ministry leadership, including: Six-month, annual and 5-year report on review of administration and management performance of the Ministry and other reports decided by the Minister.

e) Preparing for addresses that seniors can deliver in the meetings or conferences

When the Ministry leadership needs to deliver official remarks at domestic and international meetings, conferences, seminars... (hereinafter collectively referred to as meeting), the hosting unit shall prepare them in order for the Ministry Office to report to the Ministry leadership at least 05 working days before the meetings. In case where the remark in a foreign language is required, the hosting unit shall cooperate with the Department of International Cooperation to make it ready for use.

3. Carrying out the invitation process:

a) The Ministry Office or the unit hosting a meeting or conference sends invitation letters to persons on the approved list of participants. Invitation letters sent to the Ministry leadership, the leadership of provincial People’s Committees and equivalent or higher-rank authorities must be signed by the Ministry leadership.

b) Meetings host by the Ministry leadership must be attended by the Ministry Office’s representative.

c) The invitation letter should clarify the following information: the person convening and chairing the meeting; eligible participants; persons called for or invited to the meeting; meeting content; time; venue; requirements for persons called for or invited to the meeting.

Invitation letters must be sent at least 03 working days before the meeting, enclosing meeting documents, content, requirements and suggestions related to the meeting content, except for unscheduled meetings.

4. Preparing documents and conditions necessary for meetings or conferences:

a) The hosting unit is responsible for preparing documents necessary for a meeting or conference.

b) If the meeting is held at the Ministry’s office, the Ministry Office shall be responsible for arranging the meeting room. If the meeting is held at a place other than Hanoi city, the hosting unit shall cooperate with the Ministry Office in preparing and providing pick-up vehicle services and accommodations for the Ministry’s representatives to the meeting.

c) Meeting expenditures shall comply with law and the approved budget according to the thrift principle.

d) Meeting agenda shall be drafted by the hosting unit for submission to the Ministry leadership for approval.

Article 28. Organizing meetings

1. Taking steps in organizing a meeting or conference:

a) After the plan to organize the meeting has been approved, the hosting unit is responsible for following the plan; registering participants and content of presentations for reporting to the meeting chair, and dealing with other necessary situations.

b) At the meeting or conference, the chair runs the meeting according to the proposed agenda; depending on actual requirements, can decide to change the meeting agenda, but must notify any change to participants.

c) The person chairing or running the meeting must draw clear conclusion regarding discussions in the meeting.

2. Reporting on results:

a) The Deputy Minister reports on results of the meeting that he/she chairs to the Minister after the meeting.

b) For a conference or meeting that is chaired by the head of a unit granted authorization to chair the meeting by the Ministry leadership after the meeting, the authorized person must report to the Minister and the Deputy Minister in charge on the results of the conference or meeting, and issues beyond the unit's jurisdiction in order for the Ministry leadership to take prompt action.

3. Carrying out post-meeting activities:

The Ministry Office and assigned units are responsible for organizing and implementing the conclusions of the Ministry leadership; issuing a notice of conclusion (if any); monitoring, pushing towards, examining, compiling a synthesis report for submission to the Ministry leadership on the results of the implementation of those conclusions.

Article 29. Responsibilities of the Chief of the Ministry Office

1. Cooperate with heads of units in formulating plans to organize meetings, conferences and seminars chaired by the Ministry leadership to ensure practicality, efficiency and thrift.

2. Consider or seek the Ministry leadership’s decision on the appropriate meeting time and eligible participants appropriate for the meeting, conference or seminar proposed by the heads of units under the Ministry to ensure that there is no overlapping or waste.

3. Preside over meetings and work with heads of specialized units under the Ministry under the Ministry leadership mandate.

Chapter V

RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HANDLING WORK AND AUTHORITY TO SIGN DOCUMENTS

Article 30. Types of work submitted to the Minister for his signature prior to entry into force

1. Programs, schemes, projects and documents submitted to the Politburo, the Secretariat, the National Assembly, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee, the Government and the Prime Minister; legal normative documents falling within his promulgating competence.

2. Five-year, annual strategies, master plans, programs, plans, annual budget estimates.

3. Approval of projects, documents and agreements granted under the Prime Minister mandate.

4. Decisions stipulating the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry.

5. Decisions to appoint Deputy Ministers, Heads of agencies and units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry to participate in committees and councils; make formal visitations; attend training sessions at home and abroad; to appoint to, relieve, demote, remove or discharge an officeholder from management or leadership positions under the appointing authority of the Minister.

6. Authorization letters that Heads of units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry receive to act on the Minister’s behalf to handle a number of jobs under the Minister's competence within a specified period of time;

7. Other documents falling within the Minister's remit.

Article 31. Types of work submitted to the Deputy Minister for his signature prior to entry into force

1. Documents dealing with issues in the area of responsibilities that the Deputy Minister is assigned by the Minister to take charge of, except for the case specified in Article 30.

2. Legal normative documents, and investment decisions, once the Deputy Minister is granted authorization by the Minister.

3. Other documents to be signed by the Deputy Minister under the authority delegated or duties assigned by the Minister.

Article 32. Authority to sign by order of or per pro the Minister

1. Heads of units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry can sign per pro the Minister when they are delegated in writing to do so.

2. The Directors of the Departments under/directly affiliated to the Ministry shall be entitled to sign by order of the Minister on instructional, settlement or notification documents on professional issues falling within the competence and remit of these Departments.

3. The Chief of the Ministry Office and the Chief Inspector of the Ministry shall be entitled to sign by order of the Minister on administrative documents when they are assigned to do so by the Minister.

4. Signing by order of the Minister on communications between units shall be prohibited, except as prescribed in clause 2 of this Article.

Article 33. Principles of signing by order of or per pro the Minister

1. The signer shall be accountable to the Minister and law for all contents of the signed documents.

2. The signed documents must be sent for reporting to the Minister and Deputy Minister in charge (shown at the recipient’s detail section).

3. In the case of by-order-of signing, depending on the nature and characteristics of the work, the head of the advisory agency assisting the Minister may assign his/her deputy to sign documents specified in Article 32 on his/her behalf on condition that the head of the advisory agency assisting the Minister and his/her deputy signing on his/her behalf shall be responsible before the Minister and law for the entire content of the signed document. The document signed by the deputy can be sent for reporting to the Minister or the Deputy Minister in charge and the head of the unit (shown at the recipient's detail section).

Article 34. Time limit for release of documents

1. Within no more than 01 working day from the date the document is signed by a competent person, the Ministry Office shall send that document to relevant organizations and individuals.

2. Within no more than 02 working days from the date the Ministry leadership approves or gives directives on the contents of the scheme, project or work, the Ministry Office shall coordinate with relevant units to complete the regulatory procedures to issue the document, or announce the conclusion drawn by the Ministry leadership.

3. Within no more than 03 working days from the date the Ministry leadership presides over the meeting, the Ministry Office must notify the conclusions that the Ministry leadership draws at the meeting, unless otherwise instructed by the Ministry leadership.

Article 35. Document management

1. The Ministry Office is responsible for releasing and archiving the Ministry's documents after the competent authority have signed them, and at the same time inputting them to update the document and dossier management software of the Ministry (except for confidential documents).

2. The Ministry Office makes legal normative documents promulgated by the Ministry published on the Official Gazette, the Government and the Ministry's web portal.

3. The Natural Resources and Environment Newspaper, the Natural Resources and Environment Journal, and the web portal of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall be responsible for posting the list of documents stipulated in clause 2 of this Article and encapsulating their contents.

4. The release and management of documents require compliance with regulatory provisions on management of documents and information on the list of State secrets.

Chapter VI

MONITORING, ACCELERATION AND INSPECTION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF DOCUMENTS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Article 36. Purposes of monitoring, acceleration and inspection

1. Accelerate and guide the implementation of legal normative documents, directives and other regulatory documents of the Government, the Prime Minister, the Minister and Deputy Ministers on assigned tasks related to the fields falling within the Ministry’s remit; promptly detect and handle problems and issues arising in practice.

2. Ensure smooth direction and management activities; strictly adhere to discipline and rules of etiquette in the administrative management system, fight corruption, waste and all negative manifestations arising in the fields of state management of the Ministry.

3. Enhance the sense of discipline and personal responsibility of heads of units, senior and staff members.

4. Get an insight into the grassroots-level situation, draw and learn lessons in direction and administration activities, and ensure that guidelines and policies are brought to life and highly effective in all aspects of the socio-economic life.

5. Promote the application of information technology in the management of documents, dossiers, and in the direction and administration of the Ministry; implement the interlinking mechanism from the Ministry to units and each senior or staff member.

Article 37. Principles of inspection

1. Inspection is a work that must be carried out regularly and according to a plan and, at the same time, needs coordination to avoid overlapping and duplication. Heads of agencies having competence in conducting inspection decide on plans and inspection types.

2. Inspection must ensure democracy, public review, compliance with regulatory provisions, prevention of annoyance and hindrance against the normal activities of the inspected subject.

3. Ensure efficiency, clearly define the responsibilities of each unit and individual in order to improve administrative discipline and rules of etiquette, and create positive impacts in the direction and administration of the Ministry and units.

4. After the inspection, clear conclusions must be drawn and, if there is any offence, reasonable sanctions should be imposed.

Article 38. Scope and subject of monitoring, acceleration and inspection of implementation

1. Scope: Written documents promulgated by superiors and the Ministry that prescribe tasks that the Ministry, agencies and units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry are responsible to perform.

2. Subject: agencies and units under the Ministry; Ministries, central authorities, provincial People's Committees in the implementation of legal normative documents in the field of state management of the Ministry and the tasks assigned by the Central Executive Committee, the Politburo, the Secretariat, the National Assembly, the Government, the Prime Minister and the Ministry leadership.

Article 39. Authority to monitor, accelerate and inspect implementation

1. The Minister shall be accorded authority to inspect all activities of units directly under the Ministry, central authorities and provincial People's Committees within the scope of functions, tasks and powers of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

2. The Deputy Ministers shall be accorded authority to monitor, accelerate and inspect the activities of units, specialized fields and tasks assigned by the Minister.

3. The heads of the units are responsible for monitoring, accelerating and inspecting the performance of tasks assigned by the Ministry leadership according to their assigned functions, tasks and powers.

4. The Chief of the Ministry Office is responsible for assisting the Minister and the Deputy Ministers in monitoring, accelerating and inspecting the implementation of the implementing units that are assigned to do so by the Government, the Prime Minister, the Minister and the Deputy Ministers.

5. The Director of the Department of Legal Affairs is responsible for monitoring, accelerating and inspecting the implementation of the program to develop legal normative documents to ensure that the program meets the given schedule and quality standards.

6. Director of the Planning Department is responsible for monitoring, accelerating and inspecting the progress in implementation of schemes, projects, professional tasks, capital construction projects.

7. The Finance Department is responsible for monitoring, accelerating and inspecting the implementation of the annual budget estimates and the management of state assets available at the units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry.

8. The Organization Department is responsible for monitoring, accelerating and inspecting the administrative reform, the reform of regulations on public duty, civil servants and public employees of the Ministry and annual evaluation of performance of civil servants and public employees.

Article 40. Forms of inspection and acceleration of implementation

1. Self-inspection: Heads of units under the Ministry regularly conduct the self-inspection of the implementation of documents and assigned tasks at their units, detect problems, propose timely actions and report to the Ministry leadership.

2. The Ministry’s inspection and acceleration of implementation:

a) The Ministry leadership, leaders of functional agencies and units under the Ministry and senior or staff members assigned to conduct inspection shall work directly at the unit to be inspected to carry out the investigation.

b) The Ministry leadership requests agencies and units to report in writing on the progress in and results of implementation of documents and assigned tasks.

c) The Minister shall authorize a leader of the Department or General Directorate to take the lead in the inspection or decide to set up an inspection team to inspect the implementation of documents in each field or job which he needs to focus on during his direction over periods of time. The unit shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant units in, developing an inspection proposal to be submitted to the Ministry leadership for approval and implementation.

d) Inspection is conducted through progress meetings or conferences on preliminary or final review of the implementation of major programs and projects.

dd) Inspection is conducted via the document and dossier management system that helps settle administrative procedures falling under the Ministry’s state management.

e) Inspection is conducted by setting up the inspection team for implementation of tasks subject to the Minister's decision.

g) Inspection is conducted in other forms decided by the Minister.

Article 41. Reporting on inspection results

1. Upon completion of the inspection, the inspection agency must prepare a report on the inspection results for submission to the Ministry leadership and, at the same time, notify the inspected unit and relevant units in the Ministry. In case where the person competent to conduct inspection directly performs the inspection task, he/she can designate an agency, organization or individual to make a report on inspection results.

2. Each report shall contain the following main information:

a) Rationale for inspection;

b) Inspection time and place;

c) Participants in the inspection;

d) Inspection content;

dd) Achievements, faults and shortcomings;

e) Opinions from agencies participating in the inspection and recommendations of the lead agency about handling of inspection results;

g) Inspected agency’s petition;

h) Conclusion regarding actions that should be taken within the lead agency’s competence, proposal or request of the competent authority for handling and relief of faults, shortcomings and irrelevancies.

3. The head of the inspection unit shall report in writing to the Ministry leadership on the inspection results and, at the same time, send the report to the inspected unit and relevant units in the Ministry.

The head of the inspection unit is responsible for monitoring the handling of violations after the inspection, requesting the inspected unit to take corrective actions and reporting to the Ministry leadership on the results of handling of violations.

4. The head of the unit directly affiliated to the Ministry shall periodically report to the Ministry leadership on the implementation of documents and tasks assigned by the Government, the Prime Minister, and the Ministry leadership by the 20th day each month.

5. The Ministry Office shall synthesize and report to the Ministry leadership on the results of inspection of the implementation of documents and tasks assigned by the Government, the Prime Minister, and the Ministry leadership by the 25th day each month and at the review meeting on performance in the first 6 months of the year and the annual review meeting of the Ministry.

Article 42. Evaluation of responsibilities for performance of assigned tasks

1. The results of the performance of the assigned tasks are the basis for rating senior and staff members, and annually nominating heads and units for rewards or commendation.

2. Heads of units directly affiliated to the Ministry shall be held accountable to the Minister in terms of the level of a unit’s fulfillment of tasks. Evaluating how assigned tasks are performed, recommendation or nomination for commendations or rewards at end of the year by units, senior and staff members of units under their delegated authority shall be based on the performance of tasks of these units, and their senior or staff members.

3. The Director of the Department of Organization and Personnel shall track the performance of the units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry to evaluate how the heads of these units accomplish their assigned tasks at end of the year.

4. The Director of the Department of Emulation, Commendation and Propaganda shall monitor the performance of tasks of the units to incorporate it in the proposals for nomination for commendations or rewards that are made by the heads and units.

Chapter VII

CITIZEN RECEPTION

Article 43. Responsibilities of Minister and Deputy Ministers

1. The Minister shall receive citizens periodically at the Ministry's citizen reception office in accordance with law on citizen reception; the Minister may authorize the Deputy Ministers in charge of the inspection activities to receive citizens at the request of the Ministry’s Chief Inspector.

2. Other Deputy Ministers can be tasked by the Minister to receive citizens under their assigned duties.

3. The Ministry’s Inspectorate shall assume the prime responsibility for, and cooperate with the units directly under the Ministry in, seriously performing the task of receiving citizens who come to lodge their complaints, denunciations, grievances and petitions; promptly settling disputes, complaints and denunciations within their competence; politely listen to citizens' opinions to improve work efficiency.

Article 44. Responsibilities of the Chief of the Ministry Office

1. Cooperate with the Finance Department and the Ministry’s Inspectorate in seeking the Ministry leadership’s decision to locate the citizen reception office ensuring compliance with regulations.

2. Promptly notify the Ministry’s Inspectorate when a citizen comes to request the settlement of disputes, complaints and denunciations.

3. Set a schedule in order for the Ministry leadership to receive citizens periodically or irregularly at the request of the Chief Inspector of the Ministry.

Article 45. Responsibilities of the Chief Inspector of the Ministry

1. Manage the use of equipment at the Ministry's citizen reception office.

2. Receive citizens once every two weeks at the Ministry's citizen reception office and irregularly at the request of the Ministry leadership.

3. Arrange officers having professional skills and qualifications on duty at the Ministry’s citizen reception office to meet with citizens. Citizen reception and settlement of complaints and denunciations shall comply with law on complaints, denunciations and citizen reception.

4. Request the heads of the relevant units to appoint competent senior members to get involved in meeting with citizens when necessary.

5. Guide and respond to citizens' complaints, denunciations and petitions in accordance with law.

6. Actively cooperate with relevant units to prepare dossiers and documents necessary for the Ministry leadership to receive citizens.

7. Implement the regime for reporting to the Ministry leadership and the Chief Inspector on citizen reception affairs.

Article 46. Responsibilities of the Heads of units directly affiliated to the Ministry

1. Heads of these units shall cooperate with the Chief Inspector of the Ministry in receiving citizens, handling complaints, denunciations, grievances and petitions of citizens related to the functions and tasks of their units.

2. Appoint their qualified staff members at the request of the Ministry’s Inspectorate to jointly receive citizens at the citizen reception office; appoint staff members to participate in inspection and examination delegations to handle specific cases under the direction of the Ministry leadership and at the request of the Ministry’s Inspectorate.

Chapter VIII

FORMAL VISITATION AND GUEST RECEPTION

Article 47. Domestic visitation

1. Joining an interdisciplinary visiting team:

a) Appointing senior or staff members to the state and interdisciplinary teams making formal visitations to localities and units (collectively referred to as visited establishments) must stick to the principle that eligible participants must join as requested. Necessary preparations must be made in writing at the request of the team leader.

b) Within 5 working days after the visitation, participants in a visiting team must report in writing to the team leader on the visitation results and related issues that the visited establishment raises when working with the team, and conclusions of the team leader.

c) When joining the delegation of the Party, State, National Assembly and Government to make formal visits to visited establishments, Deputy Ministers and leaders of units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry shall be prohibited from using personal vehicles.

2. The Ministry leadership sets up a visiting team:

a) With the instructions and consent of the Minister, the designated lead unit shall cooperate with the Ministry Office in contacting the visited establishment to agree on the working program, plan or schedule before submitting it to the team leader.

b) After receiving approval, the Ministry Office will notify such visit program, plan and schedule to relevant units in order for them to get prepared for the visitation.

Heads of units shall appoint their staff members to join the team at the request of the Ministry leadership and, at the same time, ensure compliance with the requirements specified at point a of clause 3 of this Article, and must register with the Ministry Office.

c) Participating units proactively prepare reports on issues related to their assigned functions and tasks, recommendations and proposals to visited localities and establishments and send them to the Ministry Office or the designated lead unit. Reports and documents need to be prepared before the arrival date for reporting to the Ministry leadership and sent in advance to involved units and agencies.

d) Before the arrival day, the lead unit must check with the visited establishment to confirm that the work program, plan and schedule are final, and report to the Ministry leadership.

dd) When on duty, the visiting team members must use public vehicles assigned by the Ministry Office.

e) Arrangements for a visitation: The lead unit is responsible for cooperating with the receiving unit in preparing for the visitation according to the agreed program and plan, responding to emergencies, and seeking the Ministry leadership’s instructions on issues falling beyond its competence. Visitation agenda must be completely prepared before the visitation date and meet the Ministry leadership's requirements.

f) After completing the work program and plan, the lead unit shall cooperate with the visited unit in drafting a notice of visitation results and conclusions of the Ministry leadership, and send it to the Chief of the Ministry Office to seek the Ministry leadership’s approval before signing.

3. Other visiting teams:

a) At the same time, it is obligatory not to set up more than 02 visiting teams chaired by leaders of units under the Ministry to work with the People's Committees or advisory agencies of the provinces and centrally-run cities.

b) When assigning its staff members to participate in the visitation, the head of the unit must ensure that they are appropriate for the visitation purposes, program and schedule; If it takes 02 working days or more to spend on the visitation, persons acting on their behalf to deal with routine work must be chosen.

c) The visiting team must prepare the plan, program, schedule, content and report to the in-charge leader, as well as notify the visited establishment at least 03 working days before arrival according to the following regulations:

- The visiting team shall use the shared vehicle to save time and costs.

- Sightseeing or pleasure tours combined with formal visitations shall not be accepted.

- The visiting team shall be only allowed to deal with issues falling within the notified plan and program and its competence, and fully record relevant petitions of the visited establishment.

- Within 03 working days, after returning from the visitation, the head of the visiting team must report in writing to the head of the unit that has sent them on assignment on the results and recommendations of the visited establishment related to its appropriate range of activities, and propose solutions to putting those recommendations into practice.

Article 48. Overseas visits

1. Joining the mission of leaders of the Party, the State, the National Assembly or the Government and the interdisciplinary mission:

a) Staff members appointed to a mission must prepare written documents on relevant issues at the request of the delegation and take responsibility before law for information contained in such documents.

b) Within 05 working days after the visit, participants in the mission must report in writing to the head of the unit nominating them to the mission on the visit results and the mission head's conclusions.

2. Missions led by the Ministry leadership:

a) In light of the annual overseas visit plan (according to all funding sources) and the outbound delegation proposal approved by the Ministry leadership, the mission led by the Minister or Deputy Minister to visit and work formally with countries, international organizations, attend international conferences, meetings of the Intergovernmental Committee with other countries; the Department of International Cooperation or the unit assigned by the Minister to take the lead in cooperating with relevant units, shall take the following responsibilities: making necessary preparations for establishing the delegation, developing a detailed visit plan and program, preparing a report to be submitted to the delegation leader for approval, making good logistical preparations, sending staff members of the Department to join the delegation to assist in general work, interpretation and visit program implementation; preparing the report on visit results according to regulations in force.

b) The mission led by the Ministry leadership to attend conferences, seminars, make other research or survey trips, the unit in charge of the visit activities is responsible for preparing for and organizing the implementation of the visit program and reporting in writing to the Ministry Office and the Department of International Cooperation for monitoring, compiling or synthesis purposes.

c) Other missions:

 Only setting up missions according to the plans approved in the Ministry's outbound delegation plan, cooperation projects and programs shall be allowed. In other cases, a written report, clearly stating the purposes, content, participants, time, location, program, and funding sources, must be submitted to the Department of International Cooperation to seek the Ministry leadership’s approval. Inviting foreign partners shall be notified and other procedures shall be carried out only after obtaining consent from the Ministry leadership.

- The mission must be attended by eligible participants, serve the right visit purposes and conform to the work program.

- In addition to attending conferences and seminars abroad as planned, heads of units are allowed to go on a study, research and survey trip only when the trip purposes match their assigned professional fields. However, they cannot take more than 02 trips a year and are not allowed to use funds from the Ministry's outbound delegation budget, unless assigned by the Minister.

- In order to get permission to make an overseas visit, the head of the unit under/directly affiliated to the Ministry must report in writing to the Minister and shall be allowed to carry out the required trip procedures only after obtaining consent from the Minister; The deputy head of the unit under/directly affiliated to the Ministry who is on assignment abroad must report in writing to the Deputy Minister in charge and shall be allowed to carry out the required trip procedures only after obtaining consent from the Deputy Minister in charge.

- Decision to allow staff members to make overseas formal visits shall be subject to the Ministry’s internal regulations.

Family relatives shall be strictly prohibited from accompanying missions to foreign countries, unless otherwise permitted by law.

3. Responsibilities of the Department of International Cooperation:

a) Take charge of developing the overseas visit plan of the Ministry; formulating the outbound or inbound delegation plan for submission to the Minister by March each year.

b) Handle passport, exit and entry procedures; provide instructions about the regulations of the State and foreign countries, and issues related to the working program of the mission led by the Ministry leadership; contact Vietnam's diplomatic missions abroad to request their cooperation in getting prepared for the visits of missions led by the Ministry leadership.

c) Assign the Department leadership to see off or pick up missions in accordance with clause 1 and point a of clause 2 of this Article; assign its staff member to help the Ministry leadership complete the entry/exit procedures at Vietnam's border checkpoints.

4. Responsibilities of the mission head designated by the Ministry leadership:

a) Implement the trip programs and all activities of the mission in foreign countries according to the approved program and regulatory provisions.

b) Within 05 working days after the visit, report in writing to the Ministry leadership and other relevant units.

Article 49. Reception of domestic guests

1. Receptions of guests making formal visits according to the Ministry leadership’s program:

a) The Minister directly, or assigns the Deputy Minister to, receive guests who are the Party and State leaders; leaders of Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Government-controlled bodies; leaders of the provincial Party Committees, metropolitan Party Committees, People's Councils, provincial People's Committees; leaders of socio-political organizations holding office at the central level and equivalent titles; delegations and guests according to the program of the Ministry leadership.

b) The Ministry Office shall perform the following duties:

Seek the Minister’s approval of the requests for reception of guests as mentioned at point a of clause 1 of this Article; promptly communicate the Minister’s instructions to the Deputy Minister (if he/she is assigned to take charge of such reception) and relevant units for implementation purposes.

When there is a plan to work with a guest, the Ministry Office shall seek to agree with the partner agency on the preparation plan to be submitted to the Ministry leadership. The plan must be documented and describe specific assignments regarding preparation for reports, eligible participants, plans to welcome and receive delegates and maintain security (if necessary), meeting room and agenda. After receiving approval of the plan, the Ministry Office shall notify the assigned units to get prepared for the meeting; invite relevant units to attend; invite press or news agencies to report the meeting; inspect, accelerate and take responsibility to perform preparation activities; undertake the tasks of welcoming and receiving guests; compile the list of participating delegates; hand out documents, and write up minutes of the meeting; etc.

2. For courtesy calls, visits or meetings with the Ministry leadership, the Ministry Office is responsible for setting an agenda and taking the lead in providing meeting services at the request of the Ministry leadership, and in accordance with regulatory provisions and these Regulations.

3. The heads of the units are responsible for receiving and meeting with the leaders of the Departments, leaders of the same-level units on the issues under the jurisdiction of those units, or at the request of the Ministry leadership. In the meeting process, if the issues on the agenda are related to other units, it is possible to invite them to the meeting or directly consult with the relevant units; any issues beyond the competence of the units, the heads of these units must directly report to and consult with the Ministry leadership.

Article 50. Reception of foreign guests

Welcoming, meeting and seeing off foreign guests; holding talks with foreign guests; organizing the signing of cooperation documents with foreign partners; organize international seminars and conferences (hereinafter referred to as foreign guest reception for short) shall comply with the following regulations:

1. For foreign delegations entering Vietnam to work under the guest reception programs of the Party or State in which the Ministry leadership is assigned to undertake the reception; ministerial- or equivalent-level delegations to international conferences in Vietnam that pay short calls; ambassadors and resident representatives of international organizations in Vietnam; and other delegations that the Ministry leadership undertakes to receive and meet with, the reception process shall be implemented according to the following regulations:

a) The Department of International Cooperation takes the lead in, and cooperates with relevant units; cooperates with relevant central agencies and embassies of the countries that have delegations to meet with the Ministry in, preparing the meeting protocol and agenda, assigning or employing the interpreter, and hosting the welcome ceremony and meeting.

b) The Ministry Office makes guest reception and accommodation arrangements.

2. For ministerial- or equivalent-level foreign delegations making formal visits to the Ministry, the reception procedures shall be as follows:

a) The Department of International Cooperation takes the lead in, and cooperates with relevant units in, preparing a welcome ceremony plan for submission to the Minister for approval and implementation, and working with the delegation during its visit to Vietnam; appoints its staff member to take care of entry and exit procedures; takes the delegation to meet Ministries, central or local authorities and units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

b) The Ministry Office cooperates with the Department of International Cooperation in welcoming and seeing off the delegation; making guest reception preparations and arranging means of transport to carry the delegation to meeting venues.

c) Participants in the meetings with international guests must wear formal, civilized and polite dress.

d) Budget expenditures on reception of foreign guests shall be subject to general rules and regulations.

3. Reception of delegations meeting with the Ministry is host by the Department leadership and Heads of relevant units under the authority delegated by the Ministry leadership in accordance with the Ministry’s regulations on reception of foreign guests.

4. Heads of the units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry shall receive and meet with foreign guests by the Minister's delegation within the scope of work that these units can deal with according to their functions, duties or authority. Every six months and year, units shall prepare the report on review of meeting results and meetings with foreign guests for submission to the Minister and the Department of International Cooperation.

The Department of International Cooperation assists the units directly affiliated to the Ministry in carrying out diplomatic visit protocol and procedures, and cooperates in handling issues arising from each meeting session with foreign guests.

Chapter IX

REPORTING, COMMUNICATION REGIME, APPLICATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM

Article 51. Deputy Ministers report to the Minister on

1. Performance of tasks falling within their assigned fields, issues beyond their competence and issues on which the Minister needs to be consulted.

2. Content and results of conferences or meetings that they are authorized to attend or direct.

3. Meeting results and recommendations submitted to the Ministry by central, local authorities or other partners that are delegated to domestic or overseas missions.

4. Results of handling of other tasks assigned by the Minister.

Article 52. Responsibilities for performing communication and reporting tasks

1. Developing the communication system to grasp common situations arising daily within the unit’s remit at both central and local level; fully implement the regime for communication with and reporting to the Ministry leadership according to the Ministry’s regulations, and provide information to subordinates.

2. Preparing periodic (i.e. weekly, monthly, quarterly, six-monthly, yearly) reports, specialized reports and ad-hoc reports at the request of the Ministry leadership. 6-month and annual reports must seek approval from the Deputy Minister in charge of the appropriate field.

Periodic (i.e. weekly, monthly, quarterly, 6-monthly, yearly) reports present an overview of the management performance according to assigned functions and tasks, administrative reform, anti-corruption efforts, and other concerns where necessary. Each report is also about performance and formulation of periodic work programs of the Ministry.

Periodic reports shall be subject to the following regulations:

a) Weekly reports are sent to the Ministry Office no later than every Thursday mornings and only applicable to units performing the state management functions.

b) Monthly reports are sent by the Ministry to the Ministry Office before the 20th day of each month.

c) First-quarter reports, also known as March reports, are sent by the units directly affiliated to the Ministry to the Ministry Office before March 15.

d) 6-month preliminary review reports, also known as 6-month reports, are sent by the units directly affiliated to the Ministry to the Ministry Office before June 15.

dd) Third-quarter reports, also known as September reports, are sent by the units directly affiliated to the Ministry to the Ministry Office before September 15.

e) Annual reports are sent by the units directly affiliated to the Ministry and the Departments of Natural Resources and Environment to the Ministry Office before November 15.

3. Preparing reports that help the Minister to review its performance, give explanations, and answer questions before the National Assembly and the National Assembly’s Standing Committee

a) The Ministry Office shall take the lead in cooperating with relevant units in preparing review reports on the performance of the Minister at the request of the National Assembly, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee, and reports available for public review on important issues within the Ministry’s competence via mass media.

b) The Department of Legal Affairs shall take the lead in assigning units to implement, accelerate and monitor the handling and implementation of voters' petitions, the Minister's promises to voters and the National Assembly, the National Assembly deputies, and compiling reports on assessment of the Minister’s fulfillment of promises and answers to questions. Preparing the Minister’s answers to questions or information that the Minister can provide to delegates interested in the natural resources and environment sector.

c) The units are responsible for preparing specialized reports to be submitted to the National Assembly, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee, the Government and the Prime Minister; explanatory reports for public review on matters under the management of the unit at the request of the Minister.

4. Preparing the Ministry’s reports to be submitted to superiors as delegated to do so by the Ministry leadership.

5. Regularly communicating with concerned central and local authorities. Fulfilling obligations to provide information upon receipt of valid requests from other central and local authorities.

6. Cooperating with the Ministry Office in updating the Ministry's website with executive reports or information, work programs and information on the unit's activities, legal normative documents that the units take lead in drafting and have already been issued, except for information on the list of state secrets.

7. For whatever issues arising beyond the competent of a unit, the head of the unit is obliged to report to the Ministry leadership to seek timely actions.

8. The Director of the Department of Emulation, Commendation and Propaganda shall monitor, report to the Ministry's leaders on issues that need to be resolved and propose actions against such issues through reports received from the press and public criticism with regard to the natural resources and environment sector.

9. The Director of the Department of International Cooperation shall provide external relations information related to the fields under the state management of the Ministry to the Minister, Deputy Ministers and relevant units under/affiliated to the Ministry.

10. Heads of units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry shall notify activities of the Ministry and units in any appropriate and convenient forms to their staff members.

Article 53. Duties of the Chief of the Ministry Office

In addition to the duties prescribed in Article 29, 39 and 44, the Chief of the Ministry Office must perform the following:

1. Taking charge of regularly providing information to the Ministry leadership on issues resolved by the Ministry leadership; major issues submitted to the Minister by units under the Ministry, central and local authorities, and other significant information related to the fields under the Ministry's management.

2. Preparing reports necessary for the internal consultation between members of the Ministry leadership; monthly, quarterly, 6-monthly and yearly general reports on the state management performance of the Ministry.

3. Compiling performance review reports of the Ministry for submission to the Government, the Prime Minister and superior state agencies.

4. Guiding, inspecting, monitoring and accelerating the serious implementation of the communication and reporting regime by local regulatory units and agencies, and taking charge of acquiring information necessary for the Ministry leadership’s direction and administration.

5. Assisting the Minister in organizing and monitoring the implementation of the Ministry's Working Regulations.

6. Cooperating and communicating with the Offices of Ministries and other central authorities, the Offices of the People's Committees, the Directors of the Departments of Natural Resources and Environment of province and centrally-affiliated cities on issues under the appropriate management.

7. Playing the role as the Ministry’s spokesperson under the Ministry’s public speaking regulations.

Article 54. Providing information about activities of the Ministry and central authorities

1. Provision of information shall be subject to public speaking and communication regulations of the Ministry and the following specific regulations:

a) The Minister shall prescribe the information management of the Ministry; ensure the regular provision of information needed for the direction and administration of the Government, the Prime Minister, Ministries and regulatory authorities.

b) Regularly communicating with and enabling mass media agencies to provide accurate and timely information regarding functional activities for organizations and individuals.

c) Giving newspaper interviews at the request of the press agencies or under the instruction of the Prime Minister; requesting press agencies that have published or broadcast news or articles with untruthful information or stories to rectify them, or the Ministry to exercise other rights as prescribed by law.

d) Organizing press conferences on a periodic basis or when issuing important documents, implementing major policies of the Party and State, or when there are other notable events.

dd) Publicizing information, communicating and raising public awareness about areas of activity falling within the Ministry’s remit.

e) In the process of providing information, disclosure of information on the list of state secrets and information about sensitive jobs that are under discussion shall be prohibited.

g) If there is a need to publish information on mass media, journalists can be invited to attend the unit's events.

2. Giving newspaper interviews shall be subject to law and other regulatory provisions on management of information of the Ministry.

3. The Natural Resources and Environment newspaper shall submit a review report of news and articles to the Ministry leadership, heads of units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry, and the Departments of Natural Resources and Environment.

4. The Director of the Department of International Cooperation shall take the lead in, and cooperate with the units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry in, communicating foreign information in accordance with the provisions of law on foreign information and under the direction of the Minister.

Article 55. Public disclosure of activities of the Ministry and Minister

1. Heads of units under the Ministry are responsible for providing information according to the annual operation plans of the Editorial Board of the Web Portal; information at the request of the Editorial Board and other information that needs to be communicated, disseminated and posted on the Web Portal to meet the direction and administration requirements of the Ministry.

2. The Ministry Office is the focal point serving the functions of administering, providing and publishing information on the direction and administration of the Ministry and the Minister.

3. The content of, process and time limit for updating, approving and posting information and data on the Ministry's web portal shall comply with the provisions of the working Regulations of the Editorial Board of the Web Portal of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Article 56. Receiving and handling complaints and petitions

1. The Ministry Office undertakes the task of receiving complaints and petitions from organizations and individuals concerning difficulties and problems related to regulatory and legal frameworks and state management of activities related to the natural resources and environment sector.

2. Depending on actual situations, the Ministry's Inspectorate, General Departments and Departments may, on their own initiative, propose setting up and undertaking the task of receiving complaints and petitions from organizations and individuals via hotlines concerning difficulties and problems related to regulatory and legal frameworks and state management of activities related to the natural resources and environment sector that fall within their delegated authority.

3. Heads of units under/directly affiliated to the Ministry, Directors of Departments of Natural Resources and Environment shall provide clues for response to complaints and petitions of organizations and individuals; handle complaints and petitions under the guidance of the Ministry leadership or those referred to by the Ministry Office.

Article 57. Application of information technology for management, administration and professional activities

1. The units directly affiliated to the Ministry shall increasingly apply information technology to the management, administration and professional activities; make consistent use of the document and dossier management software, and other software or apps developed by the Ministry in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Ministry's state management in the administrative aspect with the aim of ensuring control of the progress in processing documents and dossiers at all times and attributing responsibilities each senior and staff member; enhance online conferencing to save time and money.

2. The Department of Information Technology is responsible for building infrastructure and software systems necessary for application of information technology in the natural resources and environment sector to help the task of management, administration and professional activities related to the natural resources and environment sector; managing and operating dossier management software system in a closed cycle for consistent use within the Ministry; helping the Minister assess the level of information technology application in the natural resources and environment field.

Chapter X

MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT OF IMPLEMENTATION OF REGULATIONS

Article 58. General principles

The implementation of these Regulations must be regularly reviewed as one of the criteria for annual rating of seniors and staff members, nomination for regular or irregular titles or rewards and commendation, criticism and punishment.

Article 59. Responsibilities

1. The Ministry Office shall take the lead in, and cooperate with the Departments under the Ministry in, formulating evaluation criteria and assisting the Minister in completing the rating of heads of units under the Ministry in terms of:

a) Implementation of the periodic communication and reporting regime in accordance with regulations;

b) Implementation of working regulations;

c) Results of implementation of tasks, conclusions and directives of the Government, the Prime Minister, the Ministry leadership and work programs of the Ministry.

Where there is any violation arising from implementation of these Regulations to the extent of punishment imposed in the form of criticism or disciplinary measures, the Ministry Office shall cooperate with the Department of Organization and Personnel in reporting to the Ministry leadership to apply disciplinary measures permitted by law on public officials, civil servants and public employees.

2. The Deputy Minister in charge of administrative and clerical work is responsible for rating the Chief of the Ministry Office according to the indicators specified in point a, b and c of clause 1 of this Article.

Where there is any violation arising from implementation of these Regulations to the extent of punishment imposed in the form of criticism or disciplinary measures, the Deputy Minister shall seek the Minister’s decision to apply disciplinary measures permitted by law on public officials, civil servants and public employees.

3. The Department of Organization and Personnel shall synthesize assessment opinions and comments prescribed in clause 1 and 2 of this Article to consult with the Ministry leadership on results of rating of heads of the units directly affiliated to the Ministry according to the Regulations on rating and assessment of senior and staff members of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment./.

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