THE GOVERNMENT | SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM |
No. 42/NQ-CP | Hanoi, June 18, 2019 |
RESOLUTION
ON ADOPTION OF A NUMBER OF URGENT SOLUTIONS FOR PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF AFRICAN SWINE FEVER IN ACCORDANCE WITH DIRECTIONS FROM CENTRAL SECRETARIAT OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY IN DIRECTIVE NO. 34-CT/TW DATED MAY 20, 2019
THE GOVERNMENT
Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization dated June 19, 2015;
Pursuant to the Directive No. 34-CT/TW dated May 20, 2019 by the Central Secretariat of the Communist Party on enhancement of leadership and direction for prevention and control of African Swine Fever;
Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 138/2016/ND-CP dated October 01, 2016 on working regulation of the Government;
At the request of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and based on the opinions from members of the Government,
HEREBY RESOLVES:
I. AFRICAN SWINE FEVER SITUATION
Immediately upon receipt of information on the occurrence of African Swine Fever (ASF) in neighboring countries in August, 2018, the Central Secretariat of the Communist Party and the Prime Minister issued specific directions for ASF prevention and control to Ministries, regulatory bodies and local governments, which helped mitigate the disease’s spread and casualty.
However, recent ASF prevention and control operations have revealed a number of problems that affect the prevention and control efficiency such as (i) there is a lack of participation from the political system and a lack of close attention and detailed directions from the Party executive committees and/or local governments of some localities; (ii) infected swine are not disposed of promptly or properly, which facilitates the spread of ASF and/or environmental pollution and brings upon social disapproval; (iii) resources for ASF prevention and control are not allocated promptly or consistently; and profiteering off policies on assistance for disposal of infected swine is prevalent in some localities; (iv) veterinary forces are not yet strengthened according to regulations of the Law on Veterinary Medicine, and do not give advice to grassroots governments or monitor/organize adoption of solutions concerning veterinary medicine proactively; and (v) inspection of transport, slaughter and trade of pork and pork products is against regulations and without strict control, which accelerates the spread of ASF. Therefore, from February 2019 until now, ASF has appeared in almost all provinces, leading to the disposal of 2.3 million swine.
The AFS virus poses great danger with no known vaccine or cure, is highly resistant to the environment and has various routes of transmission, which are hard to control; Vietnam has more than 2.4 million of swine production households and high swine concentration; implementation of biosafe husbandry measures and precautions against ASF encounters many difficulties; and the climate is unpredictable, which facilitates the spread of ASF. For these reasons, in the near future, it is highly likely that ASF will continue to spread to uninfected areas and enter large-scale swine production premises while localities having recovered from the disease will suffer a relapse, leading to substantial damage to swine production, the economy, the environment and people’s life.
In order to remedy the abovementioned situation and strictly implement the directions from the Central Secretariat of the Communist Party in Directive No. 34-CT/TW dated May 20, 2019, the Government hereby promulgates a Resolution on adoption of a number of urgent solutions for ASF prevention and control.
II. DIRECTION VIEWPOINTS
- View ASF prevention and control as a crucial and urgent mission for Party executive committees, local governments, enterprises and swine owners for the present and the upcoming period; mobilize the political system, which shall vigorously lead the “war” against ASF; and enhance the roles and responsibilities of leaders of ASF prevention and control operations.
- Renovate ASF prevention and control in a manner that prioritizes prevention, grassroots level, people and enterprises; boost communications, vigorously and consistently implement solutions before the disease's appearance; dispose of infected swine according to guidelines from specialized authorities, avoiding affecting the environment and people’s life and health; promote production of other livestock to compensate for pork shortage and meet people’s demands.
- Mobilize resources and prioritize state budget for enhancement of capacity of the 02 national veterinary laboratories, vaccine research, activities of direct service to ASF prevention and control, and assistance for swine owners whose swine are disposed of, ensuring that assistance is promptly given to the intended recipients, profiteering off assisting policies is prevented and violations are strictly handled; and allocate, manage and use funding in compliance with regulations of laws.
III. A NUMBER OF URGENT TASKS AND SOLUTIONS
1. Government members, Ministers, heads of ministerial-level bodies and Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and central-affiliated cities shall vigorously and responsibly direct the tasks and solutions for ASF prevention and control in accordance with directions from the Central Secretariat of the Communist Party in Directive No. 34-CT/TW; Government’s directions in Resolution No. 16/NQ-CP dated March 07, 2019; Prime Minister’s directions in Directive No. 04/CT-TTg dated February 20, 2019, Official Dispatch No. 1194/CD-TTg dated September 12, 2018 and Official Dispatch No. 667/CD-TTg dated June 04, 2019.
The national steering committee for ASF prevention and control must formulate a master plan and different scenarios for ASF prevention and control; provincial, district and commune levels and livestock production enterprises and households must develop ASF prevention and control plans for each situation and each period of time.
2. The Prime Minister shall promulgate a decision on specific financial assistance policies and mechanisms for ASF prevention and control, which shall specify the following matters:
a) Assistance for producers, households, farm owners, affiliates of the Ministry of National Defense, artels and cooperatives which are involved in animal husbandry (hereinafter collectively referred to as “production facilities”) and the swine of which are disposed of due to ASF at suitable levels based on prime costs, costs incurred in connection with swine production and each type of swine (breeding sows and hogs shall be given higher level of assistance).
Assistance shall be given to the intended recipients in a transparent manner and under the supervision of Fatherland Fronts at all levels and citizens; and profiteering off assistance policies is strictly prohibited.
b) Assistance for small and medium livestock production enterprises whose swine must be disposed of due to ASF according to regulations in the Law on Provision of Assistance for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises No. 04/2017/QH14 dated June 12, 2017 (excluding small and medium enterprises that are subsidiaries or majority shareholders of a large enterprise). These enterprises are entitled to 30% of the assistance given to owners of production facilities, which shall cover a maximum of 30% of the loss remaining after the total amount of loss due to ASF has been compensated by contingency fund and insurance (if any).
c) Assistance for households and small and medium enterprises owning great grandparent breeding stock according to regulations in the Law on Provision of Assistance for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises No. 04/2017/QH14 dated June 12, 2017 (excluding small and medium enterprises that are subsidiaries or majority shareholders of a large enterprise). These enterprises and households shall be entitled to VND 500,000 per pig until December 31, 2019 to enhance biosafe measures, eliminate pathogens and protect the breeding stock for post-ASF repopulation.
d) Rules and procedures for assistance, which shall be consistent with the Government’s Decree No. 02/2017/ND-CP dated January 09, 2017 on policies and mechanisms for assistance in agriculture production for revival of production in areas suffering from losses caused by natural disasters and epidemics.
dd) Mechanisms for assistance from central government budget:
- For mountainous areas and the central highlands, central government budget shall cover 80% of the assistance allocated from state budget;
- For the other provinces and central-affiliated cities:
For provinces and central-affiliated cities at least 50% of the revenues of which are distributed to central government budget, they shall proactively provide financial assistance using local government budget reserves;
For provinces and central-affiliated cities below 50% of the revenues of which are distributed to central government budget, 50% of the financial assistance allocated from state budget shall be covered by central government budget;
For localities without balanced budgets, 70% of the financial assistance allocated from state budget shall be covered by central government budget.
- Other regulations:
Localities shall allocate at least 70% of provincial financial reserve funds to cover the loss caused by ASF.
If the loss sustained by a locality cannot be completely covered by local government budget (including 50% of local government budget reserves (at provincial, district and commune levels) and 70% of local financial reserve fund), the remaining amount of loss shall be covered by central government budget.
3. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall:
- Take charge and cooperate with relevant regulatory bodies in advising the national steering committee for ASF prevention and control on promulgation and implementation of the master plan and different scenarios for ASF prevention and control; provide guidelines for ASF prevention and control for local governments and inspect and expedite such operations.
- Direct, provide guidelines for, inspect and expedite restructuring of the animal husbandry sector and livestock diversification, with a focus on large cattle, poultry, aquatic products, etc., to compensate for pork shortage and meet people’s demands.
- Take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Science and Technology and relevant regulatory bodies in urgently organizing vaccine research and production and establishment of an ecosystem of ASF prevention and control measures.
- Take charge and cooperate with Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance and relevant regulatory bodies in formulating and proposing to the Prime Minister the project on upgrade of 02 national veterinary laboratories and disease-free livestock production facilities of international standards with at least biosafety level III according to regulations in the Government’s Decree No. 103/2016/ND-CP dated July 01, 2016 to ensure safety in diagnosis and testing for the purposes of ASF control and research and production of vaccines and biologicals.
- Take charge and cooperate with Ministry of Finance and relevant regulatory bodies in proposing to the Prime Minister the decision on financial assistance policies and mechanisms for ASF prevention and control and recipients and levels thereof before June 25, 2019 for consideration and promulgation.
- Take charge and cooperate with Ministry of Home Affairs and relevant regulatory bodies in directing and providing guidelines for maintenance and improvement of existing central and local veterinary medicine authorities in compliance with regulations in the Law on Veterinary Medicine, ensuring lean organization and satisfactory performance according to Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW and Resolution No. 19-NQ/TW of the 6th Conference of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party, Directive No. 34-CT/TW of the Central Secretariat of the Communist Party, Directive No. 04/CT-TTg and Official Dispatch No. 667/CD-TTg of the Prime Minister.
- Take charge and cooperate with relevant regulatory bodies in urgently reviewing and amending legislative documents and technical guidelines and promulgating or proposing these documents to competent authorities for promulgation in order to improve state management and bring the documents closer to reality. Such documents shall deal with financial assistance; ASF prevention and control; swine transport inspection; post-ASF repopulation; management of swine slaughter and pork trade; disposal of infected swine and products thereof; production, import and use of drugs, chemicals and preparations for ASF prevention and control; environmental remediation; and other matters related to ASF prevention and control.
- Cooperate with other regulatory bodies and local governments in compiling reports on loss caused by ASF; cooperate with Ministry of Finance in compiling and submitting requests for ASF prevention and control funding from local governments to the Government to ensure timely assistance for local governments; provide guidelines for implementation of this Resolution, expedite and inspect such implementation and promptly handle difficulties arising during such implementation.
- Provide detailed information on the assistance policies and levels related to Decree No. 02/2017/ND-CP and Resolution No. 16/NQ-CP and the contents of this Resolution for people.
- Proactively cooperate with international organizations and specialized bodies of other countries in sharing information and experience and technical and financial assistance to fight against ASF and search for vaccines.
4. Ministry of Finance shall:
- Pursuant to the regulations in this Resolution and based on amounts actually allocated to the entities sustaining loss due to ASF from state budget, which are reported by provincial People's Committees and confirmed by State Treasury, Ministry of Finance shall consider and distribute funding from central government budget to each locality for assistance, and periodically report on this task to the Prime Minister. If ASF spreads on a large scale in a locality and its local government budget is unable to fully cover prevention and control operations, based on the request from the provincial People's Committee, Ministry of Finance shall allocate an amount no higher than 70% of the assistance from central government budget to the local government budget for assistance. After the locality reports on use of such funding for prevention and control operations, Ministry of Finance shall cover any insufficient amount or collect any surplus amount as per regulations.
- Take charge and cooperate with Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and provincial People's Committees in urgently advising and proposing to the Prime Minister provision of funding for ASF prevention and control to central and local regulatory bodies for consideration and timely decision.
- ASF prevention and control operations of central veterinary forces shall be covered by the funding for prevention and control of infectious diseases that is incorporated into the annual state budget estimate of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; in case actual expenditure exceeds the given estimate, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall report to the Prime Minister for addition budget estimate according to regulations in the Law on State Budget.
5. Ministry of Home Affairs shall take charge and cooperate with Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in directing and providing guidelines for maintenance and improvement of central and local veterinary medicine authorities in compliance with regulations in the Law on Veterinary Medicine, ensuring lean organization and satisfactory performance according to Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW and Resolution No. 19-NQ/TW of the 6th Conference of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party, Directive No. 34-CT/TW of the Secretariat of the Communist Party, Directive No. 04/CT-TTg and Official Dispatch No. 667/CD-TTg of the Prime Minister.
6. Ministry of Industry and Trade shall direct Departments of Industry and Trade to further encourage purchase of healthy swine for trade and refrigeration by establishments and enterprises in their provinces and to monitor this task in order to mitigate the spread of ASF and loss sustained by swine producers, stabilize swine price and ensure safe food supply for the time being; enhance inspection and control of the market to prevent trade and transport of swine and swine products of unknown origin or not meeting veterinary hygiene and food safety requirements.
7. Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall direct, inspect and provide guidelines on implementation of general solutions to disposal of infected swine for each scale, level and locality to prevent the spread of ASF and environmental pollution.
8. State Bank of Vietnam shall continue to direct implementation of assistance policies and measures for swine owners and enterprises sustaining loss due to ASF, especially for establishments owning great grandparent stock, which would facilitate post-ASF repopulation.
9. Ministry of Information and Communications shall promptly provide accurate information for people in a manner that ensures ASF prevention and control, protects swine production and pork trade and avoids causing confusion in the society; and provide information on state assistance policies in a manner that highlights sharing of financial burden brought on by ASF between the state and swine owners.
10. Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces and central-affiliated cities shall:
- Strictly comply with directions from the Central Secretariat for strengthening of veterinary forces at all levels according to regulations of the Law on Veterinary Medicine and improvement of veterinary capacity at all levels to ensure satisfactory performance of the tasks.
- Proactively use local government budget reserves and other legal funding sources to prevent and control ASF and support owners whose swine are disposed of.
- Decide or propose assistance levels for veterinary officials and participants in prevention and control of epidemics of animal diseases, which shall be equal to or higher than the rate offered to manual workers in each province, to provincial People's Councils for consideration and decision; and encourage establishments and enterprises to purchase, slaughter and refrigerate clean pork to stabilize the market.
- Evaluate loss caused by ASF and take responsibility for accuracy of report data; and submit requests for assistance to Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which shall submit consolidated reports to the Prime Minister.
- Announce assistance policies and levels via mass media and to villages and communes to ensure direct support for swine owners suffering loss; and publicize budget for ASF prevention and control and allowances granted to participating forces. Use support funding properly and effectively, and prevent loss or wasteful use of funding and misconduct.
- Organize timely disposal of infected swine to prevent the spread of ASF and environmental pollution; well organize inspection of swine transport and control of slaughter and trade of pork and products thereof as per existing regulations of laws and directions from the Government, Prime Minister and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
- Submit monthly reports on ASF prevention and control to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Ministry of Finance, which shall submit consolidated reports to the Prime Minister.
11. Other relevant regulatory bodies shall direct and organize effective and consistent implementation of the solutions for ASF prevention and control intra vires and proactively.
IV. IMPLEMENTATION
1. The national steering committee for ASF prevention and control, Ministries, ministerial-level bodies, Governmental agencies and People’s Committees of provinces or central-affiliated cities shall formulate detailed implementation plans based on the tasks assigned in this Resolution; and submit monthly implementation assessments to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which shall compile these assessments and submit consolidated reports to the Government.
2. Party executive committees, Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmer’s Union, Vietnam Veterans Association, Vietnam Women's Union and mass organizations shall formulate detailed programs and plans to promote activities of service to ASF prevention and control; encourage people and members of unions and associations to comply with regulations of laws on ASF prevention and control and cooperate with competent authorities in supervising implementation of such plans and programs.
3. During the implementation of this Resolution, any amendment considered necessary should be proposed to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for compilation and reporting to the Government, which shall consider and make the final decision./.
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