CIRCULAR

GUIDELINES FOR MANAGEMENT, COLLECTION AND USE OF FUNDING FOR ORGANIZATION OF FESTIVALS AND RELIGIOUS DONATIONS OR GRANTS FOR RELIC SITES AND FESTIVITIES

Pursuant to the Law on Cultural Heritage dated June 29, 2001; the Law on Amendments and Supplements to certain Articles of the Law on Cultural Heritage dated June 18, 2009;

Pursuant to the Law on Religious Belief and Religion dated November 18, 2016;

Pursuant to the Law on State Budget dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 98/2010/ND-CP dated September 21, 2010, elaborating on the implementation of a number of Articles of the Law on Cultural Heritage, and the Law on Amendments and Supplements to certain Articles of the Law on Cultural Heritage;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 162/2017/ND-CP dated December 30, 2017, elaborating on certain articles and measures for enforcement of the Law on Religious Belief and Religion;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 110/2018/ND-CP dated August 29, 2018 on management and organization of festivals;

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Upon the request of the Director of the Department of Public Expenditure;

The Minister of Finance herein promulgates the Circular providing guidelines for management, collection and use of funding for organization of festivals and religious donations or grants for relic sites and festivities.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

1. This Circular provides guidelines for management, collection and use of funding for organization of festivals and religious donations or grants for relic sites and festivities.

2. Festivals and relic sites defined in this Circular shall comprise:

a) Festivals referred to in Article 3 of the Government’s Decree No. 110/2018/ND-CP dated August 29, 2018 on management and organization of festivals, including: Traditional festivals, cultural festivals, industry festivals, festivals of foreign origin;

b) Relic sites defined in Article 11 of the Government’s Decree No. 98/2010/ND-CP dated September 21, 2010, elaborating on the implementation of a number of Articles of the Law on Cultural Heritage, and the Law on Amendments and Supplements to certain Articles of the Law on Cultural Heritage, including: Historical relics, architectural and art relics, archaeological relics, scenic spots.

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a) Management, collection and use of religious donations and grants for belief establishments or religious establishments that have not obtained certificates of ranking as a relic site issued by Presidents of provincial People's Committees, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism or the Prime Minister, or have not been put on the List of Local Relic Sites by provincial People's Committees under the provisions of the Law on Cultural Heritage;

b) Management, collection and use of religious donations or grants for religious activities of religious organizations and affiliated religious organizations.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. Entities and persons organizing festivals, including: Festivals organized by state agencies and festivals not organized by state agencies.

2. Entities or persons that are owners or authorized custodians or operators of relic sites, including: Representatives of belief establishments, representatives of religious establishments, owners of private relics, public non-business units, part-time relic management boards.

3. Entities or persons involved in management, collection and use of funding for organization of festivals and religious donations or grants for relic sites and festivities.

Article 3. Definitions

For the purposes of this Circular, terms used herein shall be construed as follows:

1. Religious donations or grants for relic sites and festivities encompass items given, gifted, donated or granted by entities or persons for use in the task of protection and promotion of value of relics and festivities in the following forms:

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b) Security instruments, precious metals or jewels permitted by the State Bank of Vietnam.

2. Festival organized by a state agency includes:

a) Festivals organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in cooperation with provincial People’s Committees;

b) Festivals organized by central state agencies of which the heads or deputy heads are the Chairs of the Organizing Committees;

c) Festivals organized by local state agencies, of which the Chairs of the Organizing Committees are the Presidents or Vice Presidents of People’s Committees.

3. Festival not organized by a state agency is the festival other than any of those defined in clause 2 of this Article.

4. Relic site that is also a belief establishment is defined as a place of worship, e.g. communal or ancestral temples, shrines, houses, or other similar establishments, which has been granted the certificate of ranking as a provincial-level relic site by the President of a provincial People's Committee; the certificate of ranking as a national relic site by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism; the certificate of ranking as a special national relic site by the Prime Minister; which has been put on the list of local relic sites according to the provisions of the Law on Cultural Heritage.

5. Relic site that is also a religious establishment is defined as a holy place, e.g. pagodas, churches, chapels, sanctuaries, headquarters of religious organizations, or other legitimate establishments of religious organizations, which has been granted the certificate of ranking as a provincial-level relic site by the President of a provincial People's Committee; the certificate of ranking as a national relic site by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism; the certificate of ranking as a special national relic site by the Prime Minister; which has been put on the list of local relic sites according to the provisions of the Law on Cultural Heritage.

6. Belief establishment’s representative is the person who represents and is legally responsible for activities taking place at a belief establishment.

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8. Public non-business unit (sometimes public service provider or unit) is an entity established or reorganized pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 120/2020/ND-CP dated October 7, 2020, prescribing establishment, reorganization and dissolution of public service units.

9. Part-time Management Board of a relic site (hereinafter referred to as Management Board) is an entity operating under the multiple office-holding regime established by the President of a People's Committee in accordance with the regulations on decentralization of authority over local relic sites in order to protect and promote the value ​​of one or more relic sites; composition of a Management Board of a relic site may vary depending on local regulations.

Chapter II

MANAGEMENT, COLLECTION AND USE OF FUNDING FOR ORGANIZATION OF FESTIVALS

Article 4. Sources of funding for organizing festivals

1. Religious donations or grants used for financing festivities; aids or voluntary contributions of domestic and foreign entities or persons.

2. Revenues earned from services carried out within festival venues, including leasing of facilities intended for selling souvenirs, food and beverages; filming, photography; parking; transporting tourists; and other services conforming to regulations of local jurisdictions.

3. Interest on deposit accounts opened at State Treasuries or commercial banks according to regulations.

4. State budget’s grants for traditional festivals (if any).

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1. When adopting working regulations and assigning tasks to members of a Festival Organizing Committee according to the provisions of clause 2 of Article 7 in the Government’s Decree No. 110/2018/ND-CP dated August 29, 2018, the Festival Organizing Committee shall delegate a unit whose representative is a member of that Festival Organizing Committee to receive, manage and use funding for the task of organizing festivals.

2. The unit authorized by the Festival Organizing Committee to receive, manage and use funding for the task of organizing a festival shall have the following responsibilities:

a) Apply for a deposit account to be opened at a State Treasury or a commercial bank to record transactions involving receipt, management and use of funds for organization of the festival in the form of bank transfer or electronic payment;

b) Receive cash: Appoint a person to receive and fully register received sums. Temporarily available cash sums paid for organization of the festival shall be deposited into an account opened at a State Treasury or a commercial bank to ensure that they are in the safe and transparent custody;

c) Preside over, or cooperate with other affiliates of the Festival Organizing Committee in, formulating the plan to collect and spend funds for organization of the festival, and submitting it to seek approval from the Chair of the Festival Organizing Committee. Such plan shall be made according to the festival agenda; the size and availability of each source of funding; and relevant types and purposes of expenditures on organization of the festival defined in Article 7 of this Circular;

d) Use funds for the festival according to the approved plan to collect and spend funds; all costs and expenses must be fully invoiced or otherwise documented legally;

dd) Create an accounting book to fully record revenues and expenditures for organization of the festival into accounts reflecting other operating funds that the unit is allowed to retain in accordance with the provisions of the current public service accounting regime.

e) By the end of the fiscal year, prepare a final account of funds for organizing the festival and submit it to the Festival Organizing Committee to seek its approval. Any balance (if any) shall be brought forward for use to organize the following year’s festival; if no festival is organized in the following year, such balance shall be reported to the Chair of the Festival Organizing Committee to seek the decision from the authority having jurisdiction to decide whether a festival is organized.

3. Traditional festivals shall be funded by the state budget’s grants pursuant to Article 8 herein.

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Entities or persons organizing festivals shall create books to record all revenues and expenses for organization of these festivals; may solely decide, and shall take their own responsibility, to receive, manage and use funds for organization of these festivals according to the principles and purposes of festivals and laws.

Article 7. Types and purposes of expenditure; amounts of expenditure for organizing festivals

1. Expenditures shall be meant for:

a) PR, communication and advertising activities;

b) Installation, placement of instruction signs; decoration; sound and lighting systems used for attracting visitors to come to join and discover festivals;

c) Restoration and performance of traditional rituals; application of science and technology advances to organization of festivals;

d) Organization of entertainment, recreational, cultural, art and sports activities, conferences, seminars and events providing information about the cultural values ​​of each festival;

dd) Security, health, food safety, hygiene, environmental protection, fire prevention and control at festival venues;

e) Stationery supplies, printing, photocopying of materials, electricity, water, telephone bills, postal charges, internet bills, guest reception, front desk, utilization of technical utilities, rental of venues, equipment, event staff and other rental;

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h) Scented incense, worship flowers, offerings, lamps; charity and humanitarian activities; others that may vary depending on the current development of each festival.

2. Amounts of expenditure shall be decided by the Chairs of the Festival Organizing Committees according to the Regulations on organization of and financing for the festival on condition that they are aligned with the actual situation, and used in an efficient and effective manner; should conform to the regulations, standards and norms of budget expenditure set forth by competent state agencies.

Article 8. State budget’s grants for traditional festivals

1. The state budget’s grants shall be spent on restoration and promotion of values ​​of traditional festivals with the aim of arousing patriotism and national pride; maintaining unique and typical cultural values; and meeting the spiritual needs of the people.

2. The state budget’s grants shall vary according to the festival organization plan approved by the competent authority; the ability to call for off-budgetary sources of funding for organization of each festival; the availability of the state budget’s funds, and shall be decided by competent authorities in accordance with laws on state budget and within their delegated authority to decide state budget expenditure.

3. The state budget’s grants for traditional festivals shall be implemented only when receiving budget estimates from authorities having competence in authorizing use of the budget, and complying with regulations, standards and norms of expenditure set forth by competent state agencies.

4. Units designated to play the leading role in receiving, managing and using funds for organization of festivals shall make budget estimates; perform the assigned tasks relating to the state budget, accounting and financial reporting of these grants in accordance with laws on state budget. The state budget’s grants shall be recorded into the account 160 or 161 (cultural and information services), including items or sub-items defined in the State Budget Index System.

Chapter III

MANAGEMENT, COLLECTION AND USE OF RELIGIOUS DONATIONS OR GRANTS FOR RELIC SITES AND FESTIVITIES

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1. Apply for a deposit account to be opened at a State Treasury or a commercial bank to record transactions involving receipt, management and use of religious donations or grants in the form of bank transfer or electronic payment.

2. Receiving cash, banknotes or physical money:

Appoint a person to receive and fully register received sums. Received banknotes or physical money contained in offering or donation boxes (if any) shall be counted, checked and recorded in total. Banknotes or physical money given in the places other than permissible ones, or not in conformity with the civilized lifestyle rules of relic sites shall be collected for counting or put in the donation boxes for counting as prescribed above.

Temporarily available cash sums after being received for use by relic sites and festivities shall be deposited into accounts opened at State Treasuries or commercial banks to ensure that they are in the safe and transparent custody.

3. Receiving security instruments: Create the register of security instruments, sums shown thereon and issuing entities. Entities or persons that are the owners or authorized custodians or operators of relic sites shall be responsible for management and use of security instruments, including payment made before or on due dates, depending on managerial requirements and aspirations of donators or givers (if any).

4. Receiving precious metals or jewels: Create the register of precious metals, jewels and information about their respective values provided by donating or giving entities or persons. Entities or persons that are the owners or authorized custodians or operators of relic sites shall be responsible for management and use of precious metals or jewels, involving the act of putting them up for auction; selling them to commercial banks; keeping or displaying them at relic sites, depending on managerial requirements and aspirations of donators or givers (if any).

Article 10. Management and use of religious donations or grants for relic sites that are also religious establishments

1. The religious establishment's representative shall solely decide and be responsible for receipt, management and use of religious donations or grants intended to fund the protection and promotion of the relic site's value and festivities in compliance with the provisions of law on belief and religion; law on cultural heritage; and other relevant regulatory provisions.

2. Where a religious establishment is located on the perimeter of the relic site managed and operated under the authority of the public non-business unit delegated by the competent state agency, the regulatory provisions of clause 4 of Article 13 hereof shall govern.

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The belief establishment's representative shall solely decide and be responsible for receipt, management and use of religious donations or grants intended to fund the protection and promotion of the relic site's value and festivities in compliance with the provisions of law on belief and religion; law on cultural heritage; and other relevant regulatory provisions.

Article 12. Management and use of religious donations or grants for privately-owned relic sites

Owners of relic sites shall solely decide and be responsible for receipt, management and use of religious donations or grants intended to fund the protection and promotion of the relic site's value and festivities in compliance with the provisions of law on belief and religion; law on cultural heritage; and other relevant regulatory provisions.

Article 13. Management and use of religious donations or grants for relic sites managed and operated under the delegated authority of public non-business units

1. Public non-business units shall receive religious donations or grants for relic sites and festivities as provided in Article 9 herein.

2. The received amounts of religious donations or grants (except those serving specified purposes or sent to specified recipients) shall be apportioned and utilized as follows:

a) Part (%) thereof shall be spent on the repair and restoration of other relic sites in provinces (not applicable to relic sites whose received religious donations or grants are too low to fund festivities and be used as recurrent expenditures): Such part shall be wired to particular accounts of Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism pursuant to Article 16 hereof (if any);

b) Part (%) thereof shall be retained to spend on festivities pursuant to Article 5 herein (applicable to relic sites where festivals organized on a periodic basis by state agencies). Where the unit receiving this part is not authorized to manage and use funds for festivals by the Festival Organizing Committee, it shall be transferred to the account of the unit authorized to manage and use funds for festivals by the Festival Organizing Committee pursuant to point a of clause 2 of Article 5 herein;

c) Part (%) thereof shall be retained as their recurrent expenditures pursuant to clause 1 of Article 15 herein: They may freely use such part according to their internal spending regulations and include it in the revenues that are adequate for use as their own recurrent expenditures according to the provisions of point a of clause 1 of Article 10 in the Government’s Decree No. 60/2021/ND-CP dated June 21, 2021, stipulating the mechanism for financial autonomy of public non-business units;

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Public non-business units shall be responsible for formulating a new decision or an amended decision regarding receipt, management and use of religious donations or grants to be applied at relic sites which specifies the aforesaid parts (%) defined in point a, b, c and d of clause 2 of this Article; submitting a report to superior agencies for their review before being sent to Departments of Finance to request them to preside over or cooperate with relevant agencies entities or persons in seeking approval for it to be put to use from provincial People's Committees.

3. Public non-business units shall produce cost estimates, enforce them, account for and keep final accounts of transactions involving collection and spending of religious donations or grants for relic sites and festivities in accordance with relevant laws. Religious donations or grants received or spent for relic sites and festivities shall be accounted for and financially reported as part of other operating funds retained for their use in accordance with the public service accounting regime in use.

4. Where there is a relic site which is also a religious establishment located within the boundaries of the relic site managed or operated under the authority delegated to the public non-business unit, the receipt, management and use of religious donations or grants for the relic site which is also a religious establishment shall be as follows:

a) The religious establishment's representative may solely decide and be responsible for receipt, management and use of religious donations or grants intended to fund the protection and promotion of the relic site's value and festivities in compliance with the provisions of law on belief and religion; law on cultural heritage; and other relevant regulatory provisions.

b) The religious establishment's representative shall be responsible for partially paying a public non-business unit costs of repairing, maintaining, renovating, upgrading and building shared ancillary structures; costs of security, fire and explosion prevention and fighting, epidemic prevention and control, environmental health and other general and administrative expenses within the area where the relic site managed and operated under the authority delegated to the public non-business unit.

The amount of payment of these costs and expenses shall be calculated as the percentage (%) of received total amount of religious donations or grants for the relic site or festivities (except religious donations or grants serving specific purposes or sent to specific recipients) and shall be regulated under a particular Article in the Decision of the provincial People’s Committee on receipt, management and use of religious donations or grants of public non-business units pursuant to clause 2 of this Article.

Article 14. Management and use of religious donations or grants for relic sites managed and operated under the delegated authority of part-time Management Boards

1. Management Boards of relic sites shall carry out the procedures for receiving religious donations or grants for relic sites and festivities in accordance with Article 9 herein.

2. The received amounts of religious donations or grants (except those serving specified purposes or sent to specified recipients) shall be apportioned and utilized as follows:

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b) Part (%) thereof shall be retained to spend on festivities pursuant to Article 5 herein (applicable to relic sites where festivals organized on a periodic basis by state agencies). Where the Management Board is not authorized to manage and use funds for festivals by the Festival Organizing Committee, it shall be transferred to the account of the unit authorized to manage and use funds for festivals by the Festival Organizing Committee pursuant to point a of clause 2 of Article 5 herein;

c) Part (%) thereof shall be retained as their recurrent expenditures of the Management Board pursuant to clause 1 of Article 15 herein;

d) The remaining part shall be retained to pay for particular activities pursuant to clause 2 of Article 15 herein. By end of the year, the balance (if any) shall be brought forward to the following year to fund particular tasks to be performed within relic sites.

Specific amounts defined in point a, b, c and d of clause 2 of this Article shall be subject to the regulations of provincial People’s Committees.

3. The part-time Management Board shall appoint a unit whose representative is a member of the Management Board to perform the following tasks:

a) Create the account, register, accounting book to fully and promptly record the receipt, management and use of religious donations or grants for the relic site and festivities as other operating funds that the unit may retain;

b) Annually, make the estimate and report on the collection and spending of religious donations or grants for the relic site and festivities according to regulations, and submit them to the Head of the Management Board for approval; send the approved one to the superior financial agency and state agency in charge of culture to serve the control and supervision purposes.

4. Where there is a relic site which is also a religious establishment located within the boundaries of the relic site managed or operated under the authority delegated to the Management Board, the receipt, management and use of religious donations or grants for the relic site which is also a religious establishment shall be subject to clause 1 of Article 10 herein.

Article 15. Types or purposes of expenditure and amounts of expenditure on protection and promotion of value of relic sites

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a) Wages, salary allowances and salary-based contributions for people working under the regime of labor contracts, working contracts at relic sites;

b) Remunerations for persons appointed to look after or participate in activities at relic sites that are not covered in point a of this clause;

c) Payments for public services, office supplies, information, communications, conferences, travel fees, professional expenses, guest reception, welcome expenses, rental expenses; expenses for purchasing and repairing facilities intended for professional work;

d) Other expenditures prescribed by law.

2. Specific expenditures, including:

a) PR, communication and advertising activities;

b) Installation, placement of instruction signs; decoration; sound and lighting systems used for attracting visitors to come to join and discover relic sites;

c) Security, health, food safety, hygiene, environmental protection, fire prevention and control, natural disaster or epidemic control;

d) Regular maintenance and repair of relic sites; renovation and restoration of relic sites (in the absence or lack of the state budget’s funding;

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e) Application of science, technology and digital technology advances for better experience of visitors, tourists and researchers;

g) Planting and care of flowers and ornamental plants on the perimeter of the relic site;

h) Transfer of property rights according to the provisions of civil law; property auction; hiring of valuation of precious metals and jewels; hiring of assessment of objects that are allowed to be bought, sold, exchanged or donated in accordance with law;

i) Scented incense, worship flowers, offerings, lamps;

k) Charity and humanitarian activities;

l) Others that may vary depending on the actual state of each relic site and the payee who is the owner or the person authorized to manage or operate the relic site.

3. Amounts of expenditure shall be decided by the entity or person that is the owner or the person authorized to manage or operate the relic site on condition that they are aligned with the actual situation, and used in an efficient and effective manner; should conform to the regulations, standards and norms of budget expenditure set forth by competent state agencies.

Article 16. Management and use of funds for repair and restoration of relic sites

1. President of the provincial People’s Committee shall authorize the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to perform the following tasks:

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b) Formulate and submit to the provincial People's Committee for promulgation of a document regulating the work of repair and restoration of relic sites within the remit, specifying the time limit and method of fund transfer, responsibility to transfer funds from units assigned to manage and operate relic sites within the province; the work of selection of relic sites that need to be repaired and restored; allocation of funds, payment and financial reporting of funds; inspection and supervision of implementation; reporting regime; assignment of responsibilities to agencies, units and other related issues.

2. Costs and expenses for receiving and managing religious donations or grants for the repair and restoration of relic sites of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, shall be covered by the state budget’s annual recurrent expenditures in accordance with law on state budget and decentralization of authority to use the state budget.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION CLAUSE

Article 17. Entry in force

1. This Circular shall enter into force as from March 19, 2023.

2. Entities and persons that are the owners or assigned to manage and operate relic sites subject to the provisions of Article 13 and 14 of this Circular shall continue to manage and use religious donations for relic sites and festivities according to current regulations of competent authorities until there is a new decision or a decision on amendments and supplements received from the provincial People's Committees on the receipt, management and use of religious donations and grants for relic sites and festivities to be applied at relic sites as prescribed in Article 13 or Article 14 of this Circular.

Article 18. Implementation responsibilities

1. Presidents of the provincial People’s Committees shall direct their relevant agencies and units to review local regulatory documents related to the management, collection and use of funding for organization of festivals and religious donations or grants for relic sites and festivities for submission to the provincial People's Committees to seek their approval of the new Decision or a Decision on amendments or supplements to ensure consistency with the provisions of this Circular.

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a) Disclose collection and use of religious donations, funding, grants or voluntary contributions to entities or persons that have made financial contributions to organization of festivals, protection and promotion of the value of relic sites at their request;

b) Provide timely information at the request of the competent authority in accordance with laws.

3. Where the legislative documents used as references in this Circular are amended, supplemented or replaced, updated or new versions shall govern.

In the course of implementation hereof, if there is any difficulty or query that arises, the Ministry of Finance should be promptly informed to consider taking appropriate actions./.

PP. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Vo Thanh Hung