Regulations on rice aid for forest protection and development in Vietnam as of July 15, 2024

Regulations on rice aid for forest protection and development in Vietnam as of July 15, 2024 (Internet image)

Subjects and scope of rice aid for forest protection and development in Vietnam

Subjects receiving rice subsidies for forest protection and development include:

- Poor household, households of ethnic minorities in zone II and zone III communes implementing forest protection, natural regeneration zoning and promotion with additional forestation, forestation of protection forest, production forest, and development of non-timber forest products, forestation as a change to shifting cultivation method, forestation as a substitute for paddy land;

- Other subjects decided by the Prime Minister.

(Clause 1, Article 21 of Decree 58/2024/ND-CP)

Amount of rice aid for forest protection and development in Vietnam

Amount of rice aid for forest protection and development: 15 kg of rice/mouth/month for the period where food self-sufficient is not guaranteed.

Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces shall decide on entities eligible for aid, amount, aid method depending on area, number of mouths appropriate to actual local conditions and duration of aid which is up to 7 years in a manner that adheres to the principles below:

- Rice aid granted to households implementing forestation as a substitute for paddy land in the year depends on actual forestation area and duration of the lack of food self-sufficiency which is up to 6 months and does not exceed 450 kg/year;

- Rice aid granted to households implementing forest protection and development in the year depends on area of forest protected and developed and for the duration of the lack of food self-sufficiency which is up to 4 months and does not exceed 300 kg/year;

- Where a household implements forestation as a substitute for paddy land and forest protection and development, they shall be eligible for the higher aid;

- Formula for rice aid is specified under Form No. 8 under Appendix attached to Decree 58/2024/ND-CP.

Note: Type of rice for aid conforms to the applicable national technical regulations on national rice reserve.

(Clause 2, 4, Article 21 of Decree 58/2024/ND-CP)

Conditions for receiving rice aid for forest protection and development in Vietnam

Subjects eligible rice aid for forest protection and development must meet any of the eligibility below:

- They have certificate of land use right or decision on land allocation or lease of competent authority or have been steadily using land in accordance with land laws and without disputes; implement forest protection in accordance with Articles 5, 9, and 12; implement natural regeneration zoning and promotion with additional forestation; implement forestation of protection forest in accordance with Article 11, production forest and non-timber forest product development in accordance with Article 14 of Decree 58/2024/ND-CP and undergo acceptance testing conducted by competent authority on an annual basis;

- They have contracts for forest protection delegation in accordance with Clause 5 Article 19; implement forest protection under delegation in accordance with Article 19 of Decree 58/2024/ND-CP and undergo acceptance testing conducted by competent authority on an annual basis.

(Clause 3, Article 31 of Decree 58/2024/ND-CP)

Regulations on providing rice aid for forest protection and development in Vietnam

(1) Provide rice aid via funding sources of programs and projects:

- People’s Committees of provinces shall assign project developers or affiliated entities to develop rice aid projects for forest protection, natural regeneration zoning and promotion with additional forestation, forestation of protection forest, production forest and non-timber forest product development, forestation as a substitute for paddy land; grant rice aid to households in project areas on a periodic basis in each hamlet where the applicable households are located. Depending on practical local conditions, Chairpersons of People’s Committees of provinces shall decide on number of aid instances up to once every 3 months;

- Depending on approved rice aid projects, project developers or organizations, entities assigned to provide rice aid shall produce list of participating households, quantity of rice aid provided to each household using Form No. 9 and Form No. 10 under Appendix attached to Decree 58/2024/ND-CP;

- Rice aid is provided when a household begins to implement forest protection, natural regeneration zoning and promotion with additional forestation, forestation of protection forest, production forest and non-timber forest product development, forestation as a substitute for paddy land and is recorded using Form No. 11 and Form No. 12 under Appendix attached to Decree 58/2024/ND-CP.

(2) Provide rice aid from state reserve:

- People’s Committees of provinces shall consolidate list, quantity of rice provided, duration of aid and report to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Committee for Ethnic Affairs, and Ministry of Finance; on the basis of request of local government and remarks of the Ministry of Finance, Committee for Ethnic Affairs and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall take charge and request the Prime Minister to consider and approve rice aid;

- Depending on decision of Prime Minister, the Ministry of Finance shall assign the General Department of State Reserves to source rice from state reserve to local government as per the law. Project developers or organizations, entities assigned to provide rice aid shall provide rice aid to households in accordance with (1).

(Clause 5, 6, Article 31 of Decree 58/2024/ND-CP)

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