AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH FINANCE MINISTER: ADOPTION FEES

UNCLAS HANOI 000937 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR CA/OCS, CA/OCS/CI, CA/OCS/ACS/EAP, CA/OCS/PRI, CA/FPP, CA/VO/F/P, EAP/BCLTV, AND L/EAP HO CHI MINH CITY FOR CONS AND DHS OIC SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CASC CIVS KOCI PREL ECON VM SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH FINANCE MINISTER: ADOPTION FEES (U) THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET. REF: (a) HANOI 932, (b) State 26801, (c) Hanoi 641 ¶1. (U) This message reports the content of the Ambassador's meeting with Vietnam's Minister of Finance regarding the lack of a published fee schedule for inter-country adoptions. The discussion was held May 17 and was part of a lengthier agenda (ref a). ¶2. (SBU) Background: The adoption fee issue is still pending from the U.S.-Vietnam 2005 agreement on intercountry adoptions. Vietnam has not delivered on its commitment to promulgate a public schedule of adoption fees nor has it issued a comprehensive list of for-fee services. The adoption fee schedule was contemplated as an interim measure pending issuance of the comprehensive list. Earlier this year, A/S Harty requested Post to demarche GVN officials on issues related to implementation of the 2005 agreement (ref b). The Ambassador has already raised key points with the Office of Government (Prime Minister's Office) - ref b. This interaction is another part of our multi-faceted effort. ¶3. (SBU) The Ambassador's Presentation: The Ambassador went into detail on this issue, explaining discussions leading to the 2005 bilateral agreement and his recent efforts to spur the Office of Government into taking action. Noting that lack of a comprehensive schedule of fees threatened to undermine the adoption process, the Ambassador asked Minister Vu Van Ninh to commit to a date by which a public schedule of fees would be issued. ¶4. (SBU) Minister Ninh asked for time to study the issue. He agreed the fees should be published, as promised, but stated that all public fees charged in Vietnam were under review. He provided no specifics on when we might see an actual published fee schedule for adoptions. ¶5. (SBU) Next Steps: The Ambassador will include this topic in a planned follow-up letter to the Minister regarding this and other outstanding issues. We will continue to look for opportunities to remind the GVN of its commitment to publish a schedule of adoption fees. MARINE