DECREE NO. 2001/389 OF 05 DECEMBER 2001 ESTABLISHING A SPECIAL PURPOSE ACCOUNT FOR THE SUPPORT OF CULTURAL POLICY
The President of the Republic,
Having regard to the Constitution;
Having regard to Ordinance No. 62/OF/4 of 7 February 1962 regulating the method of presentation, the conditions of execution of the budget of the Republic of Cameroon, its revenues, its expenditures and all related operations;
Having regard to Law No. 2000/11 of 19 December 2000 relating to copyright and neighboring rights;
Having regard to Decree No. 97/205 of 7 December 1997 on the organization of the Government, amended and supplemented by Decree No. 98/067 of 28 April 1998,
It is hereby decreed:
Article 1. – A Special Allocation Account for the Support of Cultural Policy is hereby established, the operation of which shall be determined by the provisions of this decree.
Article 2. The Minister of Finance shall, by decree, delegate his powers as authorizing officer of off-budget accounts to the Minister of Culture for the management of the Special Allocation Account established by this decree.
CHAPTER II:
RESOURCES OF THE SPECIAL ALLOCATION ACCOUNT
Article 3. The resources of the Special Allocation Account, determined annually by the Finance Law, consist of:
– royalties paid for the performance or recording of folklore;
– royalties paid for the exploitation of works, performances, phonograms, videograms, and programs in the public domain;
– remuneration for private copying of phonograms, videograms, and printed works;
– all other resources authorized by the Finance Law.
CHAPTER III:
EXPENDITURES OF THE SPECIAL ALLOCATION ACCOUNT
Article 4. The Special Allocation Account is intended to encourage Cameroonian literary and artistic production. It notably allows the State to:
– subsidize the creation and distribution of works;
– contribute to the publishing or distribution of works;
– assist in the creation or modernization of collective management organizations;
– guarantee loans granted by credit institutions;
– award prizes;
– allocate aid to the spouses or descendants of deceased artists;
– contribute to the financing of professional solidarity organizations.
CHAPTER IV:
OPERATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE SPECIAL PURPOSE ACCOUNT
Article 5.- The following may benefit from the financial support of the Special Purpose Account
:
a) Cultural enterprises. These must:
– be governed by Cameroonian law;
– have their registered office in Cameroon;
– have a sole shareholder or partner, a Director, or a majority of partners, shareholders, or members of Cameroonian nationality;
– to escape the control of one or more other companies whose headquarters are located outside Cameroonian territory.
b) Authors and performing artists of Cameroonian nationality.
Article 6. Anyone requesting support from the Special Allocation Account must submit an application to the Minister in charge of culture.
Article 7. A Commission for Arts and Letters is hereby established, responsible for examining applications submitted to the Minister in charge of culture for financial support from the Special Allocation Account.
Article 8. (1) Financial support is granted by decision of the Minister in charge of culture, after consultation with the Commission for Arts and Letters.
(2) Support is allocated within the limits of available funds.
Article 9. The decision provided for in Article 8 above shall determine the terms of payment of the allocation.
Article 10. (1) The Commission for Arts and Letters is composed as follows:
– a representative of the Minister in charge of culture, Chair;
– a representative of the Minister in charge of finance, member;
– Ten individuals appointed by the Minister responsible for culture for their expertise in the arts and literature, as members.
(2) The composition of the Arts and Letters Commission is established by decision of the Minister responsible for culture.
Article 11. The Arts and Letters Commission may only validly deliberate if at least two-thirds (2/3) of its members are present. When a quorum is not reached after the first meeting, it is reduced to half of the Commission’s members at subsequent meetings.
Article 12. A member may not participate in a session devoted to examining an application submitted by a company in which they have an interest, or a work, performance, videogram, phonogram, or program in whose production or distribution they participated or are participating.
Article 13. The Minister responsible for culture may appoint agents responsible for monitoring the execution of works subsidized under the cultural policy support scheme.
Article 14. (1) The Minister responsible for culture shall establish an administrative account for each fiscal year, detailing all revenue and expenditure transactions.
(2) The account shall be submitted to the Minister responsible for finance and to the competent state body for auditing accounts.
Article 15. (1) The collection of revenue and the payment of expenditure from the account shall be ensured by an accounting officer who, in this capacity:
– is solely authorized to handle all funds and/or securities and is responsible for their safekeeping;
– is solely authorized to sign checks;
– is also responsible for the accuracy of the accounting records.
(2) The accounting officer is personally responsible for their financial and accounting operations.
They are required to prepare a management account for each fiscal year, detailing all income and expenditure transactions.
The management account is submitted to the Minister of Finance and to the competent state body responsible for auditing accounts.
Article 16. (1) The accounting officer is appointed by order of the Minister of Finance from among the Treasury accountants.
(2) They are a public accountant. As such, they are required to provide a security deposit in accordance with applicable regulations and are subject, in particular, to the rules of discipline, record-keeping, and accounting applicable to public accountants.
Article 17. The Special Allocation Account, established by this decree, is opened at the Bank of Central African States.
CHAPTER V: FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 18.- The Minister in charge of culture and the Minister in charge of the economy and finance are responsible, each in their respective capacity, for the execution of this decree, which shall be registered and then published in the Official Journal in French and English.
Yaoundé, December 5, 2001
The President of the Republic,
Paul Biya
INFORMATION DOCUMENT ON THE SPECIAL ALLOCATION ACCOUNT FOR CULTURAL POLICY SUPPORT
The President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul Biya, established, by Decree No. 2001/389 of December 5, 2001, a Special Allocation Account for the Support of Cultural Policy with an initial budget of 1,000,000,000 CFA francs (one billion CFA francs). This new public instrument for financing the cultural sector will allow the State to:
– encourage excellence in the creation, production, and dissemination of intellectual works;
– encourage the safeguarding and promotion of the national cultural heritage;
– assist in the creation or modernization of collective management organizations;
– guarantee loans granted by credit institutions;
– award prizes to the best works following competitions organized in various creative genres; –
assist the spouses or descendants of deceased artists;
– contribute to the financing of professional solidarity organizations;
– support traditional cultural associations.
General Eligibility Criteria: The
following may be eligible for this financial support:
A- Cultural Enterprises:
They must:
– be incorporated under Cameroonian law;
– have their headquarters in Cameroon;
– have a sole shareholder or partner, a Director, or a majority of shareholders or partners of Cameroonian nationality;
– be independent of one or more other companies whose headquarters are located outside Cameroonian territory;
– submit, in support of a stamped application addressed to the Minister of Culture, a technical file detailing the creation, production, or distribution of an original work.
B- Authors and Performing Artists of Cameroonian Nationality:
They must submit a file including:
– a certified copy of their national identity card;
– a criminal record extract dated within the last three months;
– a curriculum vitae;
– a stamped application addressed to the Minister of State for Culture;
– a technical file detailing the creation, production, or distribution of a work.
C- Cultural associations
: They must:
– have been legally established for at least two years;
– be registered in the Ministry of Culture’s register of associations;
– demonstrate regular activities.
D- Professional solidarity organizations:
They must:
– have been legally established for at least two years;
– be registered in the Ministry of Culture’s register of associations;
– demonstrate regular activities;
– have legal status.
– be approved by the Minister in charge of culture.
E – Spouses and descendants of deceased artists.
They must be identified in accordance with the relevant definitions of the Civil Code.
Evaluation criteria:
Projects are evaluated based on their artistic quality, the innovative nature of the approach, and their relevance to cultural and artistic influence.
In all cases, they must contribute to the safeguarding and enhancement of the national cultural heritage, the promotion of Cameroon’s brand image, and the fight against poverty. Budgetary realism, the professionalism of the applicant and partners, and the guarantee of their commitment will also be taken into account.
Where to submit your application?
Funding applications should be sent to the Minister in charge of culture.
The Project Review Committee:
An Arts and Letters Commission, established by Presidential Decree No. 2001/389 of December 5, 2001, creating a Special Allocation Account for Cultural Policy Support, and composed of eminent figures in the arts and culture, is responsible for reviewing funding applications submitted to the Minister of Culture.
Monitoring of Subsidized Projects
: This is jointly ensured by the Arts and Letters Commission and the Project Implementation Monitoring Unit, appointed by decision of the Minister of Culture.
SERVICE NOTE No. 0027/MINAC/CAB/CASSPC OF 12 AUGUST 2016 SPECIFYING THE MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES FOR SUBSIDIES GRANTED BY DECISION No. 0086/MINAC/CAB OF 7 JULY 2016 CONCERNING THE ALLOCATION OF SUBSIDIES TO ARTISTS, ASSOCIATIONS AND CULTURAL ENTERPRISES UNDER THE SPECIAL PURPOSE ACCOUNT FOR SUPPORTING CULTURAL POLICY (CASSPC)
Article 1. Subsidies granted under the CASSPC program are public funds and are therefore subject to Circular No. 0000909/C/MINFI of December 31, 2015, concerning the implementation of finance laws and the monitoring and control of the execution of the State budget, public administrative establishments, decentralized territorial authorities, and other subsidized organizations, for the 2016 fiscal year.
Article 2. Subsidies granted to beneficiaries are intended to cover, firstly, 80% of the costs of material implementation of the projects by service providers or operators (recording studios, publishing houses, media outlets, etc.), and secondly, 20% of the overhead costs incurred by the project promoters.
Article 3. Before any disbursement, beneficiaries are required to submit a statement of expenditure for the funds to be received, to which they must attach the pro forma invoices issued by the companies responsible for providing the requested services. This includes services related to recording studio work, artist fees, video production, storage media duplication, book printing and publishing, venue rental, transportation costs, accommodation expenses, distribution and promotion of published works, etc.
Article 4. In accordance with applicable laws and regulations, the services to be funded may only be awarded to companies and service providers submitting a tax file that includes, in particular:
– a certified copy of the business license;
– a copy of the taxpayer identification card;
– a certificate of tax compliance;
– an account number.
Article 5. Upon completion of their activities, beneficiaries are required to submit a report and an expenditure statement, along with supporting documents, within one month for review by the financial controller of the Ministry of Arts and Culture.
In addition, fifteen (15) copies of the work must be deposited with the
Administrative and Technical Secretariat of the CASSPC.
Article 6. The Minister of Arts and Culture reserves the right to cancel all or part of the subsidy in the event of default or deficiency on the part of the beneficiaries.
Article 7. All materials produced within the framework of the subsidized projects must bear the following statement: “Received a subsidy from the Ministry of Arts and Culture under the Special Allocation Account for the Support of Cultural Policy.”
Copies to:
– AC/MINAC
– CF/MINAC
– SAT/CASSPC
– INTERESTED PARTIES
– CHRONO/ARCHIVES
Yaoundé, August 12, 2016
The Minister of Arts and Culture, Professor Narcisse Mouelle Kombi