CIRCULAR

GUIDING RATES, COLLECTION, REMITTANCE, MANAGEMENT AND USE OF CUSTOMS FEES

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 57/ 2002/ND-CP of June 3, 2002, detailing the Ordinance on Charges and Fees; and the Government's Decree No. 24/2006/ND-CP of March 6, 2006, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government's Decree No. 57/2002/ND-CP of June 3, 2002;
Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP of December 15, 2005, detailing a number of articles of the Customs Law regarding customs procedures, inspection and supervision;
Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 118/2008/ND-CP of November 27, 2008, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;
In furtherance of the Government's Resolution No. 25/NQ-CP of June 2, 2010, on simplification of 258 administrative procedures under management of ministries and sectors.
The Ministry of Finance guides rates, collection, remittance, management and use of customs fees as follows:

Article 1. Fee payers

Customs fee payers are organizations and individuals having luggage or goods on import, export or in transit, or means of transport on entry, exit or in transit, for which customs offices perform customs-related jobs with fees under this Circular.

Article 2. Cases not subject to customs fees

1. Goods provided as humanitarian aid or non refundable aid; gifts for state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations, people's armed forces units or individuals: articles of foreign organizations or individuals entitled to diplomatic immunity; hand carry luggage: mail or postal parcels exempt from import and export duties under current law;

2. Goods undergoing customs clearance which are kept in customs warehouses for completion of customs procedures the next day. Customs fees shall be paid when customs procedures are completed:

3. On-spot imports and exports (including goods traded between export-processing enterprises and the inland and among export-processing enterprises).

Article 3. Rates, collection, remittance, management and use of customs fees

1. Rates: Customs fee rates are specified in the Table of customs fee rates attached to this Circular.

2. Collection, remittance, management and use: Customs fees constitute a state budget revenue and shall be managed and used as follows:

2.1. Customs offices directly collecting customs fees shall declare and remit all the collected customs fee amounts into "fee custody accounts" at state treasuries in the localities in which fees are collected, for the latter to monitor and control spending.

2.2. Customs offices may use all (100%) of the collected customs fee amounts to cover fee collection jobs and services, and the following:

a/ Purchase of customs seals (made of frangible paper, plastic cords, steel cables, and container seal bolts);

b/ Purchase of supplies, forms and stationery for customs clearance and fee collection;

c/ Printing and purchase of customs fee stamps:

d/ Payment for overtime or night-time work to officers carrying out customs procedures and collecting customs fees;

e/ Payment of work-trip allowances and support of communication allowance for officers directly carrying out customs procedures and collecting customs fees;

f/ Payment for hiring organizations and individuals to carry out customs procedures;

g/ Regular repair, overhaul and procurement of assets, machinery or equipment directly used for customs clearance and customs fee collection;

h/ Expenses for transmission, receipt and processing of e-customs data; partial payment of expenses to procure machinery or equipment for customs clearance modernization.

2.3. Customs fee collecting agencies may use customs fee stamps with par value under current regulations for fee collection.

2.4. Annually, provincial-level Customs Departments shall summarize fees collected by units and estimate customs fee revenues and spending needs for the performance of their tasks and incorporate such estimates in their annual state budget revenue-expenditure estimates, then send them to the General Department of Customs for evaluation and incorporation in its annual state budget revenue-expenditure estimates to be further sent to the Ministry of Finance.

2.5. All customs fee revenues and expenditures shall be accounted under regulations of the State Budget Index. Annual finalization of customs fee revenues and expenditures shall be made simultaneously with annual state budget finalization reports to be sent to superior agencies under regulations. Customs fee amounts which have not yet been used up in a year may be carried forward to the subsequent year for investment in the customs service's physical foundations and modernization.

Article 4. Organization of implementation

1. This Circular takes effect on January 1, 2011, and supersedes the Ministry of Finance's Circular No. 43/2009HT-BTC of March 9, 2009, providing for rates, collection, remittance, management and use of customs fees.

2. The Minister of Finance shall guide the regulations on management and use of customs fees.

3. Other matters related to the collection, remittance, management and use of customs fees which are not guided in this Circular comply with the Finance Ministry's Circular No. 63/2002/TT- BTC of July 24.2002. guiding the law on charges and fees, and Circular No. 45/200G/TT-13TC of May 25, 2006, amending and supplementing Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC of July 24, 2002 and Circular No. 60/2007/TT-BTC of June 14, 2007, guiding the Government's Decree No. 85/ 2007/ND-CP of May 25, 2007, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Tax Administration.

4. In the course of implementation of this Circular, any arising problems should be reported to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and additional guidance.

TABLE OF CUSTOMS FEE RATES
(Attached to the Ministry of Finance's Circular No. 172/2010/TT-BTC of November 2, 2010)

Notes:

1. The customs clearance fee will be collected only once when import procedures are carried out for goods temporarily imported for re-export or temporarily exported for re-import: and when warehousing procedures arc carried out for goods kept in bonded warehouses, but not collected upon ex-warehousing.

2. The customs clearance fee will not be collected for means of transport which regularly move cross the borders and arc managed by monitoring books or computers, not by declaration forms.

3. For road vehicles which arc temporarily imported for re-export or temporarily exported for re-import, the customs clearance fee will be collected only once when import procedures are carried out, and not collected upon export.

4. The customs clearance fee will be collected only once when entry procedures are carried out at border gates of importation for means of transport in transit, and not collected upon exit.

5. Time limits for fee payment are specified as follows:

a/ The customs clearance fee shall be paid before customs offices' certification of "customs clearance completion". For nonresident enterprises, to collect customs fee by sticking stamps on declaration forms.

b/ The customs clearance fee for goods or means of transport in transit shall be paid immediately upon clearing customs procedures for such goods or means of transport:

Entities that conduct regular import and export activities (regardless of form of import and export) may choose to declare and pay fees monthly: within the first 10 days of the subsequent month, they shall fully pay the previous month's fee amounts under regulations, or pay fees in person or by account transfer. Entities paying customs fee monthly shall pay by having stamps stuck on their declaration forms in case payable fees are small. Entities carrying out e-customs procedures shall pay fees within the time limits under the Finance Ministry's regulations on e-customs procedures for imports and exports.

6. Customs fees are collected in Vietnam dong. In case payers wish to pay customs fees in a foreign currency, such fees may be collected in a freely convertible foreign currency, with Vietnam dong amounts converted into this currency at the average exchange rate on the inter-bank foreign currency market announced by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of fee collection. In case the average exchange rate of a certain foreign currency on the inter-bank foreign currency market is unavailable, the exchange rate of such foreign currency shall be determined based on the cross exchange rates between US dollar and Vietnam dong and between US dollar and such foreign currency which are announced by the Stale Bank of Vietnam at the time of fee collection.-