CIRCULAR

GUIDING THE IMPLEME-NTATION OF DECREE No. 15/1998/ND-CP OF MARCH 12, 1998 OF THE GOVERNMENT PROMULGATING VIETNAM'S 1998 LIST OF GOODS TO IMPLEMENT THE AGREEMENT ON THE COMMON EFFECTIVE PRE-FERENTIAL TARIFF (CEPT) OF THE ASEAN COUNTRIES

In furtherance of the Protocol on the participation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) for the building of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), concluded on December 15, 1995 in Bangkok;

In furtherance of Decree No. 15/1998/ND-CP of March 12, 1998 of the Government promulgating Vietnam's 1998 list of goods for the implementation of the Agreement on the Common Effective Prefential Tariff (CEPT) of the ASEAN countries;

The Ministry of Finance hereby provides the following implementation guidance:

I. THE SCOPE OF APPLICATION

Import goods eligible for the preferential tax rates under the CEPT as defined in Article 1 of Decree No. 15/1998/ND-CP of March 12, 1998 of the Government must meet the following conditions:

1. Being on the list of goods promulgated together with Decree No. 15/1998/ND-CP of March 12, 1998 of the Government;

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3. Meeting the CEPT criteria on the original content and having certificates of origin of goods from ASEAN countries;

Organizations and/or individuals importing goods items defined in Point 1 above shall have to submit to customs offices the certificates of ASEAN origins of goods - Form D issued by the competent governmental agencies of the exporting countries.

At present, the agencies competent to issue certificates of ASEAN origins of goods - Form D of the ASEAN countries are identified as follows:

In Brunei: the Ministry of Industry and Natural Resources;

In Indonesia: the Ministry of Trade;

In Laos: the Foreign Trade Department under the Ministry of Trade;

In Malaysia: the Ministry of Trade and Industry;

In Myanmar: the Department of Trade under the Ministry of Trade;

In the Philippines: the Customs Office;

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In Thailand: the Department of Trade Preferences under the Ministry of Trade;

In Vietnam: the Ministry of Trade.

Each certificate of ASEAN origin of goods - Form D shall be issued in four copies, including one original (copy No. 1, in light purple) and three duplicates (copies No.2, 3 and 4, in orange).

The original and duplicate No.3 shall be delivered by the exporter to the importer before being produced to the customs office at the places where the goods are imported.

4. Being sent directly to Vietnam from the exporting country(ies) which is (are) ASEAN member(s).

The goods which are transported in accordance with principle No. 5 of the Regulation on goods origins applicable to the CEPT Agreement (Appendix 1) and Vietnam's Regulation on the issue of certificates of ASEAN origins of goods, issued together with Decision No.416/TM-DB of May 13, 1996 of the Ministry of Trade, shall be considered goods sent directly to Vietnam from the exporting country(ies) which is(are) ASEAN member(s).

II. TAX TARIFFS

The import tax rates applicable to import goods which are eligible for the CEPT preferential tax rates under the conditions prescribed in Part I of this Circular shall be the ones specified in the list of goods promulgated together with Decree No.15/1998/ND-CP of March 12, 1998 of the Government.

For import goods which fail to fully meet the conditions prescribed in Part I of this Circular, the tax rates specified in Vietnam's current Import Tariff (ordinary) shall apply.

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- In cases where certain amendments and/or supplements make tax rates of the Import Tariff lower than the CEPT preferential tax rates, the tax rates of the Import Tariff (ordinary) shall apply;

- For other amendments and/or supplements, tax rates specified in the list of goods promulgated together with Decree No. 15/1998/ND-CP of March 12, 1998 of the Government shall apply.

III. CHECKING OF CERTIFICATES OF ORIGIN

In case of suspicion of the truthfulness and accuracy of the certificates of ASEAN origins of goods - Form D, the customs office shall have the right to:

- Request the re-examination of the certificates of ASEAN origins of goods - Form D. The customs office shall send its dispatches to the organizations competent to issue such certificates of origin in the exporting countries, requesting the verification.

- Suspend the application of CEPT preferential tax rates specified in the list of goods issued together with Decree No.15/1998/ND-CP of March 12, 1998 of the Government and apply the tax rates specified in the current Import Tariff (ordinary).

- Request the concerned importers to provide more documents (if any) to prove that their goods actually originate from the ASEAN member countries, within 01 (one) year.

Pending the re-examination results, the procedures for goods clearance shall still be carried out, provided that such goods are not banned or restricted from import under the current regulations.

When the customs offices fully acquires the documents evidencing that the goods actually have the ASEAN origin, the difference between the import tax amount already collected at the tax rates in the Import Tariff (ordinary) and that at the CEPT preferential tax rates specified in the list of goods issued together with Decree No.15/1998/ND-CP of March 12, 1998 of the Government shall be reimbursed to the importers by the customs office.

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IV. OTHER REGULATIONS

The regulations on tax calculation basis; the regime of tax payment and collection, accounting of tax amounts and reports on the result of tax payment and collection; the regime of import tax exemption and reduction; the regime of tax reimbursement, collection of tax arrears and handling of violations shall comply with the provisions of the Law on Export Tax and Import Tax and the current guiding documents.

V. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

This Circular takes effect from January 1st, 1998 and shall apply to all cases of goods importation from the ASEAN countries with import goods declarations registered with the customs office as from January 1st, 1998.

For goods eligible for the CEPT preferential tax rates under the effect of Decree No. 15/1998/ND-CP of March 12, 1998 of the Government, for which the import tax has been collected at the tax rates of the Import Tariff (ordinary), the customs office shall check the dossiers thereof and reimburse the tax difference (if any) between the import tax amount already collected at the tax rates of the Import Tariff (ordinary) and that at the CEPT preferential tax rates applicable to the importers.

This Circular replaces Circular No. 16-TC/TCT of March 5, 1996 and Circular No. 13-TC/TCT of March 28, 1997 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 91-CP of December 18, 1995 and Decree No. 82-CP of December 13, 1996 of the Government promulgating the 1996 and 1997 lists of goods for the implementation of the Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) of the ASEAN countries.

Any difficulties and problems arising in the course of implementation shall be promptly reported by the concerned units and agencies to the Ministry of Finance for study and appropriate additional guidance.

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