Phần II: Thông tư 128/2013/TT-BTC Thủ tục hải quan; kiểm tra, giám sát hải quan; quản lý thuế đối với hàng hoá xuất khẩu, nhập khẩu thương mại

Part II

CUSTOMS PROCEDURES, CUSTOMS SUPERVISION, CUSTOMS INSPECTION, AND ADMINISTRATION OF TAX ON COMMERCIAL EXPORTS AND IMPORTS 

Chapter I

GENERAL GUIDANCE ON CUSTOMS PROCEDURES AND TAX ADMINISTRATION

Article 6. Commercial exports and imports

Commercial exports and imports include:

1. Goods exported and imported under sale contracts;

2. Goods temporarily imported for re-export (hereinafter referred to as temporarily imported goods);

3. Goods in transit;

4. Goods exported or imported as raw materials for export production;

5. Goods exported or imported to execute processing contracts with foreign traders;

6. Goods exported or imported to serve project execution;

7. Goods exported or imported across the border under regulations of the Prime Minister on management of border trading with bordering countries;

8. Commercial exports and imports of organizations and individuals that are not traders;

9. Exported goods and imported goods of export processing companies;

10. Goods moved in and out of tax-suspension warehouse;

11. Goods that are temporarily imported or temporarily exported for exhibition;

12. Machinery and equipment for making moulds or models that are temporarily imported or temporarily exported to serve construction, execution of projects, testing, research.

Article 7. Prior determination of HS codes of exported goods and imported goods (hereinafter referred to as prior determination of HS codes)

1. Prior determination of HS codes of exported goods and imported goods shall be carried out before the customs procedure is initiated at the request of the applicant.

2. The application for prior determination of HS codes consists of:

a) The written request for prior determination of HS codes (the form No. 01/XĐTMS/2013 Appendix III to this Circular): 01 original copy;

b) The contract with the foreign party to sell the goods being applied for prior determination of HS codes: 01 photocopy;  

c) Technical document describing in details the composition, properties, structure, features, and operation of the goods: 01 original copy;

d) The catalogue or image of the goods: 01 photocopy;

dd) Goods samples if requested by the customs authority;

e) The manifest of documents in the application for prior determination of HS codes: 01 original copy.

3. Procedure for prior determination of HS codes:

a) The applicant for prior determination of HS codes shall:

a.1) Complete the form of application for prior determination of HS codes (the form No. 01/XĐTMS/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular)

a.2) Submit the sufficient application for prior determination of HS codes specified in Clause 2 of this Article to the Customs Department of the province or city where customs procedures are follow at least 90 days before the date of export or import;

a.3) Provide information and documents to clarify the application for prior determination of HS codes to the Customs Department of the province (hereinafter referred to as Customs Department) or the General Department of Customs at their request;

a.4) Notice the Customs Department within 10 days if any change in the goods is made, specifying the reasons and date of such change.

a.5) Request the General Department of Customs to grant an extension of the notification of result of prior determination of HS codes when it expires, provided the information, documents, goods samples and laws related to prior determination of HS codes are not changed.

b) The customs authority:

Based on the law, database about goods classification, tax imposed by the customs authority, and the application for prior determination of HS codes, the customs authority shall:  

b.1) The Customs Department shall check the application and:

b.1.1) Send the applicant a written notification of refusal of prior determination of HS codes within 05 working days from the day on which the application is received if the sale contract is not directly executed by the applicant;

b.1.2) Request the applicant to provide additional information, evidence, or documents within 05 working days from the day on which the application is received if the sale contract is directly executed by the applicant but the application for prior determination of HS codes or information in the application form is not sufficient;

b.1.3) If the sale contract is directly executed by the applicant and the application is sufficient, within 05 working days the Customs Department shall send the General Department of Customs the suggested HS codes of the goods, the reasons, the basis and the application for prior determination of HS codes submitted by the applicant.

b.1.4) While considering the suggested HS codes of the goods, if the information in the documents is consistent but the analysis or verification of goods is necessary for determination of goods characteristics, the Customs Department shall send a request the provision of goods samples in writing. The sample shall be sent for analysis or verification in accordance with Clause 8 and Clause 9 Article 17 of this Circular.

Within 05 working days from the day on which the analysis or verification result is given, the Customs Department shall send the General Department of Customs the suggested HS codes, the reasons, and the application for prior determination of HS codes submitted by the applicant together with the notice of verification or analysis results.

The application and result shall be updated on the database about goods application and taxation of the customs authority.

b.2) The General Department of Customs shall check the application and suggestion of the Customs Department, then:

b.2.1) The Director of the General Department of Customs shall send a written notification of the result of prior determination of HS codes (the form No. 02/TB-XĐTMS/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular) within 25 working days from the day on which the sufficient documents sent by the Customs Department is received (for usual goods) or within 90 working days from the day on which sufficient documents are received (if the goods need analyzing, certifying, or are complicated). The written notification of the result of prior determination of HS codes (hereinafter referred to as notification of HS codes)shall be sent to the applicant, the Customs Department, updated on the database of the customs authority, and posted on the website of the General Department of Customs;

b.2.2) If the information or basis for prior determination of HS codes is not sufficient, within 05 days from the day on which sufficient documents sent by the Customs Department are received, the General Department of Customs shall request the applicant in writing to provide additional information or documents.

The time limit for processing the application begins when the General Department of Customs receives sufficient information and documents from the applicant.

b.2.3) If verification must be carried out by the foreign authority, the time limit for verification shall comply with the agreement signed with the foreign party. The time limit for processing the application begins when the General Department of Customs receives the verification result given by the foreign authority.

4. Validity of the notification of HS codes:

a) The notification of HS codes is not effective if the actual goods being exported or imported are not consistent with the goods stated in the application.

b) The notification of HS codes is valid for no more than 03 year from the day on which it is signed by the Director of the General Department of Customs.

c) After the 03-year period, if the information, documents, goods samples, and basis for issuing the notification of HS codes are not changed, the General Department of Customs shall consider granting an extension of the notification of HS codes at the request of the applicant.

d) The Director of the General Department of Customs shall amend or replace the notification of HS codes (the form No. 03/TT-XĐTMS/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular) if the notification is found improper. The amendment or replacement of the notification of HS codes takes effect from the day on which it is signed.

dd) The notification of HS codes expires when the law being the basis for issuing the notification of HS codes is amended or superseded. The expiration date is the day on which the amendment or replacement of law being the basis for issuing the notification of HS codes takes effect.

e) The Director of the General Department of Customs shall invalidate the notification of HS codes if documents in the application for prior determination of HS codes are found inaccurate or untruthful.

5. The notification of HS codes is the basis for stating HS codes on the customs declaration and shall be submitted together with the customs dossier (01 photocopy) when following customs procedures.  

6.  The applicant shall send a petition to the Ministry of Finance if the applicant does not concur with the decision made by the Director of the General Department of Customs.

Article 8. Prior determination of value of exported goods and imported goods (hereinafter referred to as prior determination of value)

1. Conditions for prior determination of value

a) The method for determining the taxable prices, additions, deductions of exported goods and imported goods shall be determined in advance if the applicant that requests the prior determination of value has not exported or imported the exact same goods.

b) Apart from satisfying the conditions in Point a of this Clause, the applicant for prior certification of prices must:

b.1) Have engaged in export and import for at least 365 days up to the day on which the application for prior determination of value is submitted. Within the 365-day period, the application must:

b.1.1) Not be present in the list of entities penalized for smuggling across the border made by the customs authority;

b.1.2) Not be present in the list of entities penalized for tax evasion or tax fraud pertaining to export and import made by customs authority;

b.2) Have made payment via bank by opening L/C for all exported or imported goods under the sale contract that, which are applied for prior determination of value.

b.3) Deliver goods under the sale contract all at once.

2. The application for prior determination of value:

a) The application for prior certification of taxable value consists of:

a.1) 01 original copy of the written request for prior determination of value (the form No. 04XĐTMS/2013 Appendix III to this Circular);

a.2) 01 photocopy of the sale contract that is directly executed by the applicant according to Clause 1 Article 2 of the Circular No. 205/2010/TT-BTC dated October 15, 2010 of the Ministry of Finance;

a.3) 01 photocopy of every technical documents, image or catalogue;

a.4) 01 photocopy of the every document appropriate for the application for prior determination of value, such as:

a.4.1) For imported goods:

- The documents proving that special relationships do not affect the value;

- Documents related to the amounts paid by the buyers that are not included in purchase prices on the invoice;

- Documents related to the additions

- Documents related to the deductions;

- Other documents related to the goods applied for prior determination of value (if any).

a.4.2) For exported goods:

- Relevant documents when the actual sale prices that are not FOB or DAF prices at the checkpoint of export;

- Other documents related to the goods applied for prior determination of value (if any).

a.5) 01 original copy of every document.

b) Apart from the documents mentioned in Point a of this Clause, the application for prior certification of prices must contain 01 photocopy of every receipt of payment via bank by opening L/C of all goods under the sale contract.

3. Procedure for prior determination of value

a) The applicant shall:

a.1) Fill the application form for prior determination of value (the form No. 04/XĐTTG/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

a.2)  Submit the sufficient application for prior determination of value as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article to the Customs Department where they intend to follow the customs procedures at least 90 days before the export or import;

a.3) Provide documents and discuss with the Customs Department or the General Department of Customs at their request in order to clarify the request for prior determination of value.

a.4) Send a written notification to the Customs Department within 10 days from the day on which a change to the goods stated in the application submitted to the customs authority is made, specifying the change, reasons, and date of change.

a.5) Request the General Department of Customs to grant an extension of the notification of result of prior determination of value when it expires, provided the information, documents, and laws being the basis for the issuance of the notification are not changed.

b) For the customs authority:

Based on the laws, database about values of the customs authority, and the application for prior determination of value, the customs authority shall:

b.1) The Customs Department shall check the application and:

b.1.1) If the conditions for prior determination of value specified in Clause 1 of this Article are not satisfied, or the sale contract is not directly executed by the applicant, the Customs Department shall send the applicant a written notification of refusal of prior determination of value within 05 working days from the day on which the application is received;

b.1.2) If the conditions for prior determination of value mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article are satisfied, the sale contract is directly executed by the applicant, but the application or information in the application is not sufficient, the Customs Department shall send request the applicant in writing to provide additional information, evidence and documents within 06 working days from the day on which the application is received;

b.1.3) If the conditions for prior determination of value specified in Clause 1 of this Article are satisfied, or the sale contract is directly executed by the applicant, and the application is sufficient, the Customs Department shall submit a written request to the General Department of Customs for consideration together with the whole application for prior determination of value. The written request sent to the General Department of Customs must specify the suggestions and the basis for such suggestions.

The documents and result shall be updated on the value database of the customs authority.

b.2) The General Department of Customs shall check the application and suggestion of the Customs Department, then:

b.2.1) The Director of the General Department of Customs shall issue a notification of result of prior determination of value (the form No. 05/TB-XĐTTG/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular) within 25 working days from the day on which the all documents are sent by Customs Department are received (in an ordinary case) or within 90 working days from the day on which all documents are received (if the case in complicated and needs verifying).  The notification of result of prior determination of value (hereinafter referred to as notification of value) shall be sent to the applicant, the Customs Department, updated on the database of the customs authority, and posted on the website of the General Department of Customs.

b.2.2) While processing the application for prior determination of value, if information or documents in the application must be clarify, the General Department of Customs shall request the applicant to participate in a consultation. If the basis or information is inadequate, within 05 working days from the day on which sufficient documents are received from the Customs Department, the General Department of Customs shall request the applicant in writing to provide additional information or documents.

The time limit for processing the application for prior determination of value begins when the General Department of Customs receives sufficient information and documents provided by the applicant.

b.2.3) If verification must be carried out by the foreign authority, the time limit for verification shall comply with the agreement signed with the foreign party. The time limit for processing the application for prior determination of value begins when the General Department of Customs receives the verification result.

4. The validity of the notification of value

a) The notification of result of prior determination of value is not effective if the actual goods being exported or imported are not consistent with the goods stated in the application, or the application for prior determination of value is changed.

b) Validity of the notification of value:

b.1) For prior certification of method for taxable value determination: the notification of value is valid for no more than 03 years from the day on which it is signed by Director of the General Department of Customs.

b.2) For prior certification of prices: the notification of value is valid for the shipments that need prior certification of prices.

c) When the notification of value expires, Director of the General Department of Customs shall consider granting an extension of the notification at the request of the applicant if the information, documents and basis for issuing the notification are not changed.

d) The Director of the General Department of Customs shall amends or supersedes the notification of value in writing (the form No. 06/TT-XĐTTG/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular) when the notification is found improper. The amendment or replacement of the notification of value takes effect on its issuance date.

dd) The notification of value expires when the laws being the basis for its issuance are changed. The expiration date is the date on which the amendment of the law being the basis for issuing the notification of value takes effect.

e) The Director of the General Department of Customs shall annul the notification of value in writing if the application is found inaccurate or untruthful.

5. The notification of value is the basis for making the taxable value declaration, and submitted together with the customs dossier (01 photocopy) when following customs procedures.

6. The applicant shall send a petition to the Ministry of Finance if the applicant does not concur with the decision made by the Director of the General Department of Customs.

Article 9. Prior certification of origins

1. The prior certification of origins is applicable to imported goods.

2. An application for prior certification of origins consists of:

a) 01 original copy of the written request for prior certification of origins (the form No. 07/XĐXX/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

b) 01 original copy of manifest of raw materials used for the manufactures of goods including the information such as names, codes of goods, origins of raw materials, composition of the products, CIF prices or equivalent prices of raw materials based on the information provided by the manufacturer or exporter;

c) 01 photocopy of the description of the production process or the certificate of composition analysis issued by the manufacturer;

d) The catalogue or image of the goods: 01 photocopy;

dd) Goods samples if requested by the General Department of Customs;

3. Procedure for prior certification of origins:

a) The applicant for prior certification of origins shall:

a) The written request for prior certification of origins (the form No. 07/XĐXX/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular).

a.2) Submit the application for prior certification of origins specified in Clause 2 of this Article to the Customs Department where customs procedures are follow at least 90 days before the date of import;

a.3) Provide  additional information and documents to clarify the application for prior certification of origins to the Customs Department or the General Department of Customs at their request;

a.4) Send a written notification to the Customs Department or the General Department of Customs within 10 days if any change to the application for prior certification of origins is made, specifying the date of change.

b) The customs authority:

Based on the law, database about goods classification, tax imposed by the customs authority, and the application for prior certification of origins, the customs authority shall:

b.1) The Customs Department shall check the application and:

b.1.1) If the application or information in the application for prior certification of origins is not sufficient, the Customs Department shall request to applicant in writing to provide additional information, evidence and documents within 05 working days from the day on which the app is received;

b.1.2) If the application is sufficient, the Customs Department shall send the General Department of Customs a written request for consideration together with the application for prior certification of origins within 05 working days from the day on which the sufficient application is received;

b.1.3) While following the customs procedure for import, the Customs Department shall check and compare information on request for prior certification of origins to the actual imported goods. If the imported goods are not consistent with the notification of prior certification of origins, the Customs Department shall request the General Department of Customs to annuls the notification of prior certification of origins as guided in Point b Clause 4 of this Article, and inspect the origins as prescribed in Point e Clause 2 Article 16 of this Circular.

b.2) The General Department of Customs shall check the application and suggestion of the Customs Department, then:

b.2.1) The Director of the General Department of Customs shall issue a notification of prior certification of origins (the form No. 08/TBXĐXX/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular) within 25 working days from the day on which the sufficient documents sent by the Customs Department are received (for usual goods) or within 90 working days from the day on which sufficient documents are received (if verification of information about the manufacturer, the market, origins of raw materials, geographical characteristics, technology, result of verification, analysis, classification is necessary). The notification of prior certification of origins shall be sent to the applicant, the Customs Department, updated on the database of the customs authority, and posted on the website of the General Department of Customs;

b.2.1) If the information for prior certification of origins is not sufficient, or goods samples are necessary for prior certification of origins, the General Department of Customs shall request the applicant in writing to provide additional information, documents or goods samples within 05 working days from the day on which the application is received from the Customs Department.

The time limit for processing the application for prior certification of origins begins when the General Department of Customs receives additional documents.

b.2.3) If verification must be carried out by the foreign authority, the time limit for processing the application for prior certification of origins shall comply with relevant International Agreements;

b.2.4) If the applicant for prior certification of origins fails to provide sufficient information, the General Department of Customs shall reject the prior certification of origins and send a written notification (the form No. 09/CDHL-XĐXX/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular).

4. Validity of the notification of prior certification of origins:

b) The notification of prior certification of origins of imported goods is valid for no more than 03 year from the day on which it is signed by the Director of the General Department of Customs, and only be used for the goods, manufacturer and exporter in the application.

b) Annulment of the notification of prior certification of origins:

The Director of the General Department of Customs shall annul the notification of prior certification of origins in one of the cases below:

b.1) Relevant legislative documents are amended.

b.2) The criteria for assessing origins of goods are changed.

b.3) The prior certification of origins and actual origins of goods are inconsistent.

b.4)  The applicant provides false information.

5. Using the notification of prior certification of origins:

b) The notification prior certification of origins is used for declaring origins and following customs procedures.

b) The notification of prior certification of origins is not used for claiming preferential tax rates.

The prior certification of origins and application of preferential tax rates for goods imported under Free Trade Agreements to which Vietnam is a signatory shall comply with such Agreements.

6. The applicant shall send a petition to the Ministry of Finance if the applicant does not concur with the notification of prior certification of origins issued by the Director of the General Department of Customs.

Article 10. Checking goods before making customs declaration

The checking of goods before making the customs declaration according to Point b Clause 1 Article 23 of the Law on Customs shall be carried out as follows:

1. The goods owner shall submit send an application for checking goods before initiating the customs procedures to the goods holder, and notify the Sub-department of customs for supervision.

2. The goods checking must be approved by the goods holder and under the supervision of the customs authority.

3. Before checking the goods, the goods holder shall make a certification, which is confirmed by the goods holder, goods owner, and supervising customs officer. Each party shall keep 01 copy.

4. After the goods are checked by the goods owner, the customs shall seal the goods. If goods cannot be sealed, the certification mentioned in Clause 3 of this Article must specify the condition of goods and that the goods holder is responsible for protecting the status quo of goods.

Article 11. Customs declaration

1. The customs declaration (including tax statement during customs procedures) shall be made in accordance with the form provided by the Ministry of Finance.

2. The goods that are exported or imported in different forms must be stated on separate corresponding declarations.

3. The customs declaration of imported goods shall be made before or within 30 days from the day on which the goods arrive at the border checkpoint. The arrival date of goods at the border checkpoint is the date on stamp of the customs authority appended on the manifest of imported goods at the unloading port in the dossier of imported vehicle (by sea, by air, by rail) or the date written in the declaration of vehicles moving across the border, or the vehicle logbook (by river, by road).

4. Customs declaration of goods under multiple contracts/orders

a) Imported goods that have multiple contracts/orders, one or multiple invoices of the same seller, the same delivery conditions, the same method of payment, are delivered at the same time, have the same bill of lading shall be stated in the same customs declaration.

b) Imported goods that have multiple contracts/orders, the same delivery conditions, method of payment, are sold to the same customer and delivered at the same time shall be stated in the same customs declaration.

c) When making the customs declaration, the declarant shall write the numbers and dates of contracts/orders on the customs declaration. If the declaration sheet is not spacious enough to list every one, a manifest shall be enclosed with the customs declaration. Only the total amount goods of all contracts/order shall be written on the declaration.

5. For the goods that are imported in multiple forms, have the same bill of lading, invoice, stated on separate declarations corresponding to each form, the original documents shall be enclosed to a customs declaration; the documents enclosed with other customs declarations are photocopies. The photocopies shall specify ”Original copies are attached to the customs declaration No. … dated … “

6. If exported and imported goods eligible for tax reduction and/or preferential tax rates, the original tax rate before reduction, the reduction and/or preferential tax rate, and the documents on these must be specified.

7. Responsibility of the declarant, the tax payer for making customs declaration and using goods in accordance with the declaration:

a) Fill the declaration accurately, present and submit all necessary documents prescribed by law, provide the criteria for considering tax calculation, tax exemption, tax reduction, tax refund, cancellation of export tax, import tax, excise tax, VAT, environmental protection tax (except for the tax on goods that are not subject to tax);

a) Calculate the tax payable, exempted, considered, reduced, refunded, or cancelled, and take responsibility before the law for such calculation; state the tax payable on a remittance bill for every tax of the customs declaration.

8. If exported goods and imported goods that are not subject to export tax, import tax, excise tax, VAT, environmental protection tax, or eligible for exemption of export tax, import tax, preferential tax rates, incentives, tariff quota, but the subject of tax exemption, the purpose of tax exemption, preferential tax rates or incentives are changed, or the goods are raw materials imported for producing exports, or the goods temporarily imported for re-export are sold to the domestic market:

a) The taxpayer shall issue a notification of the quantity, quality, types, numbers, values, origins of the goods that are used for other purposes or sold to the domestic market;

b) Within 10 days from the day on which the request for permission for change of purpose or domestic sale is received, the customs authority shall make a written response;

After the customs authority approves the change of use purpose or domestic sale, the taxpayer shall declare and pay tax in accordance with Clause 1 Article 96 of this Circular on the new customs declaration.

c) If the taxpayer is found changing the use purpose or sell goods to the domestic market without declaring or paying tax, the foreign shall pay the tax payable according to the declaration of imported goods and carry fines. The taxpayer shall pay the tax arrears, late payment interest and fines (if any) under the decision made by the customs authority.

9. The conditions and procedure for changing the use purpose or selling the goods mentioned in Clause 8 of this Article to the domestic market shall comply with Article 39, Article 41, Article 43, Article 52, Article 53, and Article 55 of this Circular.

Article 12. Customs dossier

1. While following the customs procedure for exporting goods, the declarant shall submit the customs dossier to the customs, including:

a) 02 original copies of the customs declaration;

b) 01 photocopy of the sale contract, export entrustment contract (if export is entrusted) of the exported goods subject to export tax, exported goods eligible for tax refund or tax cancellation;

c) 01 photocopy of the export invoice of exported goods that incur export tax;

d) 01 photocopy of the manifest of goods if the goods consist of multiple categories or inconsistently packaged;

dd) In the cases below, the declarant might need to submit:

dd.1) The export license if the goods must have the export license as prescribed by law: 01 original copy if goods are export all at once, or 01 photocopy enclosed with the original for comparison if goods are exported several times, and make a monitoring slip.

dd.2) Other documents requested by relevant Ministries and agencies;

dd.3) If goods are eligible for exemption of export tax, the documents below are necessary apart from the documents mentioned above:

dd.3.1) The notice of successful bid or contractor appointment enclosed with the contract to supply goods, specifying the successful bid or sale prices exclusive of export tax (if the bidder wins the bid for the export contract); the entrusted import contract specifying the sale prices exclusive of export tax (if the export is entrusted): 01 photocopy. The original copy shall be presented in the first export at the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure is carried out for comparison.

dd.3.2) Other papers proving that the exported goods are eligible for tax exemption: submit 01 photocopy and present the original copy;

dd.4) The notification of prior determination of HS codes or customs value (if any): 01 photocopy.

2. While following the customs procedure for importing, the declarant shall submit the customs dossier to the customs, including:

a) 02 original copies of the customs declaration;

b) 01 photocopy of the sale contract;

c) 01 photocopy of the commercial invoice;

d) 01 photocopy of the manifest of goods if the goods consist of multiple categories or inconsistently packaged;

dd) 01 photocopy of the bill of lading or other equivalent transport documents as prescribed by law (except for the goods mentioned in Clause 7 Article 6 of this Circular, the goods traded between free trade zones and the domestic area, the imported goods in luggage).

For goods imported by international post, if the bill of lading is not available, the declarant shall write the number of the package on the customs declaration, or submit the list of packages made by the post office.

If goods imported for petroleum exploration and extraction are loaded onto service ships (not commercial ships), the cargo manifest shall be submitted instead of the bill of lading.

e) In the cases below, the declarant shall submit or present:

e.1) 01 original copy of the certificate of inspection registration or the notice of exemption from inspection or the notice of inspection result of an organization appointed to carry out quality inspection, the food safety authority, or quarantine authority if the imported goods are in the list of goods that need undergoing food safety inspection or quarantine;

e.2) 01 original copy of the certificate of verification if the goods are granted customs clearance based on verification result;

e.3) 02 original copies of the declaration of imported goods value if the declaration of value is compulsory according to the Decision No. 30/2008/QĐ-BTC dated May 21, 2008 of the Minister of Finance on the issuance of declarations of dutiable values of exported goods and imported goods and guidance on declaration, the Circular No. 182/2012/TT-BTC dated October 25, 2012 of the Minister of Finance on amendments to the Circular No. 30/2008/QĐ-BTC;

e.4) The import license if the goods must have an import license; the license to import under tariff quota as prescribed by law: 01 original copy if goods are imported all at once, or photocopies enclosed with the original for comparison when goods are imported many times, and make a monitoring slip;

e.5) 01 original copy of the Certificate of Origin (C/O) in the following cases:

e.5.1) The goods made in a country or group of countries that concluded agreements on preferential tax rates with Vietnam (except for the imported goods of which the FOB price does not exceed 200 USD) in accordance with Vietnam’s law and the International Agreements to which Vietnam is a signatory, if the importer wishes to enjoy such incentives;

e.5.2) The goods that are imported from the countries that pose threats to the social safety, health of the people or environmental hygiene, and need controlling;

e.5.3) The goods are imported from the countries that apply anti-dumping tax, anti-subsidy tax, anti-discrimination tax, protection tax, or tax rates under tariff quota;

e.5.1) The import goods must comply with the regulations on import management in accordance with Vietnam’s law or bilateral or multilateral International Agreements to which Vietnam is a signatory.

The C/O submitted to the customs must not be changed or replaced, unless it is changed or replaced by a competent organization by a deadline prescribed by law.

e.6) The goods eligible for import tax exemption mentioned in Article 100 of this Circular must have:

 e.6.1) The list of tax-free goods enclosed with the monitoring slip registered with the customs if the list registration is compulsory according to Clause 1 Article 101 of this Circular: 01 photocopy enclosed with the original for comparison;

e.6.2) The notice of successful bid or contractor appointment enclosed with the sale contract or goods supply contract that specifies the successful bid or sale price exclusive of import tax (if the applicant wins the bid for the import contract); the import entrustment contract, the service contract that specify sale prices exclusive of import tax (if the import or service provision is entrusted); the finance lease contract (if the finance lease company imports machinery, equipment or vehicles to serve the project eligible for finance lease incentives): 01 photocopy. The original copy shall be presented in the first import at the sub-department of customs for comparison;

e.6.3) 01 photocopy of the paper related to the transfer of goods eligible for tax exemption if the goods of an entity eligible for tax exemption are transferred to another entity eligible for tax exemption;

e.6.4) 01 photocopy of the certificate of eligibility to open duty-free shop if the goods are imported and sold at a duty-free shop;

e.6.5) Other papers proving the eligibility for tax exemption of the imported goods;

e.7) 01 original copy of the declaration of non-refundable aid of a finance authority according to the Circular No. 225/2010/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2010 of the Ministry of Finance on the state management of foreign non-refundable aid classified as government revenues if the goods are non-refundable aid that is not subject to import tax, excise tax, VAT;

If the owner or main contractor of the project funded by non-refundable ODA is not subject to export tax, import tax, VAT, excise tax according to legislation on taxation, it is compulsory to have the notice of successful bid or contractor appointment together with the goods supply contract that specifies the successful bid or sale prices exclusive of import tax, VAT, excise duty (if the applicant wins the bid for the import contract); the import entrustment contract that specifies the sale prices exclusive of import tax, VAT, excise duty: 01 photocopy enclosed with the original for comparison.

e.8) The notice of successful bids or contractor appointment (specifying the contents) enclosed with the contract to sell goods to export processing companies in accordance with the bidding result or goods supply contract, which specifies the successful bid or sale prices exclusive of import tax, excise duty, VAT on goods that are not subject to import tax, excise duty, or VAT (if any) to serve the construction of workshops and offices of the export processing companies.

e.9) The certificate of animal breed or plant variety registration issued by state agencies if the animal breeds or plant varieties are not subject to from VAT: 01 photocopy enclosed with the original for comparison;

e.10) For the goods not subject to VAT being machinery, equipment, supplies that cannot be manufactured at home and need importing to serve scientific research, technological development; the machinery, equipment, spare parts, specialized vehicles, and supplies that cannot be manufactured at home and need importing to serve petroleum exploration and extraction; airplanes, oil rigs, and ships that cannot be manufactured at home and are imported or hired from abroad to form fixed assets of companies, or to serve production, business, or lease back, it is compulsory to have:

e.10.1) The notice of successful bid or contractor appointment and the sale contract or goods supply contract or service contract, which specifies the payment exclusive of import tax) if the goods are not subject to VAT and imported by the bid winner or appointed contractor or service provider: 01 photocopy. The original copy shall be presented in the first import at the sub-department of customs for comparison;

e.10.2) The import entrustment contract that specifies the sale prices exclusive of VAT: 01 photocopy enclosed with the original for comparison;

e.10.3) The document of a competent authority that appoints other organizations to run scientific research programs/projects or execute science and technology contracts, enclosed with a written certification of the representative of the company or the head of the scientific research agency, and the commitment to directly use the imported goods for scientific research, technological development if the imported goods are meant to serve scientific research and technology development: submit 01 original copy;

e.10.4) The certification and commitment made by the representative of the company to use the imported machinery, equipment, spare parts, specialized vehicles that cannot be produced at home to serve petroleum exploration and extraction: submit 01 original copy;

e.10.5) The certification and commitment of the representative of the company to use the airplanes, oil rigs, and ships that cannot be manufactured at home and are imported or hired from abroad to form fixed assets of companies or to serve production, business, or lease back: submit 01 original copy;

e.10.6) The lease contract signed with a foreign partner when leasing airplanes, oilrigs, or ships that cannot be manufactured at home to serve production, business or lease back: submit 01 original copy;

e.11) The certificate of goods imported to serve national defense or security respectively issued by the Ministry of National Defense or the Ministry of Public Security if the goods imported are weapons or equipment directly serving national defense and security and are not subject to VAT: submit 01 original copy;

e.12) For the application of 5% tax rate to the equipment and instrument serving teaching, research, scientific experiments, it is required to have:

a.12.1) The notice of successful bid or contractor appointment or sale contracts signed with schools or research institutes, or goods supply contract or service contract: 01 photocopy. The original copy shall be presented in the first import at the Sub-department of customs for comparison.

e.12.2) The commitments made by the schools or research institutes to sue the equipment and instruments for scientific research and experiments: submit 01 original copy.

e.13) The notification of prior determination of HS codes, customs value, or origins (if any): 01 photocopy.

e.14) Other relevant documents as prescribed by law depending on the goods: submit 01 original copy.

Article 13. Customs declaration registration

1. Places to register the declaration

The declaration of exported or imported goods shall be registered at the Sub-department of customs at the checkpoint or outside the checkpoint area, in particular:

a) If the goods are not moved to another checkpoint, the customs declaration shall be registered at the Sub-department of customs in charge of the goods depot at the checkpoint or port of destination;

b) If the goods are moved to another checkpoint, the customs declaration shall be registered at the Sub-department of customs at the checkpoint or the Sub-department of customs to which goods are moved;

c) For the goods exported or imported in particular forms, the declaration shall be registered at corresponding locations as specified in this Circular.

This Regulation is also applicable to electronic customs procedures in the Circular No. 196/2012/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance.

2. Conditions and locations for registering the customs declaration

The declaration shall be registered right after the declarant fills and submit the customs dossier as prescribed and the customs inspects the conditions for registering the customs declaration, including:

a) Inspecting the conditions for taking coercive measures or suspending customs procedures;

b) Inspecting the validity of declared information and documents in the customs dossier;

c) Inspecting the adherence to the management and taxation policies applicable to exported goods and imported goods.

If the conditions for registering the declaration are satisfied, the customs officer shall issue the declaration registration number and update it on the system. If the conditions for registering the declaration are not satisfied, the customs officer notifies declarant of the reasons in writing.

Article 14. Adjustment and supplementation of the customs declaration

1. The customs declaration shall be adjusted and supplemented in the following cases:

a) The supplementary declaration is made before the physical verification of goods or before the decision on exemption of physical verification of goods is made according to Clause 3 Article 9 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP;

b) The supplementary declaration is made after the customs grants the clearance or moves the goods to storage when the conditions below are satisfied:

b.1) The errors in the customs declaration is found and reported to the customs by the taxpayer or the declarant;

b.2) It is reported within 60 days from the day on which the customs declaration is registered, but before the customs carries out tax inspection at the premises of the taxpayer;

b.3) The declarant, the taxpayer provides ample evidence, and the customs is able to verify the accuracy, truthfulness and legitimacy of the supplementary declaration.

b.4) The supplementary declaration does not affect the application of policies on management of exported goods and imported goods to the shipment being declared.

2.  Contents of supplementary declaration:

a) Additional information being the criteria for tax calculation or identification of tax-free goods, goods eligible for tax exemption, tax reduction, tax refund, or tax cancellation;

b) Additional statement of tax payable, paid tax, tax arrears, or overpaid tax (if any), interest on late payment of additional tax (if the taxpayer has paid the additional tax after the tax payment deadline) on each particle and the whole customs declaration; affirmation of the accuracy and legitimacy of the supplementary declaration;

c) Adjustment, addition of other information on the customs declaration.

3. The application for adjustment or supplementation consists of:

a) The written adjustment or supplementary declaration (the form No. 10/KBS/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular): 02 original copies;

b) Other documents proving the adjustment or supplementary declaration.

4. Processing the application for supplementary declaration:

a) The declarant shall:

a.1) Provide accurate and sufficient information in the supplementary declaration;

a.2) Calculate the additional tax or late payment interest (if any);

a.3) Submit the sufficient application to the customs authority by the time limit for making the supplementary declaration according to Article 34 of the Law on Tax administration and Clause 2 Article 22 of the Law on Customs;

a.4) Comply with the requests of the customs on the written adjustment or supplementary declaration;

a.5) If the supplementary declaration leads to an increase of the tax payable, the taxpayer shall pay it and the late payment interest (if any) as prescribed;

a.5) If the supplementary declaration leads to a decrease of the tax payable, the taxpayer may request the customs authority where the supplementary declaration is submitted to settle the overpaid tax as guided in Article 26 of this Circular.

b) The customs authority shall:

b.1) Specify the date and hour when the application for adjustment or supplementary declaration is received in the case mentioned in Point a Clause 2 Article 34 of the Law on Tax administration and Clause 2 Article 22 of the Law on Customs. Specify the date on which the application for supplementary declaration is received in the case mentioned in Point b Clause 2 Article 34 of the Law on Tax administration;

b.2) Inspect the sufficiency and accuracy of the application for adjustment or supplementary declaration, write the inspection result on adjusted declaration, give 01 copy to the declarant, and keep 01 copy;

b.3) The result of inspection of the application for adjustment or supplementary declaration shall be notified within:

b.3.1) 08 working hours since the sufficient application for adjustment or supplementary declaration is received if such adjustment or supplementary declaration is made before the customs carries out physical verification of goods or makes a decision to exempt the physical verification;

b.3.2)  05 working days from the day on which the sufficient application for supplementary declaration is received if such the supplementary declaration is made by the 60^th day from the day on which the customs declaration is registered and before the customs carries out tax inspection at the premises of the taxpayer.

5. Where the declarant or taxpayer finds errors in the submitted customs dossier and report them before the customs carries out tax inspection at their premises, after 60 days from the day on which the customs declaration is registered, but the declarant or taxpayer provides ample evidence and the customs is able to verify the accuracy and legitimacy of the declaration, then:

a) The declarant or taxpayer shall make the declaration similar to the case of supplementary declaration guided in Clause 2, Clause 3, and Point a Clause 4 of this Article, pay the tax arrears and late payment interest, comply with the decision on administrative penalties made by the customs;

b) The customs shall receive and check the declaration made by the declarant or taxpayer similarly to the case of supplementary declaration guided in Point b Clause 4 of this Article; impose administrative penalties as prescribed and record them in the supplementary declaration. If the paid tax is higher than the tax payable, the customs shall refund the overpaid tax as prescribed in Article 26 of this Circular.

Article 15. Replacing the customs declaration

The customs declaration shall only be replaced when the method of export or import is changed, and before the physical verification of goods or before the decision on exemption of physical verification is made. Customs procedure:

1. The declarant shall send a written explanation for the replacement of the customs declaration to the Sub-department of customs where the declaration is registered;

2. The Director of the Sub-department of customs where the declaration is registered shall consider the explanation provided by the declarant. If the explanation is considered reasonable and no signs of trade fraud are found, the request shall be granted and a customs officer shall be appointed to:

a) Withdraw the registered customs declaration;

b) Annul the registered declaration by crossing it with a red pen, append the officer’s seal on both destructed declarations;

c) Register a new customs declaration. The new customs dossier consists of: the new customs declaration, the documents of the shipment, and the destructed customs declaration;

d) Take a note on the system: “This declaration has been replaced with the declaration No. … dated … ;

e) Keep the annulled customs declaration and the request for replacement of the declaration made by the declarant in cardinal order.

Article 16. Customs inspection during customs procedure

1. Inspection during customs procedure includes: inspection of the customs dossier, tax inspection and physical verification of goods.

2. Inspection during customs procedure includes:

a) Inspection of names and codes of goods according to Circulars of the Ministry of Finance providing guidance on classification of exported goods and imported goods.

b) Inspection of goods quantity;

If the quantity cannot be determined manually or with instruments of the customs authority (such as liquid, bulk cargo, massive cargo etc.) the customs shall examine the verification result provided by a verification service provider (hereinafter referred to as verifier).

c) Inspection of goods quantity:

c.1) If the goods quality cannot be verified with the instruments of the customs authority, the declarant shall be requested to take samples or provide the catalogue, and select a verifier. The conclusion given by the verifier is final.

c.2) If the declarant and the customs authority fail to concur in the selection of the verifier, the customs authority shall select a technical organization appointed to carry out inspections serving state management or a verifier (if the technical organization makes a written refusal). conclusion given by the technical organization or verifier is final. The declarant may file a complaint if they do not concur with such conclusion.

d) Inspecting the license to export or import:

For the goods in the List of exported and imported goods that need licenses issued by state authorities, the customs authority shall register declarations and carry out customs procedures based on the licenses to export or import issued by state authorities.

dd) For the goods that need to undergo quality inspection, quarantine, food safety and hygiene inspection (hereinafter referred to as in-depth inspection): the customs authority shall carry out the customs procedure based on the certificate of in-depth inspection registration or the notice of exemption from on inspection or the notice of satisfactory shipment issued by an inspecting authority.

e) Inspecting the origins of goods based on the actual goods, customs dossier, relevant information, Article 15 of the Government's Decree No. 19/2006/NĐ-CP dated February 20, 2006, and relevant guiding documents:

e.1) If the actual origin of goods is not consistent with the declaration but they still belong to a country or territory granted most-favored nation treatment by Vietnam, the customs authority shall apply preferential tax rates as prescribed and take appropriate actions depending on the nature and severity of the violations.

e.2) If the origin of goods is in doubt, the customs authority shall request the declarant to provide supporting documents to prove it or request a competent authority of the exporting country to verity. Goods shall not enjoy tax incentives while awaiting the verification result, but still granted clearance according to ordinary customs procedures;

e.3) If the declarant submits the Certificate of Origin for the whole shipment but only imports part of the shipment, the customs authority shall accept the Certificate of Origin of the imported part.

e.4) If the Certificate of Origin is provided after the goods is released or moved to storage in order to recalculate tax, and is accepted by the Sub-department of customs where the declaration is registered, the declarant shall make the declaration and recalculate tax in accordance with the adjustment form (the form No. 10/KBS/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular).

e.5) The application of notification of prior certification of origins to the goods of which customs dossier must be inspected or undergo physical verification shall be examined.

g) Tax inspection includes:

g.1) Inspecting the conditions for taking coercive measures or applying tax payment deadline as prescribed;

g.2)  Inspecting the basis for identifying tax-free goods when the declarant identifies their goods as exempt from export tax, import tax, VAT, excise duty, or environmental protection tax.

g.3) Inspecting the basis for identifying goods as eligible for tax exemption or reduction when the declarant identifies their goods as eligible for tax exemption or reduction;

g.4) Check the criteria for calculating tax payable when the exported or imported tax are subject to tax based on the inspection result mentioned in Point a, Point b, Point c and Point d of this Clause, the result of inspection of dutiable values according to the Ministry of Finance’s guidance on the Government's Decree No. 40/2007/NĐ-CP dated March 16, 2007 on customs valuation of exported, imported goods, and relevant bases.

g.5) Inspecting the application of the notification of prior determination of HS codes or customs value of the goods that must undergo customs dossier inspection or physical verification.

h) For the goods temporarily imported for re-export or temporary export for re-import that are not sealed during customs inspection, the customs officer shall specify the goods names, quantity, category, codes, origin (if any) on the physical verification result sheet, or take pictures of the goods, and enclosed them with the customs dossier. During the procedure for re-export or re-import is complete, the customs officer shall compare the goods with their description in the customs dossier of temporary import or export (kept by the customs) and certify that the goods re-exported or re-imported are consistent with the goods temporarily imported or exported.

3. Based on the risk assessment of the customs authority, the head of the customs authority where the customs dossier is received and processed shall decide the method and level of inspection:

a) Exempt the dossier inspection and physical verification;

b) Inspect the customs dossier and exempt goods from physical verification;

c) Inspect the customs dossier and carry out physical verification of goods.

4. While the imported or exported shipment is following customs procedures, based on the result of inspection of customs dossier or physical verification of goods and the new information provided, the head of the Sub-department of customs shall decide the change in the method or level of inspection and take responsibility for such change.

5. When the physical verification is done, the customs officer that carries out the inspection shall write the inspection results as guided by the General Department of Customs.

Article 17. Sampling, retention of samples of exported or imported goods to make customs declarations; fulfillment of requirements of the specialized inspection agency; analysis or verification for classifying exported goods and imported goods

1. Exported goods or imported goods shall be sampled in the following cases:

a) Exported goods or imported goods are sampled to serve the customs declaration at the request of the declarant or the specialized inspection agency;

b) The exported goods or imported goods must be sampled to serve the analysis or verification for classifying goods at the request of the customs authority.

2. The sampling shall be decided by the head of the customs authority that makes the request.

3. Procedure for sampling exported goods or imported goods

a) Samples shall be taken in accordance with the Sampling note (the form No. 11/PLM/2013 Appendix III to this Circular) if the sampling is requested by the declarant or customs authority.

b) If samples are taken for analysis: the samples must be taken from the shipment that needs analyzing. The General Department of Customs shall specify the requirements of samples and the procedure for sampling for analysis.

c) If samples are taken at the request of the specialized inspection agency, samples shall be taken at the checkpoint of import or at the checkpoint to which goods are moved.

d) The representative of the goods owner and representative of the customs authority must be present during the sampling. If samples are taken at the request of a specialized agency, the representative of such agency must be present; the samples must be sealed and signed by every party. A record signed by all parties shall be made when samples are transferred.

4. Sampling techniques are guided by the General Department of Customs.

5. Places for sample retention

In the case mentioned in Point b Clause 1 of this Article, samples shall be retained at:

a) Exported/imported Goods Analysis and Classification Center (hereinafter referred to as Analysis and Classification Center) if samples are taken for analysis.

b) The customs authority that takes samples if samples are taken to serve other customs tasks.

6. Sample retention period:

a) The samples at Analysis and Classification Center shall be retained for 90 days from the day on which the analysis result is given.

b) The samples at the Sub-department of customs shall be retained for 90 days from the day on which customs clearance is granted.

7. Objects of analysis, verification and submission of request for analysis, verification for classifying goods.

a) The objects of analysis, verification for goods classification are samples of exported or imported goods (hereinafter referred to as samples).

b) Submission of request for analysis, verification:

b.1) The customs authority that receives the request for analysis shall take and send samples to Analysis and Classification Center to analyze the goods that are beyond the capacity of the customs authority, which require specialized instruments to determine the composition of samples;

b.2) If the Analysis and Classification Center affiliated to the General Department of Customs is not capable of analysis in the case mentioned in Point b.1 Clause 7 of this Article, the customs authority shall send such samples to a technical service provider under the management of a Ministry or a organization that provides verification services under the Law on Commerce (hereinafter referred to as verifier) for verification, and the use the result provided by such organization to determine the names, codes, and taxes of exported or imported goods.

The General Department of Customs shall announce the List of articles that cannot be analyzed by Analysis and Classification Center;

b.3) The submission of request for analysis or verification and the use of analysis or verification result in contravention of this Clause do not have the validity for goods classification.

8.  Application for analysis or verification

a) Application for analysis:

a.1) The application for analysis is made by the customs authority, bears its seal, and shall be sent to Analysis and Classification Center. The application consists of:

a.1.1) A sampling record and request for analysis (the form No. 12/PYCPT/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular): 02 original copies. 01 copy is kept by the customs authority; 01 copy is kept by Analysis and Classification Center;

a.1.2) Relevant technical documents: 01 photocopy;

a.1.3) The customs declaration of exported or imported goods that need analyzing. If goods have undergone physical verification, the result given by the customs officer must be specified: 01 photocopy;

a.1.4) A commercial contract: 01 photocopy;

a.1.5) The Certificate of Origin (if any): 01 photocopy;

a.1.6) A list of documents in the application: 01 original copy.

a.2) If analysis is requested to serve the prior determination of HS codes: based on the samples sent by the applicant for prior determination of HS codes, the Customs Department shall make 02 copies of the Request for analysis (the form No. 13/PYCPT-XĐTMS/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular). 01 copy is kept by Analysis and Classification Center. The other copy shall be kept by the Customs Department. The application for analysis sent to Analysis and Classification Center is the photocopy of the application for prior determination of HS codes specified in Clause 2 Article 7 of this Circular.

b) The application for verification shall comply with regulations on goods verification.

9. Delivery of goods samples and application for analysis or verification.

a) The customs authority that requests the analysis or verification shall send the samples and application directly or send by post, or authorize the declarant in writing to send the samples and application to Analysis and Classification Center or the verifier.

b) If verification is requested to serve the prior determination of HS codes, the applicant for prior determination of HS codes shall send goods samples and the application for verification to the verifier based on the written notice of the customs authority.

c) Upon the receipt of goods samples and the application for analysis, Analysis and Classification Center shall make a Receipt note (the form No. 14/PTNYCPT/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular).  The Receipt note shall be made into 02 copies. 01 copy is kept by Analysis and Classification Center  and 01 copy is sent to the customs authority that requests the analysis.

Within 03 working days, Analysis and Classification Center shall send the Receipt note to the customs authority that requests the analysis.

d) If the goods samples and application for analysis are not satisfactory, Analysis and Classification Center shall send a written notification and return the samples and application within 03 working days from the day on which they are received.  The customs authority that requests the analysis shall complete the application and goods samples.

10. Destruction, return of analyzed or verified goods samples

a) Destruction of analyzed goods samples:

a.1) Analysis and Classification Center shall initiate the procedure for destructing the samples that have passed the retention period, samples of dangerous goods, samples that have transformed or cannot be retained any longer;

a.2) The destruction of analyzed samples shall be decided by the head of the unit and recorded in writing. The decision and sample destruction record shall be retained in accordance with regulations on document retention.

b) Return of analyzed goods:

b.1) If the request for analysis made by the customs authority says “Samples must be returned”, the Analysis and Classification Center shall return samples to the customs authority or the declarant (if authorized by the customs authority to receive the samples), provided such samples are returnable.

b.2) The head of the unit shall decide the return of goods samples and is not responsible for the quality of the samples returned due to the effect of the analysis process.

b.3) If goods samples are returned before the end of the retention period, the goods owner shall make a commitment not to file complaints about the analysis results.

b.4) A record shall be made when goods samples are returned (the form No. 15/BBTLMHH/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular).

c) The return of verified goods shall comply with regulations on goods verification.

11. Notification of analysis and classification result

a) Within 10 working days from the day on which the application and goods samples are received, Analysis and Classification Center shall send a notification of the analysis result to the General Department of Customs (the form No. 16/PTNYCPT/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular).

If the application involves samples of 02 types of goods, or the samples are complicated and need more time to analyze, Analysis and Classification Center shall send a written notification of the intended date to give the analysis result within 05 working days from the receipt of samples. After the analysis result is available, Analysis and Classification Center shall send a notification of the analysis results to the General Department of Customs (the form No. 16/TBKQPT/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular) together with the photocopy of the application for analysis.

b) The Director of the General Department of Customs shall makes a notification of goods classification result (the form No. 17/TBKQPL/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular) within 10 working days from the receipt of the notification of analysis result sent by Analysis and Classification Center.

The notification of classification result sent by the Director of the General Department of Customs is the basis for determining taxes and implement policies on exported or imported goods; shall be updated on the database, posted on the website, and uniformly applied in the customs sector.

12. The notification of classification of exported or imported goods that need verifying specified in Point b.2 Clause 7 of this Article:

After receiving the verification result from the verifier, the Sub-department of customs shall send it to the Customs Department. Based on the verification result, the Director of the Customs Department shall provide guidance on the classification of goods to determine taxes and implement policies on exported or imported goods, and send 01 copy to the General Department of Customs for updating on the website of the customs.

13. The declarant may file a complaint if he does not concur with the classification result given by the customs authority.

Article 18. Supervising goods exported, imported, in transit; vehicles exported, imported, in transit 

1. The customs supervision of goods exported, imported, in transit; vehicles exported, imported, in transit shall comply with Article 26 of the Law on Customs, Article 13 and Article 14 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP. This Circular also provides additional guidance on customs supervision of exported or imported goods that are moved in or out of the customs area at the checkpoint. In particular:

a) Responsibilities of the declarant.

When exported or imported goods are taken in or out of the customs area at the checkpoint, the declarant shall present the documents below to the customs authority:

a.1) The customs declaration:

a.1.1) The customs declaration of exported goods is the declaration certified by the customs authority;

a.1.2) The customs declaration of imported goods is the declaration in which the clearance, release, or storage of goods is certified by the customs authority; the goods release note issued by the warehouse owner;

a.2) Exported or imported goods.

b) Responsibilities of the Sub-department of customs at the checkpoint.

b.1) The Sub-department of customs at the checkpoint shall supervise exported goods and imported goods as prescribed. When an exported or imported shipment is found violating legislation on customs, the Director of the Sub-department of customs at the checkpoint shall make a decision on physical verification.

b.2) When supervising exported or importing goods being taken in or out the checkpoint area, the Sub-department of customs at the checkpoint shall:

b.2.1) Check the validity of the customs declaration;

b.2.2) Compare the number of the shipping vehicle and the customs seal (if any);

b.3) Process the inspection result.

If the result is satisfactory, the customs officer shall certify, append the signature and seal, and then return the following papers to the declarant:

b.3.1) The customs declaration is certified that “Goods were under customs supervision” if goods are exported or imported by sea, by inland waterways, by ail, or by railway.

b.3.2) The customs declaration is certified that “Goods are exported/imported” if goods are already exported or imported by land, by river, or at a transshipment port or transshipment zone;

b.3.3) The record on transfer of goods being moved to another checkpoint;

b.3.4) The manifest of goods moved from the bonded warehouse or CFS to the checkpoint of export (if any).

If the inspection result is not satisfactory, the Sub-department of customs at the checkpoint shall take appropriate actions or instruct the declarant to make adjustments on a case by case basis.

If the customs declaration is invalid and must be annulled according to Clause 1 Article 31 of this Circular, the Sub-department of customs at the checkpoint shall request the declarant to go to the Sub-department of customs where it was registered to follow the annulment procedure.

c) For goods temporarily imported for re-export, exported or imported goods being moved to another checkpoint, the declarant shall present the dossier apart from the documents in Point a Clause 1 of this Article, And the customs authority shall carry out customs supervision according to Article 41 and Article 61 of this Circular.

2. The Director of the General Department of Customs shall provide guidance on the measures and supervision period applicable to each type of checkpoints,  goods exported, imported, in transit; vehicles exported, imported, in transit.

Article 19. Tax currency

1. Tax on exported and imported goods shall be paid in VND.  If tax is paid in a foreign currency, it must be a convertible foreign currency. Foreign currencies shall be converted into VND at the average exchange rate on the inter-bank foreign exchange market announced by the State bank of Vietnam when tax is calculated.

2. If tax must be provisionally paid in foreign currencies while pending official prices, the taxpayer may pay tax in a foreign currency or VND before customs clearance or release. After official prices are available and the taxpayer receives payment from the foreign customers, the taxpayer shall pay the difference (if any) in the foreign currency.

If tax is provisionally paid in VND, the exchange rate is the average exchange rate on the inter-bank foreign exchange market announced by the State bank of Vietnam when tax is calculated. Such exchange rate is uniformly applied to the currency exchange between the State Treasury and the customs authority.

Article 20. Tax payment deadline

The deadline for paying tax on exported or imported goods is specified in Clause 3 Article 42 of the Law on Tax administration, which is amended in Clause 11 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration No. 21/2012/QH13, in particular:

1. If imported goods are raw materials for producing exports:

a) The taxpayer must satisfy the conditions below to enjoy the 275-day tax payment deadline from the day on which the customs declaration is registered:

a.1) The taxpayer owns a facility in Vietnam to produce exports from the imported materials (based on the commitment made by the company under the form No. 18/CSSX-SXXK/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular). The customs must carry out inspection at the factory if the company poses risks under the guidance of the General Department of Customs.

a.2) The taxpayer has engaged in export or import for at least 02 consecutive years when the registers the customs declaration of the materials imported for export production, and during such 02-year period the customs finds that:

a.2.1) The taxpayer does not carry any penalty for smuggling or illegal transit of goods across the border;

a.2.2) The taxpayer does not carry any penalty for tax evasion or trade fraud;

a.3) The taxpayer does not owe overdue debt, late payment interest, or fines when the declaration is registered;

a.4) The taxpayer does not carry any penalty pertaining to accounting during the previous 02 consecutive years before the customs declaration is registered;

a.5) The taxpayer must make payment for the raw materials imported for producing exports by bank transfer. The cases of payment considered bank transfer shall be resolved as prescribed in Clause 4 Appendix I to this Circular.

If the import is entrusted, the entrusting party must satisfy the aforesaid conditions and have the import entrustment contract. The entrusted party must satisfy the conditions in Point a.2, a.3, a.4, and a.5 of this Clause.

Where the parent company imports and supplies raw materials for its affiliates, or the affiliate imports and supplies raw materials for its affiliated units or other affiliates, the units affiliated to the parent company or the other affiliates must satisfy the aforesaid conditions; the importing parent company or affiliate must satisfy the conditions in Point a.2, a.3, a.4, a.5 of this Clause, and submit the list of affiliated units to the customs authority where the procedure is carried out.

b) If the conditions mentioned in Point a of this Clause are not satisfied but tax payment is guaranteed by a credit institution, and the conditions in Clause 2 Article 21 of this Circular are satisfied, the tax payment deadline is the end of the guarantee period, which does not exceed 275 days, from the day on which the customs declaration is registered. The late payment interest is exempt during the guarantee period.

c) Where the imported raw materials eligible for 275-day deadline or an extension beyond 275 days are not used for producing exports, or one of the conditions in Point a of this Clause is found unsatisfied, or products are exported after the deadline:

c.1) The products shall are sold to the domestic market. The taxpayer shall pay tax on the products sold to the domestic market and late payment interest on the period from the day on which the declaration of imported goods is registered to the tax payment date.

If the export contract is terminated by the foreign party or in the event of force majeure and the products must be sold to the domestic market, the taxpayer shall declare tax and calculate late payment interest from the tax payment deadline to the date of tax payment (if products are sold to the domestic market after the deadline) the Customs Department shall examine the explanations and resolve on a case by case basis.

c.2) The raw materials shall be re-exported. The taxpayer calculates and pays late payment interest on the period from the day on which the customs declaration is registered to the date of export. If the contract is terminated by foreign party due to an event of force majeure, the late payment interest is exempt. the Customs Department shall examine the explanations and resolve on a case by case basis.

c.3) The products shall be exported after the tax payment deadline: the taxpayer shall calculate and pay late payment interest on the period from the tax payment deadline to the date of export or date of tax payment (if taxis paid before products are exported). If the late export is on account of the foreign customer, the late payment interest is exempt.

c.4) If one of the conditions in Point a of this Clause is found unsatisfied, the taxpayer shall pay tax and late payment interest on the period from the day on which the declaration of imported goods is registered to the tax payment date, and carry penalties.

2. For goods temporarily imported for re-export

a) The taxpayer must pay import tax before completing the procedure for temporary import. If tax has not been paid and but a credit institution guarantees the tax payment, and the conditions in Clause 2 Article 21 of this Circular are satisfied, the tax payment deadline is the end of the guarantee period, which does not exceed 15 days from the deadline for re-export (not applicable to the extended period of temporary import for re-export); late payment interest is exempt during the guarantee period.

b) If products are re-exported after the guarantee period: the taxpayer shall pay late payment interest on the period from the end of the guarantee period to the date of re-export or date of tax payment (if tax is paid before re-export).

c) If guarantee if provided but products are sold to the domestic market, the taxpayer shall pay tax, re-calculate the deadline for paying tax on the products that sold to the domestic market, and pay late payment interest on the period from the date of completion of procedure for temporary import to the date of tax payment.

3. For the goods exported or imported in accordance with Point c Clause 3 Article 42 of the Law on Tax administration, which is amended in Clause 11 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration No. 21/2012/QH13, the taxpayer shall pay tax before customs clearance.

If tax payment is guaranteed by a credit institution (the maximum guarantee period is 30 days from the day on which the customs declaration is registered) and the conditions in Clause 2 Article 21 of this Circular are met, the tax payment deadline is the end of the guarantee period, but late payment interest on the period from the customs clearance to the date of tax payment shall be paid. Late payment interest shall be calculated in accordance with Article 106 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration No. 21/2012/QH13 and guidance in Article 131 of this Circular.

4. The tax payment deadline in some special cases (except for the cases in which tax debt is paid in instalment according to Clause 25 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration no. 21/2012/QH13):

a) If the one customs declaration is registered to export or import several times, the tax payment deadline shall comply with regulations and is applicable to each export or import;

b) The exported or imported goods under the supervision of the customs authority are impounded by a state authority to investigate; the time limit begins when the state authority makes a written decision to release the goods;

c) If the imported goods serving national defense and security that are granted clearance or released are not exempt from tax, the taxpayer shall pay tax, recalculate the tax payment deadline and late payment interest on the period from the date of clearance or release until the date of tax payment; penalties shall be imposed (if any) as prescribed.

While awaiting the approval for tax exemption, the taxpayer shall make a commitment to comply with the final decision on tax on the imported goods serving scientific research, education and training made by Director of the General Department of Customs. If goods are not eligible for tax exemption, the taxpayer shall pay tax, recalculate the tax payment deadline and late payment interest on the period from the date of goods clearance or release until the date of tax payment; penalties shall be imposed (if any) as prescribed.

d) If an additional tax statement is made, the time limit for paying tax is the registration date of the customs declaration (if goods are raw materials imported for producing exports) or the completion date of customs procedure for temporary import of goods (for goods temporarily imported for re-export) or the clearance/release date (for other goods).

5. If the customs declaration is registered before July 01, 2013 but granted clearance or released after July 01, 2013, the tax payment deadline in Clause 1 Article 11 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration No. 21/2012/QH13 shall apply.

6. Deadline for paying imposed tax

a) For customs declaration registered from July 01, 2013, the tax on which is imposed by the customs, the tax payment deadline is the registration date of the customs declaration if goods are raw materials imported for producing exports. If goods are temporarily imported for re-export, the tax payment deadline is the completion date of customs procedure for import. For other goods, the deadline for paying imposed tax is the date of clearance or release;

b) If the customs declaration is registered before July 01, 2013 but the customs imposes tax after July 01, 2013, the tax payment deadline is the day on which the customs issues a decision on tax imposition.

7. The deadline for paying tax on exported crud oil, goods subject to protection tax, anti-dumping tax, anti-subsidy tax is specified Point c Clause 3 Article 42, which is amended in Clause 11 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration No. 21/2012/QH13, according to which the taxpayer must pay tax before the goods are granted clearance or release, or a guarantee must be provided by a credit institutions. If a guarantee is provided by a credit institutions, a late payment interest of 0.05% per day shall be paid during the guarantee period. The maximum guarantee period is 30 days from the day on which the customs declaration is registered. Conditions for guarantee are specified in Clause 2 Article 21 of this Circular.

8.  Tax payment deadline when official prices are not available when goods are granted clearance or released: the taxpayer shall pay a provisional tax based on the prices stated before goods are granted clearance or released, or a guarantee must be provided by a credit institution. Conditions for guarantee are specified in Clause 2 Article 21 of this Circular. The taxpayer shall pay a late payment interest of 0.05% per day during the guarantee period.

If the provisional tax or guaranteed tax before the clearance or release is smaller than the tax payable when official prices are available, the taxpayer shall pay the difference. The late payment interest on the difference is exempt. Conditions for guarantee are specified in Clause 2 Article 21 of this Circular.

If the provisional tax or guaranteed tax before the clearance or release is larger than the tax payable when official prices are available, the overpaid tax shall be settled in accordance with Article 26 and Article 130 of this Circular.

9. The deadlines for paying VAT on specialized equipment, machinery, vehicles in technological lines, and building materials that cannot be manufactured at home and need importing to form fixed assets; raw materials for manufacturing animal feeds, fertilizers and pesticides are specified in Point c Clause 3 Article 42, which is amended in Clause 11 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration, and Clause 2 Article 21 of this Circular.

Article 21. Tax payment guarantee

1. Tax payment guarantee shall be provided in the form of separate guarantee or joint guarantee.

a) Separate guarantee is the guarantee provided by a credit institution that makes a commitment to guarantee the payment of tax on a export or declaration of imported goods. If the taxpayer provided with guarantee by a credit institution fails to pay tax and late payment interest (if any) at the end of the guarantee period, the credit institution that provides guarantee shall pay tax and late payment interest on the taxpayer's behalf according to Clause 11 Article 11 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration No. 21/2012/QH13 and Clause 2 Article 114 of the Law on Tax administration.

b) Joint guarantee is a commitment to guarantee the payment of tax on two or more export/declaration of imported goods at one or multiple Sub-departments of customs. Joint guarantee quota shall be deducted. The guarantee quota shall be restored in proportion to the amount of paid tax. Joint guarantee at multiple Sub-department of customs shall be provided when the customs deploy the electronic clearance system and the single-window system VNACCS/VCIS.

If the taxpayer provided with guaranteed by a credit institution fails to pay tax on any declaration and late payment interest (if any) at the end of the guarantee period, the credit institution that provides guarantee (hereinafter referred to as guarantor) shall pay tax and late payment interest on the taxpayers' behalf according to Clause 11 Article 11 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration No. 21/2012/QH13 and Clause 2 Article 114 of the Law on Tax administration.

2. The customs shall accept the guarantee if the conditions below are satisfied:

a) Conditions for the taxpayer to be provided with guarantee:

a.1) The taxpayer has a owner’s equity of 10 billion VND (according to the financial statement of the year preceding the year in which the customs declaration is registered) and has engaged in export and import for at least 365 days up to the day on which the export or declaration of imported goods is registered. During this 365-day period:

a.1.1) The taxpayer is not in the list of entities that carry penalties imposed by the customs for smuggling or illegal transit of goods across the border.

a.1.2) The taxpayer is not in the list of entities that carry penalties imposed by the customs for tax evasion;

a.1.3) The taxpayer does not carry more than 02 fines for other violations pertaining to customs procedures (including understatement of tax payable or overstatement of tax exempted, reduced, or refunded) that exceed beyond the capacity of the Director of the Sub-department of customs according to the Law on Handling administrative violations;

a.2) The taxpayer does not own overdue tax, late payment interest, or fines when the customs declaration is registered;

b) A letter of guarantee is submitted by a credit institution established and operated under the Law on credit institutions, specifying the guaranteed tax, guarantee period, and commitment to relevant customs authorities on their capacity and the payment of tax and late payment interest on behalf of the taxpayer if the taxpayer fails to pay tax at the end of guarantee period;

3. Procedure for separate guarantee

a) If a guarantee is provided when following the procedure for export or import, the taxpayer shall submit the letter of guarantee sent by the guarantor to the customs authority.

b) The contents of the Letter of separate guarantee shall comply with the form No. 19/TBLR/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular.

c) The customs make sure the conditions for guarantee in Clause 2 of this are met, the compliance of the letter of guarantee and the form, then:

c.1) Decide the tax payment deadline within the guarantee period, but this deadline must not exceed the deadline in Clause 3 Article 42 of the Law on Tax administration, which is amended in Clause 11 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration No. 21/2012/QH13;

c.2) If the guarantee period is smaller than the tax payable, the Director of the Sub-department of customs shall make a decision on granting clearance to an amount of goods in proportion to the guarantee tax, and take responsibility before the law for this decision. If the taxpayer demands a clearance for the whole shipment, the taxpayer shall pay the unguaranteed tax before receiving goods;

If imported goods are bulk cargo or liquefied gas, of which the guaranteed tax is smaller than the tax payable, the Director of the Sub-department of customs shall make a decision on granting clearance to an amount of goods in proportion to the guaranteed tax.

c.3) If every condition for guarantee is not satisfied, the customs authority shall send a written notification to the taxpayer of the refusal to accept guarantee. An enquiry about the truthfulness of the letter of guarantee shall be sent to the credit institution that provides guarantee shall be held if it is in doubt.

d) Monitoring and processing guarantee:

d.1) If the taxpayer fails to sufficiently pay the guaranteed tax by the deadline, the guarantor shall pay tax and late payment interest (if any) on behalf of the taxpayer.

d.2) The customs authority shall monitor and urge the taxpayer and the guarantor to pay tax and late payment interest to government budget as prescribed.

The customs authority that finds a violation committed by the guarantor shall announce it in writing or on the database (if any) for customs authorities nationwide to refuse letters of guarantee of such credit institution, and request a competent authority to handle the case.

d.3) If the taxpayer and guarantor both pay tax and late payment interest, the overpaid amount shall be refunded to the guarantor.

4. Procedure for joint guarantee

a) Before initiating the procedure for export or import, the taxpayer shall submit a request for joint guarantee for imported goods (the form No. 20/ĐBLC/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular) to the Sub-department of customs where the declarations are registered;

b) The contents of the Letter of joint guarantee shall comply with the form No. 21/TBLC/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular;

c) The customs authority where the declarations are registered shall make sure the conditions in Clause 2 of this Article are satisfied. If all conditions are satisfied, the customs authority shall accept the joint guarantee for all declarations of exported or imported, which are registered within the guarantee period written on the letter of guarantee, and determine a deadline for paying tax on each shipment within the guarantee period.

If the conditions for guarantee are not satisfied, the customs authority shall makes a written refusal of guarantee and notify it to the taxpayer.

If the truthfulness of the letter of guarantee is in doubt, the customs authority shall request the guarantor to verify.

d) If the remaining guaranteed tax is smaller than the tax payable, Point c.2 Clause 3 of this Article shall apply;

dd) Guarantee shall be monitored and processed in accordance with Point d Clause 3 of this Article to ensure that the tax payment guaranteed is smaller than or equal to the balance of joint guarantee, and the guarantee quota shall be restored in proportion to the paid tax of the guaranteed declaration. The remaining guarantee quota depends on the initial quota written on the letter of guarantee minus (-) the guarantee tax plus (+) paid tax on the declarations under joint guarantee;

e) When the customs authority shall cancel the joint guarantee when receiving a request for termination of joint guarantee made by the guarantee, provided the tax, late payment interest and fines (if any) of the declarations under the joint guarantee are paid.

5. If tax payment guarantee is provided via electronic means under agreements between commercial banks and the General Department of Customs: when information about guaranteed tax at a commercial bank is received via the electronic payment system of the General Department of Customs, the customs authority shall update it on the database of the General Department of Customs and grant clearance. Guarantee shall be monitored and processed in accordance with Point d Clause 3 and Point dd Clause 4 of this Article.

Article 22. Locations and methods of tax payment

1. The taxpayer shall pay tax, late payment interest, fines, and other payables on exported or imported goods to the State Treasury or to a receipt account of the customs authority at commercial bank, or via other credit institutions, commercial banks, and service providers mentioned in Clause 1 Article 26 of the Decree No. 83/2013/NĐ-CP.

2. If the taxpayer pays tax, late payment interest, fines, or other payables in cash but State Treasury does not collect money at the customs post, the customs authority where the customs declaration is registered shall collect the tax and remit it to the State Treasury.

3. If the taxpayer wishes to pay tax, late payment interest, fines, and other payables owed to other customs authorities at the customs authority where customs procedure is carried out, the taxpayer shall declare and pay them at the State Treasury or to the current customs authority (if the State Treasury does not collect money directly at the customs post).

4. The State Treasury, credit institutions and service providers shall issue State budget remittance bills to taxpayers using the form provided by the Ministry of Finance.

The customs authority shall issue tax receipts to taxpayers using the form provided by the Ministry of Finance if tax is collected in cash. The Sub-department of customs that collects tax on behalf of the taxpayer shall fax the tax receipt to the Sub-department of customs that entrusts the collection.

5. The customs authority shall open an account to collect tax, late payment interest, and other payables on exported and imported goods at commercial banks that have agreements with the General Department of Customs.  After the procedure for collecting and remitting tax to the account of the customs authority is completed, the commercial bank shall transmit the data about the government revenues to the customs authority, the State Treasury, and follow the procedure for cooperation among State Treasuries, the General Department of Taxation, the General Department of Customs, and commercial banks. After the information about the amount sent from the account at the commercial bank is received, the customs authority shall update it on the accounting system, and remove the tax arrears.

If the taxpayer pays tax directly at the customs authority, State Treasury, credit institution or service provider (that has not connected with the system of electronic tax payment), the customs authority, State Treasury, credit institution, or service provider shall transfer the tax on imported raw materials for producing exports, temporarily imported or exported tax, which is collected from the taxpayer, within 08 working hours to the account of the customs authority at the State Treasury, or to government budget in other cases.

The time limit is 05 working days if tax is collected in cash in remote areas, on islands, in areas facing inconvenient traffic from the day on which tax is collected from the taxpayer.

For the tax transferred to the deposit account of the customs authority at the State Treasury, if the taxpayer fails to submit the tax settlement dossier after 135 days from the date of tax payment, the customs authority shall transfer the money to government budget as prescribed.

Article 23. Paying tax when verification, analysis, or classification of goods is compulsory

If verification, analysis, or classification of goods in terms of technical standards, quality, quantity, and categories is necessary for ensuring accurate tax calculation (such as determination of goods names, goods numbers according to tax tables, quality, quantity, technical standards, condition of imported goods, etc.), the taxpayer shall pay tax in accordance with Clause 1 Article 28 of this Circular.

If the result of verification, analysis, and classification of goods is different from the declaration of the taxpayer and causes the amount of tax payable to change, the customs authority shall impose tax based on such result and set a deadline for paying the difference in accordance with Clause 11 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration No. 21/2012/QH13.

Article 24. Order for paying tax, late payment interest and fines

1. The order for paying tax, late payment interest and fines is specified in Article 45 of the Law on Tax administration, which is amended in Clause 12 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration No. 21/2012/QH13, where:

a) Overdue tax or late payment interest subject to coercive measures are the debts that have been overdue for more than 90 days from the tax payment deadline;

b) Overdue tax or late payment interest not under coercion are the debts that have been overdue for fewer than 90 days from the tax payment deadline;

2. The State Treasury and customs authority shall exchange information about the collection of tax, late payment interest, fines for determining the orders, and collect them in such order. In particular:

a) The customs shall monitor the tax debt of the taxpayer, instruct the taxpayer to pay tax in order, develop an information access system for taxpayers to check and pay tax in correct order;

b) Based on the receipts for payments of tax, late payment interest, fine of the taxpayer, the State Treasury shall record the government revenues, transfer the documents and information about the payments to the customs authority for monitoring and management;

c) If the taxpayer pays tax, late payment interest, and fine in an incorrect order, the customs authority shall request the State Treasury to adjust the amount of tax collected, notify the taxpayer of the adjustment, or request the taxpayer to pay other amounts in the correct order. Exported or imported of the new declaration shall only be granted clearance after the taxpayer no longer owes tax, late payment interest, or fines;

d) If the taxpayer does not separate tax, late payment interest and fines on the tax return, the customs authority shall record them in order, notify State Treasury and the taxpayer.

Article 25. Tax imposition

1. Tax imposition as guided in this Circular is the customs authority exercising the right to determine the factors, criteria for tax calculation, calculate tax, and request the taxpayer to pay the tax imposed by the customs authority in the cases mentioned in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. The customs authority shall impose tax in the cases mentioned in Clause 3 Article 33 of the Decree No. 83/2013/NĐ-CP.

3. Tax imposition must comply with Article 36 of the Law on Tax administration.

4. The basis for the customs authority to impose tax is the dutiable value, quantity, origins of goods, the rate of import/export tax, excise duty, VAT, environmental protection tax, protection tax, anti-dumping tax, anti-subsidy tax on exported or imported goods; the exchange rate, tax calculation method, and other information in Clause 2 Article 39 of the Law on Tax administration, Article 35 of the Decree No. 83/2013/NĐ-CP and guidance in Section 1 Part V of this Circular.

5. The power to impose tax is prescribed in Article 33 of the Decree No. 83/2013/NĐ-CP.

6. Procedure for imposing tax

a) Tax on exported and imported goods shall be imposed while following the customs procedure or after goods are granted clearance or are released;

b) When imposing tax, the customs authority shall impose the tax payable or determine relevant aspects (quantity, dutiable values, numbers, tax rate, origins, exchange rate, quantities, etc.) as the basis for calculating the total tax payable, exempted, reduced, refund on each article or customs declaration according to Article 34 of the Decree No. 83/2013/NĐ-CP.

When each aspect related to the imposition of tax is determined, the customs authority shall calculate the tax payable in proportional to the imposed number, and notify the result to the taxpayer.

c) Specific procedure:

c.1) Identify taxable goods as guided in Clause 2 of this Article;

c.2) Decide the method tax imposition in accordance with Article 34 of the Decree No. 83/2013/NĐ-CP and:

c.2.1) If the total tax payable is determined:

- Check and determine criteria for tax calculation (quantity, value, exchange rate, origins, numbers, tax rate) in accordance with legislation on taxation and relevant laws;

- Calculate the total tax payable, the difference between the tax payable and the tax stated, calculated and paid (if tax has been paid) by the declarant;

- Issue a decision on tax imposition and a decision on penalties for administrative violations (if any).

c.2.2) If relevant aspects are determined as the basis for calculating total tax payable:

- Verify the accuracy and legitimacy of the factors;

- Check and determine criteria for tax calculation (quantity, value, exchange rate, origins, numbers, tax rate) in accordance with legislation on taxation and relevant laws; If the time and/or criteria for calculating tax on the same kind of goods, of which the purpose is changed,  in multiple customs declarations, the tax imposed is the average tax according to effective legislative documents when the declarations are registered.

- Calculating tax payable, the difference between the tax payable and the tax stated, calculated and paid (if tax has been paid), and late payment interest according to Article 131 of this Circular.

- Issue a decision on tax imposition and a decision on penalties for administrative violations (if any).

7. Responsibilities of the customs authority

a) The customs authority shall issue a decision on tax imposition (the form No. 01/QĐAĐ/2013 in Appendix II to this Circular) and send it to the taxpayer within 08 hours since it is signed;

b) If the tax imposed by the customs is larger than the tax payable, the customs shall return the overpaid amount;

c) If the tax imposition is incorrect, the customs authority shall issue a decision to annul the decision on tax imposition shall be made (the form No. 02/HQĐAĐ/2013 in Appendix II to this Circular) and provide compensation for the taxpayer, or a decision to settle complaints of competent authorities or judgment, decision of the court.

8. Responsibilities of the taxpayer:

a) The taxpayer shall pay sufficient tax and tax arrears imposed by the customs in accordance with Article 107, Article 108, and Article 110 of the Law on Tax administration, which are amended in Clause 33, Clause 34 and Clause 35 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration No. 21/2012/QH13.

The taxpayers that violate legislation on taxation shall carry penalties. The time limit for imposing penalties for violations against the laws on taxation is specified in Article 110 of the Law on Tax administration, amended in Clause 35 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration No. 21/2012/QH13 and the Government’s regulations on penalties for administrative violations pertaining to customs.

b) If the taxpayer does not concur with the decision on tax imposition made by the customs, the taxpayer must pay tax and is entitled to request the customs to provide explanation, file a complaint or a lawsuit against the tax imposition as prescribed by law on complaints and lawsuits.

Article 26. Settlement of overpaid tax, late payment interest, and fines

1. Tax, late payment interest, and fines are considered overpaid if:

a) The tax, late payment interest or fine that has been paid is larger than the amount payable within 10 years from the day on which those amounts are paid to government budget, and shall be offset against the outstanding tax, late payment interest, or fine, even against other taxes, or be offset against the amounts payable in the next time; or be refunded if the taxpayer owes no debt (except for the case in which penalty is not exempt according to Clause 2 Article 111 of the Law on Tax administration;)

b) The taxpayer receives refunds of export tax, import tax, VAT, excise duty, environmental protection tax, protection tax, anti-dumping tax, anti-subsidy tax.

2. The procedure for settling refunded tax mentioned in Point b Clause 1 of this Article is guided in section 6 Chapter V of this Circular.

3. The overpaid tax, late payment interest, and fine mentioned in pt a Clause 1 of this Article shall be settled as follows:

a) An application consists of:

a.1) A written request for settling overpaid tax, late payment interest, and fines specifying the overpaid amounts, the amounts payable, and the amounts paid, the reasons for overpayment: 01 original copy;

a.2) The customs dossier, other documents related to the overpaid tax, late payment interest, fines: 01 photocopy;

a.3) Receipts for payments of tax, late payment interest, fines: 01 photocopy enclosed with the original for comparison.

b) The customs authority that receives the overpaid tax, late payment interest or fine shall receive and check the documents submitted by the taxpayer, compare them to the original customs dossier they keep, verify the consistency, legitimacy, accuracy, and validity of such documents, and:

b.1) If the tax, late payment interest or fine that is paid is really larger than the amount payable and the statement of the taxpayer is accurate, the customs authority shall issue a decision to refund the overpaid tax, late payment interest, or fine (the form No. 03/QĐHT/2013 in Appendix II to this Circular;

a) The tax, late payment interest or fine that is paid is larger than the amount payable but the statement of the taxpayer is inaccurate, the customs authority shall notify the taxpayer in writing and issue a decision to refund the actual overpaid amount;

b.3) The tax, late payment interest or fine that is paid is not larger than the amount payable; the customs authority shall notify the taxpayer in writing, specifying the reasons.

c) The customs authority shall process the application in Point b of this Clause within 05 working days from the day on which sufficient application for refund of overpaid tax, late payment interest, or fine is received;

d) Based on the decision on refunding overpaid tax, late payment interest, or fine, the customs authority shall refund such amount to the taxpayer and append a stamp on the original customs declaration submitted by the taxpayer, specifying: “Overpaid tax, late payment interest, fine of ... VND are refunded under the Decision No. ... dated ...  (the form No. 14/MDHT/2013 in Appendix II to this Circular, and make 01 photocopy of the settled declaration together with the application for tax refund, return the original customs declaration to the taxpayer, and follow the procedure in Article 130 of this Circular.

4. The customs authority that receives the overpaid tax, late payment interest or fine shall decide to refund of such overpaid amount to the taxpayer.

5. The settlement of overpaid VAT is guided in Clause 4 Article 130 of this Circular.

Article 27. Putting goods into storage

1. For exported and imported goods that need verifying to decide whether they are allowed to be exported or imported, if the declarant wishes to put them into storage, then:

a) The Director of the Sub-department of customs where the declaration is registered shall allow the declarant to store goods at the locations mentioned in Point b.1 Clause 2 of this Article. The declarant is responsible for preserving the status quo of goods while awaiting verification result.

b) Based on the verification result, the customs officer shall grant clearance or request the Director of the Sub-department of customs to resolve.

2. For imported goods that need undergoing quality inspection, quarantine, medical inspection, food safety inspection (hereinafter referred to as specialized inspection).

a) Goods that need undergoing quarantine:

Quarantine shall be carried out at the checkpoint. If quarantine must be carried out at an inland quarantine post, the customs authority shall allow the goods owner to send goods to the quarantine post based on the certification of the quarantine agency on the quarantine registration form or the note of provisional plant quarantine result (for goods derived from plants) or the permit to transit goods (for aquaculture products) or other papers. The quarantine agency shall monitor and supervise goods during the transport, quarantine, and preservation while awaiting quarantine result as prescribed by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

b) Goods that need undergoing food safety inspection and quality inspection:

b.1) The Director of the Sub-department of customs where the declaration is registered shall allow the declarant to put their goods into storage at:

b.1.1) The checkpoint where goods are imported.

b.1.2) An ICD, bonded warehouse, or concentrated inspection place for exported and imported goods under the supervision of the customs authority if the declarant wishes to put their goods into storage and is permitted by the specialized inspection agency.

b.1.3) The location of inspection shall be decided in writing by the specialized inspection agency:

If the specialized inspection cannot be carried out at the checkpoint, they must be sent to constructions or factories for installation, or sent to the specialized inspection agency. If the specialized inspection agency makes a written request for permitting the declarant transport goods to such location and monitor them until the customs authority certifies the information, the Sub-department of customs at the checkpoint shall transfer goods to the declarant for transport to the location requested by the specialized inspection agency.

b.2) Responsibilities of the declarant:

b.2.1) Transit goods to the storage location and transfer them to the Sub-department of customs in charge of the storage location, or transport goods to the location of inspection at the request of the specialized inspection agency.

b.2.2)  When the specialized inspection agency needs to break the seal for specialized inspection, the declarant shall request the Sub-department of customs in charge of the location to break the seal, monitor goods and seal them after the inspection is finished.

b.3) Responsibilities of the Sub-department of customs where the declaration is registered:

b.3.1) Seal the means of transport or goods;

b.3.2) Issue a transfer record to the Sub-department of customs in charge of the storage location or to the specialized inspection agency if goods are sent to the inspection location at the request of the specialized inspection agency.

b.3.3) Monitor the customs dossiers of shipments sent to the storage location until they are granted clearance.

b.4) Responsibilities of the Sub-department of customs in charge of the storage location:

b.4.1) Receive the transfer record from the Sub-department of customs where the declaration is registered to monitor goods in storage while awaiting specialized inspection or inspection result.

b.4.2) Supervise the goods, the warehouse or depot where goods are stored while awaiting inspection result until goods are granted clearance.

b.4.3) Permit the declarant to receive goods after a certification of clearance is made by the Sub-department of customs where the declaration is registered.

c) The customs management of goods that must undergo both quarantine and food safety inspection is similar to that of imported goods that must undergo quarantine mentioned in Point a Clause 2 of this Article.

d) Processing specialized inspection result:

d.1) If the specialized inspection result is satisfactory for import, the customs officer where the declaration is registered shall certify the clearance of goods in accordance with Clause 2 Article 29 of this Circular.

d.2) If conditions for import are not satisfied:

d.2.1) Recycling: based on the conclusion given by the specialized agency which permits the recycling of goods, the customs officer shall certify that “Goods are recycled under the decision No. ... dated ... " on the customs declaration and permit goods to take goods to recycling. If the shipment is stored in an isolated area or a warehouse, the recycling shall comply with the decision of a competent authority.

After the recycling, if the specialized inspection agency concludes that the conditions for import are satisfied, the customs officer where the declaration is registered shall certify the clearance. If the conditions for import are not satisfied, goods shall be handled under the guidance in Point dd Clause 2 of this Article.

d.2.2) Compulsory destruction: based on the conclusion of the specialized agency about the compulsory destruction of goods, the customs officer shall certify that “Goods are destructed under the decision No. … dated … and Destruction record dated … “ on the customs declaration to complete the customs procedures.

d.2.3) Compulsory re-export: based on the conclusion of the specialized agency about the compulsory re-export of goods, the Sub-department of customs that carries out the import procedure shall carry out the procedure for re-exporting goods as prescribed.  After the procedure for re-export is completed, the number and date of the decision on compulsory re-export shall be written on the declaration of imported goods, and the decision on compulsory re-export shall be kept together with the import dossier of the shipment.

The customs authority shall cooperate with the specialized agency in providing information, customs dossier, participate in the advisory council, and resolve other tasks on request.

The regulations on putting goods into storage in this Article are also applicable to exported and import goods that follow electronic customs procedures specified in Article 15 of the Circular No. 196/2012/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance.

Article 28. Release of goods

1. Goods that are permitted to be exported or imported but need valuating, verifying, analyzing or classifying to accurately calculate tax payable shall be released after the goods owner has discharged their tax liability or provided with tax payment guarantee by a credit institution.

After the result of valuation, verification, analysis, or classification is given, the Director of the Sub-department of customs where the declaration is registered shall appoint a customs officer to check and recalculate tax, impose penalties for administrative violations (if any) and certify the clearance of goods as prescribed in Article 29 of this Circular.

If goods are granted clearance based on the result of verification, analysis, or classification, such result is used for the shipment of the same category of goods that follow the import procedure in the same Customs Department. This guidance is not used for verification of goods quantity.

The taxpayer shall pay a late payment interest on the increase of tax (if any) after having the result of valuation, analysis, or classification according to Article 106 the Law on Tax administration, which is amended in Clause 22 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to of the Law on Tax administration No. 21/2012/QH13, and Article 131 of this Circular.

2. If the goods owner carries a fine imposed by the customs authority or a competent authority, clearance shall be granted after the goods owner pays the fine or has the fine payment guaranteed by a credit institution.

3. The Director of the Sub-department of customs where the declaration is registered shall decide the release of goods.

Article 29. Customs clearance of goods

1. Goods shall be granted clearance in the cases below:

a) The customs procedure has been completed;

b) The Director of the Sub-department of Customs allows the late submission of some documents in the customs dossier;

c) Exported and imported goods are eligible for the tax payment deadline mentioned in Clause 11 Article 1 of the Law on the amendments to the Law on Tax administration and guidance in Article 20 of this Circular, or the payment of tax or tax arrears that must be paid before receiving goods is guaranteed by a credit institution.

d) The goods that must undergo specialized inspection shall be granted clearance the following papers are available:

d.1) A notice of exemption from inspection; or

d.2) The inspection result that meets the requirements for imported goods imposed by the specialized inspection agency; or

d.3) The permission for import given by a specialized agency or a competent authority.

dd) Exported goods are exempt from tax, not subject to tax or eligible for 0% tax;

e) Goods imported to serve national defense and security shall be granted clearance when:

e.1) The Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of National Defense certifies in writing that goods are imported to serve national defense and security, eligible for consideration of import tax exemption, and not subject to VAT;

e.2) Excise duty, environmental protection tax and other taxes are sufficiently stated and paid as prescribed by law (if any).

g) Imported goods serving prevention and suppression of natural disaster, epidemics, and emergency assistance shall be granted clearance when:

g.1) The managing Ministry certifies in writing that goods are to serve prevention and suppression of natural disaster, epidemics, and emergency assistance.

g.2) Relevant taxes are sufficiently stated and paid.

h) Imported goods being humanitarian aid and non-refundable aid shall be granted clearance when a notice of aid receipt made by the managing Ministry is presented.

2. The power to decide clearance:

a) The customs officer that registers the customs declaration shall decide the clearance of goods exempt from physical verification;

b) The Director of the Sub-department of Customs that appoints customs officers to carry out physical verification of goods shall decide the clearance of goods that must undergo physical verification.

Article 30. Basis for certifying that goods are exported

1. The goods that are exported through a checkpoint at sea or inland waterway, the basis is the declaration of exported goods that have undergone customs procedure and certified by the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint that “Goods were under customs supervision” and the bill of lading of the goods loaded on to the vehicle for export.

2. The goods that are exported through a checkpoint by air or by railway, the basis is the declaration of exported goods that have undergone customs procedure and certified by the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint that “Goods were under customs supervision”, and the note of transport that confirms goods are loaded on the means of transport.

3. Goods that are exported through a checkpoint by land, river, transshipment port, transshipment zone, goods supplied for outbound ships, airplanes, exported goods that are transported together with outbound passengers by air (without the bill of lading) the basis is the declaration of exported goods that have undergone customs procedure and is certified by the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint that “GOODS ARE EXPORTED”.

4. For exported goods that are sent to the bonded warehouse, the basis is the declaration of exported goods that have undergone customs procedure and is certified the Ministry of Health he Sub-department of customs in charge of the bonded warehouse that “GOODS ARE SENT TO THE BONDED WAREHOUSE”.

5. For goods transited from the bonded warehouse to the checkpoint of export, the basis is the declaration of goods moved in and out of the bonded warehouse, the record on the transfer of goods being moved to another checkpoint, and the manifest of goods being moved from the bonded warehouse to the checkpoint of export, which is certified by the customs at the checkpoint of export.

6. For exported goods that are sent to a CFS, the basis is the declaration of exported goods that have undergone customs procedure and is certified by the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the CFS that “GOODS ARE SENT TO CFS”, the manifest of goods being moved from the CFS to the checkpoint of export; the bill of lading or an equivalent document.

7. For goods sold to the free trade zone from domestic areas, the basis is the declaration of exported goods have ahs undergone customs procedure and is certified by the customs officer at the free trade zone that “GOODS IN FREE TRADE ZONE”.

8. For goods sold by an export processing company to a domestic company, and goods sold by a domestic company to an export processing company, the basis is the customs declaration of domestic export-import that has undergone customs procedure.

9. For goods exported or imported domestically, it is the customs declaration of domestic export-import that has undergone customs procedure.

Article 31. Annulment of customs declaration

1. The cases in which the customs declaration is annulled:

a) Customs procedure is not completed after 15 days from the day on which the declaration is registered according to Clause 1 and Clause 2 Article 18 of the Law on Customs, unless imported goods must wait for the result of inspection/verification from the specialized agency;

a) Customs procedure is completed but imported goods do not arrive at the checkpoint of import or the exported goods are not under the supervision of the customs after 15 days from the day on which the declaration is registered.

c) The declarant shall request the annulment of the registered customs declaration in the following cases:

c.1. The declarant makes multiple declarations for one imported or exported shipment;

c.2. The goods are under customs supervisor but the declarant does not export them;

2. Procedure for annulling a customs declaration:

a) Cross-out the customs declaration with a pen, append signature and officer’s seal on the annulled customs declaration;

b) Update on the system: this declaration is annulled;

c) Put the annulled customs declaration in storage in cardinal order.

3. The Director of the Sub-department of Customs where the declaration is registered shall consider the annulment of registered declarations.

Article 32. Examining customs dossiers

The examination of the customs dossier shall be carried out after clearance is granted, and be completed within 60 days from the clearance.

The General Department of customs shall provide guidance on examining customs dossiers.

Article 33. post-clearance inspection

The guidance on post-clearance inspection is provided in part VI of this Circular.

Chapter II

SOME GUIDELINES ON CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR EXPORTED AND IMPORTED GOODS

Section 1. CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR IMPORTING RAW MATERIALS FOR EXPORT PRODUCTION

Article 34. Raw materials imported for export production

Raw materials imported for export production include:

1. Raw materials, semi-finished products, components, knock-down kits that participate in the production process to make up the exported products;

2. Raw materials that participate in the process of export production but are not transformed into products or do not make up the products.

3. Imported finished products that are fixed on exported products or packed with exported uniform goods are made of imported or domestic raw materials;

4. Raw materials for making packages or packages of exported products;

5. Imported raw materials for repair, recycling exported products;

6. Sample goods imported for export production, which must be returned to the foreign customers after the contract is finished.

Article 35. Exported products

1. Exported products include:

a) Products that are completely made of raw materials imported for export production;

b) Products that are made of:

b.1) Raw materials imported for export production and domestic raw materials; or

b.2) Raw materials imported for export production and raw materials imported for domestic sale.

c) Products that are completely made of raw materials imported for domestic sale.

2. Raw materials imported for domestic sale may be used for export production if the period from the day on which the customs declaration of imported raw materials is registered to the day the declaration of exported finish products made of such raw materials is registered does not exceed 02 years.

3. Products made of raw materials imported for export production may be exported by the importer of raw materials or may be sold to another exporter.

Article 36. Customs procedure for importing raw materials

1. Customs procedure locations:

The company shall register raw materials for export production and follow the customs procedure for importing raw materials according to the list registered at one of the Sub-departments of Customs below:

a) The Sub-department of Customs affiliated to a Customs Department of the province where the factory is situated;

b) If the company is a corporation that has a unit specialized in importing and supplying raw materials for other units, or has factories in multiple province, the company may choose a Sub-department of Customs where its factory is situated or the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of import to carry out the customs procedure.

These regulations are applicable to the companies that follow electronic customs procedures according to the Circular No. 196/2012/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance.

2. Procedure for registering imported raw materials

a) Based on the export production plan, the company shall register raw materials imported for export production with the customs authority by filling the Registration sheet (the form No. 22/DMNVL-SXXK in Appendix III to this Circular).

b) The registration shall be applied for when the procedure for importing the first shipment of raw materials is carried out.

c) The company shall complete the Registration sheet of imported raw materials; where:

c.1) Names are the names of all raw materials used for export production. Such raw materials may be imported under one or multiple contracts.

c.2) Goods numbers are the numbers of raw materials according to the current import tax table.

c.3) The company shall determine the numbers of raw materials under the guidance of the Sub-department of Customs.

c.4) The units of measurement are specified in the List of Vietnam’ exports and imports.

c.5) The names, numbers of goods, units, numbers of raw materials in the registration sheet, the customs dossier must be consistent from the import of raw materials until the report on tax settlement, refund or cancellation of import tax is made.

3. Carry out inspection at the factory (hereinafter referred to as site inspection) to apply deadline for paying tax in Article 20 of this Circular:

a) The time to submit a commitment to have an appropriate factory for export production:

The company shall submit the commitment before the procedure for importing the first shipment of raw materials for export production is carried out at the Sub-department of Customs.

The customs authority shall receive the commitment submitted by the company and update information about the factory on the database.

b) Cases in which site inspection is compulsory:

b.1) The company may apply the 275-day time limit for paying tax to the first time nationwide;

b.2) The company registers the import declaration at another Sub-department of Customs than that of the producer;

b.3) The company entrusts the import

b.4) The existence or suitability for the raw materials imported for export production of the factory is questionable based on the risk management result. Assess the adherence to law of the company under the guidance of the General Department of Customs.

c) Time to carry out site inspection:

The site inspection shall be carried out after 10 working days from the clearance or release of the first shipment of raw materials for export production. The site inspection shall be done within 03 working days. If the factory is not in the area under the management of the Sub-department of Customs that carries out the import procedure, the inspection shall be done within 05 working days.

d) The power to decide a site inspection: the Director of the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for importing raw materials is carried out shall send a 2-day advance notice to the company.

dd) Site inspection contents:

dd.1) Verify the address of the factory in the commitment or information about the address of the factory via the local police department, tax authority, etc.

dd.2) Verify the legal ownership of the premises, machinery, and equipment of the factory:

dd.2.1) Verify the papers proving the legal rights to use premises.

dd.2.2) Verify the ownership and rights to use machinery and equipment at the factory.

Verify the import declarations of machinery and equipment  (if they are imported), receipts (if they are purchased at home), or finance lease contract (if any). The period of the finance lease contract must be equal to or longer than that of the export contract;

dd.3) Verifying the capability of production, capacity of the production line, the number of workers to assess the suitability for the products and amount of raw materials imported for export production.

e) Record on site inspection:

At the end of the inspection, the customs officer shall make a record on site inspection. The record must truthfully reflect the inspection and provides a conclusion about the inspection, which specifies:

e.1) The company has premises, the machinery and equipment that are suitable for the raw materials imported for export production as stated in the commitment, or

e.2) The company does not have premises, the premises are hired, or the machinery and equipment are not suitable for the raw materials imported for export production.

 In this case, tax arrears shall be collected similarly to goods imported for sale.

The record must bear the signature of the customs officer that carries out the inspection and the signature of the legal representative of the inspected company.

4. The customs procedure is similar to that for commercial imports guided in Chapter I part II of this Circular.

Article 37. Procedure for notifying, adjusting estimated quantity of exported products (hereinafter referred to as quantity) and registering exported products

1. The location for notifying, adjusting quantity and registering exported products: at the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for importing raw materials is carried out.

2. Quantities of exported products include:

a) Material consumption is the reasonable amount of raw materials necessary for the production of an exported product;

b) Supplies consumption is the amount of supplies that are used for the production of an exported product;

c) “Material or supplies wastage ratio” is the amount of materials or supplies that are lost, including natural loss, wastes and scrap (except for the wastes and scrap that are used), expressed as percent (%) of material consumption or supplies consumption.

The methods for calculating quantity and average quantity are similar to that applied to processing under the guidance of the Ministry of Finance.

3. Notification of quantity:

a) Responsibilities of the company:

a.1) Estimate quantity for export production.

a.2) Notify the quantity of primary materials:

Primary materials are materials that make up the most part of the product. The company shall decide the quantity of primary materials and notify it to the customs authority (the form No. 23/TBĐM-SXXK in Appendix III to this Circular), specifying the product specifications.

When notifying the quantity, the company shall submit 01 diagram of product design or production process (if any) or pattern diagrams (for garment and footwear) to the customs authority.

a.3) The notification of quantity shall be kept at the company and presented at the request of the customs authority.

b) Responsibilities of the customs authority:

b.1) The customs authority shall finish receiving the notification of quantity within 01 hour from submission of the quantity notification. If the notification does not provide sufficient specifications as prescribed in Point a.2 of this Clause, it shall be rejected and the company shall be requested to supplement it;

b.2) The notification of quantity,  diagram of product design or production process (if any) or pattern diagram, to the customs authority shall be kept together with the customs dossier;

b.3) Apart from periodic inspections, surprise inspections shall be carried out if the truthfulness of the quantity notified to the customs authority is questionable.

The inspection of quantity is similar to that of processing under the guidance of the Ministry of Finance.

3. The quantity shall be notified before or during the registration of the declaration of the first exported products in the notification of quantity.

4. Adjustment of quantity

a) If the actual quantity is changed during the production, the company shall provide a written explanation and suggest the adjustment of quantity of the pLU codes, which was notified to the customs authority.

b) The quantity shall be adjusted before or while following the procedure for exporting the shipment that has adjusted quantity.

c) Adjusting quantity after exporting products:

c.1) Cases of adjustment:

c.1.1) Miscalculation (incorrect calculation method, unit, punctuation, result);

c1.2) Changes in quality of raw materials, conditions for export production that lead to changes in the quantity;

c.2) Conditions for quantity adjustment:

c.2.1) The specifications, diagram of product design or pattern diagram are still kept by the customs authority;

c.2.2) The company provides ample evidence (wastes, scrap, invoices related to the shipment of which the quantity is adjusted) and the customs authority is able to verify the truthfulness, accuracy and legitimacy of the request for permission for quantity adjustment;

c.3) The quantity shall be adjusted before the company submits the application for tax refund or tax cancellation.

c.3) The company shall:

c.3.1) Make and send a written request for permission for quantity adjustment to the customs authority, specifying the reasons for adjustment.

c.3.2) Present sufficient related documents for the customs authority to check and compare.

c.3.3) Adjust the quantity in accordance with inspection result given by the customs authority.

c.4) The customs authority shall:

c.4.1) Receive the application for permission for quantity adjustment made by the company;

c.4.2) Check the conditions for quantity adjustment:

c.4.3) Approve the adjusted quantity if the company satisfies the conditions for quantity adjustment after the export.

c.4.4) Verify the quantity: examine every case in which the quantity increased in comparison to the quantity notified to the customs authority; carry out inspection if the increase in quantity is questionable. The customs authority shall request verification by a specialized verifying organization if it fails to verify the quantity.

5. Tasks of the customs authority:

a) Receive the notification of quantity and the registration sheet of exported products;

b) Verify the quantity notified by the company under the guidance on verifying quantity of outward-processed goods

6. The company that shall apply for the registration of exported products before the procedure for exporting the first shipment (the form No. 24/DMSP-SXXK in Appendix III to this Circular).

7. Where raw materials are imported for producing domestic goods but an export market is found, thus such raw materials are used for export production, then the quantity adjustment shall comply with the guidance in this Article.

8. Where the company notifies the quantity and registers exported products at another Sub-department of Customs from the Sub-department of Customs where raw materials are imported, the notification of quantity and registration of exported products shall be carried out as follows:

a) Location for quantity notification and registration of exported products:

a.1) The quantity notification and registration of exported products mentioned in Point b.2 Clause 1 Article 35 of this Circular shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for import serving export production is carried out.

a.2) For the exported products mentioned in Point c Clause 1 Article 35 of this Circular: the company may choose one of the Sub-departments of Customs that carry out the procedure for importing raw materials for sale but are used for export production.

b) The company shall send a written notification of quantity to the Sub-department of Customs that it chooses. The notification must specify: names and categories of raw materials in each declaration of import for export production (specifying the numbers, symbols, dates of declarations, and the Sub-departments of Customs that carry out the procedure).

After the procedures for quantity notification and registration of exported products are completed, the Sub-department of Customs shall send notifications to the other Sub-department of Customs (specifying the names of raw materials, numbers of the declarations of raw materials used for export production) together with the photocopies of the quantity notification and the list of exported products.

Article 38. Customs procedure for exporting products

1. If the procedure for export is carried out at the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for importing raw materials or another Sub-department of Customs, the company shall a written notification (the form No. 25/TBXKSP-SXXK/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular) to the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for importing raw materials before initiating the procedure for export for calculating the consumption of imported raw materials, tax refund or tax cancellation.

For the exported products that are made of both raw materials imported for sale and raw materials imported for export production, or exported products that are completely made of raw materials imported for domestic sale, the company might not notify the Sub-department of Customs where the declaration of raw materials imported for sale is register if the company registers the declaration of exported products at the Sub-department of Customs where the declaration of raw materials imported for export production is registered, or at one of the two Sub-department of Customs where raw materials are imported for domestic sale.

For exported products that are made of from both raw materials imported for sale and raw materials imported for export production, when registering the export declaration at another Sub-department of Customs than the Sub-department of Customs where raw materials are imported for sale and for export production, only a written notification shall be sent to the Sub-department of Customs where the declaration of imported raw materials for export production is registered.

2. The customs procedure is similar to the customs procedure for commercial exported goods guided in Chapter I Part II of this Circular.

Article 39. Settlement of the consumption of imported raw materials

1. Rules for settlement:

a) The declaration of imported raw materials must be available before the declaration of exported products.

b) A declaration of imported raw materials may be used for multiple settlements.

c) An export declaration is used for only one settlement.

In some cases such as a shipment is …, the export production uses raw materials imported for sale that undergo import procedure at another Sub-department of Customs, an export declaration may be … Raw materials that are settled many times shall be handled as prescribed in Article 129 of this Circular.

2. The company shall submit the dossier of imported raw material settlement to the Sub-department of Customs where the import procedure is carried out as prescribed in Article 117 of this Circular.

3. Inspecting the settlement dossier

The customs authority shall receive and check the settlement dossier under the guidance in Clause 7 and Clause 8 Article 127 of this Circular.

4. Procedure for domestic sale of imported raw materials

a) Conditions for domestic sales:

Raw materials imported for export production shall be sold to the domestic market if the company fails to find a market for their products after the foreign party terminates the export contract or in the event of force majeure.

b) Customs procedure:

b.1) The customs procedure for imported raw materials that are sold to the domestic market shall be carried out at the initial Sub-department of Customs.

b.2) The company shall send a written request for the permission for domestic sale, Specifying the quantity, category, import declarations, etc, and reason for domestic sale.

b.3) The head of the Sub-department of Customs shall consider giving permission if the conditions in Point a Clause 4 of this Article are satisfied.

b.4) After the head of the Sub-department of Customs gives the permission, the declarant shall make a new customs declaration and follow the procedure for commercial import; policies on taxation and import management  shall apply when registering the declaration of domestic sale (unless all management policies are implemented when goods are first imported).

b.5) The Sub-department of Customs shall carry out the import procedure. The goods being sold to the domestic market must undergo physical verification to make sure they are conformable with the information on the initial import dossier.

5. The wastes and scrap shall be destructed at the premises of the declarant in accordance with law and under the supervision of the customs authority. If wastes and scrap are transported to another location for destruction, the guidance on goods of export processing companies in Article 49 of this Circular shall apply.

Article 40. Customs procedure for products sold to another exporter

1. The company that imports raw materials for export production shall follow the import procedure, notify the quantity, and report the use of imported raw materials in accordance with this Circular.

2. The company that directly exports products shall follow the procedure for exporting products in accordance with this Circular. The export declaration shall be registered as export production, specifying that “The products are made of raw materials imported for export production” and the name of the seller.

Section 2. CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR TEMPORARILY IMPORTED GOODS AND GOODS IN TRANSIT

Article 41. Customs procedure for temporarily imported goods

Customs procedure for temporarily imported goods defined in this Circular (except for some categories of goods in the Circular No. 05/2013/TT-BCT dated February 18, 2013 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and commercial petroleum products temporarily imported that follow guidance of the Ministry of Finance) shall comply with regulations on commercial exports and imports. Some additional contents are guided as follows:

1. Customs procedure for temporary import

a) Location for customs procedure:

The customs procedure for temporary import of goods shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint where temporarily imported goods is stored.

b) Customs dossier of temporarily imported goods:

Apart from the documents of commercial imports, the trader must register the checkpoints of re-export in box “Notes” on the customs declaration (a List of export checkpoints may be made if goods are re-exported at multiple checkpoints) and submit 01 photocopy of the export contract during the procedure for temporary import.

c) During the temporary import, the customs officer shall compare the export contract with the temporary import dossier, specify the declaration of temporary import, append his signature and seal on the export contract, and return it to the declarant.

2. Customs procedure for re-export

a) Location for customs procedure:

The customs procedure for re-export shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of temporary import or checkpoint of re-export.

b) Customs dossier for re-export:

b.1) During the procedure for re-export, apart from the documents for commercial exports, the declarant shall specify the declaration of temporary import, on which the re-exported goods are shown” in box “Notes” of the export declaration.

b.2) If the procedure for re-export is carried out at another checkpoint than the checkpoint where goods are temporarily imported, the declarant must submit the following documents apart from the documents mentioned in Point b.1 Clause 2 of this Article:

b.2.1) 01 photocopy of the export contract certified by the customs authority that carried out the procedure for temporary import;

b.2.2) 01 photocopy of the customs declaration of temporary import (the original shall be presented).

c) The checkpoint of re-export: comply with the regulations of the Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

d) The trader that needs to change the checkpoint of re-export written on the export declaration shall follow the guidance in Clause 10 Article 61 of this Circular.

dd) Temporarily imported goods may be re-exported in multiple shipments. If goods are transported in a container, the container must not be divided throughout the transport of goods from the checkpoint of temporary import to the supervision area of the customs authority at the checkpoint of re-export. 

e) The temporarily imported goods that have undergone customs procedure must be gathered at the locations for goods inspection, bonded warehouse at the checkpoint of temporary import or checkpoint of re-export, and shall be exported at the checkpoint within 08 working hours since goods arrive at the checkpoint of export. If the export is suspended or all goods are not exported, the trader shall request the head of the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export in writing to consider granting an extension for exporting all goods on the next days within the period of storage in Vietnam.

g) If declarant follows the procedure for re-export at another checkpoint than the checkpoint of temporary import, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export shall fax the re-export declaration to the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of temporary import at 5.00 PM every day after the customs procedure is completed.

3. Storage period and location

a) Storage period:

a.1) Temporarily imported goods shall be stored in Vietnam in accordance with legislation on management of temporarily imported goods.

a.2) The power to grant extension:

Where the trader sends a written request to the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint where the procedure for temporary import of goods is carried out, the head of the Sub-department of Customs shall consider granting an extension of goods storage period in Vietnam in the event of force majeure and the terms of delivery time and condition in the sale contract are changed.

b) Storage location:

b.1) Temporarily imported goods shall be stored at the location for inspecting exported and imported goods and bonded warehouse at the checkpoint of temporary import or checkpoint of re-export. The temporarily imported goods in the list of goods banned form export or imported, or suspended from export or import shall be stored at the checkpoint of temporary import.

b.2) The temporarily imported goods sent to the bonded warehouse must follow the procedure in Article 59 of this Circular; the storage period in the bonded warehouse is the permissible storage period of temporarily imported goods in Vietnam.

4. Customs supervision of goods transported from the checkpoint of temporary import to the checkpoint of re-export

a) The temporarily imported goods that have undergone customs procedure for temporary import shall be sealed, inspected and supervised by the customs authority. For oversize cargos, bulk cargos that cannot be sealed, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of temporary import shall make a goods transfer record requesting the declarant in writing to preserve the status quo of goods and transport them to the checkpoint of re-export. The record must specify the conditions of goods, the means of transport (hereinafter referred to as vehicle), pictures of goods and the vehicle, and shall be sent to the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of re-export for supervising the export.

b) The goods that are exported through another checkpoint than the checkpoint of temporary import must be sealed. The trader shall comply with the route, stops, time, and checkpoint registered with the customs authority, and preserve the status quo of goods and customs seal.  Goods shall be transported from the checkpoint of temporary import to the checkpoint of re-export within 05 days, except for the case mentioned in Point e.1 Clause 4 of this Article.

c) Responsibilities of the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of temporary import:

c.1) Seal the goods, make 03 records on transfer of temporarily imported goods (the form No. 26/BBBG-TNTX/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular), specifying the information about beginning time, route, and other information as the basis for the customs at the checkpoint of export to receive, verify, compare; seal the customs dossier together with 02 transfer records for the trader to transport goods to the checkpoint of export;

c.2) Fax the transfer record to the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export before 5.00 PM every day.

c.3) Monitor feedbacks from the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export. When the deadline for transporting goods is passed (registered by the trader on the transfer record), if no feedbacks are received or the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of re-export notifies that goods have not arrived at the checkpoint of re-export, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of temporary import shall cooperate with the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export and the customs control team of the Customs Department where the procedure for temporary import was carried out to find the shipment.

d) Responsibilities of the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of re-export:

d.1) Since the information about the temporarily imported goods in transit is received according to the transfer record faxed by the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of temporary import, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of re-export shall monitor the information about the shipment being transported to the checkpoint of export.

d.2) After the trader gathers all goods at the checkpoint of export, the customs officer shall check the customs seal, verify information, and request the head of the Sub-department of Customs to sign on 02 transfer records.

d.3) Fax the transfer record to the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of temporary import. If the compliance to legislation on customs of the re-exported shipment is questionable, the head of the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of re-export shall decide the physical verification and process the result similarly to goods being moved to another checkpoint.

d.4) Keep 01 transfer record and send 01 transfer record, which is certified, to the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of temporary import.

d.5) The customs officer shall supervise the re-export until all goods are re-exported, certify on the customs declaration and obtain the signature of the head of the Sub-department of Customs (signature, deal, and date).

d.6) If the goods do not arrive at the checkpoint of re-export when the deadline has passed, before 8.00 AM of the next working days, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of re-export shall notify the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of temporary import of the incorrect route and time, and cooperate with the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of temporary import in finding the shipment.

dd) Responsibilities of the Customs control team:

Upon the receipt of information about the incorrect route and time, the customs control team shall trace the shipment at the request of the Sub-department of Customs where the declaration is registered if the shipment is in their area, or request cooperate with the Smuggling Investigation and Prevention Department in tracing the shipment if it is outside their area.

e) Responsibilities of the trader and operator of the means of transport (hereinafter referred to as driver):

e.1) Adhere to the route and time certified by the customs authority on the transfer record. If the route or time is different, the declarant/driver shall send a written notification to the Sub-department of Customs where the declaration is registered and the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export before goods arrive at the checkpoint of export.

e.2) Protect the customs seal throughout the transport. If an accident or force majeure occurs, which breaks the customs seal or upset the status quo of goods, the declarant/driver must take measures to minimize damage and immediately notify the People’s Committee of the commune, ward or town or the nearest Sub-department of Customs to certify the condition of goods in writing.

5. Customs procedure for domestic sale of temporarily imported goods

a) Goods in the list of goods restricted from import made by the Ministry of Industry and Trade may not be sold to the domestic market. If goods are not re-exported or completely re-exported, they must be completely re-exported at the checkpoint of temporary import within 30 days from the deadline for storage in Vietnam.

b) Goods may be sold to the domestic market if they are not re-exported or completely re-exported after the foreign party terminates the sale contract. Customs procedure:

b.1) The trader makes and sends a request for permission for domestic sale of goods to the Customs Department where procedure for temporary import is carried out.

b.2) The Customs Department where procedure for temporary import is carried out shall grant permission if the conditions in Point b.1 Clause 5 of this Article are satisfied.

b.3) After permission is granted by the Customs Department, the trader shall follow the procedure for commercial import and implement the policies on taxation and import management that are effective when the declaration of goods being sold to the domestic market is registered.

Article 42. Customs procedure for goods in transit

1. Goods in transit that are transported from the exporting country to the importing countries without passing a Vietnam’s checkpoint are exempt from customs procedure.

2. Goods in transit that are transported from the exporting country to the importing countries through a Vietnam’s checkpoint but are not sent to a bonded warehouse or transshipment area in a Vietnam’s port shall be supervised by the customs until they are actually exported from Vietnam. For the goods in transit that must obtain a permit from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the declarant shall submit a photocopy and present the original copy of the License to transit goods to the customs at the checkpoint.

3. Goods in transit that are transported from the exporting country to the importing countries through a Vietnam’s checkpoint and sent to a bonded warehouse or transshipment area at a Vietnam’s port, the customs procedure is similar to that for goods being moved in and out of the bonded warehouse or transshipment area at Vietnam’s ports.

4. Goods in transit shall be moved from Vietnam at the import checkpoint.

5. Goods in transit are exempt from inspection. If compliance with law is questionable, customs inspection shall be carried out in accordance with Article 16 of this Circular.

Section 3. CUSTOMS PROCEDURES IN OTHER CASES

Article 43. Customs procedure for executing processing contracts with foreign traders

1. Customs procedure for executing processing contracts with foreign traders shall be guided by the Ministry of Finance.

2. For finished products used for domestic import, processed goods used as payment for processing, redundant supplies that are sold in Vietnam’s market, a new customs declaration shall be registered as domestic export-import. The trader shall implement policies on management of imported goods and taxation similarly to those applied to imported goods.

Customs procedure shall be guided by the Ministry of Finance.

Article 44. Customs procedure for exporting, importing under a single customs declaration.

1. The registration of single declaration is applicable to every exported and imported goods that satisfy the conditions below:

a) Names of goods on the customs declaration are not changed during the effective period of the single declaration;

b) Goods in the declaration are under the same contract that allows multiple deliveries of goods;

c) The company that owns the goods complies with legislation on customs.

2. Effect of the registered declaration

a) The declaration is effective throughout the effective period of the contract.  The declaration of processed goods that has appendices is effective throughout the effective period of the appendices.

b) The declaration is invalidated ahead of schedule in the following cases:

b.1) Policies on taxation, management of export and import applicable to the articles on the declaration are changed;

b.2) License to export or import, or the contract expires;

b.3) The company has exported or imported all goods on the declaration in reality;

b.4) The company announces the termination of procedure for exporting or importing the complete quantity of goods on the declaration;

b.5) The names, numbers of goods exported or imported are not consistent with those on the customs declaration;

b.6) The company carries coercive measures during the effective period of the declaration.

b.7) During the effective period of the declaration, the company commits violations of law that make the conditions in Point c Clause 1 of this Article unsatisfied.

3. The procedure for exporting or importing under a single declaration shall be carried out at a Sub-department of Customs.

4. Procedure for registering the single declaration

a) The declarant shall complete the declaration and the logbook of exported and imported goods. Some items on the declaration corresponding to each export or import (transport documents, means of transport, etc.) may be left out while completing the single declaration.

b) The customs dossier consists of:

b.1) The customs declaration of exported or imported goods: 02 original copies;

b.2) The sale contract made in writing or other equivalent forms including: telegram, telex, fax, files: 01 photocopy;

b.3) The license to export or import issued by a competent authority (if it is compulsory): submit 01 photocopy and present the original copy for comparison, or submit an original copy (if goods in the single declaration are all goods permitted to be exported or imported on the license);

b.4) The logbook of exported or imported goods: 02 books (the form No. 27/STD/2013 or the form No. 28/PTD/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular).

c) The Sub-department of Customs shall receive the application, return 01 declaration and logbook to the company.

5. Procedure for an export or import:

a) The declarant shall submit the compulsory papers in the customs dossier (except for the papers submitted when registering the declaration); present the registered customs declaration and the logbook of exported or imported goods.

b) The head of the Sub-department of Customs shall decide the method and level of customs inspection of each export or import based on the method and level of inspection given by the risk management system when the customs declaration is registered and the situation of each export or import.

6. Report on settlement of each export or import.

a) Responsibilities of the company:

a.1) At least 15 working days from the day on which the declaration expires, the company shall make and send a report on each export or import to the Sub-department of Customs;

a.2) The dossier consists of the customs declaration and the logbook.

b) The Sub-department of Customs shall check, compare and verify the actual amount of imported or exported goods.

Article 45. Customs procedure for domestic export or import

1. Interpretation of terms:

a) "Domestic exports or imports” mean goods exported to a foreign trader by a Vietnamese trader (including Vietnamese traders funded by foreign capital and export processing companies), and requested by the foreign trader to be delivered to a Vietnamese trader in Vietnam.

b) “Domestic exporter” (hereinafter referred to as exporter) means the person appointed by the foreign trader to deliver goods in Vietnam.

c) Domestic importer (hereinafter referred to as importer) means the person that buys goods from the foreign trader and is requested by the foreign trader to receive goods in Vietnam from the domestic exporter.

2. Criteria for identifying domestic exports and imports

a) For processed products, leased or borrowed machinery and equipment, redundant raw materials, wastes under processing contracts: follow regulations in Clause 3 Article 33 of the Decree No. 12/2006/NĐ-CP.

b) Goods of foreign-invested companies: follow the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

c) Other goods: follow the regulations in Clause 2 Article 15 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP.

3. The customs procedure for domestic export or import shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs that is most convenient for the company at its choice or in accordance with regulations on each form.

4. The customs dossier consists of:

a) The declaration of domestic export or import (in Appendix IV; the guidance is provided in Appendix V to this Circular): 04 original copies;

b) The sale contract or processing contracts that requires goods to be delivered to an exporter in Vietnam, the sale contract or processing contract that requires goods to be received by an importer in Vietnam, the borrowing or lease contract: 01 photocopy;

c) Export invoice: submit 01 photocopy and present the original copy for comparison;

d) Other papers depending on the form of export or import (except for the bill of lading).

5. Within 15 days from the day on which the domestic exporter completes the customs procedure and delivers goods, the domestic importer must complete the customs procedure. If the domestic importer fails to complete the customs procedure by the aforesaid deadline, the customs authority shall impose penalties, then carry on the customs procedure.

6. Customs procedure for domestic export:

a) Responsibilities of the importer:

a.1) Provide information about the importer on 04 declaration forms; specify the intended Sub-department of Customs where the import procedure is carried out in box 29 of the declaration of domestic export - import; append the signature and seal;

a.2) Send 04 customs declarations to the exporter.

a.3) After the procedure for domestic import is completed, the importer shall keep 01 customs declaration and send the other customs declaration to the domestic exporter.

b) Responsibilities of the exporter:

b.1) After 04 customs declarations are received, the exporter shall provide information about the exporter on 04 customs declarations;

b.2) Submit the customs dossier to the Sub-department of Customs where the export procedure is carried out;

 b.3) After the export procedure is completed, the importer shall send 03 customs declaration to the importer to carry on the import procedure.

b.4) Receive 01 customs declaration sent by the importer; the customs declaration must bear the certifications, signatures, and seals of 04 parties: the importer, the exporter, the customs authority that carries out the import procedure, and the customs authority that carries out the export procedure.

c) Responsibilities of the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for domestic export is carried out:

c.1) Receive, register the declarations, decide the method and level of inspection, check tax calculation (for dutiable goods) as prescribed. Seal the samples (if any) and send them to the company for them to present at the request of the customs authority;

c.2) Carry out inspection of goods if needed;

c.3) Certify that customs procedure has been completed, append signatures and officer’s seals on 04 declarations;

c.4) Keep 01 declaration and the documents submitted by the company, return 03 declarations and documents presented by the exporter to the exporter;

c.5) Fax the customs declaration that has completed the export procedure to the import Sub-department of Customs.

7. Customs procedure for domestic import

a) After receiving 03 declarations of domestic export-import, which are certified by the customs authority that carries out the export procedure, the importer shall submit the customs dossier to the Sub-department of Customs where the import procedure is carried out to initiate the procedure for domestic import.

b) Responsibilities of the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for domestic export is carried out:

b.1) Receiving the customs declaration of export faxed by the Sub-department of Customs that carries out the export procedure;

b.2) Receive the customs dossier submitted by the importer;

b.3) Take the steps in registering the declarations, except for physical verification of goods; check the tax calculation (if any). Certify that customs procedure has been completed, append signatures and officer’s seals on the declarations;

b.4) Keep 01 declaration and the documents submitted by the company, return 02 declarations and documents presented by the company to the company;

b.5) Send a written notification (the form No. 29/TBXNKTC/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular) to the tax authority that monitors the domestic importers, or sent it via the computer network if the Sub-department of Customs that carries out the import procedure and the local tax authority have been connected.

8. The declaration of domestic export - import is valid when:

It bears sufficient information, certifications, signatures and seals of 04 parties: the exporter, the importer the customs authorities that carries out procedures for domestic export and domestic imports.

If the domestic exporter and domestic importer carry out procedure at the same Sub-department of Customs, this Sub-department of Customs shall sign on both parts.

9. The processed products imported domestically for domestic sale shall follow the guidance of the Ministry of Finance.

10. The settlement, refund, and cancellation of tax are guided in Section 6 Part V of this Circular.

Article 46. Customs procedure for goods export and import serving projects of investment

1. The customs procedures for various types of goods export and import serving operation of companies are guided in this Circular.

2. Customs procedure for goods import to form fixed assets; raw materials, components, semi-finished products serving the production in projects provided with incentives:

a) For projects eligible for tax exemption:

a.1) Register the list of imported tax-free goods with the customs authority when importing goods to form fixed assets, or importing raw materials, components, semi-finished products serving production in a project eligible for tax exemption.

The registration procedure is guided in Article 101 of this Circular.

a.2) Import procedure:

a.2.1) The company shall follow the customs procedure for importing goods at the most convenient Sub-department of Customs affiliated to the Customs Department where the list of tax-free goods is registered.

a.2.2) The customs procedure is similar to that for commercial export and import in Chapter I part II of this Circular. Some tasks guided in Article 101, Article 102, and Article 103 of this Circular must be done.

b) For projects not eligible for tax exemption:

The customs procedure is similar to that for commercial import. The company shall follow the procedure at the customs officer where goods are imported or the project is situated. The company shall use the imported goods for the project not eligible for tax exemption in accordance with the purpose written on the certificate of investment.

3. Liquidating, changing the purpose of imported tax-free goods

a) The liquidation and change of purpose of goods eligible for liquidation, the conditions for liquidation, liquidation documents of imported tax-free goods of domestic projects and foreign-invested projects shall comply with the Circular No. 04/2007/TT-BTM dated April 04, 2007 of the Ministry of Trade (now the Ministry of Industry and Trade) providing guidance on export, import, processing, liquidation of imported goods and sale of products of foreign-invested companies.

b) The procedures for liquidating or changing the purpose shall be carried out at the customs authority where the customs declarations of imported tax-free goods are registered.

c) Procedures for liquidation and change of purpose

c.1) The company or the Liquidation board shall send a written notification of the reason for liquidation, change of purpose of names, symbols, quantity, exempted tax corresponding the goods that need liquidating, the numbers and dates of import declarations to the customs authority where the customs declarations of imported tax-free goods are registered;

c.2) If goods are liquidated in the form of export, the company shall make a corresponding export declaration.

c.3) If goods are sold in Vietnam, donated, or destructed, tax shall be declared and calculated on the new customs declaration in accordance with Clause 8 Article 11 of this Circular.  The company shall follow the corresponding customs procedure for import, Implement the policies on taxation and management of imported goods that are effective when the import declaration is registered, unless the company has implemented all policies on import management during the procedure for tax-free import.

If goods are sold to a company (transferee company) that is eligible for exemption of import tax, the tax-free goods must be recorded in the Sheet of tax-free goods issued to the transferee company.

c.4) If goods are destruction, the company shall comply with regulations of environment management agencies.

Article 47. Customs procedure for goods being moved in and out of transshipment ports 

1. Customs procedure for goods moved in and out of transshipment ports for export

a) The transshipment service provider shall make a manifest of goods in transshipped containers (the form No. 30/BKTrC/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular).

b) The customs dossier consists of 02 original copies of the manifest of goods in transshipped containers.

c) If goods moved in and out of the transshipment port are exempt from inspection, the inspecting agency shall check the number of containers, compare the numbers and symbols of the containers and those in the manifest.  If violations of law are suspected, the customs authority shall carries out an inspection.

2. Settling goods in transshipped containers

a) Within 10 days from the day on which all goods are moved out of the transshipment port, the transshipment service provider shall settle goods in the transshipped containers.

b) Every quarter, within 15 days after the reporting period, the transshipment service provider shall send a report to the customs at the transshipment area on the quantity of goods that are moved in, moved out of, and retained in the transshipment area.

3. Goods left at the transshipment port shall be treated as imported goods left at sea ports in accordance with the Circulars of the Ministry of Finance providing guidance on handling goods left at Vietnam’s seaports.

4. Director of the General Department of Customs shall provide guidance on customs management of goods being moved in and out of transshipment ports.

Article 48. Customs procedures for goods moved in and out of free trade zones in economic zones, checkpoint economic zones; vehicles entering, leaving, and passing through free trade zones

1. Rules for customs procedure and customs supervision of goods moved in and out of the free trade zone:

a) Goods moved in and out of the free trade zone must undergo customs procedure and customs supervision. Various customs procedures shall apply to corresponding forms of goods;

b) The following goods might or might not follow the customs procedure in Clause 2 Article 6 of the Regulation promulgated together with the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 100/2009/QĐ-TTg dated July 30, 2009 on the promulgation of the Regulation on operation of free trade zones in economic zones and checkpoint economic zones: stationery, foods, consumables brought to free trade zones by companies from the domestic market to serve office operation and everyday life of officers and workers.

c) The following goods are exempt from customs procedure:

c.1) Goods brought by residents from the domestic market to Lao Bao Special Economic Area and Cau Treo International Checkpoint Economic zone that do not apply 0% VAT as according to Clause 3 Article 9 of the Circular No. 06/2012/TT-BTC dated January 11, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance, providing guidance on a number of articles of the Law on Value-added tax, the implementation of the Decree No. 123/2008/NĐ-CP dated December 08, 2008 and the Decree No. 121/2011/NĐ-CP dated December 27, 2011 of the Government;

c.2) Goods that are products from farming and breeding that are not processed into a finished products brought from Lao Bao Special Economic Area and Cau Treo International Checkpoint Economic Zone to the domestic market, which do not subject to VAT according to Clause 1 Article 4 of the Circular No. 06/2012/TT-BTC dated January 11, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance.

d) Goods brought from Vietnam’s domestic market or other areas on the checkpoint economic zones to free trade zones in checkpoint economic zones may not open customs declarations of exported goods according to the Circular No. 116/2010/TT-BTC dated August 04, 2010 of the Ministry of Finance on amendments to the Circular No. 137/2009/TT-BTC dated July 03, 2009 of the Ministry of Finance providing guidance on some Article of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 33/2009/QĐ-TTg dated March 02, 2009 on financial policies on checkpoint economic zones.

2. When goods are brought to the free trade zone from abroad, the declarant shall complete the declaration form at the customs officer in charge of the free trade zone and classify them at tax-free goods (except for the articles not provided with tax incentives for imported goods).

When a company in a free trade zone imports raw materials for production or business, it must register the names of products, raw materials, and quantity of raw materials imported for export production with the customs authority. The quantity of raw materials imported for production goods sold inside free trade zones shall be notified before the report on imported-exported-unsold goods (hereinafter referred to as inventory report) is made. The notification of quantity of raw materials imported for export production shall comply with corresponding regulations.

When a company in the free trade zone imports raw materials or components to manufacture products and sell them to the domestic market, the declarant shall register and specify the name, quantity, category and import value of every material and component, names of the products manufactured in the free trade zone and sold to the domestic market when registering the import declaration.

3. Customs procedure for goods brought from the domestic market to free trade zones:

a) The domestic company shall follow the customs procedure at the domestic Sub-department of Customs or the customs officer in charge of the free trade zone. If the customs procedure is carried out by a domestic Sub-department of Customs, goods shall be transported to the free trade zone in accordance with regulations on exported goods being moved to another checkpoint.

The company in the free trade zone shall follow the customs procedure for the corresponding form of import at the customs officer in charge of the free trade zone.

b) The physical verification of goods is similar to that of exported goods. If goods moved into the free trade zone are under the management of another Sub-department of Customs than the customs officer in charge of the free trade zone, the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the free trade zone shall inspect goods if violations of law are suspected.

4. Customs procedure for goods exported to abroad from free trade zones

a) Goods exported from the free trade zone shall follow the corresponding customs procedure.

b) If goods are imported from abroad or the domestic market by a company into the free trade zone, then exported in whole to abroad, the company shall specify that “Goods imported from abroad are exported in whole in the declaration No. ..." or “Goods imported from the domestic market are exported in whole in the declaration No. ..." while following the export procedure, and enclose it with the initial import declaration and the manifest (if any).

5. Customs procedure for goods brought to the domestic market from the free trade zone

a) The company in the free trade zone shall follow the corresponding procedure for form of export; the domestic company shall follow the corresponding customs procedure for the form of import. Export and import procedures shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the free trade zone.

b) For the domestic company to calculate tax payable when following the import procedure, the company in the free trade zone shall:

b.1) Notify the customs authority of the estimated quantity of imported raw materials and components, which make up the products, before following the export procedure if exported products are manufactured in the free trade zone.

Specify the names, categories of raw materials and components that make up the products in the export declaration while following the export procedure.

b) If goods are imported from abroad or the domestic market by a company into the free trade zone, then exported in whole to the domestic market, the company in the free trade zone shall specify that “Goods imported exported in whole from abroad in the declaration No. ..." or “Goods imported exported in whole from the domestic market in the declaration No. ..." while following the export procedure, and enclose it with the initial import declaration and the manifest (if any).

b.3) The company in the free trade zone shall provide the domestic company with adequate documents and data for the domestic company to calculate tax payable.

6. Goods processing between a company in the free trade zone and a domestic company

a) When a company in the free trade zone hires a domestic company to process goods: the domestic company shall send the processing contract and follow the customs procedure for such contract at the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the free trade zone. The customs procedure is similar to that for processing goods of foreign traders.

a) When a domestic company hires a company in the free trade zone to process goods: the domestic company shall send the processing contract and follow the customs procedure for such contract at the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the free trade zone or at a domestic Sub-department of Customs. The customs procedure is similar to that for hiring foreign partners to process goods.

7. Customs procedure for bringing goods purchased in stores and supermarkets in the free trade zone to the domestic market

a) The customers that buy goods in stores or supermarkets in the free trade zone and bring them to the domestic market shall pay tax on imported goods before taking them out of the free trade zone.

When a customer buys goods eligible for tax exemption in the free trade zone or checkpoint economic zone that exceed duty-free allowance and bring them to the domestic market, the tax on the part exceeding duty-free allowance shall be paid as prescribed by the Prime Minister in the Regulation on operation of free trade zones.

b) The customers that buy goods in stores or markets in the free trade zone shall present their ID cards or passports (if they are foreigners) to the sellers and the customs officers at the gate when goods are brought out of the free trade zone.

c) When selling goods, the seller must issue invoices and have a sale book, specifying names, addresses, ID numbers or passport numbers of buyers; quantity, unit prices and value of goods being sold.

d) Depending on the conditions of the free trade zone, tax on goods purchased in the free trade zone and brought to the domestic market shall be collected in one of the following two methods:

 d.1) The buyer declares and pays tax to the customs at the gate of the free trade zone.

d.1.1) The buyer, before taking goods from the free trade zone, shall enumerate goods subject to tax on the non-commercial declaration, submit the declaration, present the ID card, goods, invoices (the stub held by the buyer) to the customs at the gate of the free trade zone;

d.1.2) The customs at the gate of the free trade zone shall check the ID card presented by the buyer, compare the goods with the customs declaration and invoices. If they are consistent, The customs shall issue a tax receipt, collect tax and remit it to government budget in accordance with law.

d.2) The Sub-department of Customs in charge of the free trade zone authorizing seller to collect tax:

d.2.1) Sellers shall be authorized to collect tax in accordance with Clause 2 Article 3 of the Decree No. 83/2013/NĐ-CP. Responsibilities of the authorized sellers and tax authority are specified in Clause 3 and Clause 4 Article 3 of the Decree No. 83/2013/NĐ-CP.

d.2.2) When bringing goods out of the free trade zone, the buyer shall present his ID card, goods, invoices, and tax receipts to the customs at the gate of the free trade zone;

d.2.3) The customs at the gate of the free trade zone shall check the ID card presented by the buyer, compare the goods with invoices and tax receipts. If inconsistency between the buyer and the ID card, between the ID number on invoices, tax receipts and on the ID card, between the goods presented and goods in the invoices and tax receipts, penalties shall be imposed in accordance with law.

8. Customs supervision of goods being moved in and out of free trade zones

a) The free trade zone must be separate from the outside by barriers and has customs control gates for supervising goods being moved in and out of the free trade zone.

b) Goods moved in and out of the free trade zone to be imported to the domestic market, goods being moved through free trade zones for import to the domestic market or export must go through the customs control gates and be supervised by the customs.

c) When goods are imported from abroad to the domestic market or goods from the domestic market are exported to abroad through a free trade zone, they must go on the route prescribed by the customs and the management board of the free trade zone.

9. The customs procedure and customs supervision of vehicles entering, leaving, or going through the free trade zone (if the free trade zone is connected with a road checkpoint) shall comply with regulations on vehicles entering, leaving, or going through Vietnam.

10. Inventory reports:

a) The companies in free trade zones shall send biannual reports on exported, imported, and unsold goods in the reported period. The report shall be submitted within 15 days from the end of the period.

A report dossier includes:

a.1) The list of declarations of imported raw materials in the reported period: 02 original copies (the form No. 31/HSBC-PTQ/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

a.2) The list of declarations of raw materials purchased in the free trade zone in the reported period: 02 original copies (the form No. 32/HSBC-PTQ/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

a.3) The list of declarations of exported products in the reported period: 02 original copies (the form No. 33/HSBC-PTQ/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

a.4) The list of invoices of products sold in the free trade zone in the reported period: 02 original copies (the form No. 34/HSBC-PTQ/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

a.5) The list of raw materials used for the manufacture of exported products that are sold in the free trade zone in the reported period: 02 original copies (the form No. 35/HSBC-PTQ/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

a.6) The report on imported-exported-unused raw materials in the reported period: 02 original copies (the form No. 36/HSBC-PTQ/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

a.7) The photocopies of invoices for raw materials purchased in the free trade zone in the reported period ((if any);

a.8) The photocopies of invoices for products sold in the free trade zone in the reported period ((if any);

b) The sellers in free trade zones shall send monthly report on exported, imported and unsold goods in the month to the customs authority in charge of the free trade zone. The deadline for submitting the report is the 15^th of the next month.

A report dossier includes:

b.1) The list of declarations of goods imported from abroad in the month: 02 original copies (the form No. 37/HSBC-PTQ/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

b.2) The list of declarations of goods imported from the domestic market in the month (if any): 02 original copies (the form No. 38/HSBC-PTQ/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

b.3) The list of goods purchased in the free trade zone in the month: 02 original copies (the form No. 39/HSBC-PTQ/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

b.4) The list of goods sold in the free trade zone in the month: 02 original copies (the form No. 40/HSBC-PTQ/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

b.5) The list of exported goods in the month (if any): 02 original copies (the form No. 41/HSBC-PTQ/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

b.6) The report on imported-exported-unsold goods in the month: 02 original copies (the form No. 42/HSBC-PTQ/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular);

b.7) The photocopies invoices for goods sold and purchased in the free trade zone in the month ((if any).

c) Processed goods: comply with regulations on processing.

d) The companies that both manufacture and sell goods shall make separate reports on each aspect.

dd) Verifying the inventory report:

dd1) Companies are responsible for the declaration and use of goods.

dd2) The customs authority shall receive the inventory report, which specify the dates of receipts, bear the signatures and seals of the customs.

Based on the assessment of the compliance with law of the companies, the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the free trade zone shall check the probability to assess the compliance with law of companies; inspect unsold goods where necessary. If violations of law are found or imported goods in the free trade zone are found illegally trafficked to the domestic market, penalties shall be imposed in accordance with law.

If goods are imported from the domestic market to the free trade zone and then illegally trafficked back to the domestic market, the customs in charge of the free trade zone shall notify the Departments of Taxation where the domestic company that sends goods to the free trade zone is situated.

Article 49. Customs procedure for exported and imported goods of export processing companies

1. General principles

a) Customs procedures for exported and imported goods of export processing companies apply to both export processing companies inside and outside export-processing zones.

b) Exported and imported goods of export processing companies must go through customs procedures corresponding to the form of export or import. Electronic customs procedures shall comply with the Circular No. 196/2012/TT-BTC dated November 2012 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment if they are prescribed in the Circular.

c) The export processing company may choose whether to follow customs procedure if goods are stationery, foods, consumables (including personal protective equipment: clothes, helmets, shoes, boots, gloves) that are purchased from the domestic market to serve the operation of offices and everyday life of officers and workers.

d) The goods circulated within the export processing company are exempt from customs procedure.

dd) Imported goods of the export processing company may be moved fro the import checkpoint to the export processing company. Imported goods of the export processing company may be moved form the export processing company to the checkpoint of export.

e) The customs in charge of the export-processing zone or the export processing company shall only supervise at the gate if necessary under the decision of the Director of the Customs Department.

g) In a reported period, the export processing company shall notify the consumption of raw materials (including loss ratio) to the customs authority when then submitting the inventory report at the latest.

2. Locations for carrying out customs procedures

a) For exported and imported goods shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs that monitors the export processing company.

b) For processed goods between the export processing company and a domestic company: the domestic company shall follow customs procedure at the Sub-department of Customs that monitors the export processing company or the Sub-department of Customs where the factory of the domestic company is situated.

c) For processed goods between two export processing companies: the hired company shall send the processing contract and follow customs procedure at the Sub-department of Customs that monitors the hired company.

3. Customs procedure for exported and imported goods of export processing companies

a) Goods imported from abroad:

a.1) For goods imported to form fixed assets: based on the request for permission to import goods for forming fixed assets made by the Director of the export processing company, which is enclosed with a manifest of goods (specifying names, quantity and categories of goods), the customs authority shall carry out import procedure in accordance with regulations on goods imported under sale contracts. This regulation also applies to the export processing companies that follow electronic customs procedures in Chapter VI of the Circular No. 196/2012/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance.

a.2) For raw materials imported for export production, the export processing company shall follow the import procedure in accordance with regulations on goods imported under sale contracts, except for tax statement.

a.2) For raw materials imported for export production, the export processing company shall follow the import procedure in accordance with regulations on goods imported under sale contracts, except for tax statement.

c) Goods of export processing companies sold to the domestic market:

c.1) For products manufactured and sold to the domestic market by the export processing company, the export processing company and the domestic company shall follow customs procedure and use the declaration of domestic export and import.

c.2) For wastes and scrap allowed to be sold to the domestic market, the domestic company shall follow the import procedure applied to goods imported under sale contracts.

d) For goods sold to the export processing company by a domestic company: the export processing company and domestic company shall follow the customs procedure and use the declaration of domestic export and import.

dd) Processed goods:

dd.1) When a domestic company is hired to process goods by an export processing company, the domestic company shall follow customs procedure in accordance with regulations on processing goods of foreign traders.

dd.1) When a domestic company is hired to process goods by an export processing company, the domestic company shall follow customs procedure in accordance with regulations on processing goods of foreign traders.

dd.3) For processed goods of foreign traders: follow the guidance of the Ministry of Finance.

e) For goods traded among export processing companies:

e.1) Goods traded among export processing companies that are not in the same export-processing zones follow guidance on customs procedure for domestically exported and imported goods (except for conditions for domestic export and import);

e.2) Goods traded among export processing companies in the same export-processing zone are exempt from customs procedure;

e.3) Goods being circulated among export processing companies that are not in the same export-processing zone but belong to the same corporation or a system of companies, they might not go through customs procedure or may go through customs procedure for domestic export and import (except for conditions for domestic export and import). Theses regulations also apply to the export processing companies that follow electronic customs procedures in Chapter VI of the Circular No. 196/2012/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance.

g) For the goods of the export processing company that are sent to the domestic market for repair, the export processing company shall makes a notification of goods names, quantity, reasons, and repair period. The registration of customs declaration is exempt. The customs shall monitor and certify when goods are sent back to the export processing company. If goods are not sent back when the registered repair period is passed, the guidance on changing purposes of goods shall apply.

h) Wastes and scrap shall be destructed in accordance with law and under the supervision of the customs, except they are preliminarily destructed at the export processing company before the official destruction. Theses regulations also apply to the export processing companies that follow electronic customs procedures in Chapter VI of the Circular No. 196/2012/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance.

i) The export processing company that temporarily imports goods to repair then re-exports them shall follow customs procedure for exported goods that are returned, except for tax statement.

4. Reports on imported, exported, and unused raw materials (hereinafter referred to as inventory report)y of export processing companies

a) The export processing company shall submit an inventory report every quarter on the 15^th of the first month of the next quarter at the Sub-department of Customs that monitors the export processing company. The favored companies accredited by the standards shall submit the inventory report annually at the end of Q1 of the next year, or every quarter.

b) The inventory report (form No. 43/HSBC-CX/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular): submit 02 original copies.

For consumables that are imported or purchased from the domestic market to serve the production and without specific consumption rates (e.g. cloth or paper for cleaning machinery and equipment, oil and gas for generators, mold-cleaning oil, pens for marking defective products, etc.) or to serve office operation and everyday life of workers of the export processing company:

The export processing company is exempted from classifying them by purpose or source of import, registering by category, making up codes, and submitting monthly inventory report to the customs authority.

The export processing companies outside export-processing zones shall submit reports on total quantity of consumables imported and purchased from the domestic market in the quarter.

Export processing companies are responsible for the statement and proper use of goods.

These regulations also apply to the export processing companies that follow electronic customs procedures in Chapter VI of the Circular No. 196/2012/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance.

c) Verifying the inventory report:

c.1) The customs authority shall receive inventory report sent by the export processing company, append signatures and officer’s seal, and date stamp on the inventory report. Based on the assessment of the compliance with law of the company, the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the free trade zone shall check the probability to assess the compliance with law of the company.

c.2) Within 30 days from the day on which the quarterly report is submitted, or within 60 days from the day on which the annual report is submitted, the Sub-department of Customs that monitors the export processing company shall request the Sub-department of Customs in charge of post-clearance inspection to carry out inspection if trade fraud is suspected.

d) When an export processing company is converted to a normal company and vice versa, the imported assets and goods shall be handled as follows:

d.1) Where an export processing company is converted into a company that is not entitled to export processing benefits:

d.1.1) Liquidate imported assets and goods;

d.1.2) Determine imported assets and goods that are unsold;

d.1.3) Collect tax;

d.1.4) Imported assets and goods shall be liquidated and determined before the conversion.

d.2) Where a company that is not entitled to export processing benefits is converted into an export processing company:

d.2.1) The company shall the quantity of unused raw materials; the customs authority shall check the unsold raw materials and collect tax as prescribed;

d.2.2) Before the conversion, the company shall pay all outstanding taxes and fines to the customs authority. The customs authority shall apply the taxation and customs policies on export processing companies after the company has fulfill tax and customs obligations to the customs authority.

5. Liquidation of machinery and equipment and vehicles used for forming fixed assets.

a) The methods of liquidation, conditions for liquidation, and documents on liquidation of imported tax-free goods shall comply with the Circular No. 04/2007/TT-BTM.

b) The liquidation procedure shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs that monitors the export processing company,

c) Liquidation procedure

c.1) The company or the liquidation board shall make a document specifying the reasons for liquidation, names, symbols, quantity, import declaration numbers of the liquidated goods, and then send it to the Sub-department of Customs that monitors the export processing company.

c.2) If they are liquidated in the form of export, the company shall open an export declaration. If they are sold in Vietnam’s market or donated, the company shall open corresponding declarations and pay tax as prescribed.

c.3) If they are destructed, the company shall comply with regulations of the environment management agency under the supervision of the customs authority.

6. Upon the completion of the construction, the export processing company shall submit a report on goods imported for the construction to the customs authority.

The customs authority shall verify the report and handle redundant goods or improperly used goods.

7. customs supervision of wastes of the export processing company transported to another location for destruction

a) The export processing company shall:

a.1) Notify the managing Sub-department of Customs of the time when wastes are taken by the deliverer.

a.2) Wastes shall be transported and destructed in accordance with the Law on Environment protection and its guiding documents.

b) Responsibilities of the managing Sub-department of Customs:

When receiving the notification sent by the export processing company, the managing Sub-department of Customs shall:

b.1) Check the license for management of harmful wastes (the license must be unexpired, the wastes transported must be permitted in the license), the contract for waste transport and treatment;

b.2) Check the wastes before they are taken by the deliverer (wastes must not be mixed with usable scrap or other goods);

b.3) Supervise the loading of wastes to the vehicle; supervise the transport of wastes over the boundary of the export-processing zone or export processing company.

b.4) Make a record on the inspection and supervision, which is certified by the export processing company and the deliverer (specifying the time of inspection and supervision; the supervising and inspecting customs officers, name of the export processing company, representative of the export processing company, the company that executes the contract for waste transport and treatment, the deliverer, numbers of the vehicle, names of wastes, contents of inspection and supervisions, etc.) the record shall be made into 03 copies; each copy is kept by a party.

b.5) The customs authority shall not seal the vehicle that contains wastes when wastes are transported to a location outside the export-processing zones or export processing company for treatment.

c) When receiving the documents on harmful wastes from the waste management service provider, the export processing company (waste discharger) shall send a photocopy of stub No. 4 to the managing Sub-department of Customs. The managing Sub-department of Customs shall inspect the register of waste dischargers, documents on harmful wastes that are kept at the export processing company.

8. Goods of foreign-invested export processing companies shall exercise the rights to export and import in accordance with the Government's Decree No. 23/2007/NĐ-CP dated February 12, 2007 and regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The customs procedure, policies on taxation and management of exported and imported goods are similar to those for goods exported and imported under commercial contracts. The Ministry of Finance shall provide additional guidance on exercising the rights to export and import of export processing companies as follows:

a) The export processing company that exercises the rights to export, import or distribute shall do separate bookkeeping. Domestic tax shall be stated under the guidance of the Ministry of Finance.

b) Customs procedure for imported goods of an export processing company that exercises the rights to import:

b.1) Customs procedure is exempt when goods are sold to domestic companies.

b.2) Customs procedure in Point e Clause 3 of this Article shall be carried out when goods are sold to other export processing companies.

c) Customs procedure for goods of an export processing company that exercises the rights to export:

c.1) Goods are purchased from the domestic market to export: follow the guidance in Point d Clause 3 of this Article.

c.2) Goods are purchased from another export processing company for export: follow the guidance in Point d Clause 3 of this Article.

c.3) Goods are exported to abroad: follow the guidance in Point b Clause 3 of this Article. The export processing company shall make tax statement (if any).

9. Customs supervision and inspection of export processing companies that lease warehouses of other companies according to Clause 1 Article 19 of the Decree No. 108/2006/NĐ-CP:

a) The export processing company may lease warehouses inside industrial parks, export-processing zones, hi-tech zones, economic zones under the management of the managing Sub-department of Customs to store raw materials and finished products serving their primary production.

b) Before taking goods to the warehouse, the export processing company must notify the managing Sub-department of Customs of the location, area, infrastructure, and policies on management of goods moved in and out of the warehouse, and the lease period. Goods may only be put into the warehouse after the managing Sub-department of Customs gives a written approval.

c) The export processing company shall manage and monitor goods moved in and out, and send the managing Sub-department of Customs periodic reports on the 15^th of the first month of the next quarter on the inventory.

d) Every quarter, the managing Sub-department of Customs shall inspect the condition of goods in the warehouse or carry out surprise inspections if it is suspected that goods are kept in improper warehouses or sold to the domestic market.

Article 50. Customs procedure for goods moved in and out of tax-suspension warehouses

1. Goods moved in and out of the tax-suspension warehouse are raw materials imported for export production of the company that has the tax-suspension warehouse and are temporarily exempt from tax.

The company shall compile a separate customs dossier for the imported raw materials in the tax-suspension warehouse and register the intended quantity of exported products in the year.

2. Customs procedure for imported raw materials in the tax-suspension warehouse is similar to that for raw materials imported for export production. Broken or degenerated goods in the tax-suspension warehouse that fail the production requirements shall be handled in accordance with Article 29 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP.

3. Inventory report:

a) At year’s end (December 31), on January 31 of the next year at the latest, the company shall compile a list of import declarations and total quantity of imported, the export declarations and total quantity of raw materials that make up the products that are exported, re-exported or destructed, and then send it to the customs authority.

b) Monitoring the submission of inventory reports, formalities for payment and refund of tax on imported goods in the tax-suspension warehouse.

b.1) The submission of inventory report made by the tax-suspension warehouse shall be monitored in the same way the submission of inventory reports made by export processing companies guided in Clause 4 Article 49 of this Circular.

b.2) If the quantity of used raw materials is smaller than the quantity of import raw materials in the tax-suspension warehouse, the company shall pay tax on the unused raw materials on the import declarations after 365-day period from the date of registration with the customs to the date of report; the remaining amount of raw materials shall be included in the inventory report on the next fiscal year.

b.3) The tax on the amount of raw materials that are used for export production shall be refunded according to Article 117 of this Circular.

4. Inspection and supervision of the tax-suspension warehouse

a) The tax-suspension warehouse shall be inspected and supervised in accordance with Clause 4 Article 27 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP.

b) The Sub-department of Customs that monitors the tax-suspension warehouse shall inspect the organization of the tax-suspension warehouse once per year, including:

b.1) Inspect the compliance with Clause 1 Article 27 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP.

b.2) Inspect the maintenance of bookkeeping system for monitoring goods exported, imported, moved in and out of the warehouse;

b.3) Verify the amount of unsold goods, compare the actual amount of unsold goods to the logbook and inventory reports made by the company.

c) Surprise inspections of quantity of goods in storage shall be carried out when:

c.1) It is informed that the company sells raw materials in the tax-suspension warehouse to the domestic market.

c.2) The quantity shall be verified at the premises if it is questionable.

Article 51. Customs procedure for goods moved in and out of container freight stations (CFS)

1. Goods put into the CFS include:

a) Imported goods in the CFS are goods that have not gone through customs procedure and under the supervision of the customs authority.

b) Exported goods in the CFS are goods that have gone through customs procedure or registered the customs declaration at the sub-department of customs outside the checkpoint area, but the physical verification is carried out at the CFS.

2. Services provided in the CFS

a) For exported goods: Packaging, repackaging, arrangement, rearrangement of goods.

For goods in transit may be put into the CFS for dividing or combining with exported containers or Vietnam’s containers of exported goods.

b) For imported goods may be divided to follow import procedure or combined with other shipments to be exported to a third country.

3. Time limits for storage in a CFS:

Goods shall be kept in the CFS for no more than 90 days from the day on which they are put into storage. After the aforesaid period, the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the CFS shall request the station owner to follow the procedure for removing such goods from the CFS, or treat them as abandoned, lost, mistaken, overdue goods according to Article 45 of the Law on Customs.

4. Customs supervision:

a) The CFS, goods in storage, entering and leaving, services provided in the CFS are under the regular supervision of the customs authority.

b) The customs supervision of goods and vehicles entering and leaving the CFS, the supervision of provision of services in the CFS shall comply with Article 13 and Article 14 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP, Article 18 of this Circular and guidance of the General Department of Customs.

5. The goods send to the domestic market from the CFS (including goods from abroad that have not gone through import Circular and the goods sent to the CFS that have gone through export procedure) shall follow corresponding customs procedures.

Article 52. Customs procedures for machinery and equipment, building equipment molds, samples temporarily imported or imported serving production, construction, project execution, or experiments

1. Customs procedures for machinery and equipment, building equipment molds, samples temporarily imported or imported serving production, construction, project execution, or experiments shall comply with regulations on commercial exports and imports.

If the goods temporarily imported or exported are granted tax exemption according to Article 100 of this Circular, the declarant shall notify the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for temporary import or export is carried out of the remaining useful period of goods every year (365 days from the day on which the declaration of temporary import or export is registered).

2. The procedure for temporary import or export shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs of the checkpoint.

If goods are re-imported or re-exported at another checkpoint than the initial one, the declarant shall submit a photocopy and present the original copy of the customs declaration for comparison.

3. The period of temporary import or export shall be agreed by both party, and registered with the customs at the checkpoint.  At the end of the period of temporary import or export, the declarant shall immediately re-export or re-import goods, and finalize documents at the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for temporary import or export is carried out;

If an extension of the period of temporary import or export is necessary for the construction, project execution, or experiments, the declarant shall make a written request before the end of the period. If the head of the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for temporary import or export is carried out grants an approval, the period of temporary import or export shall be extended under an agreement with his partner. Penalties shall be imposed if goods are not re-exported or re-imported by the end of the period of temporary import or export.

4. When the temporary importer or exporter makes a written request for permission to transfer the ownership (buy, sell, donate) the machinery, equipment, vehicles, molds, samples that are temporarily imported or exported for production, construction, project execution, experiments, they must follow the customs procedure similarly temporarily imported or exported goods that are sold to the domestic market. In particular:

a) The company shall submit the written request for permission to transfer the ownership to the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for temporary import or export is carried out.

b) After an approval is granted by the head of the Sub-department of Customs, the company shall follow the corresponding customs procedure, implement the policies on taxation and management of imported and exported tax that are effective when the declaration of ownership transfer is registered (except for the cases in which all management policies are implemented at the time of temporary import or export.

Article 53. Customs procedures in some other cases of temporary import and export

1. For the components, parts, and items temporarily imported without a contract to serve the replacement, repair, and operation of foreign ships or airplanes:

a) The declarant:

a.1) If the temporarily imported components, parts and items are carried by the ship or airplane when it enters, the declarant is the operator.

a.2) If the components, parts and items are sent before or after the ship or airplane arrives to the address of an agent of the courier, the declarant is the agent of the courier.

b) Customs procedure and taxation policies are specified in Article 73 and Article 100 of this Circular.

2. Customs procedure for foreign ships and airplanes that are temporarily imported for repair or maintenance in Vietnam:

The foreign ships and airplanes that are temporarily imported to Vietnam for repair or maintenance shall follow the similar customs procedure for commercial exports and imports. Due to the uniqueness of this form of temporary import, some additional regulations are introduced below:

a) Customs dossier:

Apart from the prescribed customs dossier, the declarant shall submit 01 photocopy of the contract for repair or maintenance of the ship or airplane, which is signed with the foreign partner;

b) Customs procedure shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of temporary import.

c) The period of temporary import shall be specified in the contract and registered with the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint.

d) Customs inspection and supervision:

d.1) When following the procedure for temporary import, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of temporary import shall compare the information on the declaration with the temporarily imported ship or airplane, supervise the declarant moving the ship or airplane from the wharf or the ramp to the repairing or maintenance location.

d.2) When following the procedure for re-export, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of temporary import shall compare the information on the temporary import declaration and the re-exported ship or airplane, supervise the declarant moving the ship or airplane from the repairing or maintenance location to the wharf or the ramp, until it is actually exported.

The customs procedure for temporarily importing components, parts and items to serve repair or operation of ships or airplanes under a contract for repair or maintenance signed with the foreign partner is similar to that for processing guided by the Ministry of Finance.

3. The customs procedure for temporarily importing or exporting goods to attend a fair, exhibition, product introduction is similar to that for commercial exports and imports Due to the uniqueness of this form of temporary import, some additional regulations are introduced below:

a) Customs dossier: apart from the required papers for commercial exports or imports, 01 photocopy of the confirmation of the fair or exhibition, which is certified by a competent authority is required (except for the temporary import for product introduction).

b) The customs procedure for goods temporarily imported or exported to attend a fair or exhibition shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs where the fair, exhibition, or product introduction takes place, or the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint.

c) Deadline for re-export or re-import

c.1) The goods temporarily imported to attend a fair or trade exhibition in Vietnam must be re-exported within 30 days from the end of the fair, trade exhibition, or product introduction that is registered with the customs authority.

c.2) The goods temporarily exported to attend a fair, trade exhibition or product presentation overseas shall be re-imported within 01 year from the date of temporary export. If goods are not re-imported after the aforesaid deadline, they are subject to tax and other financial obligations as prescribed by Vietnam’s law.

d) The sale and donation of goods at a fair, exhibition or product introduction shall comply with Article 136, Article 137 of the Law on Commerce, and other relevant laws.

4. Goods temporarily exported and temporarily exported to serve a convention, conference, scientific research, education, sport competition, artistic performance, medical examination and treatment:

a) Customs procedure shall comply with regulations on non-commercial exports and imports. If goods are re-imported or re-exported at another checkpoint than the initial one, the declarant shall submit a photocopy and present the original copy of the customs declaration for comparison.

b) The procedure for temporary import or export shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint.

c) The period of temporary import or export must be registered with the customs authority and must not exceed 90 days from the day on which the customs declaration of temporary import or export is registered, based on the certification of the organizer of the convention, conference, scientific research, education, sport competition, artistic performance, charitable medical examination and treatment.

5. Goods temporarily exported for repair overseas

a) If the warranty or repair is stipulated in the contract, Article 14 of the Government's Decree No. 12/2006/NĐ-CP dated January 23, 2006, and guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall apply.

b) If no contract is made, or the warranty or repair is stipulated in the contract, customs procedure is similar to the Circular for non-commercial exports and imports prescribed in Part III of this Circular.

c) The procedure for temporary export and re-import shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint where goods are temporarily exported. If goods are re-imported at another checkpoint, they may be moved to the checkpoint where the export procedure was carried out.

6. Goods temporarily imported and re-exported by a sub-contractor or an entity to serve petroleum activities under a lease contract, borrowing contract or service contract.

b) Customs procedure shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint where goods are temporarily imported. If goods are re-exported at another checkpoint, the procedure for moving to another checkpoint shall be followed.

b) Customs procedure shall comply with regulations on commercial exports and imports. The following papers are also required:

b.1) An application for permission for petroleum exploration and extraction: 01 original copy;

b.2) 01 photocopy of the petroleum service contract of goods supply contract;

c) Time limit for temporary import and re-export:

The time limit for temporary import and re-export shall be agreed by both party and registered with the customs.  If the deadline for re-export must be extended to further serve petroleum activities, a written request for an extension shall be submitted to the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for temporary import was carried out under an agreement between both parties.

d) Customs inspection and supervision:

d.1) When following the procedure for temporary import, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint shall compare the information on the declaration with the actual equipment used for petroleum extraction;

d.2) When following the procedure for re-export, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint shall compare the information on the re-export declaration with the temporary import declaration and the re-exported goods;

7. Finalizing declarations of temporary import or export

a) The Sub-department of Customs where the Circular for temporary import or export is carried out shall monitor and finalize the declarations of temporarily imported or exported goods. If goods are re-exported another Sub-department of Customs than the initial one, after the re-export procedure is done, the Sub-department of Customs shall send a written notification to the initial Sub-department of Customs, enclosed with a photocopy of the customs declaration for finalization of the case. If goods are re-imported at another Sub-department of Customs than the initial one, after the re-import procedure is done, the declarant shall contact the initial Sub-department of Customs to finalize the case as prescribed.

b) The deadline for finalization is similar to the deadline for submitting application for tax refund or tax cancellation specified in Clause 2 Article 127 of this Circular.

c) An application of finalization consists of:

c.1) A written request for finalization of the declaration of temporary import or temporary export, specifying the declaration of temporary import and declaration of re-export, the quantity of temporarily imported goods and corresponding quantity of re-exported goods;

c.2) The declaration of temporary import and declaration of re-export, or the declaration of temporary export and declaration of re-import;

c.3) Relevant papers.

8. Procedure for selling goods to the domestic market.

When goods temporary imported are sold to the domestic market, the customs procedure shall follow guidance in Clause 4 Article 52 of this Circular.

If goods temporarily imported to attend a fair or exhibition are sold or donated at the fair of exhibition, within 30 days from the end of the fair or exhibition, the company shall make tax statement on the non-trading import declaration and submit it to the Sub-department of Customs where the declaration of temporary import is registered.

Article 54. Customs procedure for temporary import and temporary export of circulated goods containers

1. Circulated goods containers are:

a) Empty containers or containers without hooks;

b) Flexitanks.

2. Customs procedure

a) For containers of the courier:

a.1) When importing, the courier agent shall submit 01 manifest of transported goods, specifying the imported containers.

a.2) When exporting, the courier agent shall submit 01 manifest of temporarily imported or temporarily exported empty containers before they are loaded onto the vehicle (the form No. 44/BKCR/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular); the deliverer or courier agent shall submit 01 manifest of transported goods.

b) If the containers are not owned by the courier, the declarant (the owner of the goods are or will be stored in the containers hired from foreigners, or the owner of circulated containers, or a person authorized by the owner of circulated containers) shall make a commitment to use circulated containers for the purposes in the manifest (the form No. 44/BKCR/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular).

c) The Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for temporary import/export is carried out shall compare and verify the quantity of temporarily exported or temporarily imported containers, and carry out physical verification.

d) If the purpose of circulated containers is changed, customs procedure shall be carried out as follows:

d.1) The declarant shall send a written explanation for the reasons for changing the purpose of circulated containers to the Sub-department of Customs where the manifest of temporarily imported goods is registered and the procedure for temporary import is carried out.

d.2) The head of the Sub-department of Customs where the manifest is registered shall consider the explanation and accept the request if no sign trade  fraud is found. In particular:

d.2.1) Receipt the manifest of temporarily imported goods that has been registered and undergone the procedure for temporary import;

d.2.2) Instruct the declarant to open the corresponding customs declaration, make tax statement, and collect tax (tax is calculated when the customs declaration is registered) in accordance with Clause 8 Article 11 of this Circular;

d.2.3) Impose penalties for missing the deadline and calculate late payment interest (if any);

d.2.4) After tax, late payment interest are collected and violations are penalized (if any), the manifest of temporarily imported goods shall be finalized.

3. The customs procedure for other circulated containers (shelves, barrels, jars, etc.) that are not containers or flexitanks is guided in Point a and Point c Clause 4 Article 53 of this Circular.

Article 55. Customs procedure for exported goods that are returned

1. The forms of re-importing exported goods that are returned (hereinafter referred to as re-import of returned goods) include:

a) Re-importing returned goods for repair, recycling (hereinafter referred to as recycling) and then re-export;

b) Re-importing returned goods for domestic sale (not applicable to processed goods of foreign traders);

c) Re-importing returned goods for destruction in Vietnam (not applicable to processed goods of foreign traders);

d) Re-importing returned goods for re-export to other foreign partners.

2.  Re-import procedure shall be carried out at:

a) The Sub-department of Customs where the export procedure was carried out or the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of re-import.

b) The Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of re-import or one of the Sub-departments of Customs where the export procedure was carried out shall caries the procedure for re-import if the returned goods belong to multiple exported shipments.

3. Recycled goods shall undergo re-export procedure at the Sub-department of Customs where the re-import procedure was carried out. If the Sub-department of Customs where the re-import and re-export procedures were carried out is outside the checkpoint, goods shall undergo the procedure applied to exported and imported goods that are moved to another checkpoint.

4. Procedure for re-importing returned goods

a) The customs dossier consists of:

a.1) An original copy of the written request for permission to re-import goods, specifying the declarations on which they are stated, whether tax refund or tax cancellation is granted, whether deductions for input VAT are registered with the tax authority (specifying the number of the decision on tax refund or tax cancellation), the reasons for re-import (for recycling, domestic sale, destruction, or re-export to a third country). The location, time, method of recycling, and loss after recycling must be specified if goods are imported for recycling;

a.2) The customs declaration of imported goods, the manifest of goods, and the bill of lading are similar to those of commercial imports;

a.3) The initial customs declaration of exported  goods: 01 photocopy;

a.4) The written notification of returned goods made by the foreign party, or a written notification of the courier/courier agent of no recipient: 01 original copy or photocopy.

b) The customs shall carry out customs procedure similarly to commercial imports (except for the license to import or license for specialized management). Re-imported goods must undergo physical verification. The customs officer in charge of goods inspection shall compare imported goods with the export declaration to determine the consistency between the re-imported goods and the goods exported previously.

c) The customs authority shall decide not to collect tax on the re-imported goods that are mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article if the declarant submits a sufficient application for tax cancellation when following the re-import procedure as guided in Article 119 of this Circular, and the customs authority has ample evidence that the imported goods are the goods previously exported. Tax shall be collected in other cases.

d) If goods are re-imported for recycling, the company shall register the recycling period with the customs authority, but such period must not exceed 275 days from the date of re-import.

5. Procedure for re-exporting recycled goods

a) The customs dossier consists of:

a.1) The declaration of exported goods: 02 original copies;

a.2) The declaration of imported goods (for recycling): 01 photocopy;

b) The customs authority shall carry out the procedure similarly to commercial exports. If the shipment must undergo physical verification, the customs officer in charge of goods inspection shall compare re-exported goods with the declaration of temporarily imported goods to determine the consistency between the re-exported goods and the temporarily imported goods.

c) If recycled goods are not re-exported, the company shall send a written explanation to the Sub-department of Customs where the re-import procedure was carried out, and request the Sub-department of Customs to consider accepting the following solutions:

c.1) If recycled goods are processed goods

c.1.1) Customs procedure shall be carried out in the form of domestic export or import for domestic sale if the conditions for domestic export or import of processed goods are satisfied according to the Decree No. 12/2006/NĐ-CP; or

c.1.2) Destruction if the hirer requests the destruction in Vietnam and the Service of Natural Resources and Environment allows the destruction in Vietnam.

c.2) Recycled products that are not processed goods shall be sold to the domestic market as goods re-imported for domestic sale.

6. If re-imported goods are exported products made of imported raw materials; commercial goods are eligible for export tax refund, the customs that carry out the re-import procedure shall notify the customs in charge of export tax refund (if they are different) of the cases in Point b, Point c Clause 1 and Point c Clause 5 of this Article, or of the expiration of deadlines mentioned in Point d Clause 4 of this Article to settle tax in accordance with Point c Clause 7 Article 112 of this Circular.

Article 56. Customs procedure for imported goods that are returned to foreign sellers, exported to third countries, or exported to free trade zones

1. If import procedure has been completed

a) The Sub-department of Customs where import procedure was carried out shall carry out the export procedure. If goods are exported at another checkpoint, the procedure for moving goods to the checkpoint of export shall be carried out.

b) The customs dossier consists of:

b.1) The written explanation of the company for the export;

b.2) The declaration of exported goods: 02 original copies;

b.3) The declaration of previously exported goods: submit 01 photocopy and present the original;

b.4) The written acceptance to take back goods made by the foreign seller (if exported goods are returned to the seller): 01 original copy or photocopy;

b.5) The contract to sell goods to a third country or to export goods to a free trade zone (if goods are exported to a third country or a free trade zone).

b.6) A decision on compulsory re-export made by a competent authority (if any): 01 photocopy.

c) Customs procedure shall comply with regulations on commercial exports and imports. Exported goods must undergo physical verification. The customs officer in charge of goods inspection shall compare the exported goods with the samples taken when they were import (if any) and with the description on the import declaration; specify the quantity, quality, categories of exported goods, and consistency between the imported and exported goods.

d) The customs authority shall decide not to collect tax on goods that are returned or exported to a third country or a free trade zone that are mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article if the declarant submit a sufficient application for tax cancellation when following the procedure for returning goods, exporting goods to a third country or a free trade zones as guided in Article 117 of this Circular, and the customs authority has ample evidence that the exported goods are the goods previously exported.

2. If the goods that has not undergone import Circular inside the customs area are abandoned or refused and the deliverer or goods owner makes a written request for permission to re-exported them (specifying the reasons), the Director of the Sub-department of Customs shall supervise goods until they are exported from Vietnam at the checkpoint of import.

Article 57. Customs procedure for goods sold in duty-free shops

Guidance on customs management of goods sold in duty-free shops shall be provided by the Ministry of Finance.

Article 58. Customs procedure for mails, parcel, exported and imported goods sent by post, exported and import items and goods sent by express mail services

Customs procedure for mails, parcel, exported and imported goods sent by post, exported and import items and goods sent by express mail services shall comply with this Circular, the Circular No. 99/2010/TT-BTC dated July 09, 2010 of the Ministry of Finance on customs procedures for mails, parcel, exported and imported goods sent by post, the Circular No. 100/2010/TT-BTC dated July 09, 2010 of the Ministry of Finance for customs procedures for exported and imported goods sent by airmail, the Decision No. 93/2008/QĐ-BTC dated October 29, 2008 of the Ministry of Finance on customs procedures for goods and items exported, imported and transited by express mail.

Article 59. Customs procedure for goods moved in and out of bonded warehouses

1. Customs procedure for goods put in and out of bonded warehouses from other countries of free trade zones.

a) Goods sent to bonded warehouses

The goods mentioned in Article 25 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP may be sent to bonded warehouses.

b) The customs dossier submitted to the customs of the bonded warehouse consists of:

b.1) The declaration of goods moved in and out of bonded warehouse: 02 original copies;

b.2) The contract to lease the bonded warehouse: 01 photocopy (unless the goods owner also owns the bonded warehouse).

If a lease contract is used for multiple deliveries of goods to the bonded warehouse, is shall be submitted when registering the declaration of the first shipment of goods moved in and out of bonded warehouse. Appendices of the lease contract shall be submitted in the next times.

The storage period in the bonded warehouse begins when goods are put in the bonded warehouse.

b.3) The authorization to receive goods (if authorization is not mentioned in the lease contract): 01 original copy;

b.4) The bill of lading or equivalent transport documents or the declaration of exported goods that have undergone customs procedure if goods are taken to the free trade zone and sent to a bonded warehouse: 01 photocopy;

b.5) The manifest of goods (including vehicle identification numbers of cars and bikes - if any): 01 photocopy.

b.6) Other documents at the request of relevant Ministries and agencies.

c) Customs procedure

c.1) Register the declaration of goods stored in the bonded warehouse.

c.2) The customs of the bonded warehouse shall compare the container number and seal number if goods are stored in containers, the package number and symbol if goods are packaged with that on the documents. If they are consistent, the seal and packages are intact, goods shall be stored in the warehouse. If the goods owner is suspected of violating legislation on customs, a physical verification of goods shall be carried out.

c.3) The customs officer that supervises goods stored the bonded warehouse shall confirm that goods are stored the bonded warehouse on the declaration of goods moved in and out of bonded warehouse, and update information on the computer.

2. Customs procedure for goods put into the bonded warehouse from the domestic market

a) Goods sent to bonded warehouses:

a.1) The goods mentioned in Clause 3 Article 25 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP;

a.2) Goods sent from the bonded warehouse to the domestic market for recycling, then put back into the bonded warehouse at the request of the foreign partner.

b) The customs dossier consists of:

b.1) The declaration of goods moved in and out of bonded warehouse: 02 original copies;

b.2) The contract to lease the bonded warehouse: 01 photocopy (unless the goods owner also owns the bonded warehouse).

If a lease contract is used for multiple deliveries to the bonded warehouse, is shall be submitted when registering the declaration of the first shipment of goods moved in and out of bonded warehouse. Appendices of the lease contract shall be submitted in the next times.

b.3) The authorization to send goods (if authorization is not mentioned in the lease contract): 01 original copy, a fax must bear the signature and seal of the bonded warehouse owner;

b.4) The corresponding declaration of exported goods enclosed with a manifest (if any): submit 01 photocopy and present the original copy (kept by the declarant);

b.5) A decision on compulsory re-export made by a competent authority (if goods must be re-exported): 01 photocopy.

c) Customs procedure:

c.1) Assess the validity of documents in the dossier; register the declaration and carry out the procedure for storing goods in the bonded warehouse similarly to goods sent to the bonded warehouse from abroad as prescribed in Point c Clause 1 of this Article.

c.2) Certify that “Goods are put into the bonded warehouse” on the declaration of exported goods according to Clause 4 Article 30 of this Circular.

3. Customs procedure for exporting goods from the bonded warehouse or sending goods in the bonded warehouse to a free trade zone:

a) The customs dossier consists of:

a.1) The declaration of goods moved in and out of bonded warehouse: 01 original copy;

a.2) The declaration exported goods (except for goods sent to the bonded warehouse): 1 original copy;

a.3) The authorization to export goods (if authorization is not mentioned in the lease contract): 01 original copy;

a.4) The goods release note: 01 original copy.

b) Customs procedure:

b.1) The customs of the bonded warehouse shall compare the dossier that is made when goods are released with the dossier that is made when goods are stored and the actual shipment. Delivery procedure shall be carried out if they are consistent.

b.2) Goods in the bonded warehouse may only be exported through international checkpoints, primary checkpoints, and the locations decided by the Prime Minister.

b.3) Goods of sent to the bonded warehouse in one time may be delivered once or many times. If goods are delivered and exported many times through various checkpoints at the same time, the photocopy of the declaration of goods moved in and out of the bonded warehouse, which bears the seal of the Sub-department of Customs at the bonded warehouse, may be used for the procedure for moving goods from the bonded warehouse to the checkpoint of export.

b.4) When the goods are released from the bonded warehouse, the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse shall certify that goods have arrived at the checkpoint of export in box 35 of the declaration based on the goods receipt note and the manifest of goods being delivered from the bonded warehouse to the checkpoint of export, which are certified by the customs at the checkpoint of export. If the bonded warehouse is located at the checkpoint of export, the customs at the bonded warehouse shall make the certification right after goods are loaded onto the vehicle.

4. Customs procedure for importing goods in bonded warehouses to the domestic market

a) Goods in the bonded warehouse shall be imported sent to the domestic market in the following cases:

a.1) The imported goods that are sold in the Vietnam's market mentioned in Point b Clause 2 Article 26 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP;

a.2) Goods are sent to the domestic market for processing or recycling;

a.3) Machinery and equipment of foreign contractors that are sent to the domestic market for construction, or were hired by a company to execute a processing contract, re-exported and sent to the bonded warehouse, then re-sent to the domestic market to execute another processing contract;

a.4) Goods that have undergone export procedure, sent to the bonded warehouse, and then re-imported to the domestic market in the same manner.

b) The following goods must not be sent to bonded warehouses:

b.1) The goods mentioned in Point c Clause 2 Article 26 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP;

b.2) The goods that must undergo import procedure at the checkpoint;

b.3) The goods in the List of consumables and goods restricted from import of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

c) Customs procedure:

c.1. The declarant shall carry out corresponding import procedure. Then the warehouse owner shall carry out release procedure.

c.2. If goods in the bonded warehouse are imported to the domestic market many times, the customs dossier of each import may use photocopies (of the bill of lading, manifest of goods, Certificate of Origin) that bear the seal of the customs. The original copies shall be kept by the customs at the bonded warehouse.

c.3) When the goods are released from the bonded warehouse, the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse shall certify that goods have arrived at the checkpoint of export in box 35 of the declaration based on the transfer record and customs declaration of imported goods.

d) The customs at the bonded warehouse shall supervise the removal of goods from the bonded warehouse, and certify it on the declaration of goods

5. Customs supervision of goods transported form the bonded warehouse to the checkpoint of export

a) Responsibilities of the owner of goods/bonded warehouse

a.1) Make a list of exported goods transported from the bonded warehouse to the checkpoint of export (the form No. 47/BKCCK-KNQ/CFS/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular): 03 copies;

a.2) Comply with the route and time certified by the customs authority on the transfer record. If the route or time is not complied with, the owner of goods/bonded warehouse shall notify the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse and the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export in writing before goods arrive at the checkpoint of export.

a.3) Protect the customs seal throughout the trip. When an accident or force majeure occurs that damage the seal or upset the status quo of goods, the deliverer/bonded warehouse owner shall take measures to minimize damage and notify the People’s Committee of commune, ward, or town, or the nearest Sub-department of Customs and request the to certify the conditions of goods in writing.

b) Responsibilities of Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse:

b.1) Make certification on 02 copies of the list of exported goods transported from the bonded warehouse to the checkpoint of export; seal the goods and make 03 copies of the transfer record (the form No. 46/BBBG-CCK/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular), specifying the information about the time, route, and other information for the customs at the checkpoint of export to check and verify; seal the customs dossier (composed of 02 transfer records, 02 copies of the list of exported goods transported from the bonded warehouse to the checkpoint of export, and a copy of the declaration of goods released from the bonded warehouse) and have it delivered to the checkpoint of export by;

b.2) Fax the transfer record to the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export before 5.00 PM for monitoring and management in cooperation.

b.3) Collect feedbacks from the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export. If no feedbacks are received after the deadline for goods transport (registered by the trader on the transfer record), or a notification that goods have not arrived at the checkpoint of export is received from the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export, the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse shall cooperate with the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export and request the Customs Control Team affiliated to the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse in finding the shipment.

c) Responsibilities of Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export:

c.1) Since information about the goods being moved to another checkpoint faxed by the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export shall monitor the information about the shipments being transported to the checkpoint of export according to the transfer records.

c.2) After the all goods are gathered at the checkpoint of export, the Sub-department of Customs shall check the custom seal, verify information, and request the head of the Sub-department of Customs to sign on the 02 transfer records.

c.3) Fax the transfer records to the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse. If the released goods are suspected of legislation on customs, the head of the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint shall decide the physical verification and treat them as goods being moved to another checkpoint.

c.4) Keep 01 transfer record and send 01 transfer record that has been certified to the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse.

c.5) The Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export shall supervise goods over the period from their receipt to their export, certify on the list of exported goods transported from the bonded warehouse to the checkpoint of export, request the head of the Sub-department of Customs to certify (append the signature, seal, and specify the date), and send it back to the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse.

c.6) If the shipment does not arrive at the checkpoint of export when the deadline is passed, before 8.00 AM of the next working days, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export shall notify the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse to find the in cooperation.

6. Procedure for transporting goods from one bonded warehouse to another within Vietnam’s territory

a) The goods owner or a legal representative of the goods owner shall submit an application to the Customs Department of the province where goods are stored in the bonded warehouse.

b) Customs procedure for transporting goods from one bonded warehouse to another is the Circular for goods being moved to another checkpoint.

c) The contract to lease the bonded warehouse takes effect on the first day goods are stored in the bonded warehouse.

7. Customs management of goods that are transferred in the bonded warehouse

a) Goods in the bonded warehouse shall be transferred by the owner when an act of trading is performed according to Clause 8 Article 3 of the Law on Commerce.

b) After goods are transferred, the new owner or the owner of the bonded warehouse (if authorized) shall submit the following documents to the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse:

b.1) The declaration of goods moved in and out of bonded warehouse: 02 original copies

b.2) Notification of transfer of goods in the bonded warehouse: 01 original copy

b.3) The sale contract between the buyer and the seller: 01 photocopy

b.4) The contract to lease the bonded warehouse of the buyer: 01 photocopy

The Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse shall keep the aforesaid documents together with the dossier of the goods moved in for monitoring and finalization.

c) After the new declaration is made, the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the warehouse shall finalize the old declaration.

d) The period of storage in the bonded warehouse begins when goods are moved in the bonded warehouse under the lease contract between the bonded warehouse owner and the former owner.

8. Guidance on the procedure for liquidating unsold goods in the bonded warehouse shall be provided by the Ministry of Finance.

9. Customs management of goods in the bonded warehouse

a) If the bonded warehouse owner is authorized by the goods owner to provide services in the bonded warehouse, the bonded warehouse owner must be recognized as a customs service provider. The declarant must present the card of customs service agent when following the customs procedure.

b) The Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse shall regularly inspect the operation of the bonded warehouse, request the bonded warehouse owner to provide the diagram of goods arrangement in the warehouse and to reasonably arrange the storage area and service area in the warehouse.

c) The Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse shall appoint officers to monitor and supervise the operation of the bonded warehouse. The transport of goods from the checkpoint of import to the bonded warehouse, from the bonded warehouse to the checkpoint of export, from one bonded warehouse to another are under customs supervision;

d) Goods taken to the checkpoint from the bonded warehouse to must be exported within 15 days from the release date. If the declarant makes a written request for permission for permission to export after 15 days and the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export certifies that the storage period has not expired, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export shall notify the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse of the conditions of goods. If goods are not exported after the storage period expires, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of export shall request the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse to handle the shipment in accordance with Clause 7 of this Article.

dd) Every 06 months, within 15 days from the end of the reported period, the bonded warehouse owner shall send a written report to the Director of the Customs Department where the bonded warehouse is situated on the goods in the warehouse and operation of the warehouse (the form No. 45/BC-KNQ/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular).

e) Finalizing declarations of goods put into the bonded warehouse:

Within 15 days from the date of import, the bonded warehouse owner shall submit a declaration of goods moved in and out of the bonded warehouse for the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse to certify that goods have arrived at the checkpoint of export and finalize the declaration. The certification and finalization of the declaration are based on the transfer record and the list of exported goods being transported form the bonded warehouse to the checkpoint of export, which is certified by the customs at the checkpoint of export.

g) Every year, the Customs Department shall inspect the operation of the bonded warehouse and the compliance with legislation on customs of the bonded warehouse owner, and send the report to the General Department of Customs. Surprise inspections at the bonded warehouse shall be carried out if signs of violations are found,

Article 60. Customs procedure for goods exported and imported across the border

The customs procedure for goods imported and exported across the border shall comply with the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Health, and the State bank on implementation of the Prime Minister’s Decisions on management of border trading.

Article 61. Customs supervision of exported and imported goods that are moved to another checkpoint

1. Rules for moving goods to another checkpoint

The procedure for changing shall be carried out concurrently with the customs procedure for exported, imported goods and in accordance with Article 16 and Article 18 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP. While carrying out customs procedure, the Sub-department of Customs where declaration is registered shall send goods based on the information about goods and locations.

2. Supervising goods being moved to another checkpoint

a) For exported goods:

a.1) The Sub-department of Customs outside the checkpoint area (hereinafter referred to as external Sub-department of Customs)shall make a transfer record (the form No. 46/BBBG-CCK/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular) and give it to the declarant together with the original copy of the customs declaration that has undergone the customs procedure for the declarant to send them to the customs at the checkpoint of export.

a.2) Within 01 hour from the receipt of the customs dossier and goods sent by the external Sub-department of Customs, the customs officer at the checkpoint of export shall finish receiving the dossier, goods, and sign on the transfer record.

b) For imported goods:

b.1) The Sub-department of Customs where the customs declaration is registered shall give the customs declaration to the declarant for submission at the checkpoint of import.

b.2) Within 04 hours from the receipt of the customs dossier, the customs officer at the checkpoint of import shall finish receiving the dossier, transfer the goods and customs declaration. If imported goods must undergo physical verification, 02 transfer records shall be given to the declarant for submission to the customs where the declaration is registered.

3. The Director of the Customs Department shall appoint a suitable Sub-department of Customs to carry out the procedure for moving goods to another checkpoint if no Sub-departments of Customs outside the checkpoint area are available or they are far from the checkpoint/port, which is not convenient for the company that has its goods moved to another checkpoint.

4. The customs declaration of office supplies (furniture, stationery, etc) or non-commercial goods imported to serve the operation of the company that are stored in the same container with raw materials imported for export production shall be registered at a Sub-department of Customs outside the checkpoint area to follow the procedure for moving to another checkpoint.

5. If port of destination on the bill of lading of imported goods is an ICD:

a) The imported goods shall not be moved to customs posts or inspection posts outside the checkpoint area, except for the cases decided by the Prime Minister.

b) For imported goods of an export processing company, raw materials, supplies, machinery, equipment imported to serve the export production or execution of a processing contract, of which the port of destination is an ICD, the company may carry out procedure for moving goods from the ICD to the managing Sub-department of Customs, the Sub-department of Customs where the import declaration is register, or where the processing contract is reported in order to continue the customs procedure. If goods must undergo physical verification and the company request that the physical verification be carried out at the ICD, the Sub-department of Customs at the ICD shall carry out the physical verification at the request of the managing Sub-department of Customs, the Sub-department of Customs where the import declaration is registered, or where the processing contract is reported.

6. Moving goods in a bonded warehouse/CFS to another checkpoint

a) Goods that have undergone export procedure and sent to the bonded warehouse/CFS shall be moved to the checkpoint of export;

Goods imported from abroad and sent to the bonded warehouse shall be moved from the checkpoint of import to the bonded warehouse in accordance with Point e Clause 3 Article 18 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP, except for goods that must undergo customs procedure at the checkpoint of import as prescribed by law.

b) Goods being raw materials, supplies, machinery, and equipment serving production shall be moved from the bonded warehouse/CFS to a customs posts outside the checkpoint area.

c) Customs supervision:

c.1) If goods are moved from the customs post to a bonded warehouse/CFS and vice versa, the Sub-department of Customs where the declaration is registered shall handover the supervision to the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse/CFS;

c.2) If goods are moved from a bonded warehouse/CFS to a customs post, the owner of the bonded warehouse/CFS shall make a manifest of goods being moved from the bonded warehouse to the checkpoint of export (the form No. 47/BKCCK-KNQ/CFS/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular) and send it to the Sub-department of Customs in charge of the bonded warehouse for certification and sealing.

c.3) Goods being moved from the bonded warehouse to the checkpoint of export shall be supervised in accordance with Clause 5 Article 59 of this Circular.

7. The customs supervision of imported goods from the checkpoint of import to the free trade zone, exported goods from the free trade zone to the checkpoint of export, goods being traded among free trade zones is similar to that of goods being moved to another checkpoint, but no customs seal is required.

8. The declaration of exported, imported goods shall be registered at the Sub-department of Customs outside the checkpoint area. If violations are discovered, a physical verification at the checkpoint shall be carried out.

9. Supervising exported and imported goods being moved to another checkpoint

The exported and imported goods being moved to another checkpoint shall be supervised by customs seal or other technical means decided by the Director of the General Department of Customs.

a) Where exported and imported goods being moved to another checkpoint must be sealed by the customs:

a.1) If exported and imported goods must undergo physical verification, they must be stored in containers or means of transport that can be sealed by the customs in accordance with Article 14 of the Decree No. 154/2005/NĐ-CP;

a.2) Small packages that are not stored in the containers or means of transport that can be sealed by the customs shall be sealed separately;

a.3) If small packages of multiple import declarations are transported to the same location outside the checkpoint area and the company makes a written request for permission to combine and transport them in the same container or vehicle, the Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint of import shall makes an acceptance, seal the goods, and specify it in the transfer record.

a) If customs seal is exempt, exported and imported goods being moved to another checkpoint while following customs procedure are exempt from physical verification.

c) If customs seal is not possible:

c.1) Goods that are bulk cargo, customs procedure shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs of the checkpoint. If customs procedure is carried out at a Sub-department of Customs outside the checkpoint area, the physical verification of goods shall be carried out by the Sub-department of Customs of the checkpoint at the request of the Sub-department of Customs outside the checkpoint area.

c.2) For oversized goods and bulky goods that cannot be seal and cannot undergo physical verification at the checkpoint, customs procedure shall be carried out at a Sub-department of Customs outside the checkpoint area. The Sub-department of Customs at the checkpoint must specify the condition of goods, means of transport in the transfer record, take and send pictures of the goods and means of transport to the Sub-department of Customs outside the checkpoint area.

10. Customs procedure for goods that have for with export procedure has been complete but the checkpoint of export is changed:

a) If export procedure is completed but goods have not been transported to the checkpoint of export or CFS:

The company shall send the following documents to the Sub-department of Customs where the export declaration is registered:

a.1) A written request for the change of the checkpoint of export (the form No. 48/TĐ-CKX/2013 in Appendix III to this Circular): 02 original copies;

a.2) A notification on the change of the checkpoint of export made by the recipient, the courier, or the processing hirer: 01 photocopy.

a.3) A written permission for the change of the checkpoint of export made by the licensing authority if a license to export is required (the checkpoint of export is specified in the license) or a permission for exporting goods through another checkpoint of export made by the People’s Committee of the province (if goods are exported through another checkpoint of export under the management of the People’s Committee of the province): 01 photocopy enclosed with the original for comparison;

b) If export procedure has been completed and goods are put into the customs area at the checkpoint written on the customs declaration, or exported goods are transported to a CFS under the management of a Sub-department of Customs outside the checkpoint area:

The company shall send the papers mentioned in Point a of this Clause to the Sub-department of Customs where the customs declaration is registered.

The General Department of Customs shall provide guidance on changing the checkpoint of export.

Article 62. Customs procedure for imported and exported vehicles

Customs procedure for exported and imported vehicles are similar than that for commercial exports and imports. Due to the uniqueness of this form, some additional regulations are introduced below:

1. The means of transport by sea, inland waterway, air and rail must complete the procedure for export before the procedure for leaving, and complete the procedure for entering before the procedure for import.

If the procedure for leaving has been complete and the vehicle owner signs a contact to sell it to a foreigner (the port of destination in the contract is overseas), the vehicle owner shall make a written request for procedure for export enclosed with papers proving that the procedure for leaving has been complete. The physical verification during the procedure for export may be exempted by the Director of the Customs Department where the procedure for leaving was carried out. Customs procedure shall be carried out at the Sub-department of Customs where the procedure for leaving was carried out.

2. Means of transport by road and other vehicles that are transported across the border by other vehicles shall follow the procedure for export and import, not the procedure for leaving and entering.

3. The conditions for exporting and importing each type of vehicle shall comply with relevant laws.

Chapter III

PROCEDURES FOR ESTABLISHMENT, RELOCATION, EXPANSION, NARROWING OF CUSTOMS POST OUTSIDE CHECKPOINT AREA (HEREAFTER REFERRED TO AS EXTERNAL CUSTOMS PROCEDURE POST) AND DOMESTIC IMPORTS AND EXPORTS CHECKING AREA, BONDED WAREHOUSE AND TAX-SUSPENSION WAREHOUSE

Article 63. Conditions for establishment

1. For customs procedure post of domestic port

a) Planned in domestic port system published by the Prime Minister;

b) Area must be 10 ha or more;

c) Ensuring working conditions for customs organs such as office, goods checkpoint, equipment installation area (electronic scales, scanners ...) and exhibit storage;

d) Warehouse and yard must be separated by fence from the surrounding area, equipped with the camera system, electronic scales and other equipment for quick clearance of goods. Goods brought in and out of warehouse and yard must be managed by the computer system and is connected to the monitoring system of the customs authorities.

2. For external customs procedure post:

a) In the planning of the Ministry of Finance of the system of external customs procedure posts;

b) In areas with industrial parks, export processing zones, duty free area, other special economic zones or area concentrating a lot of industrial factories with stable and regular import or export activities;

c) At location with convenient transportation, suitable for transporting goods by container;

d) Area must be 01 ha or more;

e) Other conditions as specified at Point c, Article, Clause 1 of this Article.

3. For concentrated checkpoint constructed by customs authorities or storage business enterprises.

a) Location: attached to the customs Sub-Department (if being a checkpoint of a customs Sub-Department) or in areas with regular import and export activity, convenient transportation, suitable for transporting goods by container; no more than 20 km far away from the customs Sub-Department (if the checkpoint is shared by many customs Sub-Departments);

b) Area: the checkpoint of a customs Sub-Department must have a minimum area of 5,000 m2; the checkpoint is shared by many customs Sub-Departments must have a minimum area of 10,000 m2;

c) Material facilities and equipment:

c.1) Ensuring working conditions for customs organs such as office, goods checkpoint, equipment installation area (electronic scales, scanners ...) and exhibit storage;

c.2) Warehouse and yard must be separated by fence from the surrounding area, equipped with the surveillance camera system;

c.3) Goods brought in and out of warehouse and yard must be managed by the computer system and is connected to the monitoring system of the customs authorities.

d) If the checkpoint is constructed by enterprises, they must register their transportation and warehouse business line.

4. For the checking and gathering checkpoint of imports and exports at border:

a) If located in the border-gate economic zone:

a.1 Enterprise must register their transportation and warehouse business line.

a.2) Area: At least 5,000m²

a.3) Ensuring working conditions for customs organs such as office, goods checkpoint, equipment installation area (electronic scales, scanners ...) and exhibit storage;

a.4) Warehouse and yard must be separated by fence from the surrounding area, equipped with the surveillance camera system;

a.5) Goods brought in and out of warehouse and yard must be managed by the computer system and is connected to the monitoring system of the customs authorities.

b) If not located in the border-gate economic zone:

Conditions for establishment are the same as the checking and gathering checkpoint located in the border-gate economic zone. In addition, the checking and gathering checkpoint located in the border-gate economic zone must meet the following conditions:

b.1) It must be attached to the border-gate area;

b.2) Being issued with Investment Certificate by provincial/municipal People’s Committee;

5. For the Container Freight Station (CFS):

a) Enterprises have registered their warehouse and yard, imports and exports transportation and forwarding business line

b) In the area with regular import and export activity, convenient transportation and suitable for goods transportation by container; no more than 20 km far away from customs Sub-Department

c) Ensuring working conditions for customs organs such as office, goods checkpoint, and customs equipment installation area and exhibit storage;

d) Warehouse and yard must have area of at least 1,000 m2 and be separated by fence from the surrounding area and equipped with the surveillance camera system

e) Goods brought in and out of warehouse and yard must be managed by the computer system and is connected to the monitoring system of the customs authorities.

6. For bonded warehouse

Conditions for establishing the bonded warehouse shall comply with the provisions in Clause 3, Article 22 of Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP, in which the following conditions must be satisfied:

a) Location of bonded warehouse establishment;

The bonded warehouse must be built in the areas specified in Clause 2, Article 22 of Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP.

b) Area

b.1) The bonded warehouse must have an area of at least 5,000 m2 (including warehouse and yard and ancillary buildings).

b.2) For specialized warehouse (such as warehouse for storing gold, silver, precious stones, specialized warehouse for storing goods which must be preserved in special mode). The bonded warehouse area may be smaller than 5,000 m2 and warehouse area possible may be less than 1.000m2.

b.3) For specialized bonded yard (such as yard of timber iron and steel,…) must have a minimum area of ​​10,000 m2. No warehouse area is required.

c) Separated by fence from the surrounding area.

c.1) For bonded warehouse located in the border gate area and port with fence separated from the surrounding area and within the control, inspection and monitoring area of customs authorities,

c.2) For bonded warehouse located outside the above area, there must be fence separated from the surrounding area to ensure the control, inspection and monitoring of customs authorities, 

d) Management software and surveillance camera:

d.1) The owner of bonded warehouse must have bookkeeping system and computer installed with the management and monitoring software of goods imported, exported, stored and stocked as prescribed by the customs authorities and networked with customs managing the bonded warehouse;

d.2) The bonded warehouse must be installed with surveillance camera system of goods brought in and out and the system is capable of storing the surveillance camera images within 06 months to ensure the monitoring, supervision and data access in case of necessity by the customs authorities.

7. Tax-suspension warehouse

Enterprises requesting the establishment of tax-suspension warehouse must satisfy the conditions specified at Point a, b and c, Clause 2, Article 27 of Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP. In addition, to ensure the customs monitoring and management requirement, in this Circular, the Point Article, Clause 2 of Article 27 of Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP is guided as follows:

a) Enterprises must satisfy the provisions in Clause 1, Article 20 of this Circular.

b) Enterprises must have bookkeeping system and management and monitoring software of goods imported, exported, stored and stocked

c) The tax-suspension warehouse must be located in the enterprise’s production facility area and installed with the surveillance camera system of goods brought in and out and this system is capable of storing the surveillance camera images within 06 months to ensure the monitoring, supervision and data access in case of necessity by the customs authorities.

8. For goods checkpoint at the building field or building storage and production area.

a) The building field or storage must be the gather place of equipment, machinery and imported materials for construction of factory, building and implementation of investment project;

b) Enterprise’s plant and production factory is a gathering place of the exports and imports with their own requirements for preservation, packaging, hygiene, technology, safety for goods which cannot be actually checked at the border gate or concentrated checkpoint.

c) Enterprise shall prepare ground and means to serve the checking at the building field and production area and only put the goods into production, performance and installation after clearance confirmation from the customs authorities

Article 64. Establishment dossier

1. Dossier for establishment of customs procedure post of domestic port includes:

a) Written request for establishment: 01 original;

b) Written approval of Domestic Clearance Depot (ICD) of the Ministry of Transport (excluding the case where ICD has been announced in the planning): 01 original;

c) Business registration certificate with business line of forwarding and transportation of imports and exports and (or) warehouse and yard business: 01 copy;

d) Economic and technical feasibility study of construction: 01 copy;

dd) Operation Regulation: 01 original

2. Dossier for establishment of external customs procedure post includes:

a) Written request for establishment: 01 original;

b) Written approval of People’s Committee of provinces or cities where the external customs procedure post is located: 01 original;

c) Business registration certificate with business line of forwarding and transportation of imports and exports and (or) warehouse and yard business: 01 copy;

d) Economic and technical feasibility study of construction: 01 copy;

dd) Operation regulation: 01 original

3. Dossier for establishment of concentrated checkpoint:

a) In case the concentrated checkpoint is invested by the customs authorities:

a.1) Written request for establishment of provincial/municipal Customs Department: 01 original;

a.2) Diagram of transportation network and related economic and industrial parks in the area: 01 copy;

a.3) Economic and technical feasibility study of construction: submitting 01 copy;

a.4) Operation regulation: 01 original

a.5) Legal certificate of land use right;

b) In case the concentrated checkpoint is invested by the enterprise:

b.1) Enterprise’s written request for establishment: 01 original

b.2) Economic and technical feasibility study of construction: 01 copy;

b.3) Operation regulation: 01 original

b.4) Papers evidencing legal land use right: 01 copy;

b.5) Business registration certificate with business line of forwarding and transportation of imports and exports and (or) warehouse and yard business: 01 copy;

4. Dossier for establishment of imports and exports checking post at the border

a) Enterprise’s written request for establishment: 01 original;

b) Economic and technical feasibility study of construction: submitting 01 copy;

c) Operation regulation: 01 original;

d) Papers evidencing legal land use right: 01 copy;

dd) Business registration certificate with business line of forwarding and transportation of imports and exports and (or) warehouse and yard business: 01 copy;

e) For the imports and exports checking post at the border not located in border-gate economic zone, enterprises shall submit their investment certificate issued by the provincial/municipal People’s Committee: 01 copy;

5. Dossier for establishment of Container Freight Station (CFS):

a) Enterprise’s written request for establishment: 01 original

b) Economic and technical feasibility study of construction: 01 copy;

c) Operation regulation: 01 original;

d) Papers evidencing legal land use right: 01 copy;

dd) Business registration certificate with business line of forwarding and transportation of imports and exports and (or) warehouse and yard business: 01 copy;

6. Dossier for establishment of bonded warehouse

a) Application for establishment of bonded warehouse (form No. 49/TL-KNQ/2013, Annex III issued together with this Circular);

b) Business registration Certificate with function of warehouse and yard business: 01 copy;

c) Design diagram of warehouse and yard area clearly shows the boundary line separated from the outside, location of warehouse, internal transportation system, fire and explosion prevention and fighting system, security, warehouse office and customs workplace (upon customs’ requirement);

d) Legal documents on use right of warehouse and yard, technique, infrastructure, management software, surveillance camera,…together with design diagram of warehouse area, bonded yard located in the overall border gate area and industrial park

7. Dossier for establishment of tax-suspension warehouse

a) Application for establishment of tax-suspension warehouse (form No. 50/TL-KBT/2013, Annex III issued together with this Circular);

b) Business registration Certificate: 01 copy

c) Design diagram of warehouse and yard area clearly shows the boundary line separated from the outside, location of warehouse, internal transportation system, fire and explosion prevention and fighting system, security, warehouse office;

d) Legal documents on use right of warehouse and yard, technique, infrastructure, management software, surveillance camera,…

8. For goods checkpoint at the building field or building storage and production area: Enterprise shall send the written proposal for recognition to provincial/municipal Customs Department: 01 original

Article 65: Establishment order

1. For customs procedure post at domestic port and external customs procedure post (hereafter generally referred to as customs procedure post):

a. Enterprise shall send dossier for establishment to the Customs Department of cities and provinces where the customs procedure post is located;

b. Within 10 working days after receipt of valid dossier, the Customs Department shall

b.1) Verify dossier;

b.2) Make actual survey of warehouse and yard;

b.3) Assess the compliance with the conditions specified in Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP and guidance in Clause 1 and 2, Article 63 of this Circular; propose opinions and reports attached to the dossier for submission to the General Department of Customs;

c. Within 30 working days after receipt of report together with dossier, the General Department of Customs shall complete the appraisal, report the result and submit the Minister of Finance the decision on establishment of customs procedure post as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 4 of Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP. In the absence of conditions for establishment, the Ministry of Finance shall reply in writing to the enterprise.

2.For concentrated checkpoint, imports and exports gathering and checking area at border; the Container Freight Station (CFS); bonded warehouse (hereafter generally referred to as checkpoint);

a) Proposing the guidelines for establishment of checkpoint;

a.1) Enterprise wishing to establish the checkpoint should send a written proposal to the General Department of Customs (via provincial or municipal Customs Department) and determine estimated contents including: necessity for establishment, estimated location for establishment, area, conditions for material and technical facilities, infrastructure,…

a.2) Within 05 working days after receipt of enterprise’s written proposal, the provincial or municipal Customs Department shall verify dossier, operation conditions of checkpoints established in the area, assessment of necessity and conformity with management requirement. For bonded warehouse, if meeting the customs authority’s’ surveillance requirements, make proposal to the General Department of Customs;

a.3) Within 05 working days after receipt of proposal report from the provincial or municipal Customs Department, the General Department of Customs shall reply in writing and give specific guidance on contents to be done. In case of refusal, it shall reply in writing clearly stating the reason;

b) Making a decision on establishment of checkpoint

b.1) After having agreed with the guidelines of the General Department of Customs, the enterprise shall begin the construction of warehouse. If satisfying all conditions, it shall prepare dossier as prescribed in this Circular for submission to the General Department of Customs (via the Customs Department of cities or provinces where the checkpoint is located);

b.2) Within 10 working days after full receipt of enterprise’s dossier, the provincial or municipal Customs Department shall: verify dossier, make survey, actually check warehouse and yard, assess the compliance with conditions for checkpoint establishment, and submit report and proposal to the General Department of Customs.

b.3) Within 10 working days after receipt of provincial or municipal Customs Department together with the dossier for checkpoint establishment, the Director of General Department of Customs shall make a decision on checkpoint establishment or reply in writing if the enterprise has not satisfied all conditions as prescribed.

3. For the checkpoint as the building field or building storage, production area or tax suspension warehouse;

Enterprise shall submit together with dossier for establishment to provincial or municipal Customs Department. Within 05 working days after full receipt of enterprise’s dossier, the provincial or municipal Customs Department shall: verify dossier, make survey, actually check warehouse and yard and make a decision on establishment. In case of nonconformance, it shall reply in writing and stating the reasons.

Article 66. Termination and suspension of operation

1. Cases of termination of operation

a) The provincial or municipal Customs Department proposes in writing the termination of operation of customs procedure post at domestic port; external customs procedure post; concentrated checkpoint, checking and gathering checkpoint of imports and exports at border, Container Freight Station (CFS), bonded warehouse, tax-suspension warehouse if they do not satisfy the conditions for customs checking and surveillance and other conditions specified in Article 63 of this Circular.

b) Enterprise has submitted its written proposal for termination of operation;

c) Beyond a time limit of 06 months after the decision on establishment but the enterprise has not put it into operation without plausible reason;

d) Enterprise has committed administrative violation on customs for 03 times in a year and is imposed with the fine sanction at the level for each time of exceeding sanction competence of the Head of Customs Sub-Department;

dd) For bonded warehouse and tax-suspension warehouse previously established but without expansion of area by December 31, 2014 to meet the provisions specified in Clause 6 and 7, Article 64 of this Circular.

2. Competence in making termination decision

a) Director of provincial or municipal Customs Department:

a.1) Making a decision on termination of operation of checkpoint as building field or building storage, production area and tax-suspension warehouse;

a.2) Verifying, reporting and proposing the General Department of Customs to consider terminating the operation against the customs procedure post of domestic port, bonded warehouse, concentrated checkpoint, Container Freight Station (CFS), checking and gathering checkpoint of imports and exports at border.

b) Director of General Department of Customs:

b.1. Making a decision on termination of operation of bonded warehouse, concentrated checkpoint, Container Freight Station (CFS), checking and gathering checkpoint of imports and exports at border.

b.2. Verifying, reporting and proposing the Ministry of Finance to consider terminating the operation against the customs procedure post of domestic port.

c) Minister of Finance makes a decision on terminating operation of customs procedure post of domestic port.

3. Suspending the operation of checkpoints:

a) In case the checkpoint is no longer operational due to lack of goods, upon the enterprise’s written proposal, the Director of provincial or municipal Customs Department shall announce a suspension of operation of concentrated checkpoint, checking and gathering checkpoint of imports and exports at border, Container Freight Station (CFS), bonded warehouse; report and propose the General Department of Customs to announce a suspension of operation of the customs procedure post of domestic port.

b) The time for suspension of operation shall not exceed 06 months after the enterprise’s written proposal;

c) During the time for suspension of operation, the above checkpoints shall not be subject to surveillance of customs authority.

d) After the above time limit, if the enterprise submits its written proposal for permitting the continuation of operation, the Director of provincial or municipal Customs Department shall inspect the conditions for establishment and operation of checkpoints. If they satisfy all conditions, the Director shall issue a written approval for operation or report to the General Department of Customs to permit the operation for the customs procedure post of domestic port. In case of failing to satisfy the conditions or the enterprise submits no written proposal, the Director shall report to the competent authority to consider the termination of operation as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 67. Procedures for relocation, expansion or narrowing of checkpoint

1. The enterprise that wish to expand or narrow the area of checkpoint established by a decision of General Department of Customs or relocate from the location established by decision of General Department of Customs to a new location to satisfy the conditions as prescribed in Article 63 of this Circular should prepare dossier for submission to the provincial or municipal Customs Department. The dossier includes:

a) Application for relocation, expansion or narrowing;

b) Diagram of warehouse and yard of relocation, expansion or narrowing;

c) Legal documents of use right of warehouse and yard of relocation, expansion or narrowing;

2. The provincial or municipal Customs Department after fully receiving the enterprise’s valid dossier, shall:

a) Verify dossier’

b) Make actual survey of warehouse and yard;

c) Within 15 days after full receipt of valid dossier, Director of provincial or municipal Customs Department shall make a decision on expansion, narrowing or relocation in case of moving to a new place located in the same established area or reply in writing to the enterprise in case of ineligibility for relocation, expansion or narrowing.

d) In case of moving the established location to a new location outside the established area, the enterprise shall make a written proposal to the provincial or municipal Customs Department for consideration and report to the General Department of Customs for decision on relocation.

3. For checkpoints as prescribed in Clause 1 and 2, Article 63 of this Circular, they must be included in the planning of the Ministry of Transport or Ministry of Finance, the relocation of checkpoint must be approved in writing by the Ministry of Transport or Ministry of Finance.

Article 68. Conversion of ownership or renaming of owners

1. Procedures for conversion of ownership of checkpoint shall be done as follows:

a) The checkpoint owner submits written proposal for conversion of checkpoint owner;

b) The new owner performs the procedures for conversion of checkpoint owner. Dossier for conversion shall comply with the provisions in Article 64 of this Circular;

c) The provincial or municipal Customs Department shall receive dossier for conversion of owner, report and propose the General Department of Customs for decision. There is no need to make actual survey of warehouse and yard again if there is no change compared with the current condition of warehouse and yard. If the checkpoint is under the authority to establish of the Minister of Finance, the General Department of Customs shall report and propose the Minister of Finance for consideration and decision;

2. Procedures for renaming of

a) The owner shall submit a written proposal for renaming together with document evidencing the renaming of enterprise certified by the enterprise establishment licensing agency

b) Within 05 days after full receipt of valid dossier, the General Department of Customs shall issue a written recognition of renaming of owner under the Decision on checkpoint establishment. If the checkpoint is under the authority to establish of the Minister of Finance, the General Department of Customs shall report and propose the Minister of Finance for consideration and decision;

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