Circular No. 01/2001/TT-TCHQ dated February 09, 2001 of the General Department of Customs providing guidelines for customs procedures on transit("import-export") of belongings, luggage and vehicles of foreign expertsregulated in Prime Ministerial Decision No.211/1998/QD-TTg dated October 31, 1998

CIRCULAR

PROVIDING GUIDELINES FOR CUSTOMS PROCEDURES ON TRANSIT("IMPORT-EXPORT") OF BELONGINGS, LUGGAGE AND VEHICLES OF FOREIGN EXPERTSREGULATED IN PRIME MINISTERIAL DECISION NO.211/1998/QD-TTG DATED OCTOBER 31, 1998

- In accordance with the Customs Ordinance dated February 20, 1990;

- In accordance with Governmental Decree No.17/CP dated February 6,1995, and Decree No.79/1998/ND-CP dated September 29, 1998, setting the standards onduty-free luggage for passengers entering or exiting Vietnam s border-gates;

- In accordance with Governmental Decree No.16/1999/ND-CP dated March27, 1999, regulating customs procedures, customs oversight and customs charges;

- In accordance with Prime Ministerial Decision No.211/1998/QD-TTgdated October 31, 1998, relating to the issuing of the Regulations on Foreign ExpertsImplementing Official Development Assistance (ODA) Programmes and Projects in Vietnam(hereinafter abbreviated as Decision No.211/1998/QD-TTg);

The General Department of Customs provides the following customsprocedural guidelines for provisional import - re-export of vehicles, luggage and personalbelongings of ODA experts and their relatives:

I. GENERAL REGULATIONS

1. This Circular is applicable to foreign experts entering Vietnamto implement ODA-funded programmes and projects. Foreign experts (hereafter abbreviated asexperts) are those identified in Item 6 of Article 5 of the Regulations on Foreign Expertsthat is attached to Decision No.211/1998/QD-TTg (hereafter abbreviated as the Regulations)and guided in Circular No.02/2000/TT-BKH of the Ministry of Planning and Investment datedJanuary 12, 2000.

2. Exemption from taxes and collection of arrears of taxes onbelongings, luggage and vehicles of experts and their relatives is delineated in Article 7of the Regulations and is further specified in Ministry of Finance CircularNo.52/2000/TT-BTC dated June 5, 2000.

3. Personal luggage is tax-free according to the regulations inGovernmental Decree No.17/CP dated February 6, 1995 and Decree No.79/1998/ND-CP datedSeptember 29, 1998. The exemptions noted in Item 1 of Article 7 of the Regulations areapplied to experts. Their relatives shall only enjoy those exemptions dependent onexperts, and individual preferences towards relatives are not permitted.

4. Customs offices shall only grant licences for duty-freeprovisional import of autos and motorbikes of experts. For various types of personalbelongings and luggage of experts and relatives that are imported free of tax inaccordance with Appendixes I and II of Decision No.211/1998/QD-TTg (attachedto this Circular), customs clearance procedures shall be fulfilled right at theborder-gates without the granting of a licence.

II. CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR PROVISIONAL IMPORT - RE-EXPORT OF VEHICLESAND PERSONAL BELONGINGS OF EXPERTS

1. Customs procedures for provisional import of autos andmotorbikes:

a) Conditions for provisional import of autos and motorbikes(inapplicable to relatives of experts):

- Experts must have permission to reside in Vietnam for 183 days or more;

- Experts are permitted to import replacement vehicles in case oftraffic accidents decreed in Point’) of Item 1 of Article 7 of the Regulations; orexperts who have been working in Vietnam for three years or more as regulated by Point d)of Item 1 of Article 7 of the Regulations; or experts who will continue to work in Vietnamfor six months or more. Before provisional import of a replacement vehicle, they mustre-export or transfer the provisionally-imported vehicle in compliance with theregulations in Points 2 and 3 below.

- The autos must be new, have less than 12 seats and left-handedsteering wheels; or motorbikes must be new with less than 175cu.m cylinder engines. Theprovisional import of used vehicles shall observe the same laws.

b/ Documents:

- Experts shall send a letter to the customs department of the provinceor city where the ODA project is located and to any other provincial or municipal customsdepartment they feel relevant, noting the following:

+ Name of the expert, number of passport, country of citizenship;

+ Name of the programme or project in Vietnam, duration of work inVietnam;

+ Mark and technical parameters of the vehicle;

+ Import border-gate;

+ Vehicle-related import documents.

- Confirmation, in writing, from the Ministry of Planning andInvestment;

- In case of provisional import of replacement vehicle in accordancewith the regulations in Point d) of Item 1 of Article 7 of the Regulations, expert, mustsend additional certification of the accident, from the police, an insurance company andthe Vietnam Registration.

- In case of provisional import of replacement vehicle in consonancewith the regulations in Point’) of Item 1 of Article 7 of the Regulations, experts mustsend additional certification, in writing, from the Ministry of Planning and Investment.The letter must note the duration of work in Vietnam. In addition, experts must fileadditional documents on re-export or transfer of the provisionally-imported vehicle.

c/ Customs procedures for provisional import of autos and motorbikes:

- Licence granting procedures: Based on the above documents, provincialand municipal customs departments shall grant licences for provisional import of duty-freevehicles. The licence of provisional import of an auto or a motorbike shall be processedin three copies (one filed at the customs department of the province or city where thelicence is granted, and the remaining two copies delivered to owner for provision at theimport border-gate (one copy) and for vehicle registration at a police office (one copy)).

- At border-gates: Border-gate customs officials shall instruct goodsowners on the filing three copies of the customs manifest (one shall be filed at thebordergate customs office, one shall be transferred to the vehicle owner for fulfillingvehicle-registration procedures at a police office, and the last one shall be retained bythe vehicle owner for submission to the border-gate customs when fulfilling procedures forre- export of the vehicle; the border-gate customs must note "For re-export" onthis copy).

- In case the province or city does not have a customs office, expertsare allowed to proceed to the most-convenient provincial or municipal customs departmentfor granting of a licence.

2. Procedures for re-export of autos and motorbikes:

When re-exporting the vehicle, experts are not required to apply for alicence, but must fulfil procedures directly at the export border-gate.

The required documents include: - a customs manifest for provisional import of thevehicle;

- A certificate of cancelled registration of the vehicle, granted bythe police (for autos).

After the vehicle is re-exported, border-gate customs shall, within 10days, assume the responsibility to inform the customs department of the province or citywhere the provisional import licence is granted for the liquidation of the provisionalimport licence.

3. Procedures for transfer of autos and motorbikes:

a/ Autos and motorbikes of expert may be transferred in the followingcases:

- The vehicle has suffered damage as the result of a traffic accidentas defined in Point d) of Item 1 of Article 7 of the Regulations;

- The expert is permitted to import a replacement vehicle in accordancewith the regulations in Point ) of Item 1 of Article 7 of the Regulations;

- Experts whose duration of work in Vietnam has ended.

b/ Procedures for declaration and tax payments:

Experts must fulfil all obligations on taxes and financial dutiesbefore a transfer, in accordance with legal regulations.

- The transfer is only permitted after the customs office grants alicence.

- When applying for approval of a transfer, experts must send a letterto the customs department of the province or city where the licence of provisional importof the vehicle was granted. The letter must specify the reasons for the transfer. A letterfrom the purchaser of the vehicle applying for the transfer is not acceptable (excludingcases controlled by Point 3.c below, where both seller and buyer must present a letter).

c/ Experts are exempt from various taxes if they are subject toDecision No.211/1998/QD-TTg and if they either transfer vehicles to each other or to therecipients of preferences and exemptions in accordance with the laws of the VietnameseState. The seller must fulfil procedures in Point 3. The buyer must fulfil such proceduresas those applied to the import of vehicles (declaration, certification of personal statusand standards).

d/ Procedures for transfer of vehicle shall be implemented inaccordance with the vehicle transfer process announced by the General Department ofCustoms.

4. Customs procedures for personal belongings and householdutensils:

a/ Experts and relatives entering or exiting Vietnam s border-gates areexempt from various taxes on personal belongings and utensils in accordance with thestandards on duty-free luggage in Appendix I of Decision No.211/1998/QD-TTg (attached tothis Circular) and must complete customs procedures at the border-gate.

In case they are carrying goods that are on the list of items underspecialised control, experts must follow State regulations on such goods.

b/ Experts residing in Vietnam for 183 days or more are permitted forduty-free import of household utensils in a quantity and following standards decreed inAppendix II of Decision No.211/1998/QD-TTg (attached to this Circular) and shall fulfilcustoms procedures at the border-gate. For exemption of taxes on these utensils, expertsmust have the appropriate certification of the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

1. This Circular shall take effect 15 days after the date of signingand shall replace Circular No.08/1998/TT-TCHQ dated November 16, 1998 and GeneralDepartment of Customs Document No.3597/TCHQ-KTTT dated August 3, 2000.

2. Heads of organisations under the General Department of Customs,heads of provincial and municipal customs departments, directors of customs colleges andrelated persons shall be responsible for implementation of the regulations in thisCircular.

Appendix I

STANDARDS ON DUTY-FREE LUGGAGE OF PERSONS EXITING AND ENTERING VIETNAM’SBORDER-GATES
(Issued in attachment to Government Decree No.17/CP dated February 6,1995 and Decree No.79/1998/ND-CP dated September 29, 1998)

Appendix II

LIST OF IMPORT DUTY-FREE PERSONAL BELONGINGS AND HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS OFEXPERTS PERMITTED FOR RESIDENCE IN VIETNAM FOR 183 DAYS OR MORE