Circular No. 15/2010/TT-BCT dated April 15,2010 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on implementation of the rules of origin provided in the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area Agreement

THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE

Circular No. 15/2010/TT-BCT of April 15, 2010, on implementation of the rules of origin provided in the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area Agreement

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 189/2007/ND-CP of December 27, 2007, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

Pursuant to the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area Agreement concluded in Thailand on August 13, 2009, and on October 24, 2009, between the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and India;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 19/2006/ND-CP of February 20, 2006, detailing the Commercial Law regarding origin of goods;

The Minister of Industry and Trade prescribes the implementation of the rules of origin provided in the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area Agreement as follows:

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Goods eligible for issuance of certificates of origin form AI

A good eligible for issuance of a certificate of origin form AI (below referred to as C/O) means an originating good under the provisions of Appendix 1 to this Circular for which a C/O is issued by a C/O form AI issuer.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

1. The ASEAN-India Free Trade Area Agreement means an agreement officially concluded in Thailand on August 13, 2009, and on October 24, 2009, between the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and India (below referred to as AIFTA Agreement).

2. Vietnamese issuer of C/O form AI (below referred to as C/O issuer) means organizations specified in Annex 10 to this Circular (not printed herein).

3. Applicant for C/O form AI (below referred to as C/O applicant), means an exporter, producer or a lawfully authorized representative of an exporter or producer.

4. eCOSys means Vietnam’s certificate of origin management and issuance electronic system at http://www.ecosys.gov.vn.

Article 3. Responsibilities of C/O applicants

C/O applicants shall:

1. Register trader dossiers with C/O issuers under Article 5;

2. Submit C/O application dossiers to C/O issuers;

3. Prove that their exports satisfy all origin requirements and facilitate the verification of the origin of these goods by C/O issuers;

4. Take responsibility before law for the accuracy and truthfulness of their declarations related to C/O applications, including cases of authorization by exporters;

5. Promptly report to C/O issuers at which traders have filed C/O applications on C/O issued by Vietnamese C/O issuers which are rejected by importing countries (if any);

6. Facilitate the verification by C/O issuers at production establishments or places where exports are raised, grown, harvested and processed;

7. Prove the authenticity of the origin of exported goods at the request of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, C/O issuers or customs offices of Vietnam or importing countries.

Article 4. Responsibilities of C/O issuers

C/O issuers shall:

1. Give guidance to C/O applicants upon request;

2. Receive and examine trader dossiers and C/O application dossiers;

3. Verify the actual origin of products when necessary;

4. Issue C/O when goods satisfy the origin requirements set out in this Circular and
C/O applicants observe the provisions of Article 3;

5. Send specimens of signatures of persons authorized to sign C/O and their seals to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (the Import and Export Department) under the Ministry’s regulations for registration with competent authorities of importing countries;

6. Settle complaints related to C/O issuance according to their competence;

7. Re-verify the origin of exported goods at the request of competent authorities of importing countries;

8. Exchange information relating to the C/O issuance with other C/O issuers;

9. Make reports and participate in all professional training courses on origin and respond to other requests under regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Chapter II

PROCEDURES FOR C/O ISSUANCE

Article 5. Registration of trader dossiers

1. C/O applicants may be considered for C/O issuance only at places with which they have registered their trader dossiers and after they have completed trader dossier registration procedures. A trader dossier comprises:

a/ Registration of the specimen of the signature of the person authorized to sign the C/O application and the specimen of the seal of the trader (Annex 9, not printed herein);

b/ The trader’s business registration certificate (a certified true copy);

c/ Tax identification number certificate (a certified true copy);

d/ A list of production establishments (if any) of the trader (Annex 8, not printed herein).

2. Before the C/O application, any change in the trader dossier shall be notified to the C/O issuer with which this dossier has been registered. A trader dossier shall be updated once every two (2) years.

3. In case of a force majeure circumstance or for a plausible reason, if wishing to get a C/O issued by a C/O issuer different from that with which it has registered the trader dossier, a C/O applicant shall provide written plausible reasons for the non-application at the C/O issuer with which it has registered the trader dossier, and register the trader dossier with the new C/O issuer.

Article 6. C/O application dossiers

1. A C/O application dossier comprises:

a/ The C/O application form (Annex 7, not printed herein) which has been fully and duly filled in as guided in Annex 6 (not printed herein);

b/ The C/O form (Annex 5, not printed herein) which has been fully filled in;

c/ The customs declaration for which customs procedures have been completed. This declaration is not required for exports which are not subject to customs declaration under law;

d/ The commercial invoice;

e/ The bill of lading or equivalent document in case the trader has no bill of lading. When a back-to-back C/O is issued for the whole goods lot or part of the goods lot brought from a non-tariff zone into the domestic market, this document may be exempted if the trader does not actually hold it.

Pending the availability of the customs declaration for which customs procedures have been completed and the bill of lading (or any document equivalent to bill of lading), the C/O applicant may submit these documents later within fifteen (15) working days after the date of receipt of C/O.

2. When finding it necessary, the C/O issuer may request the C/O applicant to supply additional documents related to the exports, such as customs declaration of imported materials and auxiliary materials; export permit (if any); purchase and sale contract; value-added invoices on the purchase and sale of domestic materials and auxiliary materials; samples of materials and auxiliary materials or exports; description of the manufacturing process with HS headings of input materials and products (for change in tariff classification criteria or good manufacturing or processing operation criteria); or calculation of the regional value content (RVC) (for RVC criteria); and other documents proving the origin of exports.

3. The papers specified at Points c, d and e of Clause 1, and in Clause 2 may be copies bearing the signatures and true-copy stamps of traders’ representatives at law or authorized persons, together with their originals for comparison at the request of C/O issuers when necessary.

4. For traders joining the eCOSys, their persons authorized to sign C/O applications shall declare data via the eCOSys, give their e-signatures and transmit them to C/O issuers. After examining the dossiers on the eCOSys, if agreeing to issue C/O, C/O issuers shall notify such via the eCOSys to applying traders to submit complete dossiers on paper to C/O issuers for comparison before issuing C/O.

Article 7. Receipt of C/O application dossiers

When C/O applicants file their dossiers, record officers shall receive and examine these dossiers, then notify C/O applicants in dossier receipts or other written forms of any of the following actions:

1. Issuance of C/O under Article 8;

2. Request for supplementation of documents under Article 6;

3. Refusal to issue C/O when detecting that:

a/ C/O applicants fail to register trader dossiers under Article 5;

b/ C/O application dossiers are inaccurate or incomplete as required in Article 6;

c/ C/O applicants have not yet submitted documents which are allowed to be submitted later under Article 6;

d/ Dossiers contain contradictory details;

e/ C/O application dossiers are filed with offices other than those with which trader dossiers have been registered;

f/ C/O declarations are filled in by handwriting, or contain erasures or unreadable contents, or printed in multicolor inks;

g/ There are lawful grounds for evidencing that goods are non-originating under this Circular or C/O applicants have committed fraudulent or dishonest acts in proving the origin of their goods.

Article 8. Issuance of C/O

1. A C/O shall be issued within three (3) working days after the C/O applicant files a complete and valid dossier, except cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. C/O issuers may make verification visits to production establishments if they see that the dossier examination provides insufficient grounds for C/O issuance or detect signs of illegal acts in connection to previously issued C/O. Verifiers of C/O issuers shall make minutes of verification results and request C/O applicants and/or exporters to jointly sign these minutes. In case C/O applicants and/or exporters refuse to sign these minutes, verifiers shall write the reasons for such refusal in the minutes and sign them for certification.

The time limit for issuing or refusing to issue a C/O in this case is five (5) working days after the C/O applicant files a complete dossier.

3. In the course of consideration for C/O issuance, if detecting goods which fail to satisfy origin requirements or C/O application dossiers which are incomplete or invalid, C/O issuers shall notify such to C/O applicants under Clause 2 or 3, Article 7.

4. The verification must not impede the delivery of goods or payment by exporters, unless it is due to the fault of exporters.

Article 9. Withdrawal of issued C/O

C/O issuers may withdraw C/O they have issued in the following cases:

1. Exporters or C/O applicants have forged documents.

2. Issued C/O are not conformable with the origin criteria.

Chapter III

MANAGEMENT OF C/O ISSUANCE

Article 10. Competence to sign C/O

Only persons who have completed procedures for specimen signature registration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade for forwarding to the ASEAN Secretariat for registration with competent authorities of importing countries may sign and issue C/O.

Article 11. Focal point

The Import and Export Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall act as the focal point performing the following jobs:

1. Guiding and inspecting the C/O issuance;

2. Carrying out procedures for registering specimens of signatures of persons competent to sign and issue C/O and specimens of seals of Vietnamese C/O issuers with the ASEAN Secretariat, and forwarding specimens of signatures of persons competent to sign and issue C/O and specimens of seals of C/O issuers of AIFTA Agreement member states to the Ministry of Finance (the General Department of Customs);

3. Assisting the Minister of Industry and Trade in settling matters related to the issuance of C/O.

Article 12. Reporting regime

1. C/O issuers shall update information on C/O issuance on the eCOSys on a daily basis. Information updates must cover all information required to be declared in C/O application dossiers.

2. C/O issuers that have violated thrice the reporting regime prescribed in Clause 1 shall be suspended from issuing C/O and be announced on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. After at least 6 months, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will consider empowering C/O issuers suspended from issuing C/O to issue C/O again based on the requests and explanations of these issuers.

Article 13. Implementation provision

1. This Circular takes effect on June 1, 2010.-

For the Minister of Industry and Trade
Deputy Minister
NGUYEN THANH BIEN