Circular No. 196/2012/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance regulating electronic customs procedures for the commercial imports, exports

THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

Circular No. 196/2012/TT-BTC of November 15, 2012, providing e-customs procedures for commercial imports and exports

Pursuant to June 29, 2001 Customs Law No. 29/2001/QH10, and June 14, 2005 Law No. 42/2005/QH11 Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Customs Law;

Pursuant to November 29, 2005 E-Transaction Law No. 51/2005/QH11, and guiding documents;

Pursuant to June 14, 2005 Commercial Law No. 36/2005/QH11, and guiding documents;

Pursuant to November 29, 2005 Environmental Protection Law No. 52/2005/QH11, and guiding documents;

Pursuant to November 29, 2005 Investment Law No. 59/2005/QH11, and guiding documents;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 87/2012/ND-CP of October 23, 2012, detailing a number of articles of the Customs Law regarding e-customs procedures for commercial imports and exports;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 118/2008/ND-CP of November 27, 2008, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

In furtherance of the Government’s Resolution No. 25/NQ-CP of June 2, 2010, on simplification of 258 administrative procedures under the management of ministries and sectors, and Resolution No. 68/NQ-CP of December 27, 2010, on simplification of administrative procedures under the management of the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the General Director of Customs,

The Minister of Finance promulgates the Circular to provide e-customs procedures for commercial imports and exports.

Chapter I

GENERAL GUIDANCE

Article 1. Scope of application

1. E-customs procedures apply to:

a/ Goods imported or exported under goods purchase and sale contracts;

b/ Goods imported or exported for the performance of processing contracts with foreign traders;

c/ Goods imported and exported as imported raw materials for export production;

d/ Imports and exports of export processing enterprises;

e/ Goods imported and exported for the implementation of investment projects;

f/ Goods traded in the form of temporary import for re-export;

g/ Goods imported or exported on the spot;

h/ Exported goods which are returned;

i/ Imported goods which must be exported back to their countries of origin;

j/ Imports and exports in border-gate transfer;

k/ Imports and exports of enterprises eligible for the priority regime in the field of state management of customs;

l/ Goods brought into or out of bonded warehouses.

2. E-customs procedures for other commercial imports and exports comply with separate regulations.

3. E-customs procedures for commercial imports and exports comply with this Circular and current regulations concerning the import and export of commercial goods in cases not regulated by this Circular.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. Organizations and individuals that import or export commercial goods subject to e-customs procedures.

2. Customs offices and officers.

3. Other state agencies coordinating in the state management of customs.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Circular, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Release of goods means conditional customs clearance whereby a customs office permits the goods in the customs clearance process to be placed at the disposal of customs declarants.

2. Transport of goods to a place for preservation means that a customs office permits the goods in the customs clearance process to be taken out of the zone of customs supervision when they satisfy the customs supervision conditions prescribed by the General Department of Customs or to be delivered to customs declarants for preservation of their original conditions pending customs clearance.

3. Goods having gone through the zone of customs supervision means imports or exports already brought into or taken out of customs operation areas, including road border gates, international railway stations, international seaports, international river ports, international civil airports, inland clearance depots (ICD), bonded warehouses, tax suspension warehouses, customs preference areas, export processing zones, export processing enterprises, international post offices and other customs operation areas prescribed by law.

4. Goods imported or exported on the spot means goods exported by Vietnamese traders (including foreign-invested traders and export processing enterprises) to foreign traders, who designate other Vietnamese traders to deliver and receive such goods in Vietnam.

5. On-the-spot exporter (below referred to as exporter) means a person designated by a foreign trader to deliver goods in Vietnam.

6. On-the-spot importer (below referred to as importer) means a person that purchases goods from a foreign trader and is designated by the latter to receive the goods in Vietnam from an on-the-spot exporter.

Article 4. E-customs declarants

1. Commercial import and export owners (including foreign traders not present in Vietnam but having certificates of registration of the right to import or export goods in accordance with law).

2. Organizations entrusted by import and export owners.

3. Agents carrying out customs procedures.

Article 5. Use of digital signatures in e-customs procedures

1. Digital signatures of customs declarants to be used in e-customs procedures are public digital signatures already verified by customs offices to be compatible with the e-customs data processing system. The list of public digital signature certification service providers that provide digital signatures compatible with the e-customs data processing system is published on the Customs E-Portal (http://www.customs.gov.vn).

2. The use and legal validity of digital signatures comply with Articles 8 and 12 of the Government’s Decree No. 26/2007/ND-CP of February 15, 2007, detailing the implementation of the Law on E-Transactions regarding digital signatures and digital signature certification services.

3. Before using a digital signature to carry out e-customs procedures, a customs declarant shall register such digital signature with a customs office through the Customs E-Portal. Details to be registered include:

a/ Name and tax identification number (if any) of the agency or organization that imports or exports or acts as an agent carrying out customs procedures;

b/ Full name, serial number of the identity card or passport and position (if any) of the digital certificate holder;

c/ Serial number of the digital signature;

d/ Validity duration of the digital signature.

4. Customs declarants shall re-register with customs offices the details specified in Clause 3 of this Article in the following cases: change in registered information, extension of the digital certificate, change of key pairs, and suspension of the digital certificate.

5. Within 2 minutes after the registration of a customs declarant’s digital signature is completed, a customs office shall, through the Customs E-Portal, notify its acceptance or rejection (clearly stating the reason for rejection) of such digital signature.

6. Registered digital signatures of customs declarants may be used in carrying out e-customs procedures nationwide.

Article 6. The e-customs data processing system

1. Customs offices shall build, manage, operate and exploit the e-customs data processing system according to a roadmap, ensuring centralized processing of data and full integration of customs management functions.

2. Agencies, organizations and individuals shall, within the ambit of their powers, provide and exchange information relating to the import and export of goods with customs offices through the e-customs data processing system in accordance with current law.

3. The following entities may access and exchange information with the e-customs data processing system:

a/ Customs officers;

b/ Customs declarants;

c/ Value-added service providers accredited by customs offices;

d/ State management agencies in charge of licensing and specialized management of import and export activities;

e/ Credit institutions that signed agreements on collection and payment of taxes and fees and other state budget revenues related to import and export activities with the General Department of Customs; credit institutions or other organizations operating in accordance with the Law on Credit Institutions and providing guarantee for payable tax amounts for customs declarants;

f/ Warehousing service providers;

g/ Other persons and organizations as decided by the General Department of Customs.

4. Level of access to the e-customs data processing system:

The entities specified in Clause 3 of this Article may access the e-customs data processing system in accordance with regulations of customs offices.

The access to the e-customs data processing system must ensure confidentiality of state secrets and information of entities carrying out customs procedures as provided by law.

5. The database of the e-customs data processing system for conducting e-transactions in financial activities must be used in accordance Chapter II, Part II of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 78/2008/TT-BTC of September 15, 2008, guiding a number of provisions of Decree No. 27/2007/ND-CP of February 23, 2007, on e-transactions in financial activities.

6. When carrying out e-customs procedures, a customs declarant must satisfy the following conditions:

a/ Being adequately equipped with technical infrastructure for e-transactions, facilitating the declaration, transmission, receipt and storage of information upon accessing and exchanging information with the e-customs data processing system; using a software for e-customs declaration verified by the customs to be compatible with the e-customs data processing system;

b/ Having been trained at a training institution specified in Article 6 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 80/2011/TT-BTC of June 9, 2011, guiding the Government’s Decree No. 14/2011/ND-CP of February 16, 2011, on conditions for registration and operation of agents carrying out customs procedures, and being able to properly use the e-customs declaration system;

c/ In case of failing to satisfy the conditions specified at Points a and b, Clause 6 of this Article, customs declarants shall carry out e-customs procedures through an agent.

Article 7. Time limit for making e-customs declarations and carrying out e-customs procedures

1. The time limit for a customs declarant to fill in an e-customs declaration for imports or exports is prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 18 of the Customs Law.

For imports, the date of their arrival at a border gate is the date indicated on the customs office’s seal appended on the goods declaration (the manifest) in the dossier of means of transport on entry (by sea, air or railway) or the date indicated in the declaration of means of transport going through a riverway or road border gate.

2. Within the validity duration of their customs declarations specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 18 of the Customs Law, imports and exports are eligible for import and export management policies and tax policies applicable to imports and exports effective at the time customs offices accept the registration of customs declarations.

Chapter II

GENERAL PROVISIONS ON E-CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR COMMERCIAL IMPORTS AND EXPORTS

Article 8. E-customs dossiers

1. An e-customs dossier comprises:

a/ E-customs declaration in electronic form. When it is necessary to produce and submit a paper declaration at the request of competent agencies, the e-customs declaration must be printed out on paper according to the set form of import or export declaration, annexes to the import or export declaration, modified or supplemented declaration and the list specified in Appendix III to this Circular (below collectively referred to as printed e-customs declaration).

In case the printed e-customs declaration contains 1 (one) annex, the declarant shall sign and append his/her stamp directly on such annex. In case the printed e-customs declaration contains more than 1 (one) annex, the declarant shall sign and append his/her stamp on the last annex page and every two other adjoining annex pages.

b/ Other documents included in an e-customs dossier as specified at Point b, Clause 1, Article 8 of Decree No. 87/2012/ND-CP.

The conversion of paper documents into electronic form or vice versa and the preservation of e-customs dossiers and converted documents of e-customs dossiers comply with current regulations.

c/ If the paper documents specified in this Article are copies, goods owners or their lawful representatives shall certify, sign and append their stamps on them and take responsibility for their lawfulness.

2. When a customs declarant requests in writing the re-grant of a printed e-customs declaration (the copy kept by the customs declarant) which is missing, the Customs Branch with which the declaration has been registered shall print a new e-customs declaration from the e-customs data processing system, and the head of this Branch shall sign and append the seal of the Branch on the declaration and certify “The declaration is re-granted by ... Customs Branch on date... month... year...” The conditions for having a printed e-customs declaration re-granted, re-granting procedures and the use, monitoring and management of re-granted printed e-customs declaration comply with current regulations applicable to true copies of original paper declarations kept at the customs office.

Article 9. E-customs declaration

When making an e-customs declaration, a customs declarant shall:

1. Create information to be declared in the e-customs declaration (including a value declaration for goods subject to value declaration under current regulations) on the e-customs declaration system strictly according to the specified items and standard format, and take responsibility before law for the declared information.

a/ In case the customs declarant is a customs procedure agent, he/she shall clearly declare the jobs he/she is authorized to perform.

b/ Goods imported or exported by different modes or by the same mode but subject to different tax payment time limits must be declared in different import or export declarations corresponding to each import or export mode or each tax payment time limit, except the following cases:

b1/ An import item with different import duty, value-added tax, excise tax and environmental protection tax payment time limits may be declared in the same customs declaration;

b2/ For an import shipment which contains many goods items with different tax payment time limits but under the same contract/order and of the same type, the customs declarant that pays tax immediately or has a guarantee for the tax amount payable for the whole shipment may declare it in the same import declaration.

c/ Customs declaration for goods imported or exported under many contracts/orders:

c1/ For an import item imported under many contracts/orders, with one or more  than one invoice of a seller, subject to the same shipping conditions, to be completely shipped at a time, and with one bill of lading, the customs declarant may declare it in one or more than one customs declaration;

c2/ For an export item exported under many contracts/orders, subject to the same shipping conditions, to be sold to the same customer and completely shipped at a time, the customs declarant may declare it in one or more than one customs declaration;

c3/ Upon making customs declaration, the customs declarant shall fully write the number and date of the contract/order in the customs declaration. In case it is impossible to fully write such information in the customs declaration, the customs declarant shall make a detailed list to be enclosed with the customs declaration according to the form specified in Appendix III to this Circular. The customs declarant is only required to declare the total quantity of goods under the contracts/orders in the import/export declaration;

d/ For imports and exports eligible for lower tax rates than prescribed or for particularly preferential tax rates, when declaring tax rates, the customs declarant shall also declare the tax rate before reduction and the reduced percentage or the regulations under which this particularly preferential tax rate is applied;

e/ For goods imported or exported under permits or subject to line management or eligible for a particularly preferential tax rate or eligible for tax exemption or reduction or guarantee for payable tax amounts, when making customs declaration, the customs declarant shall fully write information relating to the above contents in the prescribed items and standard format in the form of e-customs declaration in Appendix I to this Circular.

2. Send the e-customs declaration to the customs office through the e-customs data processing system.

3. Receive feedback from the customs office and then:

a/ Upon receiving the “notice of rejection of the e-customs declaration”, modify and supplement information in the e-customs declaration or give explanations under the guidance of the customs office;

b/ Upon receiving the “serial number of the e-customs declaration” and “decision on the form and level of inspection”:

b1/ In case the e-customs declaration is accepted by the customs office for “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation”, the customs declarant shall:

b1.1/ Print out one copy of the e-customs declaration accepted by the customs office for “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation” on the e-customs declaration system according to the form of printed e-customs declaration; sign and append his/her stamp thereon;

b1.2/ Produce the printed e-customs declaration specified at Point b1.1, Clause 3 of this Article together with goods at the zone of customs supervision connected with the e-customs data processing system for getting the certification that “Goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision” and continue to carry out the procedures (if any).

Within the law-prescribed duration of preservation of customs dossiers for imports and exports, if the customs declarant wishes to get the certification of “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transportation of goods to the place of preservation on the printed e-customs declaration, he/she shall produce the declaration with the certification that “Goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision” for the Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered to give certification.

If wishing to obtain the certification of “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation” before the certification that “Goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision,” the customs declarant shall produce one printed e-customs declaration specified at Point b1.1, Clause 3 of this Article to the Customs Branch with which the declaration has been registered for certification, then produce the certified printed e-customs declaration together with goods at the zone of customs supervision for certification that “Goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision” and continue to carry out the procedures (if any).

b2/ In case the e-customs declaration is accepted by the customs office for “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation” on the condition that the goods import or export permit or documents proving that the goods satisfy the requirements of specialized management or are eligible for particularly preferential tax rates, tax exemption or reduction or guarantee for payable tax amount or that the tax payment obligation has been fulfilled can be produced or submitted before the certification that “Goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision”, the customs declarant shall:

b2.1/ Print out one copy of the e-customs declaration already accepted by the customs office for “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation” on the e-customs declaration system according to the form of printed e-customs declaration; sign and append seal thereon;

b2.2/ Produce the printed e-customs declaration specified at Point b2.1, Clause 3 of this Article and produce/submit the goods import or export permit or documents proving that the goods satisfy the requirements of specialized management or are eligible for particularly preferential tax rates, tax amount exemption or reduction or guarantee for payable tax amount or that the tax payment obligation has been fulfilled to the Customs Branch with which the declaration has been registered for the certification of “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation”;

b2.3/ Produce the printed e-customs declaration specified at Point b2.2, Clause 3 of this Article together with goods at the zone of customs supervision for getting certification that “Goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision”, and continue to carry out the procedures (if any).

b3/ In case the e-customs declaration is requested by the customs office to be produced and paper documents included in the e-customs dossier to be submitted for inspection before the goods clearance is permitted, the customs declarant shall submit and produce two printed e-customs declarations and two value declarations (for goods subject to value declaration) together with documents included in the customs dossier for the Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered to conduct inspection as requested and:

b3.1/ When obtaining permission for “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation”, the customs declarant shall receive one printed e-customs declaration with the certification of “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation”, one value declaration (if any) and one record of paper document inspection results. When bringing goods through the zone of customs supervision, the customs declarant shall comply with Article 18 of this Circular;

b3.2/ When requested to produce and submit paper documents included in the e-customs dossier and goods for customs inspection, the customs declarant shall perform the jobs specified at Point b4, Clause 3 of this Article.

b4/ In case the customs declaration is requested by the customs office to be produced and paper documents included in the e-customs dossier to be submitted together with goods for inspection, the customs declarant shall submit and produce two printed e-customs declarations and two value declarations (for goods subject to value declaration) together with all documents included in the customs dossier as requested and imports or exports for the Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered to inspect. When obtaining a decision on “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation” or “permission for border-gate transfer of imports/exports”, the customs declarant shall receive one printed e-customs declaration together with the decision on “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation” or “permission for border-gate transfer of imports/exports”, one record of paper document inspection results, one record of goods physical inspection results (except imports applying for border-gate transfer), and one value declaration (if any). When bringing goods through the zone of customs supervision, the customs declarant shall comply with Article 18 of this Circular

4. The customs declarant may submit later the originals of some documents in the customs dossier, except the import or export permit for goods subject to import or export permit as prescribed by law, and shall declare the late submission on the e-customs declaration. The customs declarant shall submit documents permitted for late submission within the law-prescribed time limit. In case no specific time limit is prescribed by law, the time limit for late submission is 30 days from the date of registration of the e-customs declaration.

5. Competence to permit the late submission of documents: The head of the Customs Branch where the e-customs declaration is registered shall decide to permit late submission of documents.

Article 10. Modification of declarations or supplementation of customs dossiers

1. The modification of declarations or supplementation of customs dossiers is required in the following cases:

a/ Modification of a declaration or supplementation of a customs dossier before the physical inspection of goods is conducted or before a decision on exemption from physical inspection is issued in accordance with Point a, Clause 2, Article 34 of the Law on Tax Administration;

b/ Modification of a declaration or supplementation of a customs declaration after the “clearance of goods” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation” but within 60 days from the date of registration of the declaration and before the customs office conducts post-customs clearance inspection, provided such modification or supplementation of the e-customs declaration is not related to the implementation of the import and export management policy and tax policy to imports and exports;

c/ Additional declaration of a customs dossier within 60 days from the date of registration of the customs declaration with respect to erroneous details affecting the payable tax amount, provided the following conditions are fully satisfied:

c1/ Errors are detected and voluntarily reported by the taxpayer or the customs declarant to the customs office;

c2/ The report is made within 60 days after the date of registration of the customs declaration and before the customs office conducts tax examination or inspection at the taxpayer’s office;

c3/ The errors are found in the calculation of the payable tax amount, the value, origin, code, tax rate or payable tax amount in the customs dossier submitted to the customs office;

c4/ The customs declarant or taxpayer has sufficient grounds to prove, and the customs office has sufficient grounds and conditions for inspection and verification of, the truthfulness, accuracy and legality of the additional declaration.

d/ The modification of a declaration or supplementation of a customs dossier may be made beyond the 60-day time limit after the date of registration of the customs declaration and at the same time the customs declarant may be administratively sanctioned under current regulations, if the following conditions are fully satisfied:

d1/ Errors are detected and voluntarily reported by the taxpayer or the customs declarant to the customs office before the latter conducts tax examination and inspection or post-customs clearance at the office of the customs declarant;

d2/ The customs declarant or taxpayer has sufficient grounds to prove, and the customs office has sufficient grounds and conditions for inspection and verification of, the accuracy and legality of the modification or additional declaration.

2. Modification or supplementation of declarations covers:

a/ Additional declaration of information to serve as a basis for identifying bases and elements for tax calculation or tax-free goods; or identifying goods eligible for tax exemption, consideration for tax exemption, reduction, refund or non-collection;

b/ Additional declaration of the payable tax amount, paid tax amount, underpaid or overpaid tax amount (if any), fine amount for late payment of the additionally declared tax amount (if the taxpayer pays the additionally declared tax amount beyond the tax payment time limit) for each goods item and for the whole customs declaration; commitment on the accuracy and legality of additionally declared documents and dossier;

c/ Modification or additional declaration of other information on the customs declaration.

3. Procedures for modification or additional declaration:

When making modification or additional declaration under Clause 1 of this Article, the customs declarant shall fill modified or additional information in the e-customs declaration, clearly stating the reason for modification or supplementation, and send it to the customs office through the e-customs data processing system and comply with the guidance of the customs office.

Paper documents to be submitted/produced by the customs declarant at the request of the customs office include:

a/ The printed e-customs declaration and annexes thereto (if any) and a list (if any);

b/ Documents requested by competent agencies;

c/ The additional e-customs declaration in case the customs office has certified that “the goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision” or “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation” or “permission for border-gate transfer of imports/exports.”

4. Processing of modified or supplemented dossiers

Upon receiving modified or additionally declared information, the customs office shall perform the channeling by either of the following modes:

a/ Permission for modification or supplementation based on the declared information;

b/ Examination of the dossier of modification or supplementation dossier before deciding whether to permit the modification or supplementation.

Upon receiving a modified or supplemented dossier, a customs officer shall:

b1/ Check the completeness and accuracy of the modified or supplemented dossier and notify checking results on a “Notice of instructions on e-customs procedure performance”. In case the additionally declared information has been printed out on paper documents, the customs office shall return one copy to the customs declarant and keep one copy;

b2/ Notify results of checking the dossier of modification or supplementation within:

b2.1/ Eight working hours after receiving the complete dossier of modification or supplementation in case the modification or supplementation is made before the customs office physically inspects the goods or decides to exempt the goods from physical inspection.

b2.2/ Five working days after receiving the complete dossier of modification or supplementation in the case specified at Point b, c or d, Clause 1 of this Article.

5. Competence to permit modification of declarations and supplementation of customs dossiers: Heads of Customs Branches with which e-customs declarations are registered shall consider and decide whether to permit the modification of e-customs declarations or supplementation of e-customs dossiers under Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 11. Cancellation of customs declarations

1. Cases of cancellation of a customs declaration:

a/ Past 15 days from the date of registration and grant of the serial number of the customs declaration, no e-customs dossier is produced in case such production is required;

b/ Past 15 days from the date of registration of the customs declaration, the customs declarant fails to produce his/her imports or exports which are subject to physical inspection to the customs office for inspection;

c/ Past 15 days from the date of registration and grant of the serial number of the customs declaration for goods exempt from physical inspection, no imports arrive at the border gate of importation or exports are not yet placed under customs supervision;

d/ The e-customs declaration has been registered and granted a serial number but it is impossible to further carry out e-customs procedures because the e-customs data processing system encounters a problem or there are problems outside the e-customs data processing system;

e/ The customs declarant requests cancellation of the registered customs declaration in the following cases:

e1/ More than one declaration have been made for the same quantity of goods;

e2/ The export declaration is for goods already placed under customs supervision but the customs declarant fails to export them;

e3/ The registered customs declaration is for wrong form of import or export. In  this case, the declaration may only be cancelled before the time of physical inspection of goods or the decision on exemption from physical inspection of goods.

2. Order and procedures for cancellation of customs declarations

a/ For the customs declarant:

Upon canceling the declaration in the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article, the customs declarant shall create information on declaration cancellation according to the standard format in the form of Information on declaration cancellation, clearly stating the reason, then send it to the customs office through the e-customs data processing system and receive the “Notice of instructions on e-customs procedure performance,” and comply with requests in this notice.

The customs declarant shall submit to the customs office one printed e-customs declaration; annexes to the declaration, manifests, slip of examination of the paper dossier and slip of inspection of goods (if any) in case the printed e-customs declaration has obtained the certification that “the goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision” for exports and/or of “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation” or “permission for border gate transfer of imports/exports” for imports and exports.

b/ For the customs office:

b1/ Past 15 days from the date of expiry of the declaration, for declarations specified at Points a and b, Clause 1 of this Article, if the customs declarant fails to perform the jobs specified at Point a, Clause 2 of this Article, the customs office shall cancel the declaration and notify such to the customs declarant;

b2/ The customs officer who has received the declaration shall examine data in the declaration requested for cancellation, propose the cancellation to the leader of the Customs Branch and effect the cancellation on the system. In case the printed e-customs declaration has obtained the certification that “the goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision” for exports and/or of “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation” or “permission for border gate transfer of imports/exports” for imports and exports, the customs officer shall cross it out with an ink pen (or append a cancellation mark), write the date of cancellation, sign and append the officer seal on the printed e-customs declaration.

The customs office may store in the e-customs data processing system all data in registered declarations but shall cancel and concurrently keep cancelled printed e-customs declarations (if any) according to their registration serial numbers.

3. Competence to cancel e-customs declarations: Heads of Customs Branches with which e-customs declarations are registered shall consider and decide on cancellation of e-customs declarations in the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 12. Receipt, examination, registration and channeling of e-customs declarations

1. The receipt, examination, grant of registration numbers and channeling of e-customs declarations by the customs office are automatically carried out through the e-customs data processing system.

2. If rejecting an e-customs declaration, the customs office shall send through the e-customs data processing system a “Notice of rejection of e-customs declaration”, clearly stating the reason for rejection, and guiding the customs declarant to perform necessary jobs for further carrying out customs procedures.

3. If accepting an e-customs declaration, the customs office shall grant through the e-customs data processing system a registration number for the e-customs declaration and channel it in one of the following forms:

a/ Acceptance of information declared in the e-customs declaration and permission for “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation” (referred to as “green channel”); acceptance of information declared in the e-customs declaration and permission for “customs clearance” or “release of goods” or “transport of goods to the place of preservation” on the condition that the goods import or export permit or documents proving that the goods satisfy the requirements of specialized management or that the goods are eligible for particularly preferential tax rates, tax exemption or reduction or guarantee for payable tax amounts or documents evidencing the fulfillment of the tax payment obligation are produced or submitted before the certification that “the goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision” (referred to as “conditional green channel”);

b/ Production or submission of paper documents included in the e-customs dossier for examination before permission for customs clearance of goods (referred to as “yellow channel”). The examination of paper documents complies with Clauses 1 and 3, Article 13 of this Circular;

c/ Production or submission of paper documents included in the e-customs dossier for examination and goods for inspection before permission for customs clearance of goods (referred to as “red channel”). The physical inspection of goods complies with Clauses 2 and 3, Article 13 of this Circular.

Article 13. Examination of e-customs dossiers and physical inspection of goods in the process of carrying out customs procedures

1. Examination of e-customs dossiers

a/ Form of examination: Examining information in the e-customs declaration in the e-customs data processing system, and examining paper documents;

b/ Competence to decide on the form of examination: The customs office shall decide to approve results of the processing of risk management information in the e-customs data processing system;

c/ Examination contents: Examining the completeness of the dossier, examining contents declared in the e-customs declaration, examining documents included in the e-customs dossier, comparing declared contents with documents included in the e-customs dossier; and checking their compliance with legal provisions;

d/ Responsibilities of the customs officer in case of examination of paper documents included in the e-customs dossier before permission for customs clearance of goods:

d1/ To receive and examine paper documents submitted or produced by the customs declarant, and update examination results in the e-customs data processing system;

d2/ To print two slips showing examination results according to the form of Slip showing results of paper document examination results, sign and append the officer seal, and request the customs declarant to sign and clearly write his/her full name on the slip;

d3/ To base himself/herself on results of examination of paper documents included in the e-customs dossier to perform one of the following jobs:

d3.1/ For goods eligible for customs clearance: Complying with Point b, Clause 3, Article 17 of this Circular;

d3.2/ For goods eligible for “transport of goods to the place of preservation” or “release of goods”: Complying with Point b, Clause 4, Article 15, or Point b, Clause 3, Article 16, of this Circular;

d3.3/ For goods also subject to other procedures: Forwarding the dossier to other stages of professional operation as prescribed.

d4/ Returning to the customs declarant one printed e-customs declaration and one Slip showing paper document examination results, if goods fall into the case specified at Points d3.1 and d3.2, Clause 1 of this Article.

2. Physical inspection of goods

a/ Form of physical inspection: Inspection shall be directly conducted by customs officers, by machines, technical devices and other professional measures;

b/ Extent of inspection: exemption from inspection; inspection of part or the whole of the goods lot;

c/ Competence to decide on the form and extent of inspection: Heads of Customs Branches may decide on the form and extent of inspection under current regulations on risk management. In the course of carrying out customs procedures for the import or export lot, based on the actual state of the lot and collected information, the head of the Customs Branch carrying out e-customs procedures may decide to change the previously decided form and extent of inspection and take responsibility for the change;

d/ Physical inspection contents: Checking name, code, quantity, weight, category, quality, origin, mark, label, date of manufacture, expiry date of goods; comparing the actual state of goods with the e-customs dossier and norms of materials and supplies; and comparing goods with kept material samples or product samples according to their respective forms;

e/ Responsibilities of the customs officer conducting the physical inspection of goods:

e1/ To physically inspect the goods and update inspection results in the e-customs data processing system;

e2/ To print two slips showing inspection results according to a set form, sign, append the officer seal, and request the customs declarant to sign and write his/her full name on these slips;

e3/ To base himself/herself on results of physical inspection of goods to perform one of the following jobs:

e3.1/ For goods eligible for customs clearance: To comply with Point b, Clause 3, Article 17 of this Circular;

e3.2/ For goods eligible for “transport of goods to the place of preservation” or “release of goods”: To comply with Point b, Clause 4, Article 15 or Point b, Clause 3, Article 16, of this Circular;

e3.3/ For goods also subject to other procedures: To forward the dossier to other stages of professional operation as prescribed.

e4/ To return to the customs declarant one printed e-customs declaration and one Slip showing goods inspection results, if goods fall into the case specified at Points e3.1 and e3.2, Clause 1 of this Article.

3. Specific guidance on contents of examination of e-customs dossiers and physical inspection of goods in the course of carrying out customs procedures:

a/ Examining names and codes of goods in accordance with the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 49/2010/TT-BTC of April 12, 2010, guiding the classification of, and application of tax rates to, imports and exports;

b/ Inspecting the quantity of goods: For goods items of which the quantity cannot be identified by customs officers or equipment (liquid or bulky goods, goods in massive quantities, etc.), the customs office may base itself on results of assessment conducted by an assessment service provider (below referred to as assessor) to identify the quantity of goods.

c/ Inspecting the quality of goods (covering inspection of food safety and quarantine), specifically as follows:

c1/ For goods subject to quality inspection:

c1.1/ For imports: As per specific provisions of law, the customs office shall base itself on the written registration for quality inspection or the inspection agency’s notice of exemption from inspection of goods lot or notice of conclusion that the goods lot is up to import standards, results of food safety inspection or quarantine results which are satisfactory for import to carry out customs procedures.

c1.2/ For exports: The customs office shall base itself on the inspection agency’s notice of conclusion that the goods lot is up to export standards to carry out customs procedures.

c2/ For goods not subject to quality inspection:

c2.1/ If, though having used its means and equipment, the customs office cannot identify the quality of goods for the goods import and export management, it may, together with the customs declarant, take goods samples or request the customs declarant to provide technical documents and agree on the selection of an assessor to conduct assessment. The assessor’s conclusions are binding on the parties;

c2.2/ If the customs declarant and the customs office cannot reach agreement on the selection of an assessment organization, the customs office may decide to select an assessment organization and base itself on assessment results to make conclusions. If the customs declarant disagrees with these conclusions, he/she may file a complaint in accordance with law.

d/ Inspecting the origin of goods: The inspection must be based on the actual state of goods, customs dossier and information related to goods and Article 15 of the Government’s Decree No. 19/2006/ND-CP of February 20, 2006, detailing the Commercial Law regarding origin of goods and relevant guiding documents.

Inspection results will be handled as follows:

d1/ In case the actual origin of imports is different from that registered by the customs declarant but still within the country or territory which has a preferential tariff agreement with Vietnam, the customs office shall still apply the preferential tax rate as provided and handle the violation under law depending on its nature and severity;

d2/ If doubting the origin of goods, the customs office may request the customs declarant to supply additional documents as proof or request a competent authority of the country of exportation to give certification. The verification of the origin of goods must be completed within 150 days from the date the customs declarant submits a complete and valid dossier on the origin of goods. Pending the availability of verification results, the goods are not eligible for preferential tariff but ordinary customs procedures may still be carried for their customs clearance.

The time limit for consideration and settlement of problems related to the origin of goods, consideration and acceptance of C/O is 365 days after the C/O is submitted to the customs office or after the customs office doubts about a fraud in violation of the origin of goods.

d3/ In case the customs declarant submits a C/O issued for the whole goods lot but imports only a part of this goods lot, the customs office shall accept this C/O for the part of actually imported goods.

e/ Tax inspection, covering the following:

e1/ Inspecting conditions for application of prescribed coercive measures or tax payment time limit;

e2/ Inspecting grounds for determining that the goods are duty (tax)-free in case the customs declarant declares that the goods is not subject to export duty, import duty or value-added tax or excise tax or environmental protection tax;

e3/ Inspecting grounds for determining the goods’ eligibility for tax exemption in case the customs declarant declares that the goods are eligible for tax exemption;

e4/ Inspecting tax bases in order to determine the payable tax amount and the calculation of the payable tax amount in case imports or exports are liable to taxes on the basis of inspection results specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, results of inspection and determination of the taxable value under the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 205/2010/TT-BTC of December 15, 2010, guiding the Government’s Decree No. 40/2007/ND-CP of March 16, 2007, providing the customs valuation of imports and exports, and other relevant grounds.

f/ Inspection for identifying counterfeit goods (including goods infringing upon intellectual property rights) complies with Article 219 of the November 29, 2005 Law on Intellectual Property, the Commercial Law and relevant guiding documents.

Article 14. Taking and preservation of samples, preservation of photos of imports or exports

1. Forms of sampling: Taking of physical samples and photographing.

2. The sampling of imports is required in the following cases:

a/ The customs declarant requests sampling for customs declaration;

b/ In case of goods subject to sampling to meet customs management requirements, including raw materials and materials imported for export processing or production; products processed or produced for export; exports returned for reprocessing; goods temporarily imported for re-export or temporarily exported for re-import (except goods which cannot be sampled, hardly to be preserved, live or fresh goods, raw materials denatured after production process, precious metals and stones);

c/ In case of imports subject to sampling for analysis and testing at the request of the customs office.

3. The sampling must be decided by the director of the Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered in the following specific cases:

a/ Samples of raw materials imported for export processing or production which are eligible for border-gate transfer and exempt from physical inspection but subject to sampling must be taken at the border-gate customs office or their manufacturing plant, enterprise or establishment;

b/ In case the customs delarant requests the sampling at the border gate, the Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered or the border-gate customs office shall conduct the sampling under regulations;

c/ In case the customs declarant requests the sampling at the manufacturing plant, enterprise or establishment, he/she shall carry out procedures for border-gate transfer. The Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered shall conduct the sampling.

4. Sampling procedures:

a/ Sampling must be based on a written request of the customs declarant or customs office. A sampling card must be made in two copies, one to be kept together with the taken sample and the other kept by the sampling requester. The form of sampling card is provided in Appendix III to Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC;

b/ In case samples are taken to meet requirements of analysis or classification of imports or exports, the sampling must comply with Article 20 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 49/2010/TT-BTC of April 12, 2010, guiding the classification of, and the application of tax rates to, imports and exports;

c/ Sampling shall be conducted in the presence of representatives of the goods owner and the customs office; taken samples must be signed by these representatives for certification and sealed up. In case of photographing, photos must bear on their back side the serial number of the customs declaration, signed by the customs officer, and be appended with a seal showing his/her identification number and be signed by the goods owner, and be filed in the customs dossier;

d/ Sampling contents must be shown in the printed e-customs declaration.

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

6. Places of sample preservation:

a/ The import and export analysis and classification center (for samples analyzed by the center);

b/ The Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered (for samples taken by the Customs Branch for performing sample-related operations; if samples are images, paper photos shall be preserved while e-photos stored in the e-customs data processing system);

c/ The office or place of production of the customs declarant, for raw materials imported for export processing and production and reprocessed goods.

7. Sample preservation duration

a/ At the import and export analysis and classification center and/or Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered, samples shall be preserved for 90 days from the date of customs clearance of goods. In case of a dispute or complaint, they must be preserved till the dispute or complaint is completely settled;

b/ Samples of raw materials for processing or re-processed goods must be preserved at the enterprise until the customs office completely liquidates the processing contract.

Samples of raw materials for export production shall be preserved at the enterprise until the customs office completely liquidates declarations of raw materials imported for export production which such samples represent.

c/ Samples of products processed or produced for export must be preserved at the enterprise for five years from the date of registration of the import or export declaration.

Article 15. Transport of goods to places of preservation

1. Cases in which goods are permitted to be transported to the place of preservation:

a/ For imports or exports subject to assessment for determining whether they can be imported or exported and requested by their owners to be transported to the place of preservation, the customs office may accept such request only when all customs supervision conditions are satisfied;

b/ For goods subject to quarantine in accordance with law and the place of quarantine is in the isolated zone for quarantine, a plant or an enterprise, a warehouse or place of inspection outside the border gate, or goods subject to quality or food safety inspection before customs clearance, the customs office may permit them to be transported to the place of preservation only when the customs declarant complies with the current laws on quarantine, food safety or goods and product quality inspection.

Within the law-prescribed time limit, the customs declarant shall add to the customs dossier a competent inspection agency’s notice of inspection and quarantine results.

2. Responsibility of the customs declarant: To preserve goods at the place of preservation to keep intact their original state.

3. Competence to permit the transport of goods to the place of preservation

a/ The customs office with which the e-customs declaration has been registered may permit the transport of goods to the place of preservation, for goods exempt from customs inspection by deciding to update risks on the e-customs data processing system within its vested powers;

b/ The head of the Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered may decide or authorize one of its competent officers to decide to permit the customs declarant to transport goods to the place of preservation, for cases not specified at Point a, Clause 3 of this Article. The decision on permission is made in the e-customs data processing system.

4. Responsibilities of the customs officer of the Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered

a/ For goods in the “green channel”: When the customs declarant requests, the customs officer shall base himself/herself on the decision on permission for transport of goods to the place of preservation in the e-customs data processing system to sign and append the officer seal on the box for certification of transport of goods to the place of preservation in the printed e-customs declaration of the customs declarant;

b/ For goods in the remaining channels: After examining the e-customs dossier or conducting physical inspection of goods, if obtaining satisfactory results and approval of a competent leader of the Customs Branch, the customs officer shall base himself/herself on the decision on permission for transport of goods to the place of preservation in the e-customs data processing system to sign and append the officer seal on the box for certification of transport of goods to the place of preservation in the printed e-customs declaration of the customs declarant.

Article 16. Release of goods

1. Goods which are permitted for import or export but are subject to valuation, expert assessment, analysis or classification for accurate determination of payable tax amounts may be released when satisfying one of the following conditions:

a/ Their owner has fulfilled the tax obligations on the basis of results of tax assessment by the customs office, or;

b/ They are eligible for a tax payment grace period in accordance with tax laws, or;

c/ A credit institution or another institution operating under the Law on Credit Institutions guarantees for the payable tax amount which has not yet been paid or fully paid according to results of tax assessment by the customs office within the prescribed time limit.

2. Competence to permit release of goods

a/ The customs office with which the e-customs declaration has been registered may permit release of goods, which are exempt from customs inspection, by deciding to update risks in the e-customs data processing system within its competence;

b/ The head of the Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered may permit or authorize one of its competent officers to permit release of goods, for cases not specified at Point a, Clause 2 of this Article. The decision on permission is made in the e-customs data processing system.

3. Responsibilities of the customs officer of the Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered

a/ For goods in the “green channel”: When the customs declarant requests, the customs officer shall base himself/herself on the decision on release of goods in the e-customs data processing system to sign and append the officer seal on the box for certification of release of goods in the printed e-customs declaration of the customs declarant;

b/ For goods in the remaining channels: After examining the e-customs dossier or conducting physical inspection of goods, if obtaining satisfactory results and approval of a competent leader of the Customs Branch, the customs officer shall base himself/herself on the decision on permission for release of goods in the e-customs data processing system to sign and append the officer seal on the box for certification of release of goods in the printed e-customs declaration of the customs declarant.

Article 17. Customs clearance of goods

1. Goods are cleared after customs procedures are completed

2. Goods for which customs procedures have not yet been completed may be cleared in either of the following cases:

a/ The customs dossier lacks some documents but the customs office agrees that they can be submitted later;

b/ Imports or exports are eligible for a tax payment grace period as provided by tax laws or the payable tax amount for goods for which tax payment must be made before receipt thereof is not yet paid or fully paid within the prescribed time limit but a credit institution or another institution operating under the Law on Credit Institutions guarantees the payable tax amount.

3. Competence to decide on customs clearance of goods:

a/ The customs office with which the e-customs declaration has been registered may decide on customs clearance of goods exempt from customs inspection by deciding to update risks in the e-customs data processing system within its decentralized competence;

b/ The customs officer examining e-customs dossiers and conducting physical inspection of goods may decide on customs clearance in the cases specified at Point b, Clause 4 of this Article.

4. Responsibilities of the customs officer of the Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered

a/ For goods in the “green channel”: When the customs declarant requests, the customs officer shall base himself/herself on the decision on customs clearance of goods in the e-customs data processing system to sign and append the officer seal on the box for certification of customs clearance of goods in the printed e-customs declaration of the customs declarant;

b/ For goods in the remaining channels: After examining the e-customs dossier or conducting physical inspection of goods, if obtaining satisfactory results, the customs officer shall decide on customs clearance of goods in the e-customs data processing system, sign and append the officer seal on the box for certification of release of goods in the printed e-customs declaration of the customs declarant.

Article 18. Supervision of imports and exports subject to e-customs procedures

1. Principles: Customs supervision of imports and exports subject to e-customs procedures must comply with current regulations on customs supervision of imports and exports.

2. Responsibilities of customs declarants

When bringing imports into or taking exports out of the zone of customs supervision, a customs declarant shall:

a/ For exports:

a1/ Produce one printed e-customs declaration with his/her signature and seal which has been decided by the customs office in the system or with the certification of “customs clearance” at the zone of customs supervision connected with the e-customs data processing system, or produce one e-customs declaration with his/her signature and seal with the customs office’s certification of “customs clearance” at the zone of customs supervision not yet connected with the e-customs data processing system; and documents showing that the goods have been brought into the zone of customs supervision issued by the agency dealing in ports and warehouses;

a2/ Produce the goods at the request of the customs office;

a3/ Receive back one printed e-customs declaration with the certification that “Goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision” and the produced documents.

b/ For imports:

b1/ Produce one printed e-customs declaration with his/her signature and seal which has been decided by the customs office in the system or with the certification of “customs clearance”/”clearance of goods”/”transport of goods to the place of preservation”/”permission for border-gate transfer of goods” at the zone of customs supervision connected with the e-customs data processing system, or produce one e-customs declaration with his/her signature and seal with the customs office’s certification of “customs clearance”/”clearance of goods”/”transport of goods to the place of preservation”/”permission for border-gate transfer of goods” at the zone of customs supervision not yet connected with the e-customs data processing system; and the following documents (if any): The container forwarding bill/cargo forwarding bill or ex-warehousing bill issued by the enterprise dealing in ports and warehouses;

b2/ Produce the goods;

b3/ Receive back one printed e-customs declaration with the certification that “Goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision” and the produced documents.

3. Responsibilities of supervising customs officers

a/ To supervise imports and exports under current regulations;

b/ For imports and exports brought into or taken out of the zone of customs supervision, a supervising customs officer shall conduct inspection as follows:

b1/ To check the validity of e-customs declaration;

b2/ To compare the details in the printed e-customs declaration with those in the e-customs declaration in the e-customs data processing system at the zone of customs supervision connected with the e-customs data processing system, and use comparison results as a ground for certification that “Goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision”.

In case the zone of customs supervision is not yet connected with the e-customs data processing system, to compare the details of the printed e-customs declaration with the certification by the Customs Branch with which the declaration has been registered with actual goods, and use comparison results as a ground for certification that “Goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision”.

c/ To process inspection results:

If inspection results are satisfactory, the supervising customs officer shall update information in the system and give the certification that “Goods have gone through the zone of customs supervision” in the printed e-customs declaration; sign and append the officer seal thereon; and return it to the customs declarant;

If inspection results are unsatisfactory, the border-gate customs office shall, on a case-by-case basis, guide the customs declarant in making modifications or supplementations or handle the case under current regulations.

For an expired printed e-customs declaration, the border-gate customs office shall request the customs declarant to come to the Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered for carrying out procedures to cancel such declaration.

Article 19. Provisions on border-gate transfer

1. Goods in border-gate transfer

a/ Exports in border-gate transfer are those currently subject to customs inspection and supervision which are transported from an outside-border-gate place of customs clearance or an inland place of goods inspection to the border gate of exportation. Particularly, exports of an export processing enterprise may be transferred from such enterprise to a border gate of exportation, a bonded warehouse or another export processing enterprise;

b/ Imports in border-gate transfer are those currently subject to customs inspection and supervision which are transported from the border gate of importation to an outside-border-gate place of customs clearance or an inland place of goods inspection;

c/ Imports in border-gate transfer include:

c1/ Equipment, machinery and supplies imported for building plants and works, which are transferred to inland places of goods inspection which may be within construction sites or be warehouses in construction sites;

c2/ Materials, supplies, parts, machinery, equipment and spare parts for manufacture which are transferred to outside-border-gate places of customs clearance or places of goods inspection being their manufacturing plants or factories;

c3/ Imports of many owners sharing the same bill of lading which are brought to a place of goods inspection or an inland container freight station;

c4/ Goods temporarily imported for display at a fair or an exhibition which are transferred from a border gate of importation to the fair or exhibition venue;

c5/ Materials, supplies, machinery and equipment for production or processing of an export processing enterprise or an enterprise processing goods for foreign traders, and materials and supplies imported for export production which are transferred from a bonded warehouse to the Customs Branch outside the border gate with which the enterprise has registered for carrying out customs procedures in accordance with law;

c6/ Goods being office equipment for operation of an enterprise (desks, chairs, cabinets, stationery...) packed in the same container with materials imported for export processing or production which are transferred to the Customs Branch outside the border gate with which the enterprise has registered for carrying out customs procedures in accordance with law;

c7/ Imports with a bill of lading indicating a port of destination being an inland container depot (ICD):

c7.1/ These goods may not be transferred to places of customs clearance or outside-border gate places of goods inspection, unless otherwise stipulated by the Prime Minister;

c7.2/ For imports of an export processing enterprise; materials, supplies, machinery and equipment imported for export production or performance of processing contracts with a bill of lading indicating a port of destination being an ICD, the enterprise may carry out procedures for transporting such goods from the ICD to its managing Customs Branch, the Customs Branch with which it has registered import declarations for export production, or Customs Branch with which it has registered the processing contract for further carrying out customs procedures. For goods subject to physical inspection, if the enterprise requests such inspection to be conducted right at the ICD, the ICD Customs Branch shall inspect the goods at the request of the Customs Branch managing the export-processing enterprise, Customs Branch with which the enterprise has registered the import declaration for export production or Customs Branch with which the enterprise has notified the processing contract.

c8/ Imports of an export processing enterprise which are transferred from a border gate of importation, a bonded warehouse or another export processing enterprise to such export processing enterprise.

c9/ Other goods in border-gate transfer as provided for by law.

d/ Imports eligible for border-gate transfer specified at Points c1, c2, c3, c4 and c9, Clause 1 of this Article must go through e-customs procedures at Customs Branches of provincial-level Customs Departments managing places to which goods are transferred as specified at the above points.

2. The border-gate Customs Branch shall conduct physical inspection of goods in the following cases:

a/ Upon detection of signs of a violation of the customs law, or for facilitation of customs management, the head of the border-gate Customs Branch shall decide on the form and extent of physical inspection of goods;

b/ Imports are eligible for border-gate transfer but subject to physical inspection at the border gate of importation under regulations of specialized management agencies;

c/ At the request of the Customs Branches with which the e-customs declaration has been registered;

d/ Results of inspection mentioned at Points a, b and c, Clause 2 of this Article are updated in the e-customs data processing system or, when the connection to the e-customs data processing system fails, notified in writing to the Customs Branch with which the e-customs declaration has been registered.

3. Registration of and decision on border-gate transfer of imports and exports

a/ The registration of border-gate transfer of imports and exports must be made when filling in the e-customs declaration for goods export or import.

b/ Decision permitting border-gate transfer (showing the place and time) or disallowing such transfer must be expressed in the “Notice of instructions on performance of e-customs procedures” in the system and in the printed e-customs declaration.

4. Supervision of imports and exports in border-gate transfer

a/ When going through customs procedures, imports and exports exempt from physical inspection are not subject to custom sealing;

b/ When going through customs procedures, imports and exports subject to physical inspection must:

b1/ Be kept in containers or on vehicles satisfying customs sealing requirements;

b2/ For small or individual goods lots which are not kept in containers or on vehicles satisfying customs sealing requirements, each bale of them must be sealed;

b3/ Small or individual import lots which are under different import declarations but all requested to be transferred to the same place may be transported in the same container/on the same vehicle if satisfying the condition that their owners request border-gate transfer in writing and such container or vehicle satisfies customs sealing requirements;

b4/ Imports and exports in border-gate transfer which are contained in containers or bales or on vehicles, of which customs sealing is impossible, must be handled as follows:

b4.1/ Customs procedures must be carried out at the border-gate Customs Branch, or;

b4.2/ The border-gate Customs Branch shall physically inspect the goods at the request of the Customs Branch outside the border gate.

5. The customs declarant shall use the printed e-customs declaration with the customs office’s permission for border-gate transfer as a document for en route transport of goods. He/she shall preserve the original conditions of goods and customs and carrier seals and ensure that the goods are transported according to the registered routes, places, border gates and time. He/she shall produce and submit the customs dossier and goods in border-gate transfer to the border-gate Customs Branch for carrying out procedures under regulations.

Article 20. Grounds for determining actual export of goods

1. Grounds for determining actual export of goods through sea border gates (including goods through CFS) or internal waterway border gates are export declarations with customs clearance certification, certification by supervising customs offices or bills of lading for loading goods onto vehicles on exit.

2. Grounds for determining actual export of goods through airline or railway border gates are export declarations with customs clearance certification, certification by supervising customs offices or transportation documents evidencing that the goods have been loaded onto vehicles on exit.

3. Grounds for determining actual export of goods through road or riverway border gates, transshipment ports or zones, supplies for seagoing ships or airplanes on exit or exports transported together with exit passengers through airline border gates (without bills of lading) are export declarations with customs clearance certification or certification by supervising customs offices.

4. Grounds for determining actual export of goods sold from the inland to a non-tariff zone are export declarations with customs clearance certification or certification by supervising customs offices.

5. For goods of export processing enterprises to be exported to foreign countries or brought into bonded warehouses or purchased, sold or processed with the inland or other export processing enterprises:

a/ For goods of export processing enterprises to be exported to foreign countries or brought into bonded warehouses, grounds for determining their actual export comply with Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article;

b/ For goods purchased, sold or processed by export processing enterprises with the inland; goods purchased, sold or processed by export processing enterprises with others in the same export processing zone or not in the same export processing zone:

b1/ In case there are no supervising customs officers at export processing enterprises that export or import goods or for goods exported from one export processing enterprise to another in the same export processing zone, grounds for determining the actual export of goods are export declarations with customs clearance certification;

b2/ In case there are supervising customs officers at export processing enterprises that export or import goods, grounds for determining the actual export of goods are export declarations with customs clearance certification and certification by supervising customs officers.

6. For on-the-spot exports, grounds for determining their actual export are on-the-spot export declarations with customs clearance certification.

Chapter III

CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR GOODS IMPORTED OR EXPORTED UNDER GOODS PURCHASE AND SALE CONTRACTS

Article 21. E-customs declaration for goods imported or exported under goods purchase and sale contracts

Customs procedures for goods imported or exported under goods purchase and sale contracts comply with general regulations on e-customs procedures for imports and exports provided in Chapter II of this Circular.

Article 22. E-customs dossiers for goods imported or exported under goods purchase and sale contracts

Documents included in an e-customs dossier for goods imported or exported under a goods purchase and sale contract comply with the guidance in Article 11 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC of December 6, 2010.

In case customs offices request production and submission of paper documents included in e-customs dossiers or production and submission of paper documents included in e-customs dossiers together with goods for inspection before permitting the clearance of goods, documents included in e-customs dossiers to be submitted/produced to customs offices must be paper ones or printed from the electronic documents.

Chapter IV

CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR GOODS PROCESSED FOR FOREIGN TRADERS

Article 23. General provisions

1. Policies and regime of management of, and paper dossiers to be submitted/produced at the request of customs offices for, goods processed for foreign traders comply with the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 117/2011/TT-BTC of August 15, 2011, guiding customs procedures for goods processed for foreign traders (below referred to as Circular No. 117/2011/TT-BTC).

2. E-customs procedures for goods processed for foreign traders comply with this Circular.

3. Forms of printed electronic documents are provided in Circular No. 117/2011/TT-BTC. Particularly, e-customs declarations for assignment of intermediary processing and e-customs declarations for undertaking intermediary processing must be printed according to forms HQ/2012-TKDTGGCCT and HQ/2012-TKDTNGCCT issued together with this Circular.

Article 24. Procedures for notification or modification of processing contracts and annexes thereto

1. Procedures for notification of a processing contract

a/ Responsibilities of the customs declarant:

a1/ To create information on the processing contract and information on the lists, norms and licenses (if any) according to the items and standard format as prescribed and send it to the customs office through the e-customs data processing system;

a2/ To receive feedback and comply with the guidance of the customs office in the form of Notice of processing:

a2.1/ For a rejected processing contract, to modify or supplement information on the processing contract at the request of the customs office;

a2.2/ For a processing contract accepted for registration on the basis of e-customs declaration information, the customs declarant shall base himself/herself on the contract accepted for registration to carry out import or export procedures;

a2.3/ In case the customs office requests to examine paper documents or inspect the production establishment before the registration of the processing contract, the customs declarant shall submit/produce such documents as prescribed.

b/ Tasks of the customs office:

b1/ The customs office shall receive, examine and register the processing contract and notify examination results to the customs declarant through the e-customs data processing system.

The head of the Customs Branch shall decide on examination of the dossier and inspection of the production establishment.

b2/ Time limit for receipt of a processing contract:

This time limit complies with Clause 2, Article 7 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 117/2011/TT-BTC of August 15, 2011, guiding customs procedures for goods processed for foreign traders.

2. Notification of annexes to a processing contract

a/ Types of annex to a processing contract to be declared to the customs office include:

a1/ Group of annexes amending the contract:

a1.1/ Annex amending general information (other than information on the list enclosed with the contract);

a1.2/ Annex canceling the contract.

a2/ Group of annexes supplementing the lists:

a2.1/ Annex supplementing the list of materials and supplies;

a2.2/ Annex supplementing the list of export products;

a2.3/ Annex supplementing the list of equipment temporarily imported for processing;

a2.4/ Annex supplementing the list of specimen imports.

a3/ Group of annexes modifying the lists:

a3.1/ Annex modifying codes of goods (imported materials and supplies; export products; temporarily imported equipment; specimen imports);

a3.2/ Annex modifying units of calculation (imported materials and supplies; export products; temporarily imported equipment; specimen imports).

b/ Responsibilities of the customs declarant:

b1/ After the notification of the processing contract until its expiration, to create information according to the items specified in the form of contract annex and send it to the customs office through the e-customs data processing system;

b2/ To receive feedback from the customs office;

b3/ To submit/produce dossiers and documents related to the modification or supplementation of the processing contract at the request of the customs office.

c/ Task of the customs office: To comply with the procedures for registration of processing contracts.

3. Modification and supplementation of a processing contract/annexes thereto

a/ Modification and supplementation on the basis of a written agreement between the trader and its processee:

a1/ For general information of the processing contract/annexes thereto: The modification and supplementation must be made after the notification of the processing contract/annexes thereto until their expiration;

a2/ For information other than general information of the processing contract/annexes thereto: The modification and supplementation must be made through contract annexes before the import or export procedures related to such modification and supplementation are carried out;

a3/ If detecting an error in the declaration of the processing contract/annexes thereto beyond the above-specified time, the customs declarant may modify declared contents if having grounds and obtaining approval of the head of the Customs Branch managing the contract;

a4/ Procedures for modification and supplementation of processing contracts/annexes thereto are the same as those for notification of processing contracts/annexes thereto.

b/ Modification and supplementation to correct declaration errors of the customs declarant or to meet customs management requirements:

b1/ After the notification of the processing contract until its expiration, the customs declarant shall create and declare information according to the items and standard format in an annex to the processing contract;

b2/ The customs declarant shall produce documents related to the modified contents at the request of the customs office;

b3/ Procedures for modification and supplementation are similar to those for notification of processing contract annexes specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

Article 25. Customs procedures for processing materials and supplies

1. For processing materials and supplies which are supplied by the processee:

a/ Customs procedures for import of processing materials and supplies which are supplied from overseas by the processee are the same as those for goods imported under purchase and sale contracts specified in Chapters II and III of this Circular, but tax payment declaration is not required;

b/ Customs procedures for processing materials and supplies supplied by the processee in the form of on-the-spot import or export are the same as those for on-the-spot imports and exports specified in Article 47 of this Circular.

c/ The sampling of processing materials and supplies complies with the guidance in Article 14 of this Circular.

2. For materials and supplies supplied by the processor itself for the processing contract

a/ For materials and supplies produced or purchased on the Vietnamese market by the processor:

a1/ When purchasing and supplying materials and supplies for the processing contracts, the customs declarant is not required to carry out customs procedures but both parties shall reach agreement on names, specifications and quantities of these materials and supplies in the processing contract/annexes thereto, and when carrying out procedures for export of processed products, the customs declarant shall declare self-supplied processing raw materials and materials according to the information criteria specified in the form of declaration of self-supplied processing raw materials and materials;

a2/ For self-supplied materials and supplies produced or purchased on the Vietnamese market by the processor and subject to export duty, when carrying out procedures for export of processed products, the customs declarant shall declare and calculate export duty (if any) in an annex to the e-customs declaration for exports.

b/ Materials and supplies directly purchased by the processor from overseas for the processing contract may be imported as self-supplied processing materials. Import procedures for these materials and supplies are the same as customs procedures for goods imported under purchase and sale contracts specified in Chapters II and III of this Circular, but tax declaration and calculation are not required.

Article 26. Customs procedures for machinery and equipment imported for the performance of processing contracts

Customs procedures for machinery and equipment hired or borrowed for the processing by mode of temporary import for re-export must be carried out at customs offices managing processing contracts like goods imported or exported under purchase and sale contracts specified in Chapter III of this Circular.

Article 27. Procedures for notification and adjustment of norms

1. Procedures for notification of norms

a/ Responsibilities of the customs declarant:

a1/ To create information on norms according to the items and standard format in the form of Declaration of actual norms of processed products or the form of Information on actual norms for materials directly used in export products, which are separated from original materials (component materials), and send it to the customs office through the e-customs data processing system;

a2/ To receive feedback and comply with the guidance of the customs office in the form of Notice of processing:

a2.1/ For norms accepted for registration on the basis of e-customs declaration information, the customs declarant shall base on such norms to carry out the export procedures and submit only the printed Table of norms for the customs officer to give certification at the customs declarant’s request;

a2.2/ If the customs office so requests, the customs declarant shall submit/produce the dossier for examination which comprises:

a2.2.1/ The Table of processing norms, printed according to the form of Table of registration of norms: To submit two originals;

a2.2.2/ A written explanation about bases for and methods of calculating norms of goods items of each code, enclosed with technical design documents of products (e.g., cutting diagrams for garments): To submit one copy.

a2.3/ If the customs office requests physical inspection of norms, the customs declarant shall:

a2.3.1/ Submit the dossier as specified at Point a2.2, Clause 1 of this Article;

a2.3.2/ Produce books and documents related to the determination of norms of product items of codes already registered by the enterprise;

a2.3.3/ Produce products for inspection.

b/ Tasks of the customs office:

b1/ To receive, inspect and register norms and notify inspection results to the customs declarant through the e-customs data processing system;

b2/ The head of the Customs Branch managing the processing contract shall decide on the examination of the dossier and the physical inspection of norms;

b3/ In case of inspection of norms (covering examination of the dossier and physical inspection of norms), the customs officer shall inspect and register the norms, update inspection results on the e-customs data processing system, and give certification on the printed Table of norms submitted by the customs declarant;

b4/ Time limit for receipt of norms:

b4.1/ In case norms are not valid or norms are accepted on the basis of norm information, such must be notified to the customs declarant within 2 working hours after the receipt of norms;

b4.2/ When necessary to examine the paper dossier: Within 8 working hours after the customs declarant submits a complete and valid dossier, the customs office shall complete the procedures for inspection of norms.

In case a contract/contract annex contains many goods items subject to inspection of norms, making the completion of inspection of norms within 8 working hours impossible, the inspection of norms may be prolonged until the next working day but the inspection duration must not exceed 8 working hours from the commencement of the inspection.

b4.3/ For the case of physical inspection of norms before acceptance:

b4.3.1/ Within 5 working days after the trader submits a complete and valid dossier, the customs office shall complete the physical inspection and registration of norms;

b4.3.2/ In case the trader has a production establishment outside the province or city where it has notified the norms, within 8 working days after the customs declarant submits a complete and valid dossier, the customs office shall complete the physical inspection and registration of norms.

2. Procedures for adjustment of norms are similar to those for notification of norms specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 28. Customs procedures for export of processed products abroad

1. Customs procedures for export of processed products abroad are the same as those for goods exported under purchase and sale contracts as specified in Chapter III of this Circular. In addition, the following provisions must be complied with:

a/ For the customs declarant:

a1/ To create information according to the items and format in the form of Declaration of self-supplied processing raw materials and materials (purchased at home or imported). To calculate export duty (if any) on materials and supplies purchased in Vietnam to be supplied for the processing contract in the annex to the export declaration if exported processed products are made of materials and supplies supplied by the processor and send it to the customs office through the e-customs data processing system;

a2/ To declare information with the customs office if processed products are exported to a third party according to the notice of designation;

a3/ To produce material samples kept by the customs declarant (in case samples have been taken) for the export lot subject to physical inspection.

b/ For the customs office:

The customs officer conducting physical inspection of goods shall compare material samples kept by the customs declarant with materials constituting products and Table of norms (certified by the customs office with which the norms have been registered) with actually exported products.

2. The customs procedures for lots of goods processed for export in border-gate transfer are the same as those for goods in border-gate transfer specified in Article 19 of this Circular.

3. The customs procedures for processed products which have been exported but later returned for repair or reprocessing comply with the guidance in Article 48 of this Circular.

Article 29. Procedures for delivery and receipt of products in intermediary processing

1. General provisions

a/ Based on the processee’s notice of designation, the trader that delivers products in intermediary processing (the deliverer) and the trader that receives such products (the recipient) shall organize by themselves the delivery and receipt of products in accordance with Clause 2 below;

b/ The point of time when the deliverer carries out customs procedures for delivery of products in intermediary processing must be in the validity term of the processing contract for delivery and within 15 days after the recipient completes customs procedures for receiving products in intermediary processing. The point of time when the recipient carries out customs procedures for receiving products in intermediary processing must be within the validity term of the processing contract for receipt and within 15 days from the date of invoice issuance stated in the value-added or export invoice of the deliverer. Past the above time limit for carrying out customs procedures, a written record of violation must be made for handling the violation under regulations and further carrying out customs procedures.

2. Customs procedures

a/ Responsibilities of the deliverer:

a1/ To deliver products and the original value-added or export invoice (if any) to the recipient;

a2/ After receiving the e-customs declaration for receipt of products in intermediary processing, for which customs procedures have been completed from the recipient, to create information relating to the delivery of products in intermediary processing according to the items and standard format in the declaration of delivery of products in intermediary processing in the e-customs data declaration system and carry out e-customs procedures like those for processed products for export.

A customs dossier to be submitted/produced by the customs declarant at the request of the customs office comprises:

a2.1/ E-customs declaration for delivery of products in intermediary processing, printed according to form HQ/2012-TKDTGGCCT: To submit 2 originals;

a2.2/ Printed e-customs declaration for receipt of products in intermediary processing (received from the recipient): To submit 1 original;

a2.3/ Written designation for goods delivery: To submit 1 copy and produce 1 original;

a2.4/ Ex-warehousing bill: To submit 1 copy and produce 1 original.

b/ Responsibilities of the recipient:

b1/ To receive products and documents from the deliverer;

b2/ To create information relating to the receipt of products in intermediary processing according to the items and standard format in the declaration of receipt of products in intermediary processing on the e-customs declaration system, and carry out e-customs procedures like those for imported materials supplied by the processee from abroad.

A customs dossier to be submitted/produced by the customs declarant at the request of the customs office comprises:

b2.1/ E-customs declaration form for receipt of products in intermediary processing, printed according to form HQ/2012/TKDTNGCCT: To submit 2 originals;

b2.2/ Value-added or export invoice: To submit 1 copy and produce 1 original;

b2.3/ Produced samples of products in intermediary processing;

b2.4/ Produced goods or books or documents related to the receipt of goods.

b3/ After completing customs procedures for receiving products in intermediary processing, to transfer to the deliverer 1 e-customs declaration for receipt of products in intermediary processing for which customs procedures have been completed for use as a ground for carrying out procedures for delivery of products (1 copy in case the declaration contains the certification of customs clearance of the recipient’s customs office, or the original with the signature and seal of the recipient in case the declaration has no certification of customs clearance of the recipient’s customs office).

c/ Responsibilities of the recipient’s customs office:

c1/ To carry out customs procedures like those for imported materials and supplies supplied by the processee from abroad;

c2/ To conduct physical inspection of goods only when suspecting that the traders deliver and receive goods not declared in the declaration of products in intermediary processing. In case the trader has used goods in production, to examine the books and documents related to the receipt of goods by the trader;

c3/ To take and seal up samples of goods according to regulations.

d/ Responsibilities of the deliverer’s customs office:

d1/ To carry out e-customs procedures like those for processed products for export;

d2/ Not to conduct physical inspection of goods.

3. Procedures for delivery and receipt of leased or borrowed materials, auxiliary materials, supplies, machinery and equipment in the course of performance of a processing contract to another as designated by the processee are similar to those for delivery and receipt of products in intermediary processing specified in Clause 2 of this Article, but enterprises are not required to produce value-added invoices.

Article 30. Customs procedures for processed products used for payment of processing remuneration or for domestic sale

1. Customs procedures for on-the-spot import or export are specified in Article 47 of this Circular.

In case processed products are used for payment of processing remuneration, the purchase and sale contract is replaced with a written agreement between the processee and the processor on payment of processing remuneration with processed products.

2. In case a trader acting as a processor for a foreign trader is concurrently an enterprise conducting on-the-spot import of processed products, such enterprise shall carry out both procedures for on-the-spot export and on-the-spot import of processed products.

Article 31. Procedures for liquidation of processing contracts

1. Making and sending of liquidation requests

A trader acting as a processor shall make a liquidation request according to the items and standard format in the form of Liquidation request, and send it to the Customs Branch managing the processing contract through the e-customs data processing system. Such a request contains the proposed method of disposing of redundant materials and supplies, temporarily imported machinery and equipment, wastes and discarded products (if any).

2. Receipt, examination and comparison of the liquidation dossier

The customs office managing the processing contract shall receive, examine and compare information relating to the liquidation request in the e-customs data processing system.

a/ For traders that satisfy the criteria for identifying traders that have properly observed the customs law for the purpose of classification of liquidation dossiers under Point a, Clause 3, Article 21 of Circular No. 117/2011/TT-BTC:

a1/ If examination results are satisfactory, to send a notice of acceptance of liquidation results, made according to the form of Notice of processing, to the customs declarant;

a2/ If examination results are unsatisfactory, to request the trader to submit a liquidation dossier in the written form according to regulations for detailed examination, and send a notice of non-acceptance, made according to the form of Notice of processing, to the customs declarant, clearly stating the reason.

b/ For traders that do not satisfy the criteria for traders that have properly observed the customs law for the purpose of classification of liquidation dossiers or traders that have properly observed the customs law, but show suspicious signs or in case of probability inspection of 5% of processing contracts of traders that have properly observed the customs law for assessment of their law observance, after examining and comparing information in the liquidation request in the e-customs data processing system, to request the customs declarant to submit the liquidation dossier for detailed examination and send a notice of examination results, made according to the form of Notice of processing, to the customs declarant, clearly stating the reason for non-acceptance.

3. Time limit for receipt, examination and comparison of liquidation dossiers

a/ For cases subject to examination and comparison of information relating to the liquidation request in the e-customs data processing system:

Within 7 working days after receiving a liquidation request of the customs declarant, the customs officer shall complete the examination and comparison of information relating to the liquidation request.

b/ For cases subject to detailed examination and comparison of the liquidation dossier submitted by the customs declarant:

Within 30 working days after the trader submits a complete and valid liquidation dossier, the customs officer shall complete the receipt, detailed examination and comparison of the liquidation dossier.

4. Time limit for carrying out customs procedures for redundant materials; temporarily imported machinery and equipment; and scraps and defective products

Within 30 working days after the custom office completes the examination and comparison of the liquidation dossier, the trader shall carry out customs procedures for disposal of redundant materials and supplies; temporarily imported machinery and equipment; and scraps and defective products (if any).

After completing the disposal of redundant materials and supplies; temporarily imported machinery and equipment; and scraps and defective products, the trader shall send a written notice thereof enclosed with relevant documents to the customs office for use as a basis for completion of liquidation.

5. Certification of completion of liquidation procedures

a/ In case the processing contract/contract annexes contain no redundant materials and supplies; leased or borrowed machinery and equipment; scraps and defective products:

Within 1 working day after the completion of the examination and comparison, the leader of the Customs Branch shall give certification of completion of liquidation procedures in the e-customs data processing system and in the liquidation dossier in case such dossier is examined.

b/ In case the processing contract/contract annexes contain redundant materials and supplies; leased or borrowed machinery and equipment; scraps and defective products:

Within 3 working days after receiving a notice of completion of customs procedures for redundant materials and supplies; leased or borrowed machinery and equipment; scraps and defective products, the leader of the Customs Branch shall give certification of completion of liquidation procedures in the e-customs data processing system and in the liquidation dossier in case such dossier is examined.

Article 32. Customs procedures for disposal of redundant materials and supplies; scraps, defective products, wastes; and hired or borrowed machinery and equipment

As agreed in the processing contract and pursuant to law, the customs declarant may decide on the method of disposing of redundant materials and supplies, scraps, defective products and hired or borrowed machinery and equipment through:

1. Sale on the Vietnamese market: Customs procedures are the same as those applicable to on-the-spot imports or exports under Article 47 of this Circular.

2. Re-export: Customs procedures for re-export of redundant materials and supplies, scraps and defective products, and leased or borrowed machinery and equipment are the same as those for goods lots exported under purchase and sale contracts specified in Chapter III of this Circular. The customs officer conducting physical inspection of goods shall compare to be-re-exported materials with their samples taken upon import; and compare types and codes of machinery and equipment indicated in the latest temporary import declaration or intermediary processing declaration with to be-re-exported machinery and equipment.

3. Transfer to another processing contract performed in Vietnam: Customs procedures for transfer of redundant materials and supplies and machinery and equipment to another processing contract are the same as those for the delivery and receipt of products in intermediary processing as guided in Article 29 of this Circular.

4. Customs procedures for donation of leased or borrowed machinery and equipment; redundant materials and supplies; scraps and defective products; and procedures for destruction of scraps and defective products in Vietnam and procedures for disposing of redundant materials and supplies supplied by traders themselves by mode of import from abroad according to the form of processing comply with Points d and e, Clause 2, and Clause 3, Article 23 of Circular No. 117/2011/TT-BTC.

Chapter V

CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES IMPORTED FOR PRODUCTION OF EXPORTS

Article 33. Materials and supplies imported for production of exports; products exported in the form of export production; customs procedures for import of materials and supplies

1. Materials and supplies imported for the production of exports must comply with Article 30 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC of December 6, 2010, products exported in the form of export production must comply with Article 31 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC of December 6, 2010.

2. Customs declarants shall register materials and supplies imported for export production under Clause 2, Article 32 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC of December 6, 2010.

a/ The procedures for registration of imported materials and supplies:

a1/ Responsibilities of the customs declarant:

a1.1/ To declare full contents according to the items and standard format in the table of registration of imported materials and supplies, and send information to the customs office through the e-customs data processing system;

a1.2/ To receive feedback of acceptance or refusal of registration and modify and add information as instructed by the customs office.

a2/ Responsibilities of the customs office:

To receive, inspect and register declared information and give feedback to the customs declarant within 2 working hours after receiving the table of registration of imported materials and supplies on the system.

b/ Modification of the list of materials and supplies:

b1/ The declaration of modified information on imported materials and supplies must be made before importing the first lot of goods;

b2/ The procedures for changing imported materials and supplies are the same as those for registration of materials and supplies.

3. Customs procedures for import of materials and supplies

The customs procedures for import of materials and supplies according to the registered list of imported materials and supplies are the same as those for import of goods under purchase and sale contracts specified in Chapter III of this Circular at the customs office with which the list of imported materials and supplies is registered.

Article 34. Procedures for notification and adjustment of norms of materials and supplies and registration of exported products

1. The notification and adjustment of norms and registration of exported products must be carried out at the Customs Branches which have carried out the procedures for import of materials and supplies.

2. The procedures for notification and adjustment of norms of materials and supplies are similar to those guided for goods processed for export in Article 27 of this Circular.

3. Information on export products in the table of notification of norms when customs declarants notify the norms is automatically updated into the e-customs data processing system; customs declarants are not required to register exported products.

4. For materials and supplies imported for the production of goods for domestic consumption, when customs declarants find an export outlet and use these materials and supplies to produce export goods, prior to the export, they shall register the list of materials and supplies and notify and adjust the norms according to regulations.

Article 35. Customs procedures for export of products

1. Places for carrying out product export procedures comply with Clause 1, Article 34 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC of December 6, 2010.

2. The customs procedures for product export are the same as those for goods export under purchase and sale contracts specified in Chapter III of this Circular.

For lots of exports subject to physical inspection, customs declarants shall present the preserved samples in case samples of imported materials and supplies have been taken.

Customs officers conducting physical inspection of goods shall compare the preserved samples with materials constituting the products; compare the norms of materials and supplies with actually exported products. In case the preserved samples are not compatible with the exported products, the customs officers shall take samples of the exported products for appraisal. Pending appraisal results, customs offices shall continue to carry out the customs procedures for export of the goods.

While carrying out customs procedures for export of products, if customs declarants have used materials and supplies imported under goods purchase and sale contracts for production of these exported products and now want to be refunded tax for this amount of materials and supplies, they shall declare information according to the standard format in the list of imported materials and supplies under goods purchase and sale contracts.

3. In case the customs declarant carries out customs procedures for export of products at a Customs Branch other than the one with which the declaration of import of materials for export production has been registered or the customs declarant importing materials and supplies for export production is different from the one exporting products, before liquidation:

a/ The customs declarant importing materials and supplies shall send information on these declarations to the e-customs data processing system;

b/ The Customs Branch having carried out the procedures for import of materials and supplies shall update these declarations into the system.

Article 36. Liquidation of import declarations

1. The procedures for liquidating import declarations are carried out at the Customs Branch carrying out the procedures for import of materials and supplies.

2. Principles of liquidation

a/ Liquidation must be made for all materials and supplies imported for export production;

b/ Customs declarants may select import declarations and export declarations for liquidation but must ensure conformity with the method of inventory accounting of the enterprises and that imported materials and supplies be available before exported products.

In case materials and supplies of the import declarations which are selected for liquidation have not yet been put into export production so that liquidation cannot be made yet, customs declarants shall declare information on materials and supplies not yet liquidated according to the prescribed items and standard format in the table of materials not yet liquidated.

c/ Import declarations or export declarations to be liquidated must be those for which customs clearance decisions have been issued by the customs office and goods of such declarations have been actually imported or exported.

d/ An import declaration may be liquidated many times. An export declaration may be liquidated only once.

In case exported products are made of materials of an import declaration under the purchase and sale contract registered at another Customs Branch, an export declaration may be partially liquidated.

3. An e-liquidation dossier

a/ General information for requesting liquidation;

b/ A list of import declarations for liquidation (including also import declarations under the relevant goods purchase and sale contract);

c/ A list of export declarations for liquidation (including also export declarations for export processing or re-export activities and export declarations registered at other places for carrying out procedures);

d/ Information explaining in detail the quantities of materials and supplies imported under the import declarations for liquidation which are used for the following purposes (if any):

d1/ A list of imported materials and supplies not yet liquidated (in case the enterprise uses in production only part but not all of materials and supplies of the import declaration, then use materials and supplies of the subsequent import declarations for liquidation);

d2/ A list of materials and supplies exported through products under processing contracts;

d3/ A list of materials and supplies for re-export;

d4/ A list of materials and supplies not for export for which the customs declarant wants to pay tax into the state budget (including materials and supplies requested for change of form, destruction, donation, etc.).

4. Receipt and inspection of liquidation dossiers

a/ Responsibilities of the customs declarant:

a1/ To declare full contents according to the items and standard format in the e-liquidation dossier and send information to the customs office through the e-customs data processing system;

a2/ To receive feedback of acceptance or refusal of registration and modify and supplement information as instructed by the customs office.

b/ Responsibilities of the customs office:

b1/ To receive e-liquidation dossiers;

b2/ To inspect and compare the liquidation data and give feedback of liquidation results to the customs declarant within 7 working days from the date of receipt of the liquidation request on the system.

In case the liquidation results are not accepted, the customs officer shall give feedback of refusal, clearly stating the reason, or propose post-customs clearance inspection when necessary.

In case the liquidation results are accepted, the customs declarant and Customs Branch shall carry out the tax refund procedures and the latter shall not collect tax under the guidance in Clause 5 of this Article.

5. Dossiers and procedures for consideration of tax refund and non-collection comply with Articles 10, 18, 118, 127, 128, 129, 130 and 131, and Clause 2, Article 132 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC of December 6, 2010.

Particularly, the following forms comply with this Circular:

a/ A list of export declarations to be liquidated: the customs declarant is not required to submit and use the list of export declarations for liquidation (specified at Point c, Clause 3 of this Article) on the e-customs data processing system;

b/ A summarization report on import - export - inventory of materials and supplies: to be made according to Form No. 13 in Appendix III to this Circular;

c/ A summarization report on tax calculation on imported materials and supplies: to be made according to Form No. 14 in Appendix III to this Circular.

6. The Customs Branch carrying out the liquidation procedures shall receive dossiers of liquidation, tax refund and non-collection and handle these dossiers and violations (if any) in accordance with law.

7. In case an enterprise wants to domestically consume materials it has imported for export production but not fully use them in production and export them, it may send a written request to the Customs Branch carrying out the procedures for domestic consumption and liquidation on the basis of the declarations of import of materials; it is not required to register a new declaration but only declare and pay import duty, excise tax (if any), value added tax (if any), environmental protection tax (if any) according to regulations. The time limits for payment of tax and late tax payment fines comply with current regulations.

8. When conducting liquidation, the customs office shall stamp the “liquidated” mark on the original export declaration kept by the customs declarant; for materials and supplies imported at the tax rate of 0%, it shall stamp the “liquidated” mark on the original import declarations kept by the customs declarant.

In case of partial liquidation, an appendix must be made to specify the liquidated contents (import declaration, materials, taxes, etc.) as a basis for further liquidation.

Article 37. Procedures for cases of selling products to other enterprises for direct export

1. Customs declarants importing materials and supplies for export production shall carry out the procedures for import and notification of norms and liquidation as prescribed in this Circular.

2. Customs declarants directly exporting products shall carry out the procedures for export of products as prescribed in this Circular. Export declarations must be registered by form of export production; on the export declaration must be clearly written “products are made from materials imported for export production”, and the name of the enterprise selling products in the section “Other Notes” in the e-customs declaration.

Chapter VI

CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR EXPORTS AND IMPORTS OF EXPORT PROCESSING ENTERPRISES

Article 38. General principles

1. Customs procedures for exports and imports of export processing enterprises prescribed in this Circular are applied to export processing enterprises (EPEs) in export processing zones and export processing enterprises outside export processing zones.

2. Goods exported or imported by EPEs are managed by use purpose and source of import

a/ Management by use purpose:

a1/ For exports and imports of EPEs which are managed by the use purposes of production (including also the cases in which EPEs undertake processing for foreign countries or conduct on-the-spot import and export), investment to create fixed assets and consumption, EPEs shall carry out customs procedures as specified in this Chapter and report on goods under the regime of warehousing - delivery - actual inventory.

For imports registered under a certain use purpose, their delivery must also be balanced according to such purpose.

The management of goods by the use purposes of production, investment and consumption must be determined and declared by EPEs themselves when registering the lists of imports or exports. EPEs shall consistently declare a use purpose from the registration of the list of imports or exports, registration of import declarations or export declarations, declaration of warehousing and declaration of delivery to liquidation.

a2/ For exports and imports of EPEs (including also means of containing goods in the rotation manner; building materials taken from the domestic market into non-tariff areas for the building, repair and maintenance of technical and social infrastructure facilities in non-tariff areas) managed by use purposes other than those specified at Point a1, Clause 2 of this Article, they must not be managed according to the regime of warehousing - delivery - actual inventory specified in this Chapter; when exporting and importing, EPEs shall carry out customs procedures and these goods must be managed by their corresponding form specified in other chapters of this Circular, Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC of December 6, 2010; Circular No. 11/2012/TT-BTC of February 4, 2012, and other relevant documents of the Ministry of Finance.

If goods of EPEs are processed by domestic enterprises, EPEs are not required to carry out customs procedures, but domestic enterprises shall carry out customs procedures for processed goods.

b/ Management by source of import:

Exports and imports are classified and determined as follows:

b1/ Goods exported to or imported from foreign countries, including those purchase from, sold to and processed for foreign countries; those purchased, sold and processed among EPEs; and those for delivery and warehousing with bonded warehouses;

b2/ Goods exported to and imported from domestic enterprises, including those purchased from, sold to, and processed for domestic enterprises.

3. For goods transferred between EPEs and their inland branches, customs procedures are not required to be carried out. Before the transfer, EPEs shall inform their managing customs office of the following contents: name of transferred goods, unit of calculation, quantity, location of departure, location of arrival, source of import of goods (if the goods are imported materials, machinery and equipment, with details as declared in the import declaration), expected time for transfer; and the ex-warehousing-cum-internal transport bill together with the internal transfer order as specified at Point 2.6 of Appendix 4 to Circular No. 153/2010/TT-BTC.

Particularly, goods transferred between EPEs and their inland branches for domestic consumption (except for transfer of imports using the rights of import and distribution of EPEs which have enjoyed customs clearance): EPEs and their inland branches shall carry out customs procedures as guided at Point a, Clause 4, Article 42 of this Circular and implement the tax policy as prescribed.

4. Goods imported by EPEs and managed by the use purpose of consumption are managed as follows:

a/ Consumer goods serving the administration of the office apparatus and activities of officers and workers at the enterprises include stationery, food and foodstuffs (including labor protection equipment: clothing, caps, shoes, boots and gloves) imported from domestic sources. EPEs may select to carry out or not to carry out customs procedures for these goods. If importing these goods from abroad, EPEs shall carry out customs procedures according to regulations;

b/ For consumer goods serving workshops (for example: fabric or paper for cleaning machinery and equipment; gasoline to fuel generators) or consumer goods serving production activities which cannot be calculated according to the output rate (for example: oil to clean molds; labor protection gloves; brush pens to mark defective products; plastic films to wrap goods packages against dust in the workshops), the customs procedures must be carried out according to regulations.

b1/ The identification of goods as consumer goods serving workshops but not satisfying the conditions for creating fixed assets is based on Vietnamese accounting standards;

b2/ The identification of goods as consumer goods serving production activities which cannot be calculated according to the output rate must be conducted and declared by the enterprises themselves when registering the list of imports.

c/ The regime of declaration of delivery and warehousing of consumer goods for which customs procedures have been carried out upon import into EPEs is declaration once a month.

Every month, from the 1st day to the 10th day of the following month, EPEs shall declare information on consumer goods warehoused and delivered in the previous month to the e-customs data processing system.

c1/ The enterprises shall declare and take responsibility before law for the contents declared to the customs offices. The customs offices shall only inspect accounting documents and books or physically inspect inventories in the enterprises when having doubts or according to the plan of post-customs clearance inspection;

c2/ When declaring the delivery of consumer goods, the enterprises shall declare information on the delivery for consumption according to the purpose of serving consumption or for consumption but changing this use purpose to inventory in another state (fixed asset, production).

5. Contents of information declared by the enterprises to the customs offices must be consistent with the data based on actual monitoring and the accounting books at the enterprises, including:

a/ The list of imports or the list of exports registered with the customs office must be consistent with the goods management data at the warehouse of the enterprise regarding code of goods, category and unit of calculation;

b/ The material- and raw-material consumption norms notified to the customs office must be consistent with the norms in actual production at the enterprise;

c/ Imports or exports declared in the import declarations or export declarations must be consistent with goods written in the warehousing or delivery bills at the enterprises regarding code of goods, category, unit of calculation and quantity;

d/ Actual inventory declared by an EPE when liquidating with the customs office must be consistent with the inventory recorded in the accounting books of the enterprise and the “summarization table of goods warehoused, delivered and in inventory” monitored by the customs office in the same reporting period.

6. Handling of discrepancies between the contents in the declarations and documents and the actual warehousing and delivery of goods

a/ Before the warehousing or delivery and during the time the enterprise is permitted to modify and supplement its e-customs dossier as prescribed, if there is a discrepancy in the name, category, quantity or unit of calculation of goods between those actually warehoused or delivered and the contents in the declarations and documents, the enterprise shall declare modifications and additions in the same way as those made to the customs dossier;

b/ After the warehousing or delivery and beyond the time the enterprise is permitted to modify and supplement its e-customs dossier as prescribed, if the enterprise detects any discrepancy and they declare and give reasonable explanations, the customs office may consider and accept these explanations on a case-by-case basis:

b1/ For discrepancies in quantity, the EPE shall give explanations according to the items and standard format in the form of Notification of explanation for actual differences upon receipt of goods with those declared to the customs office;

b2/ For discrepancies in other items, the enterprise shall declare modifications and additions in the same way as those made to the customs dossier.

7. The customs inspection and supervision of imports or exports of EPEs will be based on the data for monitoring warehousing - delivery - inventory on the e-data processing system of the customs office and these enterprises’ reports on warehousing - delivery - actual inventory and the import declarations and export declarations for which customs procedures have been completed, warehousing bills, delivery bills, norms, documents and related accounting books.

Direct supervision at the entrances of export processing zones and EPEs may be conducted when necessary under decisions of directors of provincial or municipal Customs Departments.

8. EPEs which are licensed by a competent state agency to exercise the rights to import and export or the right to distribute goods may carry out customs procedures under regulations applicable to purchase and sale contracts.

For goods imported in this form, EPEs shall implement the regime of reporting exports and imports during the period of reporting on warehousing - delivery - inventory to their managing customs offices under Point b, Clause 10, Article 44 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC of December 6, 2010.

9. Taxes applicable to exports and imports of EPEs comply with the current tax laws.

10. Before carrying out e-customs procedures and reporting according to the regime of warehousing - delivery - actual inventory as specified in this Chapter, EPEs shall liquidate assets and imports, determine inventory according to their accounting books and send reports on inventory liquidation to the customs office.

- The report on inventory liquidation according to records must be made according to Form No. 10/HSTK-CX (Report on warehousing - delivery - inventory of imported materials) provided in Appendix VI to Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC.

- The report on actual inventory according to the accounting books of the EPE must be made according to Form No. 18 provided in Appendix III to this Circular.

a/ The customs offices shall inspect and determine the quantity of inventory as follows:

a1/ If the quantity of inventory according to the records of the customs office and the quantity of actual inventory according to the accounting book of the EPE is the same: Use the quantity of inventory according to the records of the customs office as a basis for transferring inventory at the beginning of the period;

a2/ If the quantity of inventory according to the records of the customs office and the quantity of actual inventory according to the accounting books of the EPE is different: on the basis of the explanations of the EPE, the customs officer shall propose the settlement of tax and sanctions against administrative violations (if any) in accordance with current policy to the head of the Customs Branch for approval and notify the EPE of results of settlement. After the settlement is completed, use the quantity of actual inventory according to the accounting books of the EPE as a basis for transferring inventory at the beginning of the period.

b/ After receiving results of settlement by the customs office related to the quantity of inventory at the end of the period, the EPE shall transfer by itself such inventory according to the standardized list of new goods in accordance with its inventory management and declare information on the inventory under the list of new goods to the e-customs data processing system in the form of reported information on the inventory of EPEs.

Standardized information content on inventory declared by the enterprise to the customs office must be consistent with the data based on actual monitoring and accounting books at the enterprise as guided in Clause 5 of this Article.

c/ The customs office shall receive information updated on the e-customs data processing system to monitor inventory at the beginning of the period by use purpose and source of import.

11. The settlement of assets and goods originated from import when an enterprise is transformed from an EPE into an enterprise not entitled to the regime of export processing and vice versa complies with Point d, Clause 4, Article 45 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC of December 6, 2010.

Article 39. Places for carrying out customs procedures

1. For exports and imports: Customs procedures must be carried out at the Customs Branch managing EPEs.

2. For goods processed between EPEs and domestic enterprises: Domestic enterprises shall carry out customs procedures at the Customs Branch managing EPEs or the Customs Branch of the locality in which the head office of the domestic enterprise is located.

3. For goods processed between two EPEs: The enterprise undertaking the processing shall carry out customs procedures at its managing Customs Branch.

Article 40. Registration, modification and addition of the list of imports and exports

1. The registration of the list of goods is classified as follows:

a/ For imports and exports managed by the use purpose of production, investment or consumption, EPEs shall register the lists of imports and exports under Clause 2 of this Article;

b/ For imports and exports managed by other use purposes, EPEs shall register the list according to each corresponding form (if any).

2. Time of registration, modification and addition

a/ Time of registration of the lists:

a1/ For imports: To register the list before carrying out the procedures for import of the first lot of goods;

a2/ For exports:

a2.1/ If the exports are products produced by EPEs from imported materials, to register the list before carrying out the norm notification procedures;

a2.2/ If the exports are goods originally imported, it is not required to register the list of exports. EPEs shall use the list of originally imported goods which has been registered with the customs office for declaration upon export.

b/ Time of modification and addition of the lists:

b1/ Modification and addition of the list of imports:

b1.1/ In case the imports are materials and supplies for exported products, the customs declarant may modify all information in the list of imports before carrying out the import procedures for the first lot of goods or before notifying the norms, depending on which time comes first;

b1.2/ In case the imports are not materials and supplies for exported products, the customs declarant may modify all information in the list of imports before carrying out the import procedures for the first lot of goods.

b2/ Modification and addition of the list of exports:

b2.1/ If the exports are products produced from imported materials, the customs declarant may modify before carrying out the norm notification procedures;

b2.2/ If the exports are not products produced from imported materials, the customs declarant may modify the list of exports before carrying out the export procedures.

c/ In case of detecting errors in the declared lists beyond the time specified at Point b, Clause 2 of this Article, customs declarants may modify the declared contents if they have plausible reasons accepted by the head of the Customs Branch but are not allowed to modify the code and unit of calculation of goods.

3. Procedures for registration, modification and addition

a/ The customs declarant creates declaration information on the list according to the items and standard format of the name of goods, HS code, code of goods, unit of calculation, and use purpose, notifies it according to the current system of lists of exports and imports and shall declare it consistently from the time of import into the EPE until the EPE terminates the import and export. The customs declarant creates declaration information on the lists according to the forms of List of imports into the EPE and List of exports out of the EPE.

The registration and receipt of feedback of EPEs must be carried out as specified in Article 33 of this Circular.

b/ The examination of the receipt of contents in the lists by the customs offices must comply with Article 33 of this Circular.

Article 41. Notification, adjustment of norms and loss percentages of materials and supplies for exported products

1. For exports being products or defective products (if any) made from imported materials for the use purpose of production, its norms must be notified before export. In case of re-exporting materials, notification of their norms is not required.

2. EPEs shall declare information on norms according to the items and standard format in the form of Information on actual norms of products exported from EPEs or the form of Information on actual norms for materials directly involved in export production extracted from the original materials (component materials).

3. The order of the steps is applied as for the procedures of notification and adjustment of norms of processed goods prescribed in this Circular. The definitions of norms of consumed raw material and supplies, loss percentage; policy and management regime comply with the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 117/2011/TT-BTC of August 15, 2011.

Article 42. Customs procedures for imports and exports of EPEs

1. For goods imported by EPEs from abroad, bonded warehouses or other EPEs

a/ For imports managed by the use purpose of production (including the cases in which EPEs undertake processing for foreign countries; on-the-spot import), investment, consumption, EPEs shall carry out the import procedures like customs procedures applicable to purchase and sale contracts (excluding tax declaration) prescribed in this Circular.

For imports managed by the use purpose of investment, their e-customs dossiers must comprise an official letter (hard copy or scan) requesting permission for importing goods to create fixed assets of EPEs and a list of goods (name of goods, quantity, unit of calculation, HS code, specification, category and value of the imports of the goods lot, registered total investment to create fixed assets and total remaining investment to create fixed assets before importing this goods lot).

b/ In case of goods purchased and sold between EPEs and managed by the use purpose of production, investment or consumption, EPEs shall carry out the import and export procedures like customs procedures applicable to purchase and sale contracts (excluding tax declaration) prescribed in this Circular. EPEs shall take the steps and comply with the time limit for carrying out customs procedures as for on-the-spot exports or imports prescribed in this Circular (excluding the provisions on conditions of on-the-spot import and export);

c/ In case the goods are imported for the purpose of purchase and sale (the right to import), EPEs shall carry out customs procedures as for the import of goods from abroad under purchase and sale contracts (declaration for calculating import duty, VAT, excise tax (if any) and environmental protection tax (if any)).

2. For goods imported by EPEs from inland in the form of purchase and sale

a/ For goods imported from inland and managed by the use purpose of production, investment or consumption, EPEs shall carry out the import procedures under Point a, Clause 1 of this Article (including also petrol and oil purchased by the EPEs from traders licensed to import and export petrol and oil or purchased from inland);

b/ For goods imported from inland and managed by other use purposes (other than goods imported under Point c, Clause 2 of this Article), EPEs shall carry out the import procedures applicable to their respective forms;

c/ For goods imported from inland and managed by the use purpose of purchase and sale (exercising the right to export), EPEs shall carry out the import customs procedures applicable to purchase and sale contracts (excluding tax declaration) prescribed in this Circular.

EPEs and domestic enterprises shall take the steps and comply with the time limits for carrying out customs procedures as for goods exported or imported on the spot prescribed in this Circular (excluding the provisions on conditions of on-the-spot import and export).

3. For goods exported abroad, put into bonded warehouses or delivered by EPEs to other EPEs

a/ For exports (including on-the spot exports) originated from import and managed by the use purpose of production, investment or consumption, the EPEs shall carry out the export procedures like customs procedures applicable to purchase and sale contracts (excluding tax declaration) prescribed in this Circular.

For goods purchased and sold between EPEs and managed by the use purpose of production, investment or consumption, the provisions of this Point must be complied with. The purchasing EPE shall carry out the import procedures and the selling EPE shall carry out the export procedures like customs procedures applicable to purchase and sale contracts (excluding tax declaration) prescribed in this Circular. EPEs shall take the steps and comply with the time limits for carrying out customs procedures as for on-the- spot imports and exports prescribed in this Circular (excluding the provisions on conditions of on-the-spot import and export).

b/ For goods exported for the purpose of buying and selling (the right to export), EPEs shall carry out customs procedures as for exporting goods abroad under purchase and sale contracts (declaration of export tax (if any)).

4. For EPEs’ goods sold into the domestic market, goods delivered for use for repairing re-imported products, goods purchased from domestic enterprises which fail to meet requirements and are returned to the inland for repair for re-import, and other exports (except those exported abroad):

a/ For products, scraps and defective products (including scraps and defective products not yet included in the norms) allowed to be sold into the domestic market, originated from import and managed by the use purpose of production: EPEs shall carry out the export procedures according to Point a, Clause 3 of this Article. Domestic enterprises shall carry out customs procedures applicable to their respective forms.

EPEs and domestic enterprises shall take the steps and comply with the time limit for carrying out customs procedures as for on-the-spot imports and exports prescribed in this Circular (except for the provisions on conditions of on-the-spot import and export).

b/ For scraps and defective products (within the loss percentage) originated from import,  managed by the use purpose of production and allowed to be sold into the domestic market: EPEs are not required to carry out export procedures. Domestic enterprises shall carry out customs procedures applicable to their respective forms.

The time limit for the domestic enterprises to carry out customs procedures is 10 days from the date of issue of the sale invoice by the EPE.

c/ For goods liquidated from the source of import managed by the use purpose of investment or consumption, EPEs shall declare information on goods liquidation according to the items and format prescribed in the form of Information on fixed asset liquidation documents. Domestic enterprises shall carry out the import procedures applicable to their respective forms.

The time limit for declaration of information on changing the use purpose is prescribed in Clauses 8 and 9, Article 10 of Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC.

EPEs and domestic enterprises shall take the steps to carry out customs procedures as for on-the-spot imports and exports prescribed in this Circular (except for the provisions on conditions of on-the-spot import and export).

d/ For exports used for repairing re-imported products and other exports originated from import managed by the use purpose of production, investment or consumption, EPEs shall declare information in the form of Notification of delivery.

From the first day to the 10th day of each month, EPEs shall declare information on delivered goods of the previous month in the e-customs data processing system.

e/ For goods imported from abroad to exercise the right to import and distribute, then sold into the domestic market, or sold to other EPEs:

e1/ In case of selling the goods to domestic enterprises, the EPEs shall carry out customs procedures as for export of goods abroad under purchase and sale contracts (without declaration for export duty calculation). Domestic enterprises shall carry out customs procedures applicable to their respective forms;

e2/ In case of resale of imports for which taxes have been paid to other EPEs, the selling EPE shall carry out customs procedures as for export of goods abroad under purchase and sale contracts (without declaration for export duty calculation). The purchasing EPE shall carry out customs procedures as for import of goods from abroad under purchase and sale contracts (making tax declaration and payment as prescribed).

EPEs and domestic enterprises or other EPEs shall take the steps and comply with the time limit for carrying out customs procedures as for on-the-spot imports and exports prescribed in this Circular (except for the provisions on conditions of on-the-spot import and export).

f/ In case goods are purchased from domestic enterprises but they do not meet the requirements and are returned to domestic enterprises for repair and re-import, EPEs are not required to open declarations (except for goods returned to domestic enterprises but then not re-imported by EPEs. In this case EPEs shall declare information according to form of Notification of delivery as guided at Point d, Clause 4 of this Article), while domestic enterprises shall open declarations of re-import according to the respective forms.

The time limit for domestic enterprises to carry out customs procedures for re-import is 10 days from the date of delivery of goods by the EPE.

5. Processed goods (except processing for foreign countries)

a/ For goods processed by domestic enterprises for EPEs: domestic enterprises shall carry out customs procedures according to regulations on the processing of goods for foreign traders. EPEs are not required to carry out customs procedures;

b/ For goods processed by EPEs for domestic enterprises: domestic enterprises shall carry out customs procedures according to regulations on ordering the processing of goods abroad in the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 117/2011/TT-BTC of August 15, 2011. EPEs are not required to carry out customs procedures.

Particularly, if EPEs supply materials, they shall declare information on supply of materials according to the format in the form of Notification of delivery. From the first day to the 10th day of each month, the EPEs shall declare information on goods delivered for supply of the previous month in the e-customs data processing system.

c/ Goods processed by EPEs for EPEs, the processing EPEs shall carry out customs procedures as prescribed for goods processed for foreign traders.

6. For goods delivered by EPEs into the domestic market for repair

a/ Before transporting goods outside for repair, EPEs shall declare information on delivery for repair to the customs system according to the format in the form of Notification of delivery, specifying the reason and time for repair. EPEs are not required to register customs declarations;

b/ When receiving goods back, EPEs shall declare information on re-warehousing of repaired goods to the customs system according to the format in the form of Notification of warehousing;

c/ Beyond the registered time for repair if EPEs do not receive goods back and produce written reasonable explanations, the head of their managing Customs Branch shall consider granting extension once according to the repair time agreed between the enterprises. In case the enterprises cannot produce a plausible reason, their goods will be handled according to the guidelines for goods having its use purpose changed.

7. Declaration procedures for delivered goods originated from import and managed by the use purpose of consumption

a/ For goods delivered by the consumption purpose:

a1/ The EPE declares information on the delivery bill according to the items and format in the form of Notification of delivery and sends to the customs office via the e-customs data processing system;

a2/ The customs office receives information declared by the enterprise as a basis for monitoring warehousing - delivery - inventory for these goods.

b/ For goods delivered by the consumption purpose but changed to another purpose (production, investment):

For example: the EPE imports steel to make shelves for containing products (consumption), but then use the imported steel to produce molds (fixed asset investment) or use the steel to produce products (production).

When delivering goods, the EPE shall declare information on delivery of originally imported goods to the customs office under Point a, Clause 7 of this Article; and declare information on warehousing for goods newly formed from the change of the use purpose of originally imported goods in the form of Notification of delivery for the customs office to continue to monitor the import with regard to these new goods.

From the first day to the 10thday of each month, the EPE shall declare information on warehoused and delivered goods of the previous month in the e-customs data processing system.

8. Destruction procedures for goods in EPEs

a/ Responsibilities of the EPE:

a1/ Before the destruction of goods, the EPE shall declare information on the destruction of materials, supplies, products, scraps and defective products (excluding scraps already calculated in the norms and percentage of loss), machinery, equipment, means of transport and consumer goods to the customs office, together with the written permission for destruction in Vietnam of the provincial-level Department of Natural Resources and Environment according to the items and format in the form of Information on destruction of materials, products, scraps, defective products, machinery, equipment, means of transport and other goods;

a2/ In case goods to be destroyed are products and defective products, before the destruction, the EPE shall declare the notification of the norms of products and defective products according to the procedures of notification and adjustment of the norms of processed goods prescribed in this Circular;

a3/ After the destruction products and defective products are handled as follows:

a3.1/ If they still have commercial value and are sold into the domestic market: domestic enterprises shall carry out customs procedures as for sale and purchase contracts prescribed in this Circular. The EPE is not required to carry out customs procedures.

The time limit for domestic enterprises to carry out customs procedures is 10 days from the date of issue of the sale invoice by the EPE.

a3.2/ If they are no longer of any commercial value and sent out for disposal: The EPE shall follow the instructions in Clause 9 of this Article.

b/ Responsibilities of the Customs Branch managing the EPE:

b1/ To receive, inspect, give feedback to the EPE on the request for supervision of the destruction of materials, supplies, products, scraps, defective products, machinery, equipment, means of transport and other goods;

b2/ To supervise the destruction as prescribed.

c/ After the completion of the destruction of goods, the parties shall make a record of supervision of the destruction. The record must be signed by the director of the EPE (or authorized person), with the stamp of the EPE, and signed by the customs officer who is the supervisor and the parties related to the supervision of the destruction.

9. Customs supervision procedures for scraps within the percentage of loss, waste recovered in the manufacturing process of the EPE sent for destruction in a location outside the EPE (below collectively referred to as waste)

a/ The transportation and destruction of waste must comply with the provisions of the Environmental Protection Law and relevant guiding documents;

b/ The customs office does not affix a customs seal for vehicles transporting waste to a place outside the export processing zone and EPE for disposal;

c/ Before delivering waste to the carrier, the EPE (waste generator) shall notify its managing Customs Branch of the delivery time for sending a customs officer to perform inspection and supervision tasks;

d/ The inspection and supervision by the customs office of waste sent for destruction is carried out as follows:

d1/ Upon receipt of a written notice of the enterprise, the head of the Customs Branch shall send its customs officer to the enterprise for performing inspection and supervision tasks;

d2/ The customs officer assigned to perform inspection and supervision tasks shall:

d2.1/ Check the license and contract of transportation and treatment of waste;

d2.1.1/ For hazardous waste:

- Check the hazardous waste treatment practice license and hazardous waste transportation practice license of the treatment enterprise: These licenses must be still valid, and the EPE’s waste sent for treatment must be consistent with the waste permitted for transportation and treatment as stated in these licenses;

- Check the compatibility between the waste transportation and treatment contracts with relevant records, documents, means of transport and licenses.

d2.1.2/ For ordinary waste:

- Check the business license of the waste treatment unit regarding the relevant waste treatment business;

- Check the compatibility between the waste transportation and treatment contracts with relevant records, documents and licenses.

d2.2/ Inspect the EPE’s waste before it are handed over to the carrier (waste to be handed over must be the one not mixed with scraps which have not yet been included in the loss percentage of the product norm, usable defective products and other goods);

d2.3/ Supervise the loading of waste onto means of transport of waste; supervise the transport of waste out of the boundary of the export processing zone or EPE;

d2.4/ Make a record of inspection and supervision with the certification of the EPE, the waste carrier (the record must clearly specify the time of inspection and supervision; name of the supervising and inspecting customs officer; name of the EPE generating waste, the EPE’s representative performing the handover of waste; the enterprise contracted to transport and treat waste, registration number of means of transportation of waste; name of waste, and the contents already inspected and supervised); the record must be made in 3 copies, each party keeping 1 copy.

e/ Upon receipt of the hazardous waste documents from the hazardous waste management practitioner, the EPE (hazardous waste generator) shall make a copy of hazardous waste document No. 4 and send it to its managing Customs Branch. When inspecting in detail the liquidation records or conducting an irregular inspection, the Customs Branch managing the EPE shall inspect the book of registration of the hazardous waste generator and hazardous waste documents kept at the EPE.

Article 43. Goods liquidation procedures

The forms of liquidation, goods subject to liquidation, liquidation conditions and liquidation dossier of goods imported by EPEs comply the guidance Circular No. 04/2007/TT-BTM of April 4, 2007, of the Ministry of Trade (now the Ministry of Industry and Trade).

1. Liquidation procedures

a/ Liquidation in the form of export: The procedures must be carried out under Point a, Clause 3, Article 42 of this Circular;

b/ Liquidation in the form of sale in the Vietnamese market: The procedures must be carried out under Points a and c, Clause 4, Article 42 of this Circular;

c/ Liquidation in the form of giving goods as gifts or donation in Vietnam: The procedures must be carried out under Point d, Clause 4, Article 42 of this Circular;

d/ Liquidation in the form of destruction: The procedures must be carried out under Clause 8, Article 42 of this Circular.

2. When declaring on the export declaration or the form of Information on liquidation documents of fixed assets or of Notification of delivery to the customs offices, the EPE shall clearly declare the source of import of goods to be liquidated or exports consistent with the list of exports or imports already registered with the customs office.

Article 44. Regime of reporting and inspection for goods imported and exported by EPEs and inspection of inventory records

1. General provisions

Quarterly or annual reports on inventory must be made for each use purpose declared upon import into EPEs.

2. Conditions of application of the reporting regime and reporting time limit

a/ The EPE meeting the following conditions may apply the reporting regime of warehousing - delivery - actual inventory by calendar year. The conditions include:

a1/ The EPE strictly abides by the laws on customs and tax in 36 consecutive months by the time of consideration by the customs office.

The customs office shall consider this condition based on the process of enterprise management.

a2/ The enterprise has an information technology system to manage all data of production, trading, transportation and delivery and receipt of goods meeting the requirements of management and monitoring of goods warehoused, delivered and in actual inventory.

The enterprise shall submit manuals for using the program.

a3/ The EPE has regulations on close coordination between the warehouse management unit with the unit carrying out import and export procedures for timely additional declaration to the customs office in case there is any inconsistency between the declared information and the actual warehousing and delivery of goods and the actual norms.

The EPEs shall submit these regulations.

a4/ The EPE complies with the requirements of regular inspection and compliance appraisal according to the plan notified in advance or of extraordinary inspection by the customs office.

The customs office shall consider this condition based on the process of enterprise management.

b/ An EPE that has not yet met the conditions specified at Point a, Clause 2 of this Article shall make reports on warehousing - delivery - actual inventory every quarter and at the end of every year.

The reporting deadline is the 15th day of the first month of the following quarter for quarterly reports or the last day of the first quarter of the subsequent year for annual reports.

3. Competence to consider and decide on application of the reporting regime

a/ On the basis of the written request of an EPE and the documents mentioned at Point a, Clause 2 of this Article submitted at the Customs Branch managing the EPE, within 5 days, the head of the Customs Branch shall consider, decide and inform in writing his/her decision to the EPE. The time for application of the annual reporting regime is applied right in the year the EPE requests and satisfies the prescribed conditions.

b/ During the operation, if the EPE fails to meet any of the conditions under Point a, Clause 2 of this Article, the head of its managing Customs Branch shall decide to suspend the application of the annual reporting period and change it to the quarterly reporting period. The EPE shall report from the end of the previous reporting period to the quarter of the month of suspension.

For example: The time to decide on suspension of the application of the annual reporting period is April. The EPE shall make quarterly reports from the second quarter. The data of the second-quarter report are those calculated from the inventory at the end of the previous year to the end of the second quarter (June) of the current year.

4. Reporting by EPEs

a/ Quarterly, no later than the 15th day of the first month of the following quarter for quarterly, or annually, no later than the last day of the first quarter of the following year for annual reports or irregularly when the customs office requests, EPEs shall create information reporting imports, exports, liquidation and inventory according to records and actual inventory according to their accounting books in the reporting period according to the items and standard format in the form of Information on reporting on inventory of the EPE managed by use purpose (production, investment or consumption), including also materials left in stock in the form of unfinished products on the production line; inventory not yet exported; goods on the way of transportation; consignments and other goods owned by EPEs, and send such information to their managing Customs Branch through the e-customs data processing system;

b/ In case the data of actual inventory have a discrepancy from those in the books, within 15 days after receiving a notice of the customs office, the EPE shall create detailed explanatory information in the form of Notification of explanation about such discrepancy, enclosed with documents, books and reports as proof sent to the customs office via the e-customs data processing system.

5. Responsibilities of the Customs Branch managing the EPE

a/ Quarterly, no later than the 15th day of the first month of the following quarter for quarterly reports, or annually, no later than the last day of the first quarter of the following year for annual reports, or upon having irregular doubt, the Customs Branch managing the EPE shall monitor the data of imports and exports and liquidate the data, determine the amount of inventory monitored on the e-customs data processing system.

Based on the data of inventory in the Information on inventory reporting declared by the EPEs, the e-customs data processing system will automatically compare them with data of inventory in the Summarization Table of goods warehoused - delivered – in inventory monitored in the Customs Branch managing the EPE, in order to determine the difference between the inventory according to records and the actual inventory according to the accounting books of the EPE with the inventory according to the records of the customs office.

b/ Within 30 days after the EPE sends the information on inventory reporting for the quarterly dossier of liquidation or within 60 days after the EPE sends the information on inventory reporting for the annual dossier of liquidation, the Customs Branch managing the EPE shall inform the latter through the e-customs data processing system of one of the following cases:

b1/ If there is no difference between inventory according to records and the actual inventory according to the accounting books of the EPE and inventory according to the records of the customs office, the Customs Branch shall accept the liquidation and give feedback to the EPE;

b2/ If there is difference between the inventory according to records and the actual inventory according to the accounting books of the EPE and inventory according to the records of the customs office, the Customs Branch shall decide to send the Summarization Table of the difference between the actual inventory and inventory according to records to the EPE to ask for explanation.

Within 15 days from the date of receipt of the EPE’s explanation about the data difference, the customs office shall handle as follows:

b2.1/ If the EPE’s explanation is reasonable, the Customs Branch shall accept the liquidation and give feedback to the EPE;

b2.2/ If the EPE’s explanation is not reasonable, through the e-customs data processing system, the customs office shall ask the EPE to submit a copy and present the original(s) of one, some or all of the following documents, books and reports:

b2.2.1/ Warehousing and delivery bills related to imports and exports;

b2.2.2/ Detailed accounting books of the accounts related to imports and exports;

b2.2.3/ Annual accounting statement;

b2.2.4/ Other documents related to imports and exports (if available).

Within 15 days after receiving the documents submitted by the EPE, the customs office shall handle as follows:

b2.3/ When there are sufficient grounds for determining the errors through results of checking actual inventory data according to the accounting books of the EPE, the Customs Branch shall take the measures: handling customs-related administrative violations, assessing the tax under regulations and giving feedback to the EPE;

b2.4/ If through results of checking actual inventory data according to the accounting books of the EPE, there are insufficient grounds for determining the errors of the EPE, the head of the Customs Branch shall decide on the physical inspection of inventory or transfer the dossier for post-customs clearance inspection under regulations.

Chapter VII

CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR SOME OTHER CASES

Article 45. Customs procedures for goods imported to create fixed assets; materials, supplies, components and semi-finished products for production of investment projects or investment incentive projects

1. Registration of the list of imports exempted from tax with the customs office for the import of goods to create fixed assets; materials, supplies, components and semi-finished products for production of investment projects or investment incentive projects eligible for exemption from import duty: the registration procedures comply with the guidance in Article 102 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC of December 6, 2010, guiding customs procedures; customs inspection and supervision; import and export duties and tax administration for exports and imports.

2. Import procedures

a/ The enterprise carries out customs procedures for import of goods at the Customs Branch of the locality in which the goods are imported or at the Customs Branch of the locality in which the investment project is formulated;

b/ The customs procedures are carried out as guided for imports and exports under goods purchase and sale contracts in Chapter III of this Circular along with additionally registering the list of imports exempted from tax with the customs office under the guidance in Clause 1 of this Article. Records, procedures for tax exemption and the regime of reporting, inspection and settlement of the import and use of goods exempted from tax comply with the guidance in Articles 103 and 104 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC of December 6, 2010, guiding customs procedures; customs inspection and supervision; import and export duties and tax administration for imports and exports.

3. Liquidation of imports

a/ The forms of liquidation, goods subject to liquidation or liquidation conditions, records of liquidation of imports exempted from tax comply with the guidance in the Ministry of Trade’s Circular No. 04/2007/TT-BTM of April 4, 2007, guiding the import, export, processing and liquidation of imports and consumption of products of foreign-invested enterprises.

For duty-free imports of domestic investment enterprises, their liquidation must comply with the guidance in the Ministry of Trade’s Circular No. 04/2007/TT-BTM of April 4, 2007.

b/ Places for carrying out liquidation procedures are customs offices with which the e-customs declarations are registered;

c/ Liquidation procedures:

c1/ The enterprise sends a written request specifying the reason for liquidation, form of liquidation; list of goods requested for liquidation (including name, code, quantity of goods to be liquidated under import declaration No…, date..., month… and year…) and the decision to establish a liquidation council, to the customs office with which the list of duty-free imports is registered;

c2/ In case of liquidation in the form of export, the enterprise opens an export declaration; in case of liquidation in the form of sale in the Vietnamese market, giving of goods as gifts or donation, the declaration and tax calculation comply with regulations and a new declaration is not required;

c3/ In the case of destruction, the enterprise itself organizes the destruction and takes responsibility before law for environmental impacts of the whole process of destruction. The customs office supervises the destruction process. After the destruction, the parties shall prepare a record to certify the destruction. The record must be signed by the director of the enterprise having goods destroyed (or authorized person), appended with the enterprise’s seal; and signed by the customs officer and other stakeholders supervising the destruction, together with their full names.

Article 46. Customs procedures for goods temporarily imported for re-export

1. General principles

a/ The policy, the regime of management, customs supervision, documents to be submitted/produced to the customs office for goods temporarily imported for re-export comply with current regulations;

b/ The e-customs procedures for goods temporarily imported for re-export comply with the provisions on exports and imports under commercial contracts in Chapter III of this Circular.

2. Some specific guidelines

a/ When carrying out the customs procedures for temporary import, traders shall declare the border gate of re-export on the item “Other records” of the e-customs declaration of import;

b/ When carrying out the customs procedures for re-export, traders shall clearly declare the temporary import declaration of the re-exported goods on the item “Documents attached” in the e-customs declaration for export;

c/ The Customs Branch carrying out the procedures for temporary import of goods is responsible for liquidating the declaration of temporary import. Records, time limit for submitting liquidation records and tax payment time limit (if any) comply with the guidance in Clause 2, Article 18; Article 119; and Clause 2, Article 132 of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC of December 6, 2010.

Article 47. Customs procedures for goods exported and imported on the spot

1. Bases for determining goods exported or imported on the spot

a/ Export contract, processing contract or lease or borrowing contract containing provisions clearly stating that the goods are delivered to a consignee in Vietnam;

b/ Import contract, processing contract, lease or borrowing contract containing provisions clearly stating that the goods are received from a deliverer in Vietnam;

c/ For processed products; machinery, leased or borrowed equipment; materials, auxiliary materials and redundant supplies; scraps and defective products under processing contracts, to comply with the provisions of Clause 3 of Article 33 of the Government’s Decree No. 12/2006/ND-CP of January 23, 2006, detailing the implementation of the Commercial Law regarding international goods purchase and sale activities and activities of agents of purchase and sale, processing and transit of goods with foreign countries;

d/ For goods of foreign-invested enterprises: to comply with the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

2. Places and time limits for carrying out customs procedures for on-the-spot import and export

a/ Places for carrying out customs procedures: the customs procedures for on-the-spot import and export must be carried out at the most convenient Customs Branch selected by the enterprise and according to regulations applicable to the respective forms.

All enterprises conducting on-the-spot import or export under this Article shall carry out the e-customs procedures.

b/ Time limit for carrying out customs procedures:

Within 15 days from the date the enterprise conducting on-the-spot export delivers goods, the enterprise conducting on-the-spot import shall carry out customs procedures.

Within 15 days from the date the enterprise conducting on-the-spot import completes customs procedures, the enterprise conducting on-the-spot export shall carry out customs procedures.

If beyond the above time limit, the enterprise conducting on-the-spot import or export has not completed customs procedures, the customs office shall make a record and sanction this act as a customs-related administrative violation, and continue to carry out the customs procedures.

3. Customs procedures

a/ Responsibilities of the exporter:

a1/ To deliver goods and other documents as prescribed for exports or imports (excluding bill of lading - B/L) to the importer;

a2/ To declare information on the on-the-spot export declaration after receiving a copy of the Notification of completion of on-the-spot import procedures, and carry out the export procedures at the Customs Branch carrying out the export procedures as prescribed.

Documents to be submitted/produced at the request of the customs office include:

a2.1/ Printed e-customs declaration of on-the-spot export: 2 originals;

a2.2/ Notification of completion of on-the-spot import procedures: 1 copy of the importer;

a2.3/ Goods purchase and sale contract designating delivery in Vietnam (for the exporter), goods purchase and sale contract or processing contract designating the receipt of goods in Vietnam (for the importer), lease or borrowing contract: 1 copy;

a2.4/ Export invoice made by the exporter (original to be handed to customer): 1 copy;

a2.5/ Other documents prescribed for imports and exports (excluding bill of lading - B/L).

b/ Responsibilities of the importer:

b1/ To declare information on the electronic on-the-spot import declaration and carry out customs procedures as prescribed;

Documents to be submitted/produced at the request of the customs office include:

b1.1/ Printed e-customs declaration of on-the-spot import: 2 originals;

b1.2/ Goods purchase and sale contract designating delivery in Vietnam (for the exporter), goods purchase and sale contract or processing contract designating the receipt of goods in Vietnam (for the importer), lease or borrowing contracts: 1 copy;

b1.3/ Other documents prescribed for imports and exports (excluding bill of lading - B/L).

b2/ After completing the import procedures, to transfer a copy of the Notification of completion of on-the-spot import procedures to the exporter.

c/ Responsibilities of the customs office carrying out the import procedures:

c1/ To receive, check, register, channel e-customs declarations according to regulations applicable to each form, and inspect the tax calculation (if any);

c2/ To notify the completion of on-the-spot import procedures (according to the form provided in Appendix III to this Circular) to the tax office directly managing the enterprise conducting on-the-spot import for monitoring, and send 1 copy to this enterprise;

c3/ To preserve documents submitted by the enterprise, and return the documents produced by the enterprises;

c4/ To notify the Customs Branch carrying out the export procedures of the declaration for which the procedures have been completed through the e-customs data processing system (if the system responds).

d/ Responsibilities of the customs office carrying out the export procedures:

d1/ To receive, check, register, channel e-customs declarations according to regulations applicable to each form, and inspect the tax calculation (if any);

d2/ To preserve documents submitted by the enterprises, and return the documents produced by the enterprises;

d3/ On-the-spot exports are exempted from physical inspection.

4. In case the enterprise conducting on-the-spot export and the enterprise conducting on-the-spot import carry out customs procedures at the same Customs Branch, this Customs Branch shall carry out both the export customs procedures and import customs procedures.

Article 48. Customs procedures for goods exported but then returned

1. Cases of goods exported but then returned

a/ Temporary import of goods returned for repair or recycling (collectively referred to as recycling) for re-export;

b/ Re-import of goods returned for domestic consumption (not applicable to goods processed for foreign companies);

c/ Re-import of goods returned for destruction in Vietnam (not applicable to goods processed for foreign companies);

d/ Temporary import of goods returned for re-export to other foreign partners.

2. Place for carrying out customs procedures

a/ The Customs Branch that has carried out the procedures for export of such goods. In case goods were returned to Vietnam through another border gate, the border-gate transfer procedures will be carried out for transfer to the place at which the export procedures were carried out;

b/ In case the returned shipment is the goods of many lots of exports, the re-import procedures will be carried out at one of the Customs Branches which have carried out the procedures for export of such goods;

c/ After being recycled, the goods may go through the re-export procedures at the Customs Branch which has carried out the procedures for their re-import. In case the Customs Branch which has carried out the procedures for re-import and re-export of such goods is the Customs Branch outside of the border gate (not the border-gate Customs Branch), such goods may go through the procedures applicable to imports or exports in border-grate transfer.

3. Time limits for recycling and destruction

a/ For goods re-imported for recycling, the recycling time limit must be registered by the enterprise with the customs office but must not exceed 275 days from the date of re-import; beyond the registered time limit if the goods have not been re-exported, the enterprise shall pay tax for such goods according to regulations;

b/ For goods re-imported for destruction, the destruction time limit must be registered by the enterprise with the customs offices but must not exceed 30 days from the date of re-import; beyond the registered time limit if the goods have not been re-exported, the enterprise shall pay tax for such goods according to regulations.

4. Import procedures for goods returned:

a/ A customs dossier comprises:

a1/ A written request for re-import of goods, stating the export declaration of the goods, that the goods have been allowed for tax refund by the customs office, and whether declaration has been made for crediting input VAT to the tax office (specify the number of the tax refund or exemption decision), and specifying the reason for re-import (for recycling, domestic consumption, destruction or re-export for other foreign partners; for goods imported for recycling, specifying the recycling location, time and method, and after-recycling loss): To submit 1 original;

a2/ An e-customs declaration of import (the temporary import declaration must show information on the number and date of the previous export declaration), a detailed list of goods or bill of lading: as for goods imported under the purchase and sale contract;

a3/ The previous export customs declaration: To submit 1 copy and present the original;

a4/ The documents of the foreign party (including telegram, telex, fax, data messages) notifying the returned goods (if any): To submit 1 copy.

b/ The customs office shall carry out customs procedures as for goods imported under the goods purchase and sale contract (excluding import permit, specialized management license,...). Re-imported goods must be physically inspected. Customs officers on duty shall compare the imported goods with preserved material samples (if the exported products are of the form of processing or export  production with materials already taken as samples which are still in the duration of storage; and materials have not been changed during the production process), and the goods described on the export declaration for determining the compatibility of the goods re-imported into Vietnam with the goods previously exported; take samples of the re-imported goods or take photos (for lots of temporary-import goods that cannot be sampled) for comparison upon re-export.

5. Re-export procedures

a/ A customs dossier comprises:

a1/ The printed e-customs declaration of export (the declaration must show information referred to in the previous temporary import declaration): To submit 2 originals;

a2/ The printed previous e-customs declaration of import: To submit 1 copy.

b/ The customs office shall carry out procedures as for goods exported under goods purchase and sale contracts. Re-exported goods must be physically inspected. Customs officers on duty shall compare the re-exported goods with the samples of re-imported goods (or photos of goods when going through the re-import procedures);

c/ If recycled goods can not be re-exported, the enterprise shall send a document to the Customs Branch which has carried out the re-import procedures to state clearly the reason for not being re-exported, thus propose the Customs Branch to  consider and accept the following forms of handling:

c1/ For recycled products being processed goods:

c1.1/ To carry out the customs procedures in the form of on-the-spot import and export for domestic consumption, if they satisfy all the conditions for on-the-spot import and export of processed products prescribed in Decree No. 12/2006/ND-CP, or

c1.2/ To destroy the goods, if the processing hiring party proposes destruction in Vietnam and the destruction in Vietnam is permitted by a competent environmental management agency.

c2/ For recycled products other than processed goods, they will be allowed for domestic consumption like re-imported goods for domestic consumption.

6. In case re-imported goods are products manufactured from imported materials and supplies; traded goods which are eligible for refund of import or export duty as in the cases specified at Points b and c, Clause 1, and Point c, Clause 5 or in case the time limit specified in Clause 3 of this Article has expired, they will be taxed under Clause 7, Article 113 of Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC.

Article 49. Customs procedures for goods imported but returned

1. Forms of export to return imports

a/ Export to return to foreign goods owners who have sold this shipment;

b/ Export to other foreign partners.

2. Places for carrying out the export procedures to return goods: Customs Branches having carried out the procedures for import of the shipment. In case the goods are exported to return to foreign customers through another border gate, the border gate transfer procedures will be carried out to transfer the goods to the export border gate.

3. A customs dossier comprises:

a/ A written explanation of the enterprise for returning goods;

b/ A printed e-customs declaration of export (the declaration must show information on the number, date, quantity of re-exported goods corresponding to the contents of the previous import declaration): To submit 2 originals

c/ The printed previous declaration of imports: To submit 1 copy and present the original;

d/ The written approval of receipt of goods (including telegram, telex, fax, data messages) of the foreign goods owner (if goods are returned to the goods owner who have sold the shipment): To submit the original or a copy; the contract of sale of goods to a third country or to re-export into a non-tariff zone (if goods are re-exported to a third country or re-exported into a non-tariff zone): To submit 1 copy.

4. Customs procedures will be carried out as for export shipments under goods purchase and sale contracts. Goods exported to return must be physically inspected. Customs officers on duty shall compare the samples of goods taken for preservation upon import (if samples are taken ); compare the description of goods on the import declaration with the goods actually re-exported; clearly state the quantity, quality and form of exports, and determine the compatibility between the goods actually exported with the previously imported goods.

Article 50. Customs procedures for exports and imports of enterprises entitled to the priority regime in the field of state management of customs

1. Enterprises entitled to the priority regime in the field of state management of customs (below referred to as prioritized enterprises) may carry out e-customs procedures 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and enjoy the priority regime in the customs declaration, reporting or liquidation (if any).

2. When carrying out e-customs procedures, prioritized enterprises are exempted from detailed inspection of e-customs dossiers and from physical inspection of goods (except for obvious signs of violation).

3. The General Department of Customs shall specifically guide the prioritized contents referred to in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 51. Customs procedures for goods sent into and taken out of bonded warehouses

Bonded warehouses are formed, relocated, expanded or narrowed down under the provisions of Section 3 of Chapter III of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 194/2010/TT-BTC of December 6, 2012. Goods sent into and taken out of bonded warehouses may go through e-customs procedures under regulations of the General Department of Customs.

Chapter VIII

ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

Article 52. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect on January 1, 2013, replacing the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 222/2009/TT-BTC of November 25, 2011, and the previous guidelines of the Ministry of Finance which are contrary to this Circular.

2. In the course of implementation, if the relevant documents referred to in this Circular are amended, supplemented or replaced, the new documents must be complied with from their effective dates.

Article 53. Responsibility for implementation

1. Pursuant to the guidance in this Circular, the General Director of Customs shall issue the process of e-customs procedures and guide the customs offices in uniformly implementing it.

2. In the course of implementation of this Circular, any arising problems should be specifically reported to the Ministry of Finance (the General Department of Customs) for consideration and guidance of settlement.-

For the Minister of Finance
Vice Minister
DO HOANG ANH TUAN

(Note: All appendices to this Circular are not translated)