Circular No. 33/2009/TT-BCT dated November 11, 2009 of the Ministry of Industry on the implementation of rules of origin in the Agreement Establishing the Asean-Australia-New zealand free trade area

THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE

Circular No. 33/2009/TT-BCT of November 11, 2009, on the implementation of rules of origin in the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area

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

Pursuant to the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area, which was concluded on February 27, 2009, at the 14th Summit in Thailand between member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Australia and New Zealand;

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

The Ministry of Industry and Trade provides for the implementation of rules of origin in the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZ) as follows:

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Goods eligible for the issuance of a certificate of origin, form AANZ

Goods eligible for the issuance of a certificate of origin (below referred to as C/O), form AANZ, are goods which have the origin as prescribed in Appendix 1 to this Circular (not printed herein) and are issued C/Os by organizations authorized to issue C/Os, form AANZ.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

1. The Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area is the Agreement concluded on February 27, 2009, at the 14th Summit in Thailand between member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Australia and New Zealand (below referred to as the AANZFTA Agreement).

2. Vietnam’s organizations authorized to issue C/Os, form AANZ (below referred to as C/O issuers) are organizations defined in Appendix 10 to this Circular (not printed herein).

3. Applicants for C/Os, form AANZ (below referred to as C/O applicants) include exporters, producers and lawfully authorized representatives of exporters or producers.

4. The eCOSys means Vietnam’s electronic system for management and issuance of C/Os at the address: http://www.ecosys.gov.vn.

Article 3. Responsibilities of C/O applicants

C/O applicants shall:

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

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

3. Evidence that their exported goods satisfy the rules of origin and facilitate the verification of the origin of goods by C/O issuers;

4. Take responsibility before law for the accuracy and truthfulness of their declarations related to C/O applications, even in case they are authorized by exporters;

5. Promptly report to C/O issuers on C/Os issued by Vietnamese C/O issuers which are rejected by importing countries (if any);

6. Create conditions for C/O issuers to make physical inspection visits to production establishments or places of nurturing, planting, harvesting or processing exported goods;

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

Article 4. Responsibilities of C/O issuers

C/O issuers shall:

1. Guide C/O applicants when requested;

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

3. Verify the real origin of goods when necessary;

4. Issue C/Os, if goods satisfy rules of origin provided in this Circular and C/O applicants comply with Article 3;

5. Send specimen signatures of persons authorized to sign C/Os and specimen seals of C/O issuers to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (the Import and Export Department) under the Industry and Trade Ministry’s regulation, for registration with competent agencies of importing countries;

6. Settle complaints about the issuance of C/Os according to their competence;

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

8. Exchange information related to the issuance of C/Os with other C/O issuers;

9. Observe reporting regulations, participate in training courses on goods origin and abide by other requests according to regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Chapter II

PROCEDURES FOR THE ISSUANCE OF C/Os

Article 5. Registration of trader dossiers

1. C/O applicants may only be considered for C/O issuance by C/O issuers with which they have registered trader dossiers only after they complete the procedures for registration of trader dossiers. A trader dossier comprises:

a/ The registration of the specimen signature of the person authorized to sign the C/O application and the specimen seal of the trader (made according to Appendix 9 to this Circular) (not printed herein);

b/ The business registration certificate of the trader (a copy with a “true copy” stamp);

c/ The tax identification number registration certificate (a copy with a “true copy” stamp);

d/ The list of production establishments (if any) of the trader (made according to Appendix 8 to this Circular) (not printed herein).

2. Any change in the trader dossier must be notified to the C/O issuer with which the trader dossier has been registered before applying for a C/O. The trader dossier must be updated once every two (2) years.

3. In case the C/O applicant wishes, due to a force majeure circumstance or for a plausible reason, to get a C/O issued by a C/O issuer other than the issuer with which he/she has registered the trader dossier, he/she shall send a document stating the reason for the non-application for a C/O at the C/O issuer with which he/she has registered the trader dossier and register the trader dossier with the new C/O issuer.

Article 6. C/O application dossiers

1. A C/O application dossier comprises:

a/ The C/O application, made according to the form provided in Appendix 7 (not printed herein) which has been fully and duly filled in under the guidance in Appendix 6 to this Circular (not printed herein);

b/ The C/O form (made according to Appendix 5 to this Circular - not printed herein), which has been fully filled in;

c/ The customs declaration for which customs procedures have been completed. For cases in which exported goods are not subject to customs declaration under law, customs declaration is not required;

d/ The commercial invoice;

e/ The bill of lading or equivalent transport document, if the trader have no bill of lading. In case of applying for a back-to-back C/O for the whole goods lot or a part of the goods lot exported from a non-tariff area into the mainland, these documents are not necessarily be submitted, if the trader actually does not have these documents.

In case the customs declaration for which customs procedures have been completed and the bill of lading (or equivalent documents) are not yet available, the C/O applicant may submit these documents within fifteen (15) working days from the date of issuance of the C/O.

2. If finding it necessary, the C/O issuer may request the applicant to supply additional documents related to exported goods such as customs declarations of imported raw materials and auxiliary materials; export permits (if any); sale and purchase contracts; value-added invoices on the domestic sale and purchase of raw materials and auxiliary materials; samples of raw materials and auxiliary materials or exported goods; description of the product manufacturing process, with the HS headings of input raw materials and those of goods (for tariff classification criteria or goods manufacturing or processing operation criteria); calculation of the regional value content (for regional value content criteria); and other documents evidencing the origin of exported goods.

3. If documents defined at Points c, d and e of Clause 1, and Clause 2, are copies bearing the signatures and the “true copy” stamps by the representatives-at-law or authorized persons of traders, C/O issuers may request the production of the originals for comparison, when necessary.

4. For traders joining in eCOSys, persons authorized to sign C/O applications shall declare data via eCOSys, give their e-signatures and automatically transmit them to C/O issuers. After examining application dossiers on eCOSys, if agreeing to issue a C/O, C/O issuers shall notify such via eCOSys to traders for submission of complete written dossiers for comparison before issuing a C/O.

Article 7. Receipt of C/O application dossiers

When a C/O applicant files his/her dossier, a dossier-receiving officer shall receive and examine the dossier and issue a receipt or another document to notify the C/O applicant that he/she shall:

1. Issue a C/O under Article 8;

2. Request the applicant to supplement inadequate documents as prescribed in Article 6;

3. Refuse to issue a C/O in any of the following cases:

a/ The C/O applicant has not yet registered the trader dossier as prescribed in Article 5;

b/ The C/O application dossier is inaccurate or incomplete as prescribed in Article 6;

c/ The C/O applicant fails to submit documents he/she lacks under Article 6;

d/ The dossier contains contradictory details;

e/ The C/O application dossier is filed with the C/O issuer other than the C/O issuer with which the trader dossier has been registered;

f/ The C/O form is filled in by handwriting, or erased or fade out and becomes unreadable or printed in multicolor inks;

g/ There are lawful grounds to believe that goods do not have the origin as prescribed in this Circular or the C/O applicant has committed fraudulent or dishonest acts in evidencing the origin of his/her goods.

Article 8. Issuance of C/O

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

2. The C/O issuer may pay inspection visits to production establishments if it considers that the dossier examination provides insufficient grounds for C/O issuance or when it detects illegal acts in connection to a previously issued C/O.  Inspectors of the C/O issuer shall make a minutes of inspection results and request C/O applicants and/or exporters to sign in. In cases C/O applicants and/or exporter refuse to sign this minutes, inspectors shall clearly write down the reason for the refusal in the minutes and sign them for certification.

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

3. In the process of considering the issuance of C/O, if the C/O issuer detects that the origin of goods does not satisfy the prescribed conditions or the dossier is incomplete, it shall notify such to the applicant under Clause 2 or 3 of Article 7.

4. The verification must not impede the delivery of goods or payment by exporters, except for cases in which exporters are at fault.

Article 9. Withdrawal of issued C/Os

A C/O issuer shall withdraw a C/O it has issued in the following cases:

1. The exporter or C/O applicant has forged documents.

2. The issued C/O is not conformable with the origin criteria.

Chapter III

MANAGEMENT OF C/O ISSUANCE

Article 10. Competence to sign C/Os

Only persons who have completed procedures for registering their specimen signatures with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and for whom the Ministry of Industry and Trade has send specimen signatures to the ASEAN Secretariat for registration with competent agencies of importing countries are entitled to sign C/Os to be issued.

Article 11. Focal agency

The Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade is the focal agency performing the following jobs:

1. Guiding and examining the issuance of C/Os;

2. Carrying out procedures for registering specimen signatures of persons competent to sign C/Os and specimen seals of C/O issuers of Vietnam with the ASEAN Secretariat and forwarding specimen signatures of persons competent to sign C/Os and specimen seals of C/O issuers of member states of the AANZAFTA Agreement to the Ministry of Finance (the General Department of Customs);

3. Assisting the Minister of Industry and Trade in settling matters arising from the issuance of C/Os.

Article 12. Reporting regulations

1. C/O issuers shall update data on the issuance of C/Os, with all information to be declared as prescribed in the applications for issuance of C/Os, via eCOSys on a daily basis.

2. C/O issuers that violate reporting regulations specified in Clause 1 for three times shall be suspended from issuance of C/Os and their violations will be publicized on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall only consider and re-authorize suspended C/O issuers six months later.

Article 13. Implementation provision

This Circular takes effect on January 1, 2010.-

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