Decision No. 1233/QD-TTg dated 1233/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister approving the import management scheme by 2020 in conformity with the international commitments

DECISION

Approving the Scheme on import management through 2020 in conformity with international commitments[1]

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 2471/QD-TTg of December 28, 2011, approving the import and export strategy for the 2011-2020 period, with orientations toward 2030;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 950/QD-TTg of July 25, 2012, promulgating an action program to implement the import and export strategy for the 2011-2020 period, with orientations toward 2030;

At the proposal of the Minister of Industry and Trade in Report No. 4125/TTr-BCT of April 24, 2015 approving a Scheme on import management measures through 2020 in conformity with international commitments,

DECIDES:

Article 1. To approve the Scheme on import management through 2020 in conformity with international commitments with the following principal contents:

I. OBJECTIVES OF THE SCHEME

1. Overall objectives

To orient the establishment of a system of import management measures in conformity with international commitments and the international economic integration process through 2020, so as to successfully fulfill the targets set forth in the import and export strategy for the 2011-2020 period, with orientations toward 2030.

2. Specific targets

a/ To adopt a set of import management measures in the coming time in conformity with international commitments in order to create an open, transparent, stable and foreseeable legal environment for enterprises, contributing to import control and ensuring the achievement of sustainable socio-economic development targets;

b/ To orient import management work to fulfill the targets set forth in the import and export strategy for the 2011-2020 period, with orientations toward 2030, which are attaining an average annual export growth rate of 11% and an average annual import growth rate of below 10% in the 2016-2020 period,  gradually reducing trade deficit and striving to achieve balance of trade by 2020.

II. CONTENTS OF IMPORT MANAGEMENT MEASURES

 1. General orientations

a/ To maintain and take advantage of tariff and non-tariff measures that are allowable under commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs);

b/  To intensify the implementation of non-tariff measures, regulations on technical barriers to trade (TBT), sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) and trade safeguards;

c/ To draft a law on foreign trade management so as to ensure the stability and consistency of policies as well as practicality and feasibility of regulations, thus facilitating the operation of enterprises.

d/ To devise and implement import management measures in a synchronous and effective manner, focusing on information work while monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of applied measures;

dd/ To regularly review, consider, modify, supplement or annul unnecessary regulations and administrative procedures with a view to achieving targets of management work which are maintaining national security, security and order, ensuring food and traffic safety, protecting the environment and people’s health and other public targets, while reforming administrative procedures and creating favorable conditions for enterprises.

2. Specific measures

a/ Tariff

To make effective use of import duty and other tariffs (e.g., environmental protection tax) to support domestic production at an appropriate level and improve the competitiveness of home-made products in compliance with commitments. For domestically producible goods, to maintain the bound tariff rates as committed to the WTO and outline a roadmap for abolishing custom duties imposed on goods imported from FTA member countries.

b/ Tariff quota

To study and negotiate with bilateral and multilateral FTA partners to draw up a roadmap on tariff quota-based management of commodities requiring domestic production protection in a rational manner and in line with the trend of international economic integration.

c/ Import ban

To sustain the current system for applying measures to ban import of a number of commodity items with the aim of ensuring national security, environmental and occupational safety and achieving other legitimate public targets in line with treaties which the country had concluded or acceded to.

d/ Import quota

To comply with commitments to the WTO on non-imposition of import quotas. The possibility to impose import quotas in a non-discriminatory manner may be considered in a number of emergency cases the WTO permits.

dd/ Import permit

- To regard import licensing as an import management measure for a number of commodity items that may affect national security and defense, social order, occupational safety, traffic safety, the environment and people’s health.

- To set up an inter-sectoral management system to exchange information on, and jointly control, the import of goods relating to national security and defense, dual-use goods, chemicals, toxic chemicals and precursors.

- To promulgate the list of goods subject to import licensing and specialized management. To clearly stipulate the management form and principles and use the HS codes specified in the export and import tariffs so as to facilitate regulatory compliance by enterprises.

- To consider applying automatic import licensing in necessary cases to supervise and control imports in order to serve administration work as well as data analysis and study for policymaking purposes.

- Import licensing and import licensing procedures must comply with commitments to the WTO and the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 41/2005/QD-TTg of March 2, 2005, promulgating the Regulation on goods import licensing.

e/ Technical and specialized measures

- To further devise and apply necessary measures in line with international commitments in the form of technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures so as to protect people’s health, the environment, livestock, plants and ensure occupational, traffic and construction safety.

- To finalize legal documents, consider modifying inappropriate regulations on management of product and goods quality. To promulgate a system of technical regulations for items on the list of products and goods likely to entail safety risks (group-2 products and goods).

- To take initiative in studying and setting out technical requirements for goods in the forms of standard or technical regulation and forms of standard- or technical regulation-conformity assessment so as to ensure the conformity with the characteristics of products, the level of impact on import turnover as well as impacts of such measures on domestic enterprises.

- To accelerate the negotiation and the signing of agreements on mutual recognition of conformity assessment results and conformity assessment certificates in each sector.

- To explore foreign experiences in import management by applying sanitary and phytosanitary measures and food safety in the direction that only enterprises recognized by Vietnamese competent agencies as fully satisfying production conditions and food safety requirements may export goods to Vietnam.

- To study the application of the measure of pre-shipment inspection in exporting countries and grant of export eligibility certificates for a number of categories of fruits, livestock, plants and items affecting people’s health.

- The creation of legal bases for such measures must comply with national treatment (NT) and most-favored-nation (MFN) principles.

g/ Trade safeguard

- To finalize and modify legal documents governing trade safeguards so as to ensure conformity with WTO regulations. To add more detailed regulations on procedures, process and calculation methods to facilitate, and avoid errors in, the application of trade safeguards.

- To disseminate the law on trade safeguards, raise enterprises’ awareness of and capacity in using anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard measures.

- To raise capacity of agencies specialized in trade safeguard. To assist trade associations in gathering information and launching investigations into trade safeguard cases.

h/ Goods origin

- The rules of origin in FTA negotiations will serve as an import management measure with preferential tariffs to help sort out and restrict market access preferences for goods items requiring domestic production protection.

- To intensify import management to fight against fraud in origin of imports so as to prevent the situation whereby commodities failing to satisfy origin criteria and goods with false origin are entitled to tax incentives, creating undue competitive advantages, so as to contribute to the protection of domestic production and consumers’ interests.

i/ Exchange rate

To manage the exchange rate in a flexible manner toward stabilizing the macro-economy in line with import and export management orientations, thus contributing to maintaining the competitiveness of Vietnam’s goods on the international market.

k/ Other import management measures

- To enhance and improve the effectiveness of specialized inspection through promulgating a list of goods subject to specialized inspection and prescribing inspection order and procedures toward facilitating enterprises’ operation and meeting import management requirements. To promote the collaboration among ministries and sectors to ensure unified management and reduce overlaps in specialized inspection.

- To set up standards and technical regulations for goods and products according to environmental regulations (eco-labels, waste and recycled packages).

- Imported goods must be attached with warnings and instructions printed in Vietnamese and supplementary labels are not permitted. In the immediate term, to consider the pilot application for a number of commodity items.

- To study the possibility of applying intellectual property protection regulations in import management with Vietnam’s development level and other relevant regulations taken into consideration.

Article 2. Organization of implementation

1. Ministries and sectors shall perform the tasks assigned to them as provided in the Appendix (not translated) to this Decision and ensure the performance schedule.

2. To ensure the synchronicity of import management policies, when promulgating new policies and solutions related to import management, ministries and sectors shall reach agreement with the Ministry of Industry and Trade before organizing their implementation.

3. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall set up an inter-sectoral import and export group which shall be composed of a leader of the ministry as its head and representatives of related ministries and sectors as its members. The group shall supervise the implementation of the Scheme and import activities and propose timely adjustment solutions.

4. Funds for implementation of the Scheme shall be allocated from the state budget and other lawful sources in accordance with law.

Article 3. This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 4. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and related agencies and units, and related individuals shall implement this Decision.-

For the Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
HOANG TRUNG HAI