Decision No. 2135/QD-TCHQ dated July 31, 2015 of the General Department of Customs on introduction of the procedure for predetermination of import and export commodity codes

THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
THE GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF VIETNAM CUSTOMS

Decision No. 2135/QD-TCHQ dated July 31, 2015 of the General Department of Customs on introduction of the procedure for predetermination of import and export commodity codes

Pursuant to the Customs Law No. 54/2014/QH13 dated June 23, 2014;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015 on providing specific provisions and measures to implement the Customs Law on the procedure for customs clearance, inspection, supervision and control;

Pursuant to the Circular No. 14/2015/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance dated January 30, 2015 on providing guidance on classification of commodities, and analysis for commodity classification, quality and food safety control;

Pursuant to the Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance dated March 25, 2015 on providing guidance on customs procedures; customs supervision/ customs duty and administration of taxes on import or export commodities;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 02/2010/QD-TTg dated January 15, 2010 on defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the General Department of Vietnam Customs;;

After considering the request of the Director of the Department of Customs Duty,

DECIDES

Article 1.This Decision encloses the Procedure for predetermination of import and export commodity codes.

Article 2.This Decision takes effect on the signing date and replaces the Decision No. 3987/QD-TCHQ of the Director of the General Department of Vietnam Customs dated December 4, 2013 on introducing the procedure for predetermination of import and export commodity codes and the procedure for classification of import and export commodities subject to the analysis.

Article 3.The Director of the Customs Duty Department, the Director of the Customs Department at cities, province, and the Head of affiliates of the General Department of Customs, and customs officers involved in the process for predetermining import and export commodity codes, shall be responsible for implementing this Decision.

For the Director

The Deputy Director

Nguyen Duong Thai

PROCEDURE

PREDETERMINATION OF IMPORT AND EXPORT COMMODITY CODES
(Issued together with the Decision No. 2135/QD-TCHQ of the Director of the General Department of Vietnam Customs)

Part I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of application

This specifies the process and procedure for receiving and examining submitted documents, issuing and implementing documents on predetermination of import and export commodity codes in accordance with the Law on Customs No. 54/2014/QH13, the Government’s Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015, and the Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance dated March 25, 2015.

Article 2. Principles of implementation

1. Once carrying out the predetermination of import and export commodity codes (hereinafter referred to as predetermination), customs officers must consult Article 26 and 28 of the Law on Customs No. 54/2014/QH13; Article 16, 17, 23 and 24 of the Government’s Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP; Article 7 of the Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC; the Circular No. 14/2015/TT-BTC and instructions given in this Procedure.

2. Predetermination must be undisclosed and transparent.

3. If organizations or individuals have a written request for the security of information about commodities in the application for predetermination (such as manufacturing process, technological secrets and chemical formulas, etc.), in addition to managing documents by arranging them into the correct directory in compliance with applicable regulations, customs officers must follow the commodity information security practice upon the request of these organizations or individuals.

4. Looking up, using and updating database during the process of commodity classification must be subject to analysis and assessment as well as comply with the regulations on collection, update and use of the database of the import and export commodity schedule of Vietnam, tariff schedule, and commodity classification and imposition of tax rates.

Part II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Section 1. Procedure for issuing the notification of predetermination result

Article 3. Receipt and assignment of tasks of processing predetermination applications(the permitted duration of less than 04 working hours)

1. The paperwork division of the Office of the General Department of Customs shall receive predetermination applications sent by organizations or individuals according to applicable regulations on receipt and processing of incoming documents, and immediately forward them enclosing original sample commodities (if any) to the Customs Duty Department.

2. Immediately after receiving such documents enclosing sample commodities (if any) from the Office of the General Department of Customs, the paperwork division of the Customs Duty Department shall receive and circulate predetermination applications in accordance with applicable regulations on receipt and processing of incoming documents, and forward them to the Commodity Classification Division (hereinafter referred to as the Classification Division) in order to assign officers to carry out the document processing.

Article 3. Examination and handling of the result achieved from the checking of predetermination applications(Execution duration is less than 10 working days of receipt of all required documents included in the application. If application for predetermination is rejected, permitted execution duration is 02 (two) working days).

Application processing officers shall go through the following procedure:

1. Checking submitted documents:

a) If the submitted application fails to meet regulations laid down in Clause 1 Article 7 of the Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC, officers shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 1, Appendix I issued together with this procedure), and concurrently draft a written document stating refusal of application for predetermination for the purpose of notifying applicants of this and return submitted documents to them.  The notification must clearly state the reasons for rejection. Then, they shall send a report to the leadership of the Classification Division, Customs Duty Department and forward it to the leadership of the General Department for approval, and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 5 of this Section.

b) If the submitted application for predetermination have not met specified requirements of the form of application, or have not provided an adequate amount of technical materials (in case there is no attached sample goods included in the application) under the provisions of Point b Clause 1 Article 7 of the Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC, officers shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 2, Appendix I enclosed herein), and concurrently draft a written document to notify applicants of the return of this application and request them to provide all required information according to the form of application for predetermination, and then report to the leadership of the Classification Division and Customs Duty Department for approval to proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 5 of this Section.

Permitted period for which predetermination applications are processed shall start on the day the General Department of Customs receives the application and technical materials (in case there is no sample goods enclosed in such applications) that applicants have sent for the purpose of supplementation of their application in compliance with regulations.

c) If attached sample goods submitted by applicants to apply for the predetermination have not been available in sufficient quantity or failed to meet required specifications, etc. under the provisions of the General Department of Customs to carry out analysis and assessment (in case analysis and assessment are required), officers shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 3, Appendix I enclosed herein), and concurrently draft a written document to request applicants to send their sample goods under the instructions of the General Department of Customs, and then send a report the leadership of the Classification Division and Customs Duty Department as a basis for approval obtained from the General Department of Customs before proceeding to implement regulations laid down in Article 5 of this Article.

Permitted period for which predetermination applications are processed shall start on the day the General Department of Customs receives sample goods for supplementation purposes from applicants in compliance with regulations.

d) In case applications are fully valid under the provisions of Clause 1 Article 7 enshrined in the Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC, and sample goods are adequate and correct as per the instructions of the General Department of Customs, and the written request have provided all required information according to the stipulated form, officers shall proceed to implement regulations laid down in Point 2 of this Article.

2. Searching for information about commodity classification and imposition of tax rates in the database:

Officers shall search for information about the predetermination result (at function 2.02 section 2 – Searching), result of analysis and classification (at function 2.03 section 2 – Searching), documents providing guidance on classification (at function 3.03.06 section 3 – Website); declare commodity name, codes of similar shipments which have been exported or imported (at function 2.08, section 2 – Searching) on the interface of the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition.

a) The circumstance under which there is information about commodities available in the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition and there is no need to analyze and assess these commodities

a.1) If information about commodities given in section B, C and commodity codes mentioned in the written request for predetermination are identical to the information about commodities stipulated in section 1, 2 and those mentioned in the Notification of the predetermination result saved in the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition, officers shall print the Notification of the searched predetermination result (for attachment purpose) and take the following actions:

a.1.1) If the notification of the searched predetermination result is requested by these applicants:

a.1.1.1) Officers shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 4, Appendix I enclosed herein), and concurrently draft a written document to notify applicants of predetermined codes and return documents submitted to apply for predetermination, if the Notification of the predetermination result remains valid, send a report to the leadership of the Classification Division and Customs Duty Department for submission to the leadership of the General Department of Customs for approval and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 5 of this section.

a.1.1.2) Officers shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 9, Appendix I enclosed herein), and concurrently draft the written notification of the predetermination result (according to the form No. 02/TBXDTMS-2015 given in the Appendix I enclosed herein) predetermined codes and return documents submitted to apply for predetermination, if the Notification of predetermination result has expired, which specifies proposal for codes, reasons and bases for such proposal, and then report to the leadership of the Classification Division and Customs Duty Department for submission to the leadership of the General Department of Customs for approval and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 5 of this section.

a.1.2) If the Notification of the searched predetermination result does not fall within Point a.1.1 as mentioned above, officers shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 9, Appendix I enclosed herein), and concurrently draft the written notification of the predetermination result (according to the form No. 02/TBXDTMS-2015 given in the Appendix I enclosed herein) which specifies suggestions about codes, reasons and bases for such proposal, and then report to the leadership of the Classification Division and Customs Duty Department for submission to the leadership of the General Department of Customs for approval and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 5 of this section.

a.2) If the notification of predetermination result has not been issued yet but information about commodities provided in the application for predetermination meets the combined criteria a.1 and a.3, or a.2 and a.3 Point a Clause 1 Article 11 of the Circular No. 14/2015/TT-BTC, officers shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 9, Appendix I enclosed herein), and concurrently draft the written notification of the predetermination result (according to the form No. 02/TBXDTMS-2015 given in the Appendix I enclosed herein) which clearly states the proposal for codes, reasons and bases for such proposal, and then report to the leadership of the Classification Division and Customs Duty Department for submission to the leadership of the General Department of Customs for approval and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 5 of this section.

b) If information about commodities is not available in the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition, officers shall print searching screen and proceed to follow Point 3 of this Article.

3. Code determination:

Officers shall check the conformity of commodities declared in applications with principles and bases for commodity classification in accordance with Article 26 enshrined in the Customs Law No. 54/2014/QH13, Article 16 of the Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP, and the Circular No. 14/2015/TT-BTC in order to determine commodity codes and take the following actions:

a) If there are sufficient grounds for commodity determination, officers shall determine codes and issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 9, Appendix I enclosed herein), and concurrently draft the written notification of the predetermination result (according to the form No. 02/TBXDTMS-2015 given in the Appendix I enclosed herein), and then report to the leadership of the Classification Division, Customs Duty Department for submission to the leadership of the General Department of Customs for approval and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 6 of this section.

b) The circumstance under which there is insufficient grounds for determination of commodity codes:

b.1) If applicants are requested to provide additional information about commodities subject to code predetermination, officers shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 2, Appendix I enclosed herein), and concurrently draft a written document to notify applicants of this information supplementation or ask them to contact customs authorities in person to provide materials, explain or clarify contents provided in the predetermination application, and send a report to the leadership of the Classification Division and Customs Duty Department for submission to the leadership of the General Department of Customs for approval or propose a work meeting chaired by the leadership of the General Department of Customs, and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 6 of this section.

Note:In order to invite applicants to customs authorities to clarify information provided in the predetermination application, officers must prepare specific working contents. Working contents must be documented into the meeting minutes which specify time, venue, participants, opinions raised by participants, agreed contents and contentious issues and signatures of parties. That meeting minutes shall be made into two copies (according to the form No. 03/BBLV-XDTMS-2015 given in the Appendix I issued together with this procedure) and each party keep one, all of which are materials integral to the predetermination application.

After the meeting minutes are signed, officers shall implement regulations laid down in Point a Clause 3 of this Article;

b.2) If analysis and assessment of target commodities are required, officers shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 5, Appendix I enclosed herein), and concurrently draft the written document (according to the form No. 06/PYCPT-XDTMS/2015 given in the Appendix I enclosed herein) along with sample goods and a photocopy of the predetermination application sent to the Center for Import and Export Analysis and Classification for the purpose of analysis or assessment, and then report to the leadership of the Classification Division for submission to the leadership of the Customs Duty Department for approval and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 5 of this section.

In the event that, after obtaining the analytical result, they need more information about commodities analyzed for accurate predetermination purposes, officers shall have an on-the-phone discussion with analysts in simple cases, or shall issue the written request in complicated cases (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 6, Appendix I issued together with this procedure), and concurrently draft the written document to request the Center for Import and Export Analysis and Classification to provide additional information about such analytical result, and then report to the leadership of the Classification Division for submission to the Customs Duty Department for approval, and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 5 of this Section.

b.3) If it is necessary to consult with relevant affiliates of the General Department of Customs, the Ministry of Finance and specialized Ministries, officers shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 7, Appendix I enclosed herein), and concurrently draft the written document to request relevant agencies to give their opinions (in which contents subject to contributing opinions should be clearly stated), and then report to the leadership of the Classification Division for submission to the leadership of the Customs Duty Department (in the event that affiliates of the General Department of Customs are asked to give their opinions), or the General Department of Customs for approval (in the event that affiliates of the Ministry of Finance and specialized Ministries are asked to give their opinions), and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 5 of this section.

b.4) In case it is necessary to get opinions from the HS committee of the World Customs Organization or the ASEAN Secretariat or have a discussion with relevant countries customs on commodities subject to the predetermination, officers shall prepare the proposal for submission to the General Department of Customs (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 8 of the Appendix I issued together with this procedure), and concurrently draft the written document to request the International Cooperation Department – the General Department of Customs to act as a central unit in conferring with these abovementioned foreign entities (in which information that need to be discussed should be specified), and report to the leadership of the Classification Division and the Customs Duty Department for submission to the General Department of Customs for approval, and then proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 5 of this section.

Note:After obtaining the analysis and assessment result, contributing opinions from relevant affiliates of the General Department of Customs, the Ministry of Finance and specialized Ministries and the HS Committee, officers shall proceed to implement regulations laid down in Point a Clause 3 within 01 working day.

Article 5. Approval of predetermination applications

Implementation duration (including the situation in which officers are directed to re-submit proposal) shall be within the period of 09 working days that starts from the receipt of documents submitted by officers.  As for refusal of application for the predetermination, return of predetermination application to applicants for the purpose of providing additional information, or request for sample commodities as required by instructions, permitted duration for processing is within 2 (two) working days.

1. The leadership of the Classification Division shall check documents and proposal filed by officers, and take the following actions:

a) If the leadership of the Classification Division agrees, they shall submit a written document stating this agreement to the leadership of the Customs Duty Department and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Clause 2 of this Article.

b) If the leadership of the Classification Division disagrees over the proposal of officers, they must clearly state their reasons and directions in the written request and return submitted documents to officers so that they can provide their explanation or follow directions given by the leadership of the Classification Division.

c) If the leadership of the Classification Division and officers have contentious opinions on the method of document processing, they must collaborate with officers to make a report which clearly states their viewpoints on processing and ask for directions from the leadership of the Customs Duty Department.

2. The leadership of the Customs Duty Department shall check documents and proposal filed by the Classification Division, and take the following actions:

a) If the leadership of the Customs Duty Department agrees on the proposal of the Classification Division:

a.1) Proceed to implement regulations laid down in Clause 3 of this Article (applicable to the situation in which they approve that proposal and submit it to the General Department of Customs); or

a.2) Proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 6 of this Section (applicable to the situation in which the outgoing document is approved).

b) If the leadership of the Customs Duty Department disagrees over the proposal of the Classification Division, they must clearly state their reasons and directions in the written request and return submitted documents so that the Classification Division can provide their explanation or follow directions given by the leadership of the Customs Duty Department.

Note:If the predetermination application is complex, the Deputy Director of the Customs Duty Department shall report to the Director to ask for his/her directions.

3. The leadership of the General Department of Customs shall examine documents and proposals submitted by the Customs Duty Department and take the following actions (permitted duration is within 03 working days):

a) If the leadership of the General Department of Customs agrees to the proposal of the Customs Duty Department, they shall give the written approval and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 6 of this Section.

b) If the leadership of the General Department of Customs disagrees over the proposal of the Customs Duty Department, they must give their directions in the written request and return submitted documents so that the Customs Duty Department can provide their explanation or follow directions given by the leadership of the General Department of Customs.

Article 6. Issue of documents and document filing

After obtaining approval from the leadership of the General Department of Customs or the Customs Duty Department, documents must be issued immediately. Details shall be given as follows:

1. If the leadership of the Customs Duty Department signs outgoing documents, officers shall forward them to the paperwork division of the Customs Duty Department for issue purposes.

2. If the leadership of the Customs Duty Department signs outgoing documents, the general division affiliated to the Office of the Customs Duty Department shall forward incoming documents to the paperwork division of the General Department of Customs for issue purposes.

3. Documents must be filed into the checklist of transferred documents and such filing must conform to applicable regulations.

Article 7. Updating the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition

Officers charged with processing documents shall carry out the update of sufficient and accurate information and contents which have been processed in accordance with Article 3, 4, 5 and 6 to the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition on the date of issuing the written notification of predetermination, or on the consecutive date. Details of updated information shall conform to instructions given in Appendix II issued together with this procedure and regulations on collection, update and use of the database of the list of Vietnam’s import and export commodities; the database of taxation; the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition.

Article 8. Public disclosure of information on the website of the General Department of Customs

After document processing officers of the Customs Duty Department carry out the update to the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition, based on information provided in the notification of commodity classification result, officers of the Department of Customs Information Technology and Statistics shall update the website of the General Department of Customs with contents of the notification of commodity classification result under the instructions set out in the regulations on collection, update and use of the database of the list of Vietnam s import and export commodities; the database of taxation; the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition under the administration of the General Department of Customs.

Section 2. Procedure for issuing the written cancellation of the notification of predetermination result

The General Department of Customs shall issue the written cancellation of the notification of predetermination result within a permitted period of 10 days of receipt of the written request for cancellation of the predetermination notification from the Department of Customs in cities or provinces (according to contents stipulated in Clause 5 Article 27 of the Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC); affiliated agencies of the General Department of Customs (the Department of Post-Clearance Inspection; Inspectorate of the General Department of Customs; the Center for Import and Export Commodity Analysis and Classification affiliated to the Smuggling Investigation and Prevention Department, etc.); enterprises, other agencies, or if officers or the leadership of the Customs Duty Department discover the false and inaccurate applications for predetermination (in accordance with contents stipulated in Paragraph c Clause 6 Article 24 of the Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP).

Article 9. Receipt and assignment of tasks of processing predetermination applications(the permitted duration of less than 01 working hour)

The work of receiving and assigning officers to process submitted applications and permitted duration of such document processing shall conform to the regulations laid down in Article 3 Section 1 hereof.

If officers of the Classification Division discover or take the order from the leadership of the Customs Duty Department when discovering that applicants have filed false and inaccurate applications for predetermination, officers shall promptly carry out examination and submit their proposal under the instructions of Article 10 below.

Article 10. Examination and proposal(permitted duration is within 05 working days)

Officers shall be tasked with verifying contents of the notification of predetermination result and predetermination documents; collecting more related information (if any) and take the following actions:

1. If officers find out false and inaccurate predetermination applications after examination, they shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 10, Appendix I enclosed herein), and concurrently draft the written cancellation of the notification of predetermination result (according to the form No. 04/HKQXDTMS/2015 given in the Appendix I enclosed herein) and notify applicants of this with clear reasons and bases for such cancellation, and report to the leadership of the Classification Division, the Customs Duty Department for submission to the leadership of the General Department of Customs for approval.

2. If officers find out genuine and accurate predetermination applications after examination, they shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 10, Appendix I enclosed herein) which clearly states grounds and reasons for sustaining the notification of predetermination result, and concurrently draft a written notification sent to the agency requesting the cancellation of predetermination result to report this to the leadership of the Classification Division, the Customs Duty Department for submission to the leadership of the General Department of Customs for approval.

Article 11. Approval of submitted documents(the permitted duration of less than 04 working hour)

Verification and approval of documents carried out by the leadership of the Classification Division, the Customs Duty Department and the General Department of Customs shall comply with Article 5 Section 1 Part II hereof. Permitted duration for the verification and approval carried out by the leadership of the Classification Division and the Customs Duty Department shall be within 02 working days, and by the leadership of the General Department of Customs shall be restricted to 02 working days as well.

Article 12. Issue of documents and document filing

The work of issuing outgoing documents and filing documents stating the cancellation of the predetermination notification shall comply with regulations laid down in Clause 2, 3 Article 6 Section 1 Part II hereof.

Article 13. Update on the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition, and public disclosure of information on the website of the General Department of Customs

Officers shall update the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition, and publicly disclose information on the website of the General Department of Customs under the instructions of Article 7, 8 Section 1 Part II hereof.

Section 3. Procedure for issuing the written cancellation of the notification of predetermination result

(The permitted duration is at least 10 days before the effective date of legal documents that serve as bases for issuing the notification of predetermination result which has been amended, modified and replaced).

Article 14. Examination and proposal(permitted duration is within 05 working days)

Once legislative documents on commodity classification are subject to changes, the Classification Division shall assign officers to examine and compare the notification of predetermination result that remains valid with legislative documents as bases for issuing the notification of predetermination result.

If legal bases for the predetermination result achieved have changed, officers shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 11, Appendix I issued together with this procedure) and draft the written cancellation of the predetermination notification, and then report to the leadership of the Classification Division, the Customs Duty Department for submission to the leadership of the General Department of Customs for approval.

Note:The written cancellation of the notification of predetermination result shall take effect coincidently with the time when documents that serve as bases for issuing the predetermination notification which has been amended, modified and replaced take effect.

Article 15. Approval of submitted documents(the permitted duration of less than 04 working days)

Verification and approval of documents carried out by the leadership of the Classification Division, the Customs Duty Department and the General Department of Customs shall comply with Article 5 Section 1 Part II hereof. Permitted duration for the verification and approval carried out by the leadership of the Classification Division and the Customs Duty Department shall be within 02 working days, and by the leadership of the General Department of Customs shall be restricted to 02 working days as well.

Article 16. Issue of documents and document filing

The work of issuing outgoing documents and filing documents shall conform to regulations laid down in Article 6 Section 1 Part II hereof.

Article 17. Update on the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition, and public disclosure of information on the website of the General Department of Customs

Officers shall update the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition, and publicly disclose information on the website of the General Department of Customs under the instructions of Article 7, 8 Section 1 Part II hereof.

Section 4. Procedure for issuing a written response to the applicant’s petition for reconsideration of contents provided in the predetermination notification

(The permitted duration is within 10 working days (applicable to normal commodities) or 30 working days (applicable to complicated commodities that nee to be verified and clarifies) of receipt of the written request from these applicants)

Article 18. Receipt and assignment of tasks of processing predetermination applications(the permitted duration of less than 01 working day)

The work of receiving and assigning officers to process submitted applications and permitted duration of such document processing shall conform to the regulations laid down in Article 3 Section 1 Part II hereof.

Article 19.Examination and handling of the examination result(The permitted duration is within 05 working days (applicable to normal commodities) or 15 working days (applicable to complicated commodities that nee to be verified and clarified)

After receiving the written petition for reconsideration of contents provided in the predetermination notification from organizations or individuals, officers shall verify contents provided in the written request and compare them with those provided in the predetermination notification, and collect more related information (if any) and take the following actions:

1. If there are sufficient and proper grounds for proving that the notification of predetermination result is irrelevant, officers shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 12, Appendix I enclosed herein), and concurrently draft the written notification of modification and replacement of the notification of predetermination result (according to the form No. 05/SDTT-XDTMS/2015 given in the Appendix I enclosed herein) sent to organizations or individuals filing the written request for reconsideration of the predetermination result, and report to the leadership of the Classification Division, the Customs Duty Department for submission to the leadership of the General Department of Customs for approval, and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 20 of this Section.

2. If there are sufficient and proper grounds for proving that the notification of predetermination result is relevant, officers shall issue the written request (according to the form No. 01/PDXXDTMS and instructions given in Point 12, Appendix I enclosed herein), and concurrently draft the written document stating that the notification of predetermination result is kept unchanged, and notify organizations or individuals to submit their petition for reconsideration of the predetermination result, and report to the leadership of the Classification Division, the Customs Duty Department for submission to the leadership of the General Department of Customs for approval, and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 20 of this Section.

3. If there is insufficient grounds for proving that the abovementioned petition is accurate, depending on the nature of such petition, officers shall issue the written request for opinions obtained from relevant affiliates of the General Department of Customs, the Ministry of Finance or specialized Ministries, and draft the written request for relevant agencies to give their opinions (contents on which opinions are asked for should be clearly stated), and report to the leadership of the Classification Division for submission to the leadership of the Customs Duty Department for approval (applicable to the situation in which affiliates of the General Department of Customs are asked to offer their opinions) or to the leadership of the General Department of Customs for approval (applicable to the situation in which affiliates of the Ministry of Finance and specialized Ministries are asked to offer their opinions), and proceed to implement regulations laid down in Article 20 of this Section.

Article 20. Approval of submitted documents(The permitted duration is within 04 working days (applicable to normal commodities) or 09 working days (applicable to complicated commodities that need to be verified and clarified)

Verification and approval of documents carried out by the leadership of the Classification Division, the Customs Duty Department and the General Department of Customs shall comply with Article 5 Section 1 Part II hereof.

Permitted duration for the verification and approval carried out by the leadership of the Classification Division and the Customs Duty Department shall be within 02 working days, and by the leadership of the General Department of Customs shall be restricted to 02 working days as well.  As for complicated commodities that need to be verified and clarified, the permitted duration for the verification and approval carried out by the leadership of the Classification Division, the Customs Duty Department and the General Department of Customs shall be within 03 working days.

Article 21. Issue of documents and document filing

The work of issuing outgoing documents and filing documents shall conform to regulations laid down in Article 6 Section 1 Part II hereof.

Article 22. Update on the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition, and public disclosure of information on the website of the General Department of Customs

Officers shall update the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition, and publicly disclose information on the website of the General Department of Customs under the instructions of Article 7, 8 Section 1 Part II hereof.

Part III

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 23. Responsibilities of agencies for predetermination of export and import commodities

1. The office of the General Department of Customs:

Receive and keep track of applications and attached documents for predetermination submitted by organizations or individuals to the General Department of Customs; forward them to the Customs Duty Department and issue predetermination-related documents in compliance with regulations laid down in the working regulation of the General Department of Customs, and the paperwork regulation of the Customs and instructions given in this procedure.

2. The Center for Import and Export Commodity Analysis and Classification:

a) Analyze and disseminate the result of analysis of sample commodities for predetermination purposes as requested by the Customs Duty Department; the permitted duration for responding with the analytical result shall conform to regulations laid down in Article 11 of the Circular No. 14/2015/TT-BTC;

b) Update the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition in terms of contents regarding the notification of analytical result of commodities of which codes are subject to predetermination immediately after obtaining the analytical result under the instructions of the regulation on collection, update and use of the database of the list of Vietnam s import and export commodities; the database of tax schedule; the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition under the administration of the General Department of Customs;

c) Document and send the analytical result of sample commodities in the predetermination application subject to the analysis and assessment to the Customs Duty Department; supplement and exchange information about sample commodities in the predetermination application subject to the analysis and assessment upon the request of the Customs Duty Department;

d) Exchange information on time with the Customs Duty Department whenever inappropriate codes and contents regarding the predetermination notification are detected.

3. The Customs Duty Department:

a) Receive, examine, handle and file documents or records concerning the predetermination forwarded by the office of the General Department of Customs;

b) Request the Director of the General Department of Customs to issue the notification of predetermination result; the written cancellation or termination of the validity of the predetermination result notification; the written response to petitions of organizations or individuals for reconsideration of contents of the notification of predetermination result in compliance with permitted duration stipulated in the Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP;

c) Update information about the analysis, request the analysis, issue, cancellation and termination of the validity of the notification of predetermination result; information about responses to petitions for reconsideration of contents of the notification of predetermination result to the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition;

d) Handle difficulties faced by the Customs Department of cities or provinces, the Post-clearance Inspection Department, the Inspectorate of the General Department of Customs, the Center for Import and Export Commodity Analysis and Classification, the Smuggling Investigation and Prevention Department, etc., and organizations or individuals, which relate to the issue, cancellation or termination of the validity of the notification of predetermination result;

dd) Collaborate with the Department of Customs Information Technology and Statistics in resolving difficulties with the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition that may arise.

4. The Department of Customs Information Technology and Statistics

a) Develop and provide manuals for use of code predetermination functions on the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition upon the professional request of the Customs Duty Department;

b) Set up and publicly implement the notification of classification result, the notification of amendment or replacement on the website of the General Department of Customs;

c) Connect the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition that may arise to the relevant information and data system in order to support the work of classifying and predetermining codes of commodities;

d) Uphold and ensure the stability and security of the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition during the process of update, operation and use;

dd) Deal with technical problems that may arise during the process of operation and use of the database of commodity classification and tax rate imposition.

5. The Post-clearance Inspection Department, the Inspectorate of the General Department of Customs and the Smuggling Investigation and Prevention Department:

Exchange information on time with the Customs Duty Department whenever inappropriate codes, tax rates and contents regarding the notification of predetermination result are detected, and the application of the notification of predetermination result during the process of inspection and examination that take place at the office of customs authority, or organizations or individuals.

6. International Cooperation Department:

Contact the World Customs Organization and foreign competent authorities that enter into agreements on customs assistance with Vietnam in order to clarify information about the predetermination of commodity codes as requested by the Customs Duty Department.

7. The Customs Department of cities or provinces:

a) Organize, direct checking and comparison of information declared in customs files with information about contents of the notification of code predetermination result; implement sufficient contents of the notification of predetermination result by organizations or individuals exporting or importing commodities;

b) Check the implementation of the notification of predetermination result within their area and assume responsibility to the Director of the General Department of Customs for organizing the implementation of the abovementioned contents.

c) Complain about and propose measures to deal with difficulties that may arise during the process of implementing the notification of predetermination result; suggest contents subject to amendment, modification and cancel the notification of predetermination result if documents and actual conditions of commodities are found inconsistent with contents provided in the notification of predetermination result.

8. Customs officers:

Carry out receipt, checking, processing, reporting, circulation, issue, update and filing of documents in accordance with applicable regulations. If any violation is detected, depending on the nature and severity of such violation, they shall be disciplined, or face prosecutions in accordance with legal regulations.

Article 24. Implementation

1. The Heads of agencies shall be responsible for thoroughly grasping and strictly implementing this procedure.  In the course of implementation, if there is any difficulty, the General Department of Customs (or the Customs Department) should be informed on time to provide guidance and make their responses.

2. Any problems arising in the course of implementation such as amendment, modification or replacement, new documents shall prevail for implementation.