Circular No. 01/1998/TT-BNN-PTLN guiding the implementation of Decision No. 1124/1997/QD-TTg dated December 25, 1997 of the Prime Minister on the export of wood products and the import of raw timber.

 

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for implementing Decision No. 1124/1997/QĐ-TTg dated December 25, 1997 of the Government Chairman on the export of wood products and forest products and the import of raw wood materials

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 6 of Decision No. 1124/1997/QĐ-TTg dated December 25, 1997 of the Government Chairman, after reaching consensus with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the General Department of Customs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development provides guidance as follows:

I. REGARDING DOCUMENTS PROVING THE ORIGIN OF RAW WOOD MATERIALS FOR PROCEDURES TO EXPORT WOOD PRODUCTS THROUGH CUSTOMS:

A. FOR NATIVE FOREST WOOD IN THE COUNTRY:

1. If using wood from groups 3 to 8 according to the temporary wood classification table issued together with Decision No. 2198/CNR dated November 26, 1977 of the Forestry Department (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), there must be a confirmation document from the local Forest Inspection Office regarding the legal origin of the wood used for production of exported goods and a purchase and sale contract along with a tax invoice issued by the Ministry of Finance.

2. If using group II.A wood according to the provisions of Decree No. 18/1992/HĐBT dated January 17, 1992 of the Council of Ministers (now the Government) or groups 1 and 2 according to the temporary wood classification table issued together with Decision No. 2198/CNR, in addition to the required documents as stated in point A.1 above, there must also be a wood history record from the Forest Inspection Office where the wood was harvested and a special transportation permit.

3. In cases of purchasing reclaimed wood or processed waste wood (i.e., wood that has already been brought into the factory), in addition to the purchase and sale contract and tax invoice issued by the Ministry of Finance, there must also be a confirmation document from the Forest Inspection Office where the reclaimed wood or waste wood was purchased, or from the location where the enterprise is registered, or from the location where the wood was brought into production.

4. In cases of using artificial boards produced from native forest wood in the country, there must be a purchase and sale contract for artificial boards with the production facility, accompanied by a tax invoice issued by the Ministry of Finance and a confirmation document from the Forest Inspection Office (where the artificial board production facility is registered) regarding the legal origin of the boards. If the boards are purchased from another entity, the selling enterprise must bear responsibility for the legal origin documentation, and the purchasing enterprise must submit the contract and tax invoice issued by the Ministry of Finance to the customs authority.

B. FOR PLANTED WOOD, GARDEN WOOD, AND SCATTERED TREES:

1. Only planted wood, garden wood, and scattered trees may be used according to the provisions of sub-point b, Clause 2, Article 5 of Decision No. 1124/1997/QĐ-TTg dated December 25, 1997 of the Government Chairman.

2. If using state-owned planted wood, there must be a purchase and sale contract for wood and a tax invoice issued by the Ministry of Finance. The contract must clearly specify the source of the wood for comparison by the customs authority with the provisions of sub-point B.1 above.

3. If using privately owned planted wood, collective planted wood, or scattered trees, there must be a confirmation from the People's Committee of the commune where the wood is located or from the nearest forestry inspection agency and a receipt for land use tax to compare with the provisions of sub-point B.1 above.

If using garden wood, there must be a confirmation from the People's Committee of the commune where the wood is located or from the nearest forestry inspection agency and a receipt for land use tax to compare with the provisions of sub-point B.1 above.

4. The list of planted wood, garden wood, and scattered trees includes rubber, eucalyptus, acacia species, pine, camphor, teak, chec, oak, mango, jackfruit, longan, kapok, willow, reed, and poplar. Other types of wood trees will be supplemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development when necessary for the production of exported goods.

C. FOR IMPORTED RAW WOOD MATERIALS:

1. Only imported raw wood materials and artificial boards imported into Vietnam after January 1, 1996 may be used for producing and processing export products.

2. If using imported raw wood materials or artificial boards imported by enterprises, the following documents must be submitted to customs when exporting wood products:

2.1 For cases where enterprises import wood directly for production of exported goods (without reselling), the export product declaration must include:

A completed customs declaration for the volume of imported raw wood materials.

A confirmation document from the Forest Inspection Office where the wood was brought into production regarding the volume of imported wood used for production of exported goods (with legal origin according to the customs declaration).

2.2 For cases of purchasing imported raw wood materials or artificial boards, the selling enterprise must fully bear responsibility for the legal origin documentation. The purchasing enterprise must have:

A purchase and sale contract specifying the volume of wood purchased according to which customs declaration (number, date, month, year).

A confirmation document from the Forest Inspection Office where the wood was brought into production regarding the product made from legally imported raw wood materials or artificial boards.

3. In cases of using wood from packaging of imported goods, the original Record of Utilization of Packaging Material must be presented, which has been confirmed by the local Forest Inspection Office or the nearest office regarding the legal origin of the imported packaging wood. If there is a transfer, an additional purchase and sale contract and tax invoice issued by the Ministry of Finance must be provided.

D. REGULATIONS ON ENFORCEMENT AND SANCTIONS FOR VIOLATIONS CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF RAW WOOD MATERIALS:

Cases of intentional deception or false declaration of the origin of raw wood materials and actions aiding such deception or false declaration will be strictly dealt with according to the law.

II. ALLOCATION OF DOMESTIC NATIVE FOREST WOOD LIMITS FOR EXPORTED HANDICRAFT WOOD PRODUCTS:

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development provides guidance on implementing sub-point b, Clause 1, Article 5 of the aforementioned Decision regarding the allocation of domestic native forest wood limits for the production of exported handicraft wood products as follows:

The Government stipulates:

"Annually, based on the planned quota for harvesting domestic native forest wood assigned by the Prime Minister, after balancing domestic production and consumption needs and the capacity for processing handicraft wood products, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall submit to the Prime Minister for approval the limit of domestic native forest wood for the production of exported handicraft wood products."

The Government's provisions are:

"Annually, based on the targets for the plan to exploit natural forest wood assigned by the Prime Minister, after balancing domestic production and consumption needs, and the capacity to process wooden handicraft products, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall submit to the Prime Minister for approval the quota of natural forest wood within the country for the production of wooden handicraft products for export."

Based on the approved quota for natural forest wood for producing exported wooden handicraft products, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development allocates the quota of natural forest wood to relevant ministries, sectors, and provincial/municipal People's Committees that produce exported wooden handicraft products. On this basis, the Minister, Chairman of the provincial/municipal People's Committee assigns specific wood quotas to enterprises and units directly engaged in producing and trading in wooden handicraft products under their management, including foreign-invested enterprises.

In accordance with the above provisions, the Ministry guides the allocation of wood export quotas as follows:

1. Each year, relevant ministries, sectors, and provincial/municipal People's Committees have the responsibility to notify the demand for using natural forest wood to produce exported handicraft goods to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development before September 30 so that the Ministry can aggregate and submit to the Government for decision-making.

2. After the Government approves the quota for natural forest wood for producing exported handicraft goods, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will allocate this quota to relevant ministries, sectors, and provincial/municipal People's Committees based on their needs, in line with each sector's and province/city's capacity to produce exported handicraft goods.

3. The Minister, Chairman of the provincial/municipal People's Committee, based on the quota allocated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, assigns specific wood quotas to enterprises under their management according to the following principles.

Only assign wood quotas to enterprises producing or exporting wooden handicraft products that have import/export business licenses or wood processing permits.

Assign within the scope of the quota allocated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Allocate the quota once to enterprises.

The document assigning wood quotas to enterprises shall be established according to a unified national model (annex 1 attached).

The list of enterprises assigned quotas shall be sent back to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for monitoring and management.

Based on the quota allocated by the Minister or the Chairman of the provincial/municipal People's Committee and the list of items specified in Clause 1, Article 2 of Decision No. 1124/1997/QD-TTg dated December 25, 1997 of the Prime Minister, enterprises shall obtain import/export business licenses or wood processing permits or investment permits and customs declaration documents for the origin of wood to process export procedures.

4. Regarding consignment exports:

Enterprises producing exported wooden handicraft products may export directly or through consignment.

Consignment exports shall be carried out in accordance with current regulations.

5. Regarding management of wood export quotas:

Wood export quotas shall be managed according to the principle:

Strictly prohibit the sale of wood quota indicators for producing export products.

Enterprises assigned wood quotas for producing export products must bear full legal responsibility for the use of wood quota indicators assigned to them.

Based on the above principle, to manage wood export quotas strictly and uniformly nationwide, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development stipulates:

For central ministries and sectors: assign to a Department or Agency to monitor and direct over the long term.

For provincial/municipal People's Committees: assign to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to fully perform state management functions to advise provinces in managing wood quotas for producing export products.

Implement regular reporting systems accurately and completely.

Specifically:

Enterprises report regularly to provincial/municipal People's Committees and main supervising ministries/sectors monthly.

Provincial/municipal People's Committees and main supervising ministries/sectors report regularly to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development quarterly.

The General Customs Department reports quarterly to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on the volume of various types of imported wood for coordinated management.

These periodic reports serve as the basis and grounds for reviewing and adjusting or supplementing wood quotas for producing exported wooden products for relevant ministries, sectors, and provincial/municipal People's Committees.

5. Regarding inspection of export product shipments:

In accordance with Clause 1, Article 6 of Decision No. 1124/1997/QD-TTg dated December 25, 1997 of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will conduct regular and spot inspections in accordance with current regulations.

III. ON RAW MATERIAL CONSUMPTION STANDARDS:

Monitoring and accounting for the quantity of raw materials exported and imported shall be unified according to a cubic meter (m3) standard.

The basis for converting to m3 of roundwood is the Raw Material Consumption Standard, which is implemented as follows: The enterprise's Standards Council establishes and self-certifies its own raw material consumption standards. The enterprise's General Director is responsible under the law for the practicality and accuracy of determining these standards.

The General Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development periodically checks the establishment of raw material consumption standards by enterprises to identify and promptly address any issues during export/import procedures.

Based on the raw material consumption standards established by the enterprise's Standards Council, the customs office implements accounting for the quantity of exported wood and imported raw wood declared by the enterprise.

IV. ON EXPORT PRODUCTS FROM CAMBODIAN WOOD SOURCES IMPORTED:

According to Clause 3, Item d of Decision No. 1124/1997/QD-TTg dated December 25, 1997, the importation of wood from Cambodia is regulated separately by the Prime Minister.

Raw wood imported into Vietnam after January 1, 1996 must have complete documentation proving legality, and enterprises may use legal wood to produce export products in accordance with Article 2 of Decision No. 1124/TTg dated December 25, 1997.

V. EFFECTIVE PROVISIONS:

This Circular takes effect concurrently with the effectiveness of Decision No. 1124/TTg dated December 25, 1997 of the Prime Minister.

During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, localities, units, and enterprises shall submit written documents to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Trade, the General Department of Customs, relevant ministries, and the People's Committees of provinces within their respective functions to promptly address them./.

 

 

DISTRIBUTION QUOTA FORM FOR NATIVE FOREST TIMBER

FOR THE PRODUCTION OF WOOD ARTISAN PRODUCTS

FOR EXPORT IN 1997

Pursuant to Decision No. 1124/1997/QĐTTg dated December 25, 1997 of the Government Prime Minister on wood product exports, forest products, and wood raw material imports.

Pursuant to document number …BNN/PTLN dated .../../… of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development regarding the allocation of …m3 of roundwood for the production of exported wood artisan products for … (Ministry, Sector, or Provincial People's Committee).

The People's Committee of the province/city (or Central Ministry/Sector) assigns the quota of native forest timber for the production of wood artisan products to: … (Name of enterprise …).

With a volume of …m3 of roundwood.

This document assigning the export timber quota serves as the basis for the enterprise to complete export procedures at the customs checkpoint.

The export of products shall be carried out in accordance with Decision No. 1124/1997/QĐTTg dated December 25, 1997 of the Government Prime Minister and Circular No. …BNN/PTLN dated …/.../… of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

This timber quota is valid for customs procedures until the date …

CHAIRMAN OF THE PROVINCE/CITY PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE
OR MINISTER OF SECTOR

Place of Receipt:

PROVINCE/CITY PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE OR CENTRAL MINISTRY/SECTOR
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
General Customs Department
To be filed with VT, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

MONITORING RECORD OF EXPORT VOLUME LIQUIDATION

BY CUSTOMS CHECKPOINT