Circular No. 02/2006/TT-BCN guiding the export of minerals

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Exporting Minerals

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Pursuant to Decree No. 55/2003/NĐ-CP dated May 28, 2003 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry;

Pursuant to Decree No. 12/2006/NĐ-CP dated January 23, 2006 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Trade regarding international trade activities and agency buying, selling, processing, and transiting goods with foreign countries;

Pursuant to the Minerals Law dated March 20, 1996, the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Minerals Law dated June 14, 2006, and Decree No. 160/2005/NĐ-CP dated December 27, 2005 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Minerals Law and the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Minerals Law;

The Ministry of Industry guides the export of minerals as follows:

Chapter I. EXPLANATION OF TERMS

1. VILAS standards are standards of the Vietnam Laboratory Accreditation System (Vietnam Laboratory Accreditation Scheme). A laboratory meeting VILAS standards is a laboratory that has a quality management system according to ISO/IEC 17025, equivalent to TCVN ISO/IEC 17025:2001. The VILAS certificate is issued by the Quality Certification Office under the General Department of Standardization, Metrology, and Quality Control.

2. The competent state authority issuing mining exploitation and processing permits is the Ministry of Industry (before November 11, 2002), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (from November 11, 2002) or the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities.

Chapter II. PROVISIONS ON THE EXPORT OF MINERALS

1. Minerals must meet the following conditions and standards to be eligible for export:

a. They must be extracted from mines not included in the planning and balance for domestic processing.

b. They must have been processed to meet the quality standards and conditions specified in the Appendix to this Circular. The quality standards of mineral types requiring metal content percentages must be confirmed by laboratories meeting VILAS standards.

2. Enterprises permitted to export minerals are enterprises established in accordance with the law, meeting the conditions stipulated by the Law on Trade regarding export, import, processing, and agency buying and selling of goods with foreign countries, and must satisfy one of the following conditions:

a. Possess a valid Mining Exploitation Permit or a valid Mining Exploitation Byproduct Permit issued by the competent state authority.

b. Possess a valid Mineral Processing Permit, and have a Purchase Contract for minerals for processing with organizations or individuals holding a valid Mining Exploitation Permit or a valid Mining Exploitation Byproduct Permit.

c. Have a Purchase Contract for minerals or a Contract for Entrusted Export of minerals with organizations or individuals holding a valid Mining Exploitation Permit, a valid Mining Exploitation Byproduct Permit, or a valid Mineral Processing Permit.

3. The export of minerals through temporary import-re-export trading or accepting processing for foreign traders shall be carried out in accordance with Decree No. 12/2006/NĐ-CP dated January 23, 2006 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Trade regarding international trade activities and agency buying, selling, processing, and transiting goods with foreign countries.

4. The export of coal shall be carried out in accordance with Circular No. 02/1999/TT-BCN dated June 14, 1999 of the Ministry of Industry guiding the conditions for trading in coal. In the case of exporting coal via small-scale trade to China, it shall be implemented in accordance with Circular No. 15/2000/TT-BTM dated August 10, 2000 of the Ministry of Trade.

5. Petroleum minerals shall be carried out in accordance with the Petroleum Law dated July 6, 1993 and the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Petroleum Law dated June 9, 2000.

6. In cases where minerals have been sorted, washed, and processed but cannot meet the quality standards specified in the Appendix to this Circular or for mineral types not listed in the Appendix, the Ministry of Industry (for solid and non-metallic minerals) and the Ministry of Construction (for construction material minerals) shall be responsible for guiding their implementation. In special cases involving changes or supplements to the planning, a report must be submitted. The Prime Minister.

Chapter III. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

1. Based on the needs of each type of mineral for domestic deep processing projects, the Ministry of Industry will consider adjusting the types of minerals permitted for export in the List of this Circular and shall announce at least one year in advance when export is to be stopped.

2. This Circular takes effect from May 1, 2006 and replaces Circular No. 04/2005/TT-BCN dated August 2, 2005 of the Ministry of Industry guiding the export of minerals for the period 2005-2010./.