Circular No. 16TC/TCT guiding the implementation of Decree No. 91/CP dated December 18, 1995 of the Government on the issuance of the list of goods for implementing the Agreement on the Trade Preferential Scheme (CEPT) of ASEAN countries for the year 1996.

CIRCULAR

OF THE MINISTER OF FINANCE NO. 13-TC/TCT ON MARCH 28, 1997 AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING THE CIRCULAR NO. 16-TC/TCT DATED MARCH 5, 1996 OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE ON "GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTING DECREE NO. 91/CP DATED DECEMBER 18, 1995 OF THE GOVERNMENT ON ISSUING THE LIST OF GOODS TO IMPLEMENT THE AGREEMENT ON THE COMMON ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONAL MEASURES (CEPT) OF THE ASEAN COUNTRIES FOR 1996" TO APPLY FOR 1997

To implement the Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff Treatment (CEPT) of the ASEAN countries, on March 5, 1996, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular No. 16 TC/TCT guiding the implementation of Decree No. 91/CP dated December 18, 1995 of the Government on issuing the List of goods to implement the CEPT Agreement of the ASEAN countries for 1996.

To implement Decree No. 82/CP dated December 13, 1996 of the Government on issuing the List of goods of Vietnam to implement the CEPT Agreement of the ASEAN countries for 1997, the Ministry of Finance supplements and amends some points of Circular No. 16 TC/TCT dated March 5, 1996 to apply for 1997 as follows:

I. ON SCOPE OF APPLICATION

Paragraph 1 and Item 1) of Part I of Circular No. 16 TC/TCT are amended as follows:

"Goods imported into Vietnam subject to the application of import tariff rates as stipulated in Point 1 of Decree No. 82/CP dated December 13, 1996 of the Government are goods imported from ASEAN countries and must meet the following conditions:

1. They must be items included in the List of Goods attached to Decree No. 82/CP dated December 13, 1996 of the Government."

II. ON THE TAX SCHEDULE

1) Paragraph 1 of Part II of Circular No. 16 TC/TCT is amended as follows:

"The rates of duty applicable to imported goods eligible for preferential rates under the CEPT Program are those rates specified in the List of goods issued together with Decree No. 82/CP dated December 13, 1996 of the Government."

2) Supplement to Part II of Circular No. 16 TC/TCT the following paragraph:

"Amendments and supplements to the names and import tariffs of groups and items as decided by the Ministry of Finance in the current Import Tariff Schedule will be handled as follows:

- In cases where the amendment of the tariff rate results in the tariff rate of the Import Tariff Schedule exceeding the preferential tariff rate under the CEPT Program for a specific group or item, the tariff rate of the Import Tariff Schedule will be applied to imported goods that are items listed in the List of goods issued together with Decree No. 82/CP dated December 13, 1996 of the Government;

- Other amendments and supplements to the names and import tariffs of other groups and items not applying to the List of Goods attached to Decree No. 82/CP dated December 13, 1996 of the Government."

III. ON INSPECTION OF ORIGIN CERTIFICATES

The principles for determining whether goods are recognized as originating from ASEAN countries as stipulated in points (i) and (ii) of Section III - Certificate of Origin Verification of Circular No. 16 TC/TCT shall be replaced by the rules of the ASEAN Origin Criteria for the CEPT Agreement set out in Appendix I of the ASEAN Certificate of Origin Model D, issued together with Decision No. 416/TM-DB dated May 13, 1996 of the Ministry of Trade.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION

This Circular takes effect from January 1, 1997 and applies to all import declarations registered with customs authorities from January 1, 1997 for imports from ASEAN countries.

Points not supplemented or amended in this Circular shall be implemented as prescribed in Circular No. 16 TC/TCT dated March 5, 1996 of the Ministry of Finance.