Circular No. 41/1999/TT-BTC guides the implementation of Decree No. 14/1999/NĐ-CP dated March 23, 1999 of the Government on issuing the List of Goods and Tariff Rates of Vietnam for implementing the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Agreement of ASEAN countries for the year 1999.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for implementing Decree No. 14/1999/NĐ-CP dated March 23, 1999 of the Government on issuing the List of Goods and Tariff Rates of Vietnam to implement the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Agreement of ASEAN countries for the year 1999.

Implementing the Protocol on the accession of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the Agreement on the Program of Preferential Tariffs with Common Effective Preference (CEPT) to realize the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), signed in Bangkok on December 15, 1995;

Implementing Decree No. 14/1999/NĐ-CP dated March 23, 1999 of the Government on issuing the List of Goods and Tariff Rates to implement the Preferential Tariff Agreement with Common Effective Preference (CEPT) of ASEAN countries for the year 1999;

The Ministry of Finance hereby provides guidance as follows:

I. SCOPE OF APPLICATION

Imported goods subject to the application of the CEPT preferential tariff rate as stipulated in Article 1 of Decree No. 14/1999/NĐ-CP dated March 23, 1999 of the Government must meet the following conditions:

1. They are items included in the List of Goods issued together with Decree No. 14/1999/NĐ-CP dated March 23, 1999 of the Government;

2. They are items imported from ASEAN member countries into Vietnam, including the following countries:

- Republic of the Philippines

- Republic of Singapore

- Kingdom of Thailand

- Lao People's Democratic Republic

- Union of Myanmar

- Kingdom of Cambodia"

This Circular takes effect from May 1, 1999.

- The Union of Myanmar

3. They ensure the origin content standards under CEPT and have an origin certificate from ASEAN countries (as stipulated in Part III of this Circular);

4. The goods are directly transported from the exporting country which is a member of ASEAN to Vietnam (as stipulated in Part IV of this Circular)

II. TAX RATES APPLIED

1. The import tax rate applied to imported goods eligible for the CEPT preferential tariff rate as stipulated in Part I of this Circular is the rate specified in the List of Goods and Tariff Rates issued together with Decree No. 14/1999/NĐ-CP dated March 23, 1999 of the Government.

2. In cases where imported goods do not meet all the conditions stipulated in Part I of this Circular, the applicable import tax rate will be the preferential import tariff rate for that item as specified in the Import Tariff Schedule of Preferential Rates issued by the Minister of Finance or the general tariff rate according to current regulations on determining import tax rates.

3. In cases where the Import Tariff Schedule of Preferential Rates has tariff rate reductions lower than those of items eligible for the CEPT preferential tariff rate as specified in the List of Goods issued together with Decree No. 14/1999/NĐ-CP dated March 23, 1999 of the Government, these items will be subject to the lower preferential tariff rate;

4. In cases where changes occur in the legal documents of ASEAN countries issued to implement the CEPT Agreement affecting Vietnam's right to enjoy the preferential tariff rates stipulated in Part I, the Ministry of Finance will provide appropriate guidance for each specific case.

III. ORIGIN CERTIFICATE AND VERIFICATION OF THE ORIGIN CERTIFICATE

1. The rules for goods to be recognized as originating from ASEAN countries are stipulated in the Origin Regulations for the CEPT Agreement (Annexes 1, 3, 5) of the ASEAN Certificate of Origin Regulations of Vietnam, issued together with Decision No. 416/TM-ĐB dated May 13, 1996 and Decision No. 0878/1998/QĐ-BTM dated July 30, 1998 of the Ministry of Trade.

2. The competent authorities issuing the ASEAN Certificate of Origin Form D in ASEAN member countries include:

- In Brunei, the Ministry of Industry and Resources;

- In Indonesia, the Ministry of Trade and Industry;

- In Malaysia, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry;

- In the Philippines, the Bureau of Customs;

- In Singapore, the Trade Development Board;

- In Thailand, the Ministry of Commerce;

- In Laos, the Ministry of Commerce;

- In Myanmar, the Ministry of Commerce;

- In Vietnam, the Ministry of Trade and Industrial Management Zones authorized by the Ministry of Trade.

3. The origin certificate must bear a signature and stamp consistent with the official signature and stamp model announced by the above-mentioned competent authorities to the member countries.

4. In cases of doubt regarding the authenticity and accuracy of the ASEAN Certificate of Origin Form D, the Customs Authority has the right:

- To request a recheck of the ASEAN Certificate of Origin Form D. The Customs Authority will send a request to the competent authority issuing the origin certificate of the exporting country to confirm.

- To suspend the application of the CEPT preferential tariff rate specified in the List of Goods issued together with Decree No. 14/1999/NĐ-CP dated March 23, 1999 of the Government and temporarily collect taxes at the preferential import tariff rate or the general tariff rate currently in effect.

- To request the importer to provide additional documentation (if available) to prove that the goods genuinely originate from ASEAN countries within the latest period of one year.

- During the waiting period for the recheck results, continue to process the release of goods according to the general import procedures.

- When sufficient evidence confirms that the goods indeed originate from ASEAN, the Customs Authority shall be responsible for processing the refund procedures for the importer of the difference between the amount temporarily collected at the preferential import tariff rate or the general tariff rate currently in effect and the amount calculated at the CEPT preferential tariff rate specified in the List of Goods issued together with Decree No. 14/1999/NĐ-CP dated March 23, 1999 of the Government.

IV. DIRECT SHIPMENTS

Goods transported in cases consistent with Rule 5 of the Origin Regulations for the CEPT Agreement (Annex 1) of the ASEAN Certificate of Origin Regulations of Vietnam, issued together with Decision No. 416/TM-ĐB dated May 13, 1996 of the Ministry of Trade, will be considered as goods shipped directly from an exporting country which is a member of ASEAN to Vietnam.

V. OTHER PROVISIONS

Provisions on tax calculation bases, tax collection and payment systems, tax exemption and reduction systems, tax refund systems, tax arrears recovery, violation handling, and other provisions are implemented according to the regulations of the Law on Export Tax, Import Tax, and current guiding documents.

VI. IMPLEMENTATION

This Circular takes effect from January 1, 1999, and applies to all import cases from ASEAN countries with import declarations submitted to customs authorities from January 1, 1999.

For cases eligible for the preferential tax rates under the CEPT in accordance with the effective implementation of Decree No. 14/1999/NĐ-CP dated March 23, 1999 of the Government, but which have been taxed at the preferential CEPT rate of 1998 (under Decree No. 15/1998/NĐ-CP dated March 15, 1998) or at the preferential or ordinary import tariff rates currently in effect, the Customs Authority will review the documentation and refund the difference in tax where the applied tax rate was higher than that prescribed in Decree No. 14/1999/NĐ-CP, or collect the difference in tax where the applied tax rate was lower than that prescribed in Decree No. 14/1999/NĐ-CP from the importer.

This Circular replaces Circular No. 95/1998/TT-BTC dated July 3, 1998 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 15/1998/NĐ-CP dated March 12, 1998 promulgating the list of goods to implement the Agreement on the Program of Preferential Tariffs with Common Effective Preference (CEPT) among ASEAN countries for the year 1998.

In the course of implementation, if there are difficulties or obstacles, it is recommended that units and agencies promptly report to the Ministry of Finance for supplementary guidance to ensure appropriateness.