Circular No. 597/TC/TCT regarding guidance on handling price differential revenue for certain imported goods as stipulated in Decision No. 35/2001/QĐ-BTC of the Ministry of Finance.

LETTER

OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE NUMBER 597 TC/TCT ON JANUARY 17, 2002
REGARDING GUIDELINES FOR HANDLING PRICE DIFFERENTIAL COLLECTIONS FOR CERTAIN GOODS
PURSUANT TO DECISION NO. 35/2001/QĐ-BTC OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

Dear: General Department of Customs,

Ministry of Finance has received letters from several enterprises reflecting difficulties encountered during the implementation of price differential payments as stipulated in Decision No. 35/2001/QĐ/BTC dated April 18, 2001 issued by the Ministry of Finance. Regarding this matter, the Ministry of Finance provides the following comments:

On April 18, 2001, the Ministry of Finance promulgated Decision No. 35/2001/QĐ-BTC stipulating the rate of price differential collection for certain imported goods. Article 2 of Decision No. 35/2001/QĐ-BTC provides: "The commodity codes in the Tariff Schedule applicable to goods subject to price differential collection as specified in Appendices I and II attached hereto shall not apply to all items within the same group or code, but only to those specific items listed explicitly in Appendices I and II attached hereto."

Based on this provision, goods required to pay price differentials must meet two conditions:

- Being clearly named in Appendices I and II issued with Decision No. 35/2001/QĐ-BTC.

- Belonging to the commodity codes listed in Appendices I and II issued with Decision No. 35/2001/QĐ-BTC.

Therefore, there may be situations as follows: 1- All goods within a tariff code are subject to price differential payments.

2- Only certain items with specific characteristics (meeting the criteria specified in Circulars No. 11/2001/TT-BTM dated April 18, 2001; and Circular No. 16/2001/TT-BTM dated May 29, 2001 issued by the Ministry of Trade guiding implementation of Decision No. 46/2001/QĐ-TTg dated April 4, 2001 of the Prime Minister on management of export and import goods during the period 2001-2005) within a tariff code are subject to price differential payments.

For example: A company imports flat non-alloy steel sheets coated with zinc by hot-dip galvanizing, thickness from 0.25mm to 0.55mm, length 6,000mm, width over 600mm. According to the classification principle of the Import Tariff Schedule, this item falls under commodity code 72104910; however, it does not meet all the criteria for naming as specified in column "item" of Appendix II issued with Decision No. 35/2001/QĐ-BTC mentioned above (does not meet the length criterion), therefore although this item belongs to commodity code 72104910, it is not required to pay price differentials. We request the General Department of Customs to direct local customs offices to implement uniformly. In case of difficulties, we request the General Department of Customs to compile and report for prompt resolution by the Ministry of Finance.

Example: A business imports flat non-alloy steel sheets with hot-dip galvanized zinc coating by immersion method, thickness from 0.25mm to 0.55mm, length of 6,000mm, width over 600mm. According to the classification principle of the Import Tariff Schedule, this item falls under tariff number 72104910; however, it does not meet all the criteria specified in column "item" of Appendix II promulgated together with Decision No. 35/2001/QĐ-BTC (does not meet the length criterion), therefore although it belongs to tariff number 72104910, no price differential payment is required.

The General Department of Customs requests local Customs Bureaus to implement uniformly. In case of difficulties, the General Department of Customs is requested to compile and report for prompt resolution by the Ministry of Finance.