Circular No. 82-TC/TCĐN guiding the payment of export goods and service provision by enterprises to offset foreign debts for the State.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for the payment of export goods and service provision funds by enterprises to offset foreign debts for the State.

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Pursuant to Decree No. 47/CP dated June 26, 1993 of the Government on the issuance of the Interim Regulations on Repaying Foreign Debts with Export Goods, the Ministry of Finance provides guidelines for the payment of export goods and service provision funds to offset foreign debts for the State, specifically as follows:

I/ GENERAL PROVISIONS:

1/ The Ministry of Finance will only pay Vietnamese currency to enterprises assigned by the State with export quotas to repay debts who have signed settlement contracts with the Ministry of Finance, have exported the goods, and possess all valid documents as specified in Point 2, Subsection b, Part II below.

2/ Export goods for debt repayment must be domestically produced goods.

3/ Exchange rates for payment shall be stipulated for each group of goods, individual items, and services according to two methods:

- For freely convertible foreign currencies, the exchange rate is determined as a percentage and shall not exceed the buying rate published by the Central Foreign Trade Bank at the time it confirms the payment documents.

- For non-convertible foreign currencies, the exchange rate is set as an absolute amount for specific types of foreign currencies.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

1/ Regarding exchange rates for payment:

a/ The subjects eligible for exchange rate assessment are export goods and services for debt repayment directly produced, supplied, or permitted to be traded by enterprises.

b/ Principles for determining exchange rates:

Determining exchange rates must ensure the following principles:

- Conducted openly and fairly.

- The same commodity, market, and time point for determining the exchange rate must apply the same exchange rate.

- The determined exchange rate must both cover reasonable costs for enterprises and save for the State budget.

Reasonable enterprise costs include:

+ Production cost (if it is a manufactured or processed item), or purchase price (if it is a purchased item), or service supply cost based on actual reasonable basis.

+ Export costs, bank interest, taxes (if applicable), and other reasonable costs.

+ When determining the exchange rate, reference should be made to the sale price recorded in the foreign contract (if already signed). In cases where there is no foreign contract, the previous year's sale prices and current world market prices can be referenced at the time of reviewing the exchange rate.

c/ Process for determining exchange rates:

- Upon receiving notification of export quotas for goods and services to repay State debts, enterprises need to:

+ Negotiate with overseas partners to sign foreign contracts.

+ Prepare and take responsibility for the authenticity of the payment exchange rate plan, submit to the Ministry of Finance, the Government Price Management Board, the Ministry of Trade, the State Planning Commission, and the Government Office, which are members of the Exchange Rate Determination Task Force.

- Within ten days from the date that members of the Exchange Rate Determination Task Force receive the enterprise's exchange rate plan, based on this plan, the Ministry of Finance will lead the Task Force to unify the payment exchange rate level and recommend the leadership of the Ministry of Finance to decide. If there are still differing opinions among leaders of the Ministries and agencies within the Task Force, the Ministry of Finance will report to the Prime Minister for a decision.

2/ Settlement Contracts between the Ministry of Finance and Enterprises:

a/ Announcing exchange rates and signing settlement contracts:

- After the payment exchange rate has been approved, the Ministry of Finance will notify the enterprises in writing and simultaneously inform the members of the Exchange Rate Determination Task Force for monitoring.

- Within thirty days from the receipt of the aforementioned notice, enterprises must come to sign the settlement contract with the Ministry of Finance to implement it. If enterprises fail to sign the contract beyond the stated period without providing a clear reason for delay, the Ministry of Finance will not inform the State Planning Commission and the Ministry of Trade to agree on transferring the quota to other enterprises.

For goods designated by the State for export to repay debts, the Ministry of Finance will only sign settlement contracts with the designated enterprises.

- In the case of service provision (such as electricity, water, rent...), if there are no specific quotas allocated to each service, enterprises providing these services must submit anticipated implementation registrations and sign principle contracts with the Ministry of Finance.

b/ Payment procedures:

After exporting goods and providing services to repay debts, enterprises need to provide the following when making payments:

- For enterprises exporting goods to repay debts: payment documentation for each export shipment includes:

+ Export invoice (original copy)

+ Bill of lading signed by the shipowner (copy)

+ Export permit issued by the Ministry of Trade (copy)

+ Export declaration confirmed by customs (copy).

+ Confirmation from the Central Foreign Trade Bank stating "the foreign party has deducted the debt or has processed the deduction with the foreign party."

+ The exchange rate announced by the Central Foreign Trade Bank at the time it confirms the payment documentation.

- For enterprises providing services to repay debts, they need to provide:

+ Service supply contract signed with the service recipient.

+ Service supply invoice confirmed by the service recipient.

+ Confirmation from the Central Foreign Trade Bank stating "the foreign party has deducted the debt or has processed the deduction," accompanied by the exchange rate table published by the bank.

c/ Payment:

After verifying the enterprise's payment documentation and confirming its completeness and validity, the Ministry of Finance will proceed to disburse Vietnamese dong as follows:

- Pay 100% of the value of the goods or services immediately if the Central Foreign Trade Bank confirms "the foreign bank has fully deducted the debt for the State for the entire value of the consignment or service."

- Pay 90% of the value of the goods or services if the bank only confirms "has processed the payment with the foreign party to deduct the debt for the State."

The remaining 10% will be paid to the enterprise by the Ministry of Finance upon presentation of confirmation from the bank that the foreign bank has fully deducted the debt for the State for the entire value of the consignment (notification received).

The Ministry of Finance shall only pay according to the actual value recorded in the Payment Contract. In cases where exports are conducted through intermediaries, the Ministry of Finance will make payments through the intermediary unit. Payments made directly to individual enterprises responsible for goods repayment will be reviewed and decided upon by the Ministry of Finance based on requests from the intermediary units.

3/ Other provisions:

- Enterprises that have signed payment contracts with the Ministry of Finance must bear full responsibility for any losses (if any) arising from the following reasons:

+ Failure to comply with the terms stipulated in the contract, delivering goods beyond the agreed deadlines, or failing to fulfill other delivery obligations, resulting in penalties imposed by foreign entities.

+ Delivering substandard goods leading to rejection of payment by foreign entities.

If the export value of goods and services for debt repayment is rejected by foreign entities, the enterprise must return to the Ministry of Finance the equivalent amount of Vietnamese currency already paid, including interest calculated at the demand deposit rate of the Bank from the date of receipt of the payment to the date of repayment to the Ministry of Finance.

If the delivery documents provided by the enterprise are confirmed by the Ministry of Finance as complete and valid, and if the Ministry of Finance fails to make payment to the enterprise within thirty days, then from the thirty-first day onwards, the Ministry of Finance must pay additional interest to the enterprise for late payment, calculated at the lending rate specified by the Bank.

4/ Contract termination:

After the completion of delivery and payment of goods, enterprises and the Ministry of Finance shall proceed to terminate the signed payment contract.

III/ IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS:

This Circular takes effect from the date of issuance and replaces Circular No. 65 - TC/TCĐN dated November 13, 1991 issued by the Ministry of Finance.

During implementation, any issues encountered should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for resolution./.