Ensuring benefits of Vietnamese goods when developing AHTN 2022

	Additional tool for goods classification
	Many commodity lines are added into the List of Vietnam’s Imports and Exports 2017
	What’s new in ASEAN Harmonized Tariff (AHTN) version 2017?

To prepare for the third negotiation session which will take place in October, the General Department of Vietnam Customs continues to consult ministries, sectors and associations related to commodities stipulated in chapter 30 to 49. Photo: T .T.

The AHTN is the basis for the development of the Vietnam Export and Import Classification Nomenclature and the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) and FTAs of Vietnam with its partners.

Determining the importance in negotiating the AHTN and preparing for the third negotiation session, the General Department of Vietnam Customs has consulted Customs units, the Ministry of Finance, other ministries, sectors and business associations to review the AHTN 2017 to develop the AHTN 2022 for commodities in chapter 30 to 49.

According to a representative of the Import and Export Duty Department (under the General Department of Vietnam Customs), in the second negotiation session for commodities stipulated in chapter 1 to 29, the Vietnam negotiation delegation gave their view on maintaining commodity lines that have tax differences in bilateral and multilateral FTAs with ASEAN.

Accordingly, there are 136 commodity lines detailed in Chapter 1 to 24, of which, Chapter 3, 15, 16 are specifically detailed. The additional details of these commodity lines aim to facilitate the management and application of tax rate according to the member countries' requests and not affect the commitments of member countries in FTAs.

41 commodity lines are deleted and included in Chapters 1 to 24. These are commodity lines with low turnover and MFN and ASEAN FTAs tax rates that are not different, so Vietnam and certain countries have no basis to keep these commodity lines. The inclusion and deletion of these commodity lines do not cause difficulties for Vietnam's bilateral FTAs to detail these lines at 10 digits with the difference in tax rates as commitments.

Some notable contents in the second negotiation include Chapter 24 supplementing new heading 24.04 “tobacco, “reconstituted” tobacco, nicotine, tobacco or nicotine substitutes for smoking without burning; nicotine products into the human body”.

Accordingly, commodities in the new category 24.04 may be transferred from many other headings such as tobacco, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages. Thus, the ministries, branches and associations related to products of heading 24.04 should research and specify these commodities to have a basis to propose specific HS codes in heading 24.04, to ensure maximum benefits for Vietnamese goods.

Another notable content is the difference in tax rates. Vietnam has proposed supplementing the commodity line 1515.60.10 “crude oil from microorganisms, fractions of unrefined crude oil from microorganisms” and commodity line 1516.30.10 “Re-esterified fats and oils from microorganisms and their fractions” and should collect more information in the export of these commodity lines to provide in the next working session. Thus, for these new commodity lines, ministries, sectors and associations should provide more information to Customs.

To prepare for the third negotiation session in October, the General Department of Vietnam Customs continues consults ministries, sectors and associations on commodities stipulated in Chapter 30 to 49. It will receive proposals to amend and supplement codes, description of commodities at eight-digit HS, the list of HS subject to the management of ministries and sectors which meet obstacles in the implementation of AHTN 2017.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs will receive proposals on adding new HS codes (eight digits) for a specific commodity line or proposals on including different HS codes (eight digits) in the same heading level into one new HS code. However, units must propose a specific basis for separation or inclusion and describe the specific structure, technical specifications for the proposed commodity and import-export turnover (if any).

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