New regulations on determining origin of imported and exported goods take effect from July 15

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Officers of Mong Cai Border Gate Customs Branch (Quang Ninh Customs Department). Photo: Thai Binh

Deputy Director of Customs Control and Supervision Department Dao Duy Tam says that Circular 33 revises many contents for the further reform than the former circulars. The General Department of Vietnam Customshas organized activities to disseminate andinstruct new regulations of the Circular for local customs departments and enterprises. On July 6, the GDVC held an online conference to introduce new contents in Circular 33 to local customs departments.

According to the department, new regulations in Circular 33 include:pre-determination of origin of exported and imported goods; regulations on declaration, submission, examination, identification and verification of origin of exported goods; form of C/O for imported goods; refusing to accept C/O; time of C/O submission of imported goods; applying tax guarantee for case of late payment; additional submission of C/O in special cases; checkingC/O of goods…

Circular 33 inherits Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC and remains regulations on inspection, determination and verification of origin of imported goods in Chapter III of Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC (articles 8-12), and supplements Article 5 on declaration and submission of C/O of exported goods to legalize the guiding dispatch issued by the Ministry of Finance.

Specifically, the customs declarant declares the goods origin in the "goods description" box on the e- export declaration under form No. 2, Appendix I of Circular 39/2018/TT-BTC as follows: if the goods meet conditions on Vietnam’s origin, the declarant will declare “description of goods#&VN”. If goods have origin of another country the declarant will declare “description of goods#& (country code of goods origin)”. If the goods origin cannot be determined, the declarant will declare “description of goods#&unidentified”. On the paper declaration, the declarant will declare origin of exported goods in the box of “origin” under the form HQ/2015/XK Appendix IV Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC.

If the Notification on pre-determination of origin has been issued, the declarant will declare: the number, date and validity of the Notification in the box of “the permit” on the e-export declaration or paper declaration. Notably, when carrying out customs procedures for exported goods, the declarant is not required to submit the C/O to the Customs. If the declarant proposes to submit C/O or Notification on pre-determination of origin, the Customs will receive and inspect under Articles 6-9 of Circular 33.

The representative of the Customs Control and Supervision Department said that while waiting for the results of inspection and verification of origin, the exported goods will be cleared in accordance with regulations.

Regarding the form of submission of C/O, the Circular inherits the provisions of Circular 47/2020/TT-BTCwhich has created favorable conditions for enterprises such as: in case of special incentives, the declarant will submit C/O using electronic signature and seal or copy/scanned copy of C/O; the competent authority of the exporting country will provide a website to look up C/O or other methods to look up C/O. In other cases, the copy/scanned copy of C/O is accepted for customs clearance. Enterprises must submit an original C/O within 180 days from the date of customs declaration registration.

Specifically, Clause 4, Article 12 of Circular 33 stipulates that the declarant will submit the e-C/O to the Customs or paper C/O converted to e-C/O (scanned copy with digital signature) via the Customs Electronic Data Processing System. Enterprises are not required to provide the C/O issued on the ASEAN Portal or website of the exporting country, but they must declare in accordance with Article 11.

In case of paper-based customs declaration, the customs declarant will submit a copy of C/O certified by the declarant.

The representative of the Customs Control and Supervision Department recommended enterprises about regulations on refusing to receive C/O. The Circular stipulates that the declarant is not required to declare late submission of C/O on the declaration, and may submit C/O within the time limit.

Article 14 of Circular 33 provides that the customs will refuse to accept the C/O in the following cases: the customs declarant submits additional C/O overdue date; goods are notified by the exporting country about the cancellation of the C/O or goods fail to meet origin criteria under the regulations of the exporting country.

Another new content in Circular 33 is the regulation on application of tax guarantee for cases of late submission of C/O specified in Clauses 1 and 3, Article 12. Especially, for case of the goods that have not the C/O at the time of customs clearance, the goods enjoying tax incentive under FTAs and the MFN tax rate, the normal tax rate and customs clearance. If the tax difference is guaranteed by a credit institution, a special preferential tax rate and customs clearance will be applied.

For goods subject to trade remedies, tax rate will be applied under trade remedies prescribed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. If the payable tax amount is guaranteed by a credit institution, the Customs will accept the tax rate under the declaration of the customs declarant and clear the goods.