Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance has released new guidelines on the submission of the certificate of origin (CO), mandating a fixed time for submissions, which can only be changed in special cases.
The agency said stakeholders must comply with the time requirement for filing COs except for CO form VK (KV), which follows a different timetable, according to a report by Vietnam Customs News.
When submitting printed or electronic customs declarations, the declarant must submit the original CO upon filing. After the period for filing has passed, customs authorities will consider submissions of additional COs in two cases only.
The first is when an enterprise applies the Most Favored Nation (MFN) tax rate to its goods at the time of customs declaration with the HS code indicated. To be able to do this, the MFN tax rate should be lower than or equal to the special preferential tax rate.
After customs clearance, customs authorities will examine the HS code or allow enterprises to add a new HS code. If they find that under the new HS code, the MFN tax rate is higher than the special preferential tax rate, the company should submit an additional CO.
The second case is if the company indicates during the time of customs declaration that its products are preferential goods. But after customs clearance, authorities discover that these are not actually preferential goods, which are exempt from import tax. The firm will thus be required to submit an additional CO.
Meantime, for CO form VK (KV), the Ministry of Finance said that for printed and electronic customs declarations, the declarant must submit the original CO upon registration.
If there is no original CO at the time of customs processing, the declarant should provide an additional CO within one year of the date of registration of customs declaration. Pending submission, the company must make custom declarations using the MFN tax rate.
In addition, the Ministry of Finance requested local customs departments to double-check the origin of exported and imported goods in accordance with the rules of origin. If inspecting customs officers have suspicions about the validity of the CO or its contents, they must conduct an examination, it said.
According to a representative of Customs Supervision and Management of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, enterprises must prepare a full customs dossier in order to enjoy special preferential tax rates under current regulations.
Photo: Jyi1693
