CIRCULAR

AMENDMENTS TO CIRCULAR NO. 14/2015/TT-BTC DATED JANUARY 30, 2015 OF MINISTER OF FINANCE PROVIDING GUIDELINES ON COMMODITY CLASSIFICATION, ANALYSIS FOR COMMODITY CLASSIFICATION; ANALYSIS FOR QUALITY CONTROL AND FOOD SAFETY INSPECTION FOR IMPORT, EXPORT COMMODITIES

Pursuant to Law on Customs No. 54/2014/QH13 dated June 23, 2014;

Pursuant to Law on Tax Administration No. 38/2019/QH14 dated June 13, 2019;

Pursuant to Law on Export and Import Duties No. 107/2016/QH13 dated April 6, 2016;

Pursuant to Commercial Law No. 36/2005/QH11 dated June 14, 2005;

Pursuant to Law on Products and Goods Quality No. 05/2007/QH12 dated November 21, 2007;

Pursuant to Law on Food Safety No. 55/2010/QH12 dated June 17, 2010;

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Pursuant to Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015 of the Government on elaborating to Law on Customs and Customs Procedures, Customs Examination, Supervision and Control; Decree No. 59/2018/ND-CP dated April 20, 2018 on amendments to Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015;

Pursuant to Decree No. 134/2016/ND-CP dated September 1, 2016 of Government on elaborating to Law on Export and Import Duties;

Pursuant to Decree No. 20/2006/ND-CP dated February 20, 2006 of the Government on elaborating to Commercial Law regarding provision of commercial expertise service;

Pursuant to Decree No. 120/2011/ND-CP December 16, 2011 on amendments to administrative procedures under Decrees of the Government on elaborating to Commercial Law; Decree No. 125/2014/ND-CP dated December 29, 2014 on amendments to regulations on commercial expertise service under Decree No. 120/2011/ND-CP dated December 16, 2011 and Decree No. 20/2006/ND-CP dated February 20, 2006;

Pursuant to Decree No. 132/2008/ND-CP dated December 31, 2008 of Government elaborating to Law on Products and Goods Quality; Decree No. 74/2018/ND-CP dated May 15, 2018 of Government on amendments to Decree No. 132/2008/ND-CP dated December 31, 2008 of Government elaborating to Law on Products and Goods Quality;

Pursuant to Decree No. 69/2018/ND-CP dated May 15, 2018 of Government on elaborating to Law on Foreign Trade Management;

Pursuant to Decree No. 87/2017/ND-CP dated July 26, 2017 of the Government on functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decree 126/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government elaborating to Law on Tax Administration;

Implementing Decision No. 49/QD-CTN dated March 6, 1998 of President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on Vietnam’s participation in Harmonized Commodity description and coding system;

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At the request of General Director of General Department of Customs.

Minister of Finance promulgates Circular on amendments to Circular No. 14/2015/TT-BTC dated January 30, 2015 of Minister of Finance providing guidelines on commodity classification, analysis for commodity classification; analysis for quality control and food safety inspection for import, export commodities.

Article 1. Amendments to Circular No. 14/2015/TT-BTC dated January 30, 2015 of Minister of Finance providing guidelines on commodity classification, analysis for commodity classification; analysis for quality control and food safety inspection for import, export commodities:

1. Amend Clause 2 Article 6 as follows:

“Article 6. Classification and adoption of tax rates in special cases.

2. In case of discrepancy between article description under Vietnamese nomenclature of exports and imports and article description under HS Nomenclature or AHTN Nomenclature, adopt article description under HS Nomenclature or AHTN Nomenclature and provide classification guidelines according to international agreements to which Vietnam is a signatory.” 

2. Amend Article 9 as follow:

“Article 9. Application for analysis for classification

Customs authority in administrative divisions where commodity analysis is requested is responsible for producing and submitting application for analysis consisting of:

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2. Records containing number and date of documents affiliated to customs documents relating to commodity specimen.

3. Specimen of commodity requested for analysis.

4. Technical documents of commodities. In case technical documents are not available, customs authority of administrative divisions where applications are submitted must clarify reasons for unavailability of technical documents under Section 12 Form No. 05/PYCPT/2021 attached to this Circular.”

3. Amend Clause 1 Article 10 as follows:

“Article 10. Import, export commodity specimen for classification

1. Commodity specimen collection.

a) Import, export commodity specimen shall be collected for analysis according to Clause 14 Article 1 Decree No. 59/2018/ND-CP dated April 2018. Specimen collection shall conform to Form No. 05/PYCPT/2021 attached hereto. Specimen shall be collected from the shipment that requires analysis and representing the shipment; must be adequate in terms of quantity and quality to serve expertise or dispute settlement. Specimen collection must be conducted at presence of customs declarants. Specimen must be countersigned by all parties and sealed individually. Specimen transfer must be recorded in written form and countersigned by all parties.

In case customs declarants are absent from specimen collection, customs authority shall collect specimen in the presence of regulatory authorities in border checkpoint areas, representatives of transport enterprises, representatives of port, warehouse enterprises and countersignature of witnesses. 

b) Specimen quantity: 2.

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c) Specimen delivery: Customs authority in administrative divisions where analysis is requested shall send specimen in person or via post.

Specimen is only legitimate as long as the seal is intact.”

4. Amend Article 11 as follows:

“Article 11. Declaration of classification results and analysis results together with commodity code

1. Within 5 working days or, in case analysis period depends on analysis technical procedures or in case commodity specimen is complicated, 20 working days from the date on which adequate applications and specimen are received, Director General of Customs Department for Goods Verification shall issue declaration of commodity analysis results (Form No. 08/TBKQPL/2021 attached hereto). 

2. In case analysis results of commodity specimen satisfy categories a and c or categories b and c below, Heads of Customs Branch for Goods Verification shall issue declaration of analysis results together with commodity code (Form No. 10/TBKQPTPL/2021 attached hereto) within 5 working days or, in case analysis period depends on analysis technical procedures or in case commodity specimen is complicated, 10 working days from the date on which adequate applications and analysis specimen are received:   

a) Commodity name: Name under Declaration for analysis results according to criteria under Vietnamese nomenclature of exports and imports is consistent to conclusion under “Name based on structure and functions” under Declaration for classification result of General Director of General Department of Customs or Director General of Customs Department for Goods Verification.

b) Commodity nature: Type, components and functions of commodities under Declaration for analysis results of are consistent with type, components and functions of commodities under Declaration for classification result issued by General Director of General Department of Customs or Director General of Customs Department for Goods Verification. 

c) Commodity code: Refers to code specified under Declaration for classification results issued by General Director of General Department of Customs or Director General of Customs Department for Goods Verification.

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For commodity specimen whose expertise results fall under circumstances under Clauses 2 of this Article, Declaration for analysis results together with commodity code must be issued within 5 working days from the date on which expertise results are received.

4. Declaration of classification results or Declaration of analysis results together with commodity code shall serve as the basis for determining tax rates and adopting commodity management policies and be updated in database of customs authority, publicized on website of customs authority.

5. In case customs declarants disagree with Declaration for commodity classification results or Declaration for analysis together with commodity code, file complaints according to Law on Complaints or solicit expertise according to Article 30 Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015 of the Government.”

5. Amend Clause 4 Article 13 as follows:

“Article 13. Analysis for quality control and food safety inspection

4. Director General of Customs Department for Goods Verification shall issue Declaration for quality control and food safety inspection results (Form No. 09/TBKQKT-CL-ATTP/2021 attached hereto) within the deadline for quality control and food safety inspection as per the law.”

6. Amend Clause 3, Clause 4, Point b Clause 5 of Article 14 as follow:

“Article 14. Information sources for development of database on nomenclature of exports and imports

3. Nomenclature of commodities banned from export, banned from import, nomenclature of exports and imports under license, under conditions, nomenclature of exports and imports under specialized management according to Decree No. 69/2018/ND-CP dated May 15, 2018 of the Government;

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5. Other sources of information from:

b) Declaration of classification results of General Director of General Department of Customs, Declaration of classification results of Director General of Customs Department for Goods Verification and Declaration for analysis results together with commodity code of Head of Customs Branch for Goods verification.” 

7. Amend forms attached to Circular No. 14/2015/TT-BTC dated January 30, 2015 as follows:

a) Replace Form No. 05/PYCPT/2015 with Form No. 05/PYCPT/2021 attached hereto.

b) Replace Form No. 08/TBKQPL/2015 with Form No. 08/TBKQPL/2021 attached hereto.

c) Replace Form No. 09/TBKQKT-CL-ATTP/2015 with Form No. 09/TBKQKT-CL-ATTP/2021 attached hereto.

d) Add Form No. 10/TBKQPTPL/2021 attached hereto.

Article 2. Entry into force

1. This Circular comes into force from April 12, 2021.

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PP. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Vu Thi Mai