CIRCULAR

GUIDING CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR EXPORT, IMPORT, TEMPORARY IMPORT FOR RE-EXPORT OF PETROL AND OIL AND IMPORT OF MATERIALS FOR PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING OF PETROL AND OIL

Pursuant to June 29, 2001 Customs Law No. 29/2001/QH10 and June 14, 2005 Law No. 42/2005/QH11 Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Customs Law;
Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 118/2008/ND-CP of November 27, 2008, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;
Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP of December 15, 2005, detailing a number of articles of the Customs Law regarding customs procedures, inspection and supervision;
Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 12/2006/ND-CP of January 23, 2006, detailing the Commercial Law regarding international goods purchase and sale and goods purchase, sale, processing and transit agency activities with foreign countries;
Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 55/2007/ND-CP of April 6, 2007, on petrol and oil trading;
The Ministry of Finance guides customs procedures for export, import, temporary import for re-export of petrol and oil and import of materials for petrol and oil production and processing as follows:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Objects and scope of application

1. Traders that possess petrol and oil export and import licenses granted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade may import, temporarily import and re-export petrol and oil (except for crude oil) and may only re-export petrol and oil which they have imported or temporarily imported.

2. Traders that are established under law and have business registration certificates containing registration of petrol and oil production or processing may directly import materials or entrust traders defined in Clause 1 of this Article to import materials under registered plans after obtaining certification of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

3. Traders that possess petrol and oil export and import licenses stating the business lines of supply of aviation petrol and oil or provision of seagoing ship chandlery services may sell petrol and oil by themselves or through seagoing ship chandlers acting as their agents to entities specified in Article 3. Chapter I of the Regulation on temporary import for re-export of petrol and oil promulgated together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Decision No. 01/2008/QD-BCT of January 3. 2008.

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a/ Vietnamese traders that carry out procedures for import of petrol and oil into Vietnam and carry out procedures for export of petrol and oil out of Vietnam.

b/ Vietnamese traders that carry out procedures for import of petrol and oil into Vietnam and sale thereof to traders specified in Article 2. Chapter I of the Regulation on temporary import for re-export of petrol and oil promulgated together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Decision No. 01/2008/QD-BCT of January 3, 2008.

c/ Vietnamese traders that carry out procedures for import of petrol and oil into Vietnam and sale thereof to entities specified in Clause 3 of this Article that are allowed to conduct petrol and oil temporary import for re-­export under regulations.

5. Traders that possess petrol and oil export and import licenses may export petrol and oil after being granted petrol and oil export permits by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 2. Petrol and oil transshipment and transfer alongside from ship to ship on rivers or the sea

Traders engaged in petrol and oil export or import may only transship or transfer alongside petrol and oil from ship to ship on rivers or sea areas under regulations of the Ministry of Transport or may transship or transfer alongside petrol and oil from big tankers or other means of transport (including supply for seagoing ships) which Vietnamese ports cannot directly accommodate, under regulations of port authorities.

Article 3. Some particular provisions

1. In case of inspecting petrol, oil and materials imported for petrol and oil production or processing, customs officers shall base themselves on results of assessment conducted by assessment service providers (below referred to as assessors) of petrol and oil category, volume (petrol and oil volumes in cubic meters or tanks must be converted into tons upon customs declaration), weight and quality, to give certification of results of their inspection in customs declarations.

2. Petrol and oil are allowed to be pumped into depots or onto other vehicles only after their customs declarations have been registered by district-level Customs Departments (where traders carry out procedures) according to customs declaration registration procedures under the Customs Law.

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4. In case imported or temporarily imported petrol and oil for re-export, materials imported for petrol and oil production or processing are on the list of those subject to quality inspection but have not yet obtained certificates of satisfaction of quality requirements:

4.1. For imported petrol and oil:

a/ If traders' depots have empty tanks or cisterns, imported petrol and oil shall be pumped into these tanks or cisterns. After the pumping, customs offices shall seal up these tanks or cisterns. Only after certificates of satisfaction of quality requirements are obtained, customs offices shall decide on customs clearance and traders may break customs seals and put their petrol and oil into use.

b/ If traders' depots have no empty tanks or cisterns, imported petrol and oil shall be pumped into tanks or cisterns currently containing petrol and oil of the same category. After the pumping, customs offices shall seal up tanks or cisterns and wait for quality inspection results. If quality inspection agencies certify that the imported petrol and oil fail to satisfy the import quality requirements, the whole volumes of petrol and oil (both old and new) shall be handled under law. Traders shall bear full responsibility before law for these volumes.

4.2. For temporarily imported petrol and oil for re-export:

a/ If petrol and oil are pumped into empty tanks or cisterns, kept them intact with customs seals till they are re-exported, quality inspection not required.

b/ If petrol and oil are pumped into tanks or cisterns currently containing commercial petrol and oil, the following conditions must be satisfied:

- Temporarily imported petrol and oil and those contained in these tanks or cisterns must be of the same category.

- State quality inspection must be conducted as for imported petrol and oil.

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4.3. For petrol and oil transshipped or transferred alongside from ship to ship:

Customs declaration shall be made with customs offices before transshipment or transfer alongside from ship to ship is conducted. Customs procedures shall be completed for customs clearance for petrol and oil in this case after traders have presented certificates of satisfaction of import quality requirements granted by competent assessors designated to conduct inspection. Petrol and oil transshipped or transferred alongside from ship to ship must be stored in separate tanks or cisterns.

4.4. For materials imported for petrol and oil production or processing:

Customs offices shall carry out import procedures for these materials only when traders present certificates of satisfaction of import quality requirements.

5. Determination of volumes:

5.1. For petrol and oil exported, imported, temporarily imported for re-export by seagoing ships or river ships (on waterways to Cambodia): Their volumes shall be determined on the basis of assessment certificates granted by assessors with the function of assessing petrol and oil volumes.

5.2. For petrol and oil exported or re-exported by tank or cistern trucks through land border gates: Their volumes shall be determined based on readings of depots' meters used to gauge petrol and oil pumped into trucks' tanks or cisterns, assessment certificates granted by assessors with the function of assessing volumes or chemical test cards of petrol and oil trading enterprises.

In places where there exists no assessor, petrol and oil volumes shall be determined based on benchmarks of their means of transport which have certificates granted by inspection agencies.

5.3. Petrol and oil volumes sold to traders specified in Article 2, Chapter I of the Regulation on temporary import for re-export of petrol and oil promulgated together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Decision No. 01/2008/QD-BCT of January 3, 2008, shall be determined based on readings of meters used to gauge petrol and oil pumped from depots onto means of transport and those pumped from means of transport into tanks or cisterns of purchasing traders. If purchasing traders' tanks or cisterns have no meters, petrol and oil volumes shall be determined by scale, benchmark or other gauging devices under law.

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a/ Oil volumes pumped directly from depots into seagoing ships shall be determined based on readings of depots' meters.

b/ Oil volumes pumped from depots onto means of transport shall be determined based on readings of inland depots' meters. Oil volumes pumped from means of transport into seagoing ships shall be determined by one of the following methods: assessment, benchmark or meter, depending on particular conditions of each seagoing ship and the practice applied to this commodity.

5.5. Jet fuel sold to aircraft shall be determined based on readings of flow meters of special-use filling devices used exclusively for aircraft.

5.6. Volume meters must be inspected, certified and sealed up by state standardization and metrology offices and periodically checked under law (except for meters of aircraft and seagoing ships).

6. Determination of categories of exported or re-exported petrol and oil:

6.1. Cases not subject to assessment:

a/ Re-export of petrol and oil from separate tanks or cisterns which have been sealed up by customs upon import.

b/ Re-export of jet fuel for aircraft on the condition that traders have written certifications and bear responsibility before law.

c/ Re-export of diesel oil and fuel oil: Customs offices shall conduct physical inspection or inspection with technical devices (hydrometer, test drugs or other testing devices specified by law to determine categories of goods) or chemical test cards of traders to determine categories of these oils.

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a/ Cases of re-export other than those specified at Point 6.1, Clause 6 of this Article.

b/ Cases of export or re-export by road, if no independent assessor exists in the locality, traders’ chemical test cards may be accepted and traders shall bear responsibility before law for these chemical test cards.

For petrol or oil taken from the same tank or cistern under customs supervision, the assessment conducted to determine its category will be valid for the whole export or re-export lot. Separate determination is not required for each means of transport.

7. For cases in which there are assessment certificates of assessors with the function of assessing petrol and oil volumes and categories specified in Clauses 5 and 6, Article 3, if detecting signs of violation, directors of district-level Customs Departments may decide on physical inspection of petrol and oil.

8. Certification of actual exportation or re-­exportation petrol and oil:

When petrol and oil have been actually exported through border gates, the trader shall submit one copy (bearing the word "copy") or duplicate of the original bill of lading (bearing the word "origin") or a paper of equivalent validity, and one original of the commercial invoice, to the customs office for certification of actual exportation in the export declaration. Certification of actual exportation must clearly state the name and registration number of the means of transport; serial number and date of the bill of lading; date and time of actual exportation through the border gate; and the sealing conditions. The competence to certify actual exportation must comply with current regulations.

9. District-level Customs Departments which carry out export or re-export procedures shall, immediately  after  completing  customs procedures for means of transport carrying to-be-export or to-be-re-exported petrol and oil, notify in writing or through the computer network under regulations of the customs service the date and time of departure, names, characteristics and routes of operation of the means of transport; names, volumes and categories of petrol and oil to related border gates customs offices for coordinated supervision and management.

II. CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR IMPORT OR TEMPORARY IMPORT OF PETROL AND OIL

Article 4. Places for carrying out customs procedures

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Article 5. Customs dossiers

1. Documents to be submitted:

- Customs declaration: 2 originals;

- Purchase and sale contract: 1 copy;

- Bill of lading: 1 copy:

- Commercial invoice: 1 original;

- The following papers, for the first time of submission:

+ Petrol and oil export and import license granted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade: 1 copy;

+ Table of annual minimum petrol and oil import quotas, issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade: 1 copy:

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+ Notice of results or written registration of quality inspection of imported petrol and oil (for petrol and oil on the list of those subject to quality inspection): 1 original.

* Copies of documents shall be signed for certification by enterprise directors or their authorized persons, who shall take responsibility before law for the legality of these documents.

2. (Original) documents to be produced at the request of customs offices:

- Petrol and oil export and import license granted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade:

- Table of annual minimum petrol and oil import quotas, issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

- Purchase and sale contract:

- Bill of lading.

3. Time limit for traders to submit the above documents to customs offices:

The above documents shall be submitted when traders come to carry out procedures for registering customs declarations, except for the following documents:

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3.2. Quality certificate: To be submitted within 5 working days from the time of completion of pumping of petrol and oil from means of transport into inland depots, tanks or other means of transport.

3.3. Commercial invoice: If the original is unavailable, the trader shall submit the facsimile (of the original) or telex within 5 working days from the date of registration of the customs declaration. The enterprise director (or a person authorized by the director) shall sign for certification and take responsibility before law for the accuracy and truthfulness of this facsimile or telex. In case of late submission for a plausible reason, the invoice must be submitted within 30 days from the date of registration of the customs declaration under Clause 2. Article 9 of the Government's Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP of December 15, 2005, detailing a number of articles of the Customs Law regarding customs procedures, inspection and supervision.

3.4. When customs declarations are registered upon unavailability of commercial invoices (originals), customs offices shall collect taxes according to details declared by traders themselves. When traders submit commercial invoices (originals), customs offices shall check and compare them with details declared in declarations. If there is any change, customs offices shall adjust payable tax amounts under
law without imposing any sanctions.

3.5. In case imported and temporarily imported petrol and oil volumes share the same commercial invoice (original), the customs office shall accept the original commercial invoice submitted by the trader for keeping it in the import business dossier; a copy or duplicate of the commercial invoice made by the trader shall be put in the temporary import dossier, with the temporary import declaration stating that the
original commercial invoice is kept in the petrol and oil import dossier together with the customs declaration No.... dated....

3.6. In case of computerized or correspondence customs declaration, the submission of paper dossiers must comply with the guidance of the General Department of Customs.

Article 6. Responsibilities of district-level Customs Departments carrying out import or temporary import procedures

1. To make reconciliation monitoring cards based on the table of annual minimum petrol and oil import quotas.

2. To carry out customs procedure steps under current regulations.

3. To seal up tanks or cisterns after the completion of pumping of petrol and oil into these tanks or cisterns (for cases specified in Clause 4, Article 3).

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Article 7. Responsibilities of traders

1. To request assessors to assess petrol and oil volumes and categories; or request designated technical organizations to inspect petrol and oil quality.

2. To preserve customs seals of petrol and oil tanks or cisterns sealed up by customs offices.

3. For petrol and oil on the list of those subject to quality inspection, for which certificates of their quality up to import standards as specified in Clause 4, Article 3, are not yet available, when there are conclusions of technical organizations designated to conduct quality inspection, they shall be handled as follows:

3.1. In case technical organizations that conduct quality inspection notify that petrol and oil lots are up to import standards and customs offices have decided on customs clearance, traders may break customs seals and put petrol and oil into use.

3.2. In case inspecting agencies or technical organizations designated to conduct quality inspection notify that petrol and oil lots are not up to quality standards and the specialized management agency in charge of petrol and oil quality issue decisions compelling re-export, traders shall continue preserving their customs seals and carry out re-export procedures within a time limit specified by law.

4. Petrol and oil already temporarily imported but neither yet re-exported nor fully re-exported may be put to domestic consumption.

4.1. For a petrol and oil volume smaller than or equal to 10% of the temporarily imported volume, the time limit for tax payment is 15 calendar days after the expiration of the time limit for temporary import for re-export.

4.2. If the petrol and oil volume traded by the mode of temporary import for re-export and later put to domestic consumption is larger than 10% of the temporarily imported volume, the time limit for tax payment for the part in excess of 10% of the temporarily imported volume is 30 calendar days from the date of import.

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Article 8. Liquidation of customs declarations of temporary import

1. Units conducting liquidation: District-level Customs Departments that have carried out procedures for petrol and oil temporary import shall liquidate temporary import declarations.

2. The deadline for declaration liquidation is the deadline for keeping petrol and oil in Vietnam.

III. CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR PETROL AND OIL EXPORT AND RE-EXPORT

Article 9. Places for carrying out customs procedures

Customs procedures for export or re-export of petrol and oil lots shall be conducted at border-gate customs offices which have carried out procedures for import of these very lots, or at customs offices of export border gates or district-level Customs Departments of localities outside border gates where traders have inland depots storing petrol and oil for export or re-export.

Article 10. Customs dossiers

1. Customs dossiers for petrol and oil export:

1.1. Documents to be submitted:

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- Sale contract: 1 copy:

- Commercial invoice: 1 original;

- Document clearly indicating the source of export (import or purchase by the trader from a principal importer or a production or processing establishment): 1 original;

- Petrol and oil purchase contract, for petrol and oil purchased from a trader permitted to import petrol and oil: 1 copy:

- The Ministry of Industry and Traders written certification of registration of the plan on petrol and oil production, processing or import of materials for petrol and oil production for export: 1 copy;

- Customs declaration of the import lot: 1 copy:

- Petrol and oil export and import license: 1 copy;

- Petrol and oil export permit: 1 original;

- Volume and category assessment certificates (for the case specified at Point 6.2, Clause 6, Article 3): 1 original each.

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- Customs declaration of the imported lot;

- Petrol and oil purchase contract, if petrol and oil are purchased from a trader permitted to import petrol and oil:

- Written registration of a petrol and oil sale plan of a trader importing materials for petrol and oil production and processing, if petrol and oil are sold domestically or exported abroad: a copy and the original for comparison.

2. Customs dossiers for re-export of petrol and oil:

2.1. Documents to be submitted:

- Customs declaration: 2 originals:

- Customs declaration of the temporarily imported lot: 2 originals;

- Sale contract: 1 copy;

- Petrol and oil export and import license: 1 copy;

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+ Business registration certificate of the seagoing ship chandlery service provider or written certification by a seagoing ship chandlery service provider acting as its agent: 1 copy (to be submitted for the first time):

+ Order of the shipmaster, ship owner or ship owner agent: 1 original or facsimile with the enterprise director's certification;

- Category assessment certificate (for the case specified at Point 6.2, Clause 6, Article 3): 1 original.

2.2. Original documents to be produced at the request of customs offices:

The customs declaration of the temporarily imported lot.

Article 11. Responsibilities of district-level Customs Departments

1. To carry out customs procedures for exported or re-exported lots under current regulations.

2. To check the outer conditions of petrol and oil-containing tanks, cisterns or compartments of means of transport. If there is no doubt and there exist sufficient conditions for keeping intact customs seals, to permit the pumping of petrol and oil into these means of transport. After petrol and oil are completely pumped, to seal up tanks and cisterns on compartments of means of transport.

a/ If volumes are determined by benchmark, to check the inner conditions of tanks before allowing the pumping.

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Article 12. Responsibilities of customs offices of export border gates and customs offices in separate customs zones

1. For petrol and oil exported or re-exported through land or river border gates:

1.1 To receive customs dossiers transferred by customs offices carrying out export or re­-export procedures.

1.2. To check seals of compartments, tanks or cisterns. If seals remain intact, to supervise the export of goods, ensuring the whole goods lot is actually exported across the border.

1.3. When detecting that seals are broken or counterfeit or there are signs of violation such as changes in petrol and oil volumes or categories, customs offices shall request goods owners to have these goods volumes or categories assessed. If assessment results are consistent with the dossier set, to make a written certification and carry out procedures for export of the goods lot through the border gate, If assessment results show some changes in volumes or categories, to make a written record of the violation and handle this violation under law.

1.4. To transfer dossiers of goods lots to customs offices that will carry out export or re-export procedures under regulations on goods transferred from border gate or border gate.

1.5. When means of transport carrying exported or re-exported petrol and oil return for entry, customs offices of border gates shall check them under regulations in order to detect smuggled goods or petrol and oil not wholly exported or re-exported and brought back for domestic sale.

2. In case of re-export of petrol and oil to traders in separate customs zones:

2.1. Customs offices of separate customs zones shall perform the tasks specified at Points 1.1 and 1.3, Clause 1 of this Article.

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2.3. To keep one export or re-export declaration (copy).

3. Petrol and oil sold to seagoing ships by the mode of seagoing ship chandlery:

Customs offices of seaports at which seagoing ships call or anchor shall receive customs dossiers for which procedures have been completed and conduct supervision until petrol and oil are fully delivered to these seagoing ships.

4. Petrol and oil volumes of one export or re-­export declaration shall be fully exported only once through a border gate (except for petrol and oil re-exported to aircraft as guided in Section IV below).

In case petrol and oil are re-exported for seagoing ships but for the reason that these seagoing ships’ tanks are not large enough to contain petrol and oil volumes under purchase and sale contracts and actually re-exported petrol and oil volumes are smaller than those declared in re-export declarations, customs officers who perform the supervision task shall give certification of actually re-exported petrol and oil volumes in re-export declarations and request traders to submit original written records of petrol and oil delivery and receipt between traders and shipmasters/ship owners/ship owner agents.

Article 13. Responsibilities of traders

1. To request assessors to assess volumes and categories or technical organizations to inspect the quality of exported or re-exported petrol and oil, in case assessment or inspection is required.

2. To keep intact original conditions of goods, customs seals and customs dossiers throughout the course of transportation to export border gates or petrol and oil purchasers.

IV. CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR RE­EXPORT OF PETROL AND OIL FOR AIRCRAFT

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Traders may apply the form of single registration of declarations for multiple exportation whereby they shall fill in one declaration form for all foreign airlines and one declaration and one declaration form for all Vietnamese airlines' outbound international flights. The validity duration of these declarations is specified by law.

Article 15. Customs dossiers

When delivering goods to aircraft, traders shall submit or produce to customs offices the following documents:

- Produce the registered customs declaration.

- Submit the sale invoice or .ex-warehousing bill: one original.

- Submit the document indicating the norm of petrol and oil volumes for domestic flights: one original (for aircraft having domestic hops before exiting Vietnam):

Article 16. Responsibilities of customs offices

1. After delivery of goods upon each flight, customs offices shall give certification in invoices/ex-warehousing bills and carry out other jobs prescribed for single declaration registration.

2. In case of sale of petrol and oil to outbound Vietnamese aircraft: Airlines shall elaborate norms of petrol and oil used for domestic hops and take responsibility before law for these norms. Based on these norms, customs offices shall certify actually re-exported petrol and oil volumes calculated from the airports from which aircraft exit the country.

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3.1. Customs offices and traders shall liquidate declarations by adding up actually re-exported petrol and oil volumes in invoices and monitoring cards, and record results of actual export in declarations (box for actual export certification).

3.2. The time limit for considering the time limit for submission of dossier sets for tax refund consideration (non-collection of tax) is 45 days after the procedures for re-export of the last petrol and oil lot, for the form of single registration of export declarations.

V. CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR IMPORT OF MATERIALS FOR PETROL AND OIL PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING

Article 17. Customs procedures

1. Import of materials for petrol and oil production or processing for export must comply with regulations on management of raw materials and materials imported for export production.

Customs dossier: In addition to documents to be submitted and produced as specified for raw materials and materials imported for export production, traders shall also submit and produce relevant documents specified in Article 5 of this Circular and written registrations of traders' plans on production, processing or import of materials and sale of petrol and oil products, with the Ministry of Industry and Trade's certification (one copy signed by enterprise director for certification).

2. Import of materials for production or processing of petrol and oil for domestic consumption must comply with Section II of this Circular.

VI. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 18. Effect

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2. The General Director of Customs and directors of provincial-level Customs Departments shall organize the implementation of this Circular. Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Finance (the General Department of Customs) for study and settlement.-

FOR THE MINISTER OF FINANCE
VICE MINISTER




Do Hoang Anh Tuan