CIRCULAR

GUIDING THE HANDLING OF CONFISCATED HOME-MADE CIGARETTES NOT AFFIXED WITH STAMPS

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 175/1999/QD-TTg of August 25, 1999 on the affixture of stamps on home-made cigarettes;
Pursuant to Joint Circular No. 133/1999/TTLT-BTC-BTM-BCN of November 16, 1999 of the ministries of Finance, Trade and Industry on the affixture of stamps on home-made cigarettes;
After getting consents of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Trade, the Finance Ministry hereby guides the handling of confiscated home-made cigarettes not affixed with stamps as follows:

I. MANAGEMENT OF CONFISCATED HOME-MADE CIGARETTES NOT AFFIXED WITH STAMPS:

Under the provisions in Item 1.1, Point 1, Part III of Joint Circular No. 133/1999/TTLT-BTC-BTM-BCN of November 16, 1999 of the ministries of Finance, Trade and Industry on the affixture of stamps on home-made cigarette, as from July 1st, 2000, home-made cigarettes which are not affixed with stamps and are circulated on markets shall all be confiscated.

The confiscated non-stamp home-made cigarettes are assets managed by the State. Market inspecting and controlling forces shall, when detecting non-stamp home-made cigarettes, be entitled to issue confiscating decisions according to the provisions in the Government’s Decree No. 01/ND-CP of January 3, 1995 on sanctions against administrative violations in the field of commercial business. The confiscated cigarettes shall be managed according the Regulation on management and handling of assets, upon the decisions on confiscation for the State’s public fund, and assets with the State ownership thereover being established, issued together with the Finance Minister’s Decision No. 1766/1998/QD-BTC of December 7, 1998 and Decision No. 29/2000/QD-BTC of February 29, 2000 amending and supplementing the Regulation on management and handling of the above-said assets.

II. HANDLING OF THE CONFISCATED CIGARETTES

1. If detecting that enterprises are producing non-stamp cigarettes, the controlling bodies shall issue decisions on sanctions against administrative violations and confiscate their goods. The enterprises producing the non-stamp cigarettes, which have been confiscated, shall have to repurchase all of such cigarettes at the price equal to that of the same kind of cigarettes sold by such enterprises on the market at the time of detection.

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- If the production origin of non-stamp cigarettes can be identified, the producing enterprises shall be administratively sanctioned, have all revenues from the sale of non-stamp cigarettes confiscated and have to repurchase all of such non-stamp cigarettes at the price equal to that of the same kind of cigarettes sold by such enterprises at the same time.

- If the production origin of such cigarettes can not be identified, they must be destroyed after confiscation as provided for at Point 6.2, Section V of Joint Circular No. 10/2000/TTLT-BTM-BTC-BCA-BKHCNMT of April 27, 2000 of the ministries of Trade, Finance, Public Security and Science, Technology and Environment, guiding the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Directive No. 31/1999/CT-TTg of October 27, 1999 on combat against fake goods production and trading.

3. In all cases where non-stamp home-made cigarettes are detected as having been produced and sold by enterprises or as having been circulated on markets through inspection with identified production origin, the producing enterprises must go to the Handling Council to receive such cigarettes. For poor-quality cigarettes, the producing enterprises must also receive them for self-destruction or re-cycling.

4. For cases of violation involving large quantity of non-stamp cigarettes or recidivism, the cigarette-producing enterprises and organizations or individuals consuming them shall, apart from being administratively sanctioned, have their goods confiscated or be examined for penal liability according to law.

III. MANAGEMENT OF FINES AND PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF CONFISCATED CIGARETTES, AND REWARD DEDUCTION

The management of fines and proceeds from the sale of confiscated cigarettes as well as the deduction for reward shall comply with Section VI of Joint Circular No.10/2000/TTLT-BTM-BTC-BCA-BKHCNMT of April 27, 2000 of the ministries of Trade, Finance, Public Security and Science, Technology and Environment guiding the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Directive No. 31/1999/CT-TTg of October 27, 1999 on combat against fake goods production and trading.

This Circular takes effect 15 days after its signing. In the course of implementation, if any problems arise, units and agencies are requested to report them to the Finance Ministry for study, guidance and supplement.

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