Exports
Standard Customs documentation
Customs entry as to entry of commodities for commercial purposes will typically include the following documents, attached with declaration:
i) Sale contract,
ii) Commercial invoice,
iii) Certificate of origin (if any),
iv) Packing ist,
v) Bill of Lading, Airway Bill or other transport document,
vi) Detailed list of imported goods if there are a variety of goods or variety of packing,
vii)Value declarations (when necessary),
viii) Other documents depending on the entry, including but not limited to Import License, Proof of Export (e.g. copy of export customs declaration), Inspection Certificates, Certificates of Quality (e.g. issued by the manufacturer), Other certificates/import licenses of the Ministry of Health, Sanitary Certificates, and others, as required by the local Customs.
Preparation of commercial documentation to accompany shipment to be exported, in addition to declaration:
i) Sale contract,
ii) Invoice for exports,
iii) Detailed list of imported goods if there are a variety of goods or variety of packing,
iv) Packing list,
v) Bill of lading,
vi) Shipper’s manifest,
vii) Export clearance documentation: export license (if required), supporting documents for duty examination (if any), others, as required by the local Customs.
Export duty
Export duty is only imposed on a few items, basically natural resources, such as ore and minerals, plants and parts of plants of a kind used primarily in perfumery, in pharmacy or, and scrap metal. These rates range from 0% to 40%. The basis for calculating export duties is the free on board (FOB) price, or delivery at frontier (DAF) price – that is, the selling price of goods at the exporting port as stated in the contract, excluding freight and insurance costs.
Imports
Import duty tariff
Import duty is generally assessed on an ad valorem (on value) basis. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) is the authorized Government body which is responsible for tax policy making and accordingly introducing tariff for imports into Vietnam. In practice, the policy making process in relation to import tariff is complex due to the involvement of other ministries, e.g. the Ministry of Trade and Industry, industry association, and State- owned general corporations.
Import duty tariffs fall into three categories: standard rates, preferential rates and special preferential rates.
i) Standard rates which apply to commodities from all countries where no preferential or specially preferential duty treatment is available. The standard rates are 150% of the Most-Favoured Nation (MFN) rates;
ii) Preferential rates which apply to commodities originated from countries with which Vietnam has executed MFN treatment in trade relations, consisting of approximately 164 countries (Vietnam is presently a member of the WTO and applies preferential rated to member countries from the accession.);
iii) Specially preferential rates which are stipulated in a particular Tariff Schedule of the MOF and normally applicable to commodities originated from countries with which Vietnam has entered into a free trade agreement. Such FTAs may include the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area Agreement (ACFTA), (the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Area Agreement AKFTA), the ASEAN-Australia and New Zealand Free Trade Area Agreement (AANZFTA), the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area Agreement (AIFTA), and the Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Partnership among Japan and Asean nations (AJCEP).
To qualify for special preferential rates, the imported goods must be accompanied by particular Certificate of Origin (C/O). Without the C/O or if goods are sourced from non- preferential treatment countries, the preferential (i.e. MFN) rates or the standard rates will be imposed.
Import dutiable valuation
The dutiable value of imported goods for calculation of import duty is generally in accordance with the WTO Valuation Agreement 1994 with certain modifications. Commonly, the dutiable value of imported goods is the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods to the first check-point of importation of Vietnam, which is primarily determined as the Transaction Value, taking into consideration of certain adjusted elements. Where the Transaction Value is unable to be defined or the determination is not satisfied, alternative methodologies are used in a hierarchical order:
i) Transaction Value of imported Identical Goods;
ii) Transaction Value of imported Similar Goods;
iii) Deductive Value;
iv) Computed Value; and
v) Fall-back Method.
Import duty exemptions
Exemption from import duty is granted, among others, for:
i) Goods temporarily imported, then re-exported, for exhibition purposes if they meet certain requirements;
ii) Goods imported to form fixed assets of projects which are included in encouraged projects as prescribed, including: machinery and equipment; certain means of transportation raw material and spare parts M&E, and construction materials which cannot be produced in Vietnam;
iii) Certain goods imported for oil and gas activities;
iv) Goods temporarily imported (and then re-exported) for carrying out ODA projects;
v) Goods (i.e. material, semi-finished products) imported for implementing export processing contract with foreign parties, etc.
