CIRCULAR No. 10/2004/TT-BTM OF DECEMBER 27, 2004 GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRIME MINISTER’S DECISION No. 91/2003/QD-TTg OF MAY 9, 2003 ON THE APPLICATION OF DUTY QUOTAS TO GOODS IMPORTED INTO VIETNAM FOR 2005

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 57/1998/ND-CP of July 31, 1998 detailing the implementation of the Commercial Law regarding goods export, import, processing and sale/purchase agency with foreign partners;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 44/2001/ND-CP of August 2, 2001 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 57/1998/ND-CP of July 31, 1998;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 46/2001/QD-TTg of April 4, 2001 on the management of goods import and export in the 2001-2005 period;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 91/2003/QD-TTg of May 9, 2003 on the application of duty quotas to goods imported into Vietnam;

After consulting with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Trade hereby guides the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 91/2003/QD-TTg of May 9, 2003 for 2005 as follows:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. To apply the 2005 duty quotas to 07 commodity items: raw material tobacco, salt, cotton, condensed raw material milk, uncondensed raw material milk, maize seeds and poultry eggs according to the following details:

2. The description and the 8-digit codes of uncondensed raw material milk and condensed raw material milk are specified according to the list of goods for the application of duty quotas, issued together with the Finance Ministry’s Decision No. 36/2004/QD-BTC of April 15, 2004.

II. SUBJECTS TO BE ALLOCATED WITH DUTY QUOTAS

The Ministry of Trade shall grant import permits to traders who are eligible for importing goods on the list of those subject to duty quotas, concretely as follows:

1. For raw material tobacco:

They are traders who have been granted permits for cigarette production by the Industry Ministry and wish to use a certain percentage of imported raw material tobacco for production of cigarettes, in accordance with the Industry Ministry’s regulations on annual import plans.

Commodity-line corporations shall act as main units in receiving quotas for their member companies.

2. For salt:

They are traders who wish to use salt for production, in accordance with regulations of specialized managing ministries.

Commodity-line corporations shall act as main units in receiving quotas for their member companies.

3. For cotton:

They are traders who have business registration certificates with suitable production/business lines and wish to import cotton.

Commodity-line corporations shall act as main units in receiving quotas for their member companies.

4. For condensed raw material milk, uncondensed raw material milk, maize seeds, and poultry eggs:

They are traders who have business registration certificates with suitable production/business lines and wish to import the above-stated commodity items.

III. ALLOCATION OF DUTY QUOTAS

1. Based on the volumes of the 2005 duty quotas (for the commodity items of salt and raw material tobacco, for which the quota volumes have been prescribed) and on the basis of the balance between import results and traders’ demands for duty quotas, the Ministry of Trade shall consider and grant import permits according to duty quotas to traders being subjects stated in Section II of this Circular.

2. For commodity items, for which duty quotas shall be allocated according to demands, quota volumes for subsequent periods may be prescribed. The Ministry of Trade shall announce the volumes of quota (if any) in separate documents at least 3 months before the application thereof after consulting with the concerned ministries and branches. The duty-quota volumes shall be determined on the principle of basing on  the balance between raw material demands and domestic production capability.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

1. Traders shall produce permits for goods import according to duty quotas, granted by the Ministry of Trade or agencies authorized by the Ministry of Trade, to the border-gate customs offices when carrying out the import procedures and the quantity of import goods stated in the permits shall be liable to the import tax rates within the duty quotas.

2. Traders shall report on the import situation to the Ministry of Trade (according to a set form) at the end of every quarter.

Before September 30, 2005, traders shall send to the Ministry of Trade reports (in replacement of reports for the third quarter) assessing the import capability of the whole year and proposing the increase or decrease of the volumes of the to-be-allocated quota or reporting on the volume of goods they cannot import for the Ministry of Trade to allocate such quotas to other traders.

3. Traders who are granted import permits by the Ministry of Trade may entrust other traders to carry out the importation according to current regulations. The sale, purchase and transfer of duty quotas are strictly prohibited.

4. For traders who are eligible for importing commodity items subject to duty quotas as prescribed in Section I of this Circular, if they have not yet been allocated quotas by the Ministry of Trade or have used all quotas, they shall be allowed to import such commodity items according to their demands without having to apply for the Trade Ministry’s permits but subject to the import tax rates outside the duty quotas as prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.

5. Traders who are eligible for importing commodity items subject to duty quotas as prescribed in Section II of this Circular, if wishing to apply for supplementation or allocation of quotas for the import of raw materials in service of export goods production, shall send applications for registration of duty quotas to the Ministry of Trade for consideration and grant of import permits according to duty quotas. Applications for registration of duty quotas must be certified by specialized managing ministries (for salt and raw material tobacco) on the import demands in service of export goods production.

6. Registration of duty quotas for 2006:

Traders who wish to import the above-stated commodity items shall send applications for registration of duty quotas for 2006, made according to a set form, to the Ministry of Trade before October 30, 2005.

7. This Circular takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette and replaces the Trade Ministry’s Circular No. 09/2003/TT-BTM of December 15, 2003 guiding the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 91/2003/QD-TTg of May 9, 2003 on the application of duty quotas to goods imported into Vietnam for 2004.

Forms issued together with this Circular may be printed from the Trade Ministry’s website at the address: www.mot.gov.vn.

For the Minister of Trade
Vice Minister
PHAN THE RUE