DECISION No. 242/1999/QD-TTg OF DECEMBER 30, 1999 ON GOODS IMPORT AND EXPORT CONTROL IN 2000

THE PRIME MINISTER

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To ratify the 2000 lists of exports and imports, including:

- The list of goods to be banned from export and import (in Appendix 1 attached to this Decision).

- The list of import goods requiring the Trade Ministry�s permits (in Appendix 2 attached to this Decision).

Article 2.- The export of textiles and garments to quota-regulated markets shall comply with guiding circulars of the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Industry. The said ministries should clearly stipulate the bidding rate of approximately 25-30% of the textile and garment quotas for goods items with limited quotas as compared to production capacity.

Article 3.- The rice export and fertilizer import shall comply with separate decisions of the Prime Minister.

Article 4.- On the import of petrol and oil (excluding lubricants):

a/ The Ministry of Trade shall control and ensure the import of around 8 million tons of petrol and oil products in the year 2000; and allocate from the beginning of the year the entire petrol and oil import quotas to enterprises specialized in petrol and oil import, which have been permitted by the Prime Minister and the Trade Ministry in 1999.

The allocation of petrol and oil import quotas to the specialized enterprises shall be decided by the Trade Minister on the case-by-case basis.

b/ Where the import quotas need to be adjusted, the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall consult the Ministry of Trade before reporting such to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision;

c/ The Government Pricing Committee is assigned the prime responsibility together with the relevant ministries and branches to closely monitor the situation on petrol and oil prices and markets, and report it to the Prime Minister for consideration and adjustment of the petrol and oil ceiling retail prices in case of necessity so as to stabilize the petrol and oil prices on the market.

Article 5.- The liquor import shall comply with the Trade Ministry�s guidance.

Article 6.- On the import of IKD components for automobiles and motorcycles of different types:

a/ Foreign-invested enterprises engaged in the assembly and/or manufacture of automobiles of different types and motorcycles in IKD form are allowed to import components for manufacture and/or assembly in strict compliance with their investment licenses (according to the current regulations on the assignment of import-export management responsibility) as well as the regulations of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Communications and Transport on the means standards, and the State�s current policy on the localization of such products;

b/ Domestic enterprises investing in the manufacture and/or assembly of motorcycles in IKD form, which have been permitted by the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment and the Ministry of Communications and Transport in 1999, shall be entitled to import IKD components for assembly according to their production capacity and fill in the customs procedures; no more permits shall be granted to enterprises engaged in assembly of motorcycles in IKD form.

The assembly of motorcycles in IKD form mentioned at Points a and b above requires the copyright over the products� trade labels and marks;

c/ Enterprises engaged in the manufacture and/or assembly of motorcycles in IKD form must not use the already registered spare parts and components imported under their localization programs for motorcycle assembly. The Ministry of Industry shall assume the prime responsibility together with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment to inspect the implementation of the said provisions.

Article 7.- The import of consumer goods shall be regulated mainly by taxes, surcharges and modes of bank payment. Enterprises importing consumer goods shall have to balance foreign currencies by themselves for the import and apply the mode of immediate lump-sum payment.

Article 8.- The import of commodity groups and goods items mentioned in Appendix 2 attached to this Decision must be permitted in writing by the Trade Ministry.

Article 9.- The relevant ministries and branches are assigned to, after reaching agreement with the Trade Ministry, promulgate lists of, and guide the import and export of goods subject to the specialized management on the principle of only stipulating the technical criteria, usage properties and import/export conditions for enterprises to have basis for carrying out the import/export procedures at the border-gate customs office, not granting permits for or approving the import/export goods items, their quantity and value.

The guidance for import and export of the above-mentioned special-use goods must be announced clearly and concretely and reported to the Prime Minister before March 1st, 2000.

Article 10.- The export of wood products and import of raw material wood shall comply with the separate written regulations of the Prime Minister.

Article 11.- Goods items for which the State ensures the foreign currency balance to meet the import demand, such as petrol and oil, fertilizers and steel, may be re-exported only when the foreign customers confirm to make payment in freely-convertible foreign currency(ies); where a country sharing borderlines with Vietnam makes an official request for the procurement of the said supplies but is unable to make payment with freely-convertible foreign currency(ies), the Ministry of Trade shall report such to the Prime Minister for decision.

Article 12.- For the supplies and goods other than those listed in Appendices 1 and 2 and stipulated in this Decision, enterprises which have business registration certificates, appropriate business lines as well as importing/exporting enterprise codes may export and/or import them according to their demands.

Article 13.- The import of supplies and/or goods mentioned in Appendix 2 attached to this Decision by foreign-invested enterprises is stipulated as follows:

- For the supplies in service of capital construction to create fixed assets, the enterprises may import them but shoud, first of all, give priority to the use of home-made goods.

- For the supplies and materials used for goods production, the provisions of this Decision shall apply.

Article 14.- In order to step by step abolish non-tariff measures in import/export control, the Finance Ministry is assigned to coordinate with the Government Pricing Committee in proposing the Prime Minister before March 1st, 2000 to reasonably raise the import tax rates (or surcharge levels) for the goods items which have been ruled out from the list of import goods requiring the Trade Ministry�s permits.

Article 15.- The Trade Minister shall guide the implementation of this Decision; have to coordinate with the concerned ministries and branches in controlling and promoting export; strictly manage import, ensuring that the Vietnamese enterprises� trade deficit is below the level permitted by the National Assembly in the 2000 plan.

Article 16.- This Decision takes effect from April 1st, 2000 (except for the petrol and oil import quotas which shall be allocated from January 1st, 2000) and also applies to the export and import of quota, non-quota and non-commercial goods. In the course of execution, the Trade Ministry shall supervise and sum up opinions of the ministries, branches and localities and promptly report them to the Prime Minister for handling problems arising beyond the competence of the ministries and branches.

Article 17.- The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government, the presidents of the People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to implement this Decision.

For the Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
NGUYEN MANH CAM

APPENDIX 1

GOODS BANNED FROM EXPORT AND IMPORT

I. GOODS BANNED FROM EXPORT

1. Weapons, ammunitions, explosives and military technical equipment.

2. Antiques.

3. Narcotics of all kinds.

4. Toxic chemicals.

5. Logs, sawn timber, timber peeled from domestic natural forests; firewood, charcoal made from wood or firewood; products and semi-finished products made from domestic natural forest timber, which are banned from export under the Prime Minister�s Decision No.65/1998/QD-TTg of March 24, 1998 and the Government�s legal documents adjusting the said Decision (Decision No.136/1998/QD-TTg of July 31, 1998; Directive No.19/1999/CT-TTg of July 16, 1999; Document No.743/CP-NN of July 19, 1999; and Document No.340/CP-NN of April 7, 1999).

6. Wild animals, precious and rare natural animals and plants, under the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

II. GOODS BANNED FROM IMPORT

1. Weapons, ammunitions, explosives (except for industrial explosives, which shall comply with the Prime Minister�s separate stipulations in Document No.1535/CP-KTTH of December 28, 1998), military technical equipment.

2. Narcotics of all kinds.

3. Toxic chemicals.

4. Depraved and reactionary cultural products.

5. Firecrackers of all types (except for signal fires for maritime safety and other needs, which shall comply with the Prime Minister�s separate stipulations in Document No.1383/CP-KTTH of November 23, 1999). Children�s toys harmful to the ethical education, social order and safety.

6. Cigarettes (except for the prescribed quantity in personal luggage).

7. Used consumer goods (except for properties on transfer, including goods to meet the demands of individuals with diplomatic status of different countries and international organizations, and personal luggage in prescribed weight ), including the following commodity groups:

+ Textiles and garments, footwear and clothes

+ Electronic goods

+ Electro-refrigerative goods

+ Electrical home appliances

+ Interior decorative goods

+ Consumer goods made of ceramics, porcelain, crockery, glass, metal, resin, rubber, plastics and other materials.

(The Trade Ministry and the General Department of Customs shall codify the above goods items).

8. Right-hand drive automobiles (including those in knock-down forms and those with drives already switched before their import into Vietnam), except for specialized self-propelled means with right-hand drive that operate in narrow spaces, including: crane trucks, canal and ditch diggers, road sweepers, dumpers, road-rollers, passenger transfer vehicles at airports, forklifts in warehouses and ports.

9. Used goods: spare parts, engines, internal combustion engines, frames, tires of automobiles of different types, motorcycles and motor-tricycles; chassis mounted with automobile engines of different types; bicycles; ambulances; cars of 16 seats or under, passenger cars and trucks of under 5 tons which were manufactured in 1995 and before.

10. Products containing asbestos of amphibole groups.

APPENDIX 2

IMPORT GOODS REQUIRING THE TRADE MINISTRY�S PERMITS

(Issued together with the Prime Minister�s Decision No. 242/1999/QD-TTg of December 30, 1999)

1. Ceramic and granite flooring tiles with a size of 400 mm x 400mm or under.

2. Portland cement meeting the criteria set by the Construction Ministry; clinker.

3. Color glass, even white glass of 1.5- 12 mm thick (excluding flower glass, multiple-walled white glass, safety glass and wired glass).

4. Newsprint paper coded 4801; printing paper, uncoated writing paper coded 4802.

5. Construction steel of several types.

6. Refined vegetable oils.

7. Refined sugar and crude sugar.

8. Motorcycles and motor-tricycles in complete unit and SKD, CKD components for complete assembly; engines, frames of motorcycles and motor-tricycles of different types in incomplete form.

9. Cars of 16 seats or under.-