CIRCULAR

Guiding the import of motorbikes of a cylinder capacity of 175 cm3 or higher

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 29/2004/ND-CP of January 16, 2004, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Trade;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 71/2006/QH of November 29, 2006, of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, ratifying the Protocol on Vietnam’s accession to the World Trade Organization;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 12/2006/ND-CP of January 23, 2006, detailing the implementation of the Commercial Law regarding international goods sale and purchase and goods sale and purchase agency, processing and transit activities with foreign parties;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 41/2005/QD-TTg of March 2, 2005, promulgating the Regulation on goods import licensing;

Pursuant to the Government Office’s Official Letter No. 2586/VPCP-KTTH of May 16, 2007, announcing the Prime Minister’s guiding opinions on the management of the import and use motorbikes of high cylinder capacity;

The Ministry of Trade guides the import of motorbikes of high cylinder capacity as follows:

I.  GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1. Motorbikes of a cylinder capacity of 175 cm3 or higher are motorbikes with a reciprocating internal combustion piston engine of a cylinder capacity of 175 cc or higher under Heading 8711 of the Import-Export Tariffs (below referred to as high-cylinder capacity motorbikes).

2. High-cylinder capacity motorbikes are imported under automatic import licenses granted by the Ministry of Trade.

3. The temporary import for re-export and border gate-to-border gate transportation of high-cylinder capacity motorbikes comply with the Government’s Decree No. 12/2006/ND-CP of January 23, 2006, detailing the implementation of the Commercial Law regarding international goods sale and purchase and goods sale and purchase agency, processing and transit activities with foreign parties. Procedures for temporary import for re-export and border gate-to-border gate transportation shall be carried out directly at border-gate customs offices without requiring the Trade Ministry’s permission.

4. The use registration of, and exams for driving licenses for, high-cylinder capacity motorbikes are carried out in accordance with current law.

5. Import of used high-cylinder capacity motorbikes is prohibited.

II. IMPORT PROCEDURES

1. The regime of automatic import licensing is applied to high-cylinder capacity motorbikes.

2. Procedures of registration for automatic import licenses are specified as follows:

Before carrying out customs procedures for the import, a trader shall send to the Ministry of Trade one dossier set comprising:

- 02 copies of the import registration application, made according to a set form;

- A copy of the import contract, affixed with the “true copy” stamp by the trader.

(For traders that make import registration for the first time, one valid copy of the business registration certificate is required).

3. Time limit for carrying out automatic import registration procedures:

The Ministry of Trade shall certify automatic import registration applications for traders within 3 working days after receiving a dossier.

4. When carrying out customs procedures, apart from the import dossier specified by customs offices, traders shall also present to customs offices one automatic import registration application, certified by the Ministry of Trade.

III. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION AND HANDLING OF VIOLATIONS

1. The Minister of Trade shall authorize the director or deputy directors of the Import-Export Department to certify automatic import registration applications.

2. After importing each goods lot, traders shall send to the Ministry of Trade a report (hard copy) on the import of high-cylinder capacity motorbikes, made according to a set form and its soft copy to the e-mail address: xemay@mot.gov.vn. Based on those reports, the Ministry of Trade shall certify traders’ applications of registration for the import of high-cylinder capacity motorbikes for the next shipment.

3. This Circular takes effect 15 days after its publication in “CONG BAO.”