Vietnamese businesses have been advised to apply the advance ruling mechanism to reduce risks amidst significant changes in global trade. This mechanism will help companies specify the codes, origin, and customs value of their products in advance.

The advance ruling on goods classification also helps minimise disagreements between persons filling customs declaration forms and customs officers over the function of goods. Meanwhile, the advance ruling on value will assist firms in estimating the taxes they have to pay in advance when handling customs clearance procedures.

For the mentioned above reasons, Viet Nam has promulgated a number of regulations on the pre-determination of HS codes, origin and customs value for imported and exported goods listed below:

• Law on Customs 2014 (Law No. 54/2014/QH13 promulgated by the National Assembly on June 23, 2014);
• Government Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015, providing specific provisions and guidance on enforcement of the customs law on customs procedures, examination, supervision and control procedures (Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated 21/01/ 2015, as amended and supplemented by Decree No. 59/2018/ND-CP dated April 20, 2018; consolidated in the Consolidation Document No. 24/VBHN-BTC dated July 11, 2018);
• Circular of the Ministry of Finance stipulating customs procedures, customs inspection and supervision; export tax, import tax and tax administration for exported and imported goods (Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC dated 25/03/2015, amended and supplemented by Circular 39/2018/TT -BTC dated April 20, 2018; consolidated in the consolidated document No. 25/VBHN-BTC dated September 6, 2018).

In case the customs declarant requests the customs authority to pre-determine the HS code for the goods to be exported or imported, the declarant shall submit a complete application for the pre-determination of the HS code to the General Department of Customs at least 60 days before exporting or importing the shipment.

The application document for the pre-determination of the HS code includes:

a) An application for the pre-determination of the HS code, prepared according to form No. 01/XĐTMS/TXNK in Appendix VI of Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC dated April 20, 2018 of the Ministry of Finance; (Note: Please fill out all information on the application form.)

b) Technical documents provided by the organization or individual requesting the pre-determination of codes for goods (component analysis, catalog, pictures of goods): 01 photocopy;

c) Sample of goods to be exported or imported (if any).

The customs authority that receives and processes samples of goods to be exported or imported shall comply with the provisions in Article 10 of Circular No. 14/2015/TT-BTC dated January 30, 2015 of the Minister of Finance, guiding the classification of goods, analysis for classification of goods, analysis for quality control, and food safety inspection for exported and imported goods.

Note: The General Department of Customs will not process the application for the pre-determination of the HS code in the following cases:

a) Failing to meet the conditions and application documents for pre-determining the HS code.

b) Goods mentioned in the application for pre-determination of codes are pending for the handling results of state management agencies, including:

b.1) Goods mentioned in the application are notified by a competent state agency that they are under investigation, inspection or examination.

b.2) Goods stated in the application have been received and processed by the General Department of Customs and are waiting for handling results.

c) Goods mentioned in the application already have been mentioned in a written document about the HS code of the same goods issued by the state management agency.

Below is a list of some documents relating to the pre-determination of HS codes issued by the General Department of Vietnam Customs. You can search more documents on pre-determining HS codes on the website of the General Department of Customs.