Circular No. 32/2022/TT-BCT

CIRCULAR

AMENDING CIRCULAR No. 05/2022/TT-BCT DATED FEBRUARY 18, 2022 OF THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE PROVIDING RULES OF ORIGIN UNDER THE REGIONAL COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 98/2017/ND-CP dated August 18, 2017, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 31/2018/ND-CP dated March 8, 2018, detailing the Law on Foreign Trade Management regarding origin of goods;

In implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement signed online on November 15, 2020;

At the proposal of the Director of the Import-Export Department;

The Minister of Industry and Trade promulgates the Circular amending Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT dated February 18, 2022 of the Minister of Industry and Trade providing rules of origin under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT).

Article 1. To amend and supplement Article 4 of Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT as follows:

1. To replace Appendix I (Product Specific Rules) provided at Point a, Clause 1, Article 4 of Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT with Appendix I issued together with this Circular.

2. To replace Appendix III (Form of the export RCEP C/O and form of the supplementary C/O declaration sheet) provided at Point c, Clause 1, Article 4 of Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT with Appendix II issued together with this Circular.

Article 2. Implementation provisions

1. This Circular takes effect from January 1, 2023.

2. Where the legal documents referred to in this Circular are amended, supplemented or replaced, the new documents shall apply./.

APPENDIX I

PRODUCT SPECIFIC RULES (issued together with Circular No. 32/2022/TT-BCT dated November 18, 2022 of the Minister of Industry and Trade amending Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT dated February 18, 2022 of the Minister of Industry and Trade providing rules of origin under the RCEP)

1. Pursuant to Article 5 of Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT dated February 18, 2022 of the Minister of Industry and Trade providing rules of origin under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT), this Appendix sets out the provisions for determining the origin of goods.

2. The criteria “goods wholly obtained or produced entirely in a member country” and “goods produced in a member country exclusively from originating materials from one or more member countries” referred to in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 5 of Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT apply to all tariff lines.

3. For the interpretation of the Product Specific Rules in this Appendix, the following terms are construed as follows:

a) Section means a section of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.

b) Chapter means the first two digits of the tariff classification number under the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.

c) Heading means the first four digits of the tariff classification number under the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.

d) Subheading means the first six digits of the tariff classification number under the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.

4. Where the Product Specific Rules offer a choice of several origin criteria, the goods are originating if they satisfy any one of those criteria.

5. The change in tariff classification criterion (hereinafter referred to as “CTC”) applies only to non-originating materials.

6. Where the change in tariff classification criterion provides for excluded materials, the exclusion applies to non-originating materials.

7. For the purposes of this Appendix:

a) RVC40 means a regional value content (hereinafter referred to as “RVC”) of not less than 40% calculated in accordance with Article 8 of Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT.

b) CC means a change in tariff classification at the 2-digit level.

c) CTH means a change in tariff classification at the 4-digit level.

d) CTSH means a change in tariff classification at the 6-digit level.

dd) WO means goods wholly obtained or produced entirely in a member country in accordance with Article 6 of Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT. Where the origin criterion for the goods is WO, those goods are still considered originating if they satisfy the criterion of goods produced in a member country exclusively from originating materials from one or more member countries in accordance with Clause 2, Article 5 of Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT.

e) CR means the chemical reaction rule. A chemical product is considered originating if the chemical reaction rule takes place in that member country. A chemical reaction is a process (including a biochemical process) which results in a molecule with a new structure by breaking intramolecular bonds and forming new intramolecular bonds, or by altering the spatial arrangement of atoms. The following operations are not considered chemical reactions:

e1) Dissolving in water or other solvents.

e2) The elimination of solvents, including solvent water.

e3) The addition or removal of water of crystallisation.

8. This Appendix is based on the 2022 Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (hereinafter referred to as the HS 2022 version).

APPENDIX II

FORM OF THE EXPORT RCEP C/O AND FORM OF THE SUPPLEMENTARY C/O DECLARATION SHEET (issued together with Circular No. 32/2022/TT-BCT dated November 18, 2022 of the Minister of Industry and Trade amending Circular No. 05/2022/TT-BCT dated February 18, 2022 of the Minister of Industry and Trade providing rules of origin under the RCEP Agreement)

Continuation Sheet

Certificate No. Form RCEP

OVERLEAF NOTES

1. CONDITIONS: To be eligible for the preferential tariff treatment under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (the Agreement), goods should:

a. fall within a description of goods eligible for concessions in the importing Party; and

b. comply with all relevant provisions of Chapter 3 (Rules of Origin) and if applicable, Article 2.6 (Tariff Differentials) of Chapter 2 of the Agreement.

2. EXPORTER AND CONSIGNEE/IMPORTER: Provide details of the exporter of the goods (including name, address and country) and consignee/importer (including name, address, and country) in Box 1 and Box 2, respectively.

3. PRODUCER: Provide the details of the producer of the goods (including name, address and country) in Box 3, if known. In case of multiple producers, indicate “SEE BOX 8” in Box 3 and provide the details in Box 8 for each item. If the producer wishes the information to be confidential, it is acceptable to state "CONFIDENTIAL", however, the producer information may be available to the competent authority or authorised body upon request. In case the details of the producer are unknown, it is acceptable to state “NOT AVAILABLE”.

4. DESCRIPTION OF GOODS: The description of each good in Box 8 should be sufficiently detailed to enable the products to be identified by the customs officer examining them.

5. HARMONIZED COMMODITY DESCRIPTION AND CODING SYSTEM (HS): The HS should be at the 6-digit level of the exported product and based on the transposed Products-Specific Rules as adopted by the RCEP Joint Committee in accordance with Article 3.34 of Chapter 3 of the Agreement.

6. ORIGIN CONFERRING CRITERIA: For the goods that meet the origin conferring criteria, the exporter should indicate in Box 10 of this Form, the origin conferring criteria met, in the manner shown in the following table:

7. EACH GOOD CLAIMING PREFERENTIAL TARIFF TREATMENT QUALIFIES IN ITS OWN RIGHT: It should be noted that all the goods in a consignment qualifies separately in their own right.

8. RCEP COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: The RCEP country of origin should be indicated separately for each good in the manner shown in the following table:

Notes: Notwithstanding the above, under paragraph 6 of Article 2.6 of Chapter 2 of the Agreement the importer is allowed to make a claim for preferential tariff treatment at either:

- the highest rate of customs duty the importing Party applies to the same originating good from any of the Parties contributing originating materials used in the production of such good, (Article 2.6.6(a)), or

- the highest rate of customs duty that the importing Party applies to the same originating good from any of the Parties (Article 2.6.6(b)).

When the RCEP country of origin cannot be ascertained, based on the information provided by the exporter/producer and importer, indicate the name of the Party with the highest rate of customs duty followed by “ * ” if the Article 2.6.6(a) of Chapter 2 of the Agreement is being used or “ ** ” if the Article 2.6.6(b) of Chapter 2 of the Agreement is being used. For example: Australia * or Indonesia **.

9. FOB VALUE: The FOB value in Box 12 only needs to be provided when the Regional Value Content criterion is applied in determining the originating status of goods.

10. INVOICES: Indicate the invoice number and date in Box 13. If multiple invoices are used, indicate the invoice number and date for each item. The invoice is the one issued for the importation of the good into the importing Party. In cases where invoices used for the importation are not issued by the exporter or producer, in accordance with Article 3.20 of Chapter 3 of the Agreement, the “Third-party invoicing” box in Box 17 should be ticked (٧), and the name and country of the company issuing the invoice should be provided in Box 14.

11. BACK-TO-BACK CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN: In the case of a back-to back Certificate of Origin issued in accordance with Article 3.19 of Chapter 3 of the Agreement, the “Back-to-back Certificate of Origin” box in Box 17 should be ticked (٧), and the original Proof of Origin reference number, date of issuance, issuing country, RCEP country of origin of the first exporting Party, and, if applicable, approved exporter authorisation code of the first exporting Party should be indicated in Box 14.

12. ISSUED RETROACTIVELY: Where a Certificate of Origin is issued retrospectively in accordance with paragraph 8 of Article 3.17 of Chapter 3 of the Agreement, the “ISSUED RETROACTIVELY” box in Box 17 should be ticked (٧).

13. CERTIFIED TRUE COPY: Where a certified true copy of the original Certificate of Origin is issued in accordance with paragraph 9 of Article 3.17 of Chapter 3 of the Agreement, the words “CERTIFIED TRUE COPY” and the date of issuance of the certified true copy should be indicated in Box 14.

14. FOR OFFICIAL USE: The customs authority of the importing Party may indicate (٧) in the relevant box in Box 5 in accordance with their domestic laws and regulations.

15. REMARKS: Box 14 should only be filled out when necessary and contain information including as specified in Paragraphs 10, 11, and 13 of the Overleaf Notes.