Question:
Our company exports to the EU market. We have shipments scheduled for July, but we want to apply for an EUR.1 certificate at the beginning of August, after the EVFTA comes into effect. Can we obtain a Certificate of Origin (C/O) from the Department of Trade and Industry if our application meets the requirements after assessment?
Answer:
– Article 38 of Appendix 1 (Rules of Origin for Goods and Administrative Cooperation) of the EVFTA deals with the transit provision for goods during transportation and temporary storage. According to this article, goods located in a member state of the EVFTA or in the process of transportation, temporary storage, customs warehousing, or in a free zone on the date the EVFTA enters into force may benefit from preferential customs duties provided that a Certificate of Origin (Issued Retrospectively) is issued and submitted to the customs authority of the importing country.
– This provision has been domesticated in Article 39 of Circular No. 11/2020/TT-BCT. If your company’s exported goods fall under the conditions specified in Article 39, you can submit an application for a retrospective EUR.1 certificate at the competent authorities or organizations issuing certificates of origin (as regulated in Annex VIII attached to Circular No. 11/2020/TT-BCT) to enjoy preferential customs duties when the EVFTA comes into effect.
Question:
We have some importers in the UK, but in reality, the UK exited the EU on January 31, 2020. So, the EUR.1 form will not be applicable to importers in the UK to receive preferential treatment. Is that correct?
Answer:
For goods exported to the UK: According to the provisions of the Brexit Agreement, international agreements signed by the EU, its member states, or jointly by the EU and its member states continue to apply to the UK until the end of the transition period. This means that the UK continues to participate in the EVFTA until December 31, 2020. Therefore, Vietnamese goods exported to the UK still enjoy preferential customs duties and can be issued with EUR.1 certificates until December 31, 2020.
Question:
From what we understand, goods exported from the bonded warehouse will use a back-to-back CO or issue a Certificate of Goods without changing the origin. Can you please explain how these two cases are different, and can both of them still enjoy preferential treatment?
Answer:
To apply preferential tax rates within the framework of the EVFTA, it is recommended to follow the provisions of the Agreement. The regulations on the origin of goods are domesticated in Circular No. 11/2020/TT-BCT. Regarding the Certificate of Goods without changing the origin, it is recommended to follow the provisions of Article 3 and Article 19 of Decree No. 31/2018/ND-CP of the Government. Additionally, it’s important to note that the EVFTA is a bilateral agreement, so there are no provisions regarding back-to-back CO. The Certificate of Goods without changing the origin is not a Certificate of Origin for goods, so it does not have the same legal value as a CO for goods.
