G/VAL/Q/VNM/5  
 
2 November  2022 
(22-8215) Page: 1/5 
Committee on Customs Valuation  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 22 OF AGREEMENT ON IMPLEMENTATION  
OF ARTICLE VII OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT  
ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994  
REPLIE S FROM VIET NAM TO QUESTIONS FROM THE UNITED STATES  
REGARDING DOCUMENT G/VAL/N/1/VNM/1  
VIET NAM 
The following communication, dated 31 October  2022, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Viet Nam , and responds to questions raised by the United States in document 
G/VAL/Q/VNM/3 . 
 
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Question  1 
 
When can we expect Viet Na m to submit its responses to the Checklist of Issues found in the Annex 
to the Decisions of the Committee on Customs Valuation in G/VAL/5?  
 
Reply  
 
Viet Nam has sent written responses to the Checklist of issues before the meeting in May 2022.  
 
Question 2  
 
Would Viet Nam  identify and notify the provisions in its national legislation that implement CVA 
Article 10 on confidentiality?  
 
Reply  
 
Article 99 of the Law on Tax Administration No. 38/2019/QH14 dated 13 June 2019 stipulates the 
confidentiali ty of taxpayer information; The General Department of Customs has issued Decision No. 
1929/QD -TCHQ dated 20 July 2020 on the use and management of the customs value database, 
which requires the confidentiality of importers' information.  
 
Question 3  
 
Would Viet Nam  identify and notify the provisions in its national legislation that implement CVA 
Article 11 on the right of appeal?  
 
Reply  
 
Viet Nam promulgated the Law on Complaints in 2011, which provides for the right to complain as 
follows:  
 
Pursuant to Clau se 1, Article 7 of the Law on Complaints, when having grounds to believe that an 
administrative decision or administrative act is unlawful or directly infringes upon his/her rights and 
lawful interests, a person may make a first -time complaint with the per son who has issued such 
administrative decision or the agency that manages the person who has committed such G/VAL/Q/VNM/5  
 
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  administrative act, or institute an administrative lawsuit at court in accordance with the Law on 
Administrative Procedures.  
 
In case the complaina nt disagrees with the first -time complaint settlement decision, or the complaint 
remains unsettled although past the prescribed time limit, he/she may make a second -time 
complaint with the direct superior of the person competent to settle the first -time co mplaint or 
institute an administrative lawsuit at court in accordance with the Law on Administrative Procedures.  
 
In case the complainant disagrees with the second -time complaint settlement decision, or the 
complaint remains unsettled though past the presc ribed time limit, he/she has right to institute an 
administrative lawsuit at court in accordance with the Law on Administrative Procedures.  
 
Question 4  
 
Would Viet Nam  please specify whether the fact that the buyer and seller are related is considered 
as prima facie evidence that the transaction value has been influenced by the relationship?  
 
Reply  
 
The existence of the special relationship itself is not proof that the transaction value is affected by 
the special relationship, it is just a factor that requires the customs administration and the customs 
declarant to review and ensure that such relationship does not affect the transaction price, thereby 
not affecting t he transaction value, according to Article 7 of Circular 39/2015/TT -BTC dated 25 March 
2015 of the Ministry of Finance of Viet Nam.  
 
As provided in Clause 4, Article 7 of Circular 39/2015/TT -BTC dated 25 March 2015 as amended and 
supplemented in Clause 7, Article 1 of Circular No. 60/2019/TT -BTC dated 30 August 2019 of the 
Ministry of Finance of Viet Nam, at the time of customs declaration, if the buyer and the seller have 
a special relationship, the customs declarant must declare whether the special relati onship affects 
the purchase or sale price or not; and if the customs administration suspects that the price of the 
transaction is affected by a special relationship, the customs declarant must provide documents to 
prove that the special relationship does n ot affect the transaction value.  
 
Question 5  
 
Article 10.6 of Circular No. 39/2015/TT -BTC provides, in part, that "the customs value of goods 
imported through processing in Viet Nam  shall be determined according to the principle provided in 
clause 1 of thi s Article after deducting the expense of processing to increase the value of goods ". 
Would Viet Nam  please confirm that this method is applied only at the request of the importer, in 
accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 5 of the CVA?  
 
Reply  
 
As provided in Article 21 of the Customs Law, when registering the customs declaration, the customs 
declarant must fully declare all information requirements in the customs declaration, including the 
customs value. As provisions of Point b, Clause 1, Article 5 of Circ ular No. 39/2015/TT -BTC, as 
amended and supplemented in Clause 4, Article 1 of Circular No. 60/2019/TT -BTC dated August 30, 
2019, when determining customs value for customs declaration, customs declarants must apply 
customs valuation methods. In case the c ustoms declarant determines the customs value by himself 
based on the deducted value method, the customs declarant shall not make a request to the customs 
administration, but only notify to them for later inspection if necessary.  
 
As provided in Clause 2, Article 21 of the Customs Law, the customs administration shall conduct 
the customs inspection, which includes the customs value declared by the customs declarant when 
carrying out customs procedures. As in Article 78 of the Customs Law, the customs admini stration 
shall conduct post -clearance inspection, which also includes the customs value. According to Clause 
1, Article 52 of the Law on Tax Administration, if the customs administration has evidence and does 
not accept the customs value declared by the cu stoms declarant, the customs administration shall 
determine the customs value. While determining the customs value, in case the customs 
administration applies the deducted value method, the customs declarant is responsible for providing 
appropriate informa tion to serve the customs agency's calculation.  
 G/VAL/Q/VNM/5  
 
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  Thus, upon specific cases, the deducted value method can be applied regardless of whether there is 
the importer's request or not.  
 
Question 6  
 
Article 15.2(d) of Circular No. 39/2015/TT -BTC authorizes a deduction for several types of discounts, 
including the commercial level of the transaction, a "discount according to the sales ", and a "discount 
according to the form and time of payment ". Can Viet Nam  please explain whether other types of 
discounts (e.g., loyalty discounts, seasonal discounts, closeout discounts, etc.) may also be taken 
into account when determining customs value?  
 
Reply  
 
Article 15.2 (d) Circular 39/2015/TT -BTC stipulates the pr ocedures for adjustments by deducting 
some kinds of expenses, which includes deductions for some discounts from the customs value and 
this deduction is made after completion of the transaction between parties. Accordingly, the 
procedure to adjust this dedu ction does not apply in case the seller gives a discount to the buyer in 
other forms of discount than those prescribed.  
 
Thus, through negotiation and transaction, if the buyer receives any kind of discounts by the seller 
and that discount is realized at t he time of determining of actual payment amount, the customs 
declarant himself determines the actual payment price and customs value of the goods, together 
with supportive documents and objective evidence about the factors related to the results of customs  
value determination, the customs administration will still accept it.  
 
Question 7  
 
Article 15.2(d)(3)(2)(3) of Circular No. 39/2015/TT -BTC provides that "The value of the deduction 
shall be under 5% of the total value of the goods and the declared value s hall not be under the value 
of the reference price of the identical goods in the List of imported goods facing risk in value ". Can 
Viet Nam  please explain whether this provision allows Customs to disregard legitimate discounts 
that exceed 5%?  
 
Reply  
 
Article 15.2.d.3.2 stipulates the authority to approve the reduction in customs value due to discount 
offered by the sellers to the buyers. Accordingly, Director of provincial Customs Department 
considers and decides to approve and make adjustments of the disco unt deduction, given all 
conditions are met and the value of the discount is less than 5% of total value of consignment and 
declared value is not lower than the reference price of identical goods in the List of imported goods 
with value risk. In other case s of discounts (i.e., for discounts above 5%), the authority is given to 
the Director General of General Department of Viet Nam Customs.  
 
Question 8  
 
Article 17.2(a) of Circular No. 39/2015/TT -BTC contains a special provision for the valuation of autos 
or motorbikes. Can Viet Nam  please explain whether this provision authorizes Viet Nam  Customs to 
proceed directly to the fallback method of valuation, ra ther than first verifying the truth or accuracy 
of the transaction value and, if necessary, subsequently applying the remaining valuation methods 
in sequential order?  
 
Reply  
 
Article 17.2 Circular No. 39/2015/TT -BTC gives instruction for determining custom s value of cars 
and motorcycles in case of changes in using purpose after being imported for tax exemption purpose. 
Due to the specific nature of used means of transport after being imported, the appropriate customs 
valuation method must be the fall -back m ethod.  
 
The fact that Viet Nam has a separate clause stipulating the customs valuation of cars and 
motorcycles in such cases aims at facilitating the customs declarants and the customs administration 
when determining, declaring and inspecting for imported automobiles and motorbikes that are 
changed to other using purposes after being used for exemption of import tax.  G/VAL/Q/VNM/5  
 
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  Question 9  
 
Article 21 of Circular No. 60/2019/TT -BTC provides for the use of a valuation database. Can Viet 
Nam please provide more information on how the database is used and whether a difference between 
a database value and a declared transaction value is, by itsel f, sufficient to reject the transaction 
value?  
 
Reply  
 
As provided in Clause 3, Article 21 of Circular No. 39/2015/TT -BTC which is amended and 
supplemented in Clause 10, Article 1 of Circular No. 60/2019/TT -BTC dated August 30, 2019, the 
Customs Value Data base is used for: (i) Developing a list of export and import goods with risks in 
value, a list of enterprises with risks in customs value; (ii) checking the customs value of exported 
and imported goods; (iii) Serving the state management of export and impo rt of goods and other 
fields.  
 
According to the provisions of Article 25 of Circular No. 38/2018/TT -BTC as amended in Clause 14, 
Article 1 of Circular No. 39/2018/TT -BTC dated April 20, 2018, in case the declared value is lower 
than the database price (ref erence price of identical or similar imported goods promulgated by the 
General Department of Viet Nam Customs as prescribed in Article 22 of Circular No. 39/2015/TT -
BTC, customs values shall be collected by the Customs authorities from sources as prescribe d in 
Article 25 of Circular No. 39/2015/TT -BTC after converting to the customs value of imported goods 
up to the first checkpoint of import), the customs agency will put it on suspicion and hold a 
consultation.  
 
In case of doubt, the customs administration  shall organize a consultation. Through consultation, if 
there are sufficient grounds for rejection, the customs administration will re -determine the customs 
value as prescribed in Article 25 of Circular 38/2015/TT -BTC which is amended in Clause 14, Articl e 
1 of Circular 39/2018/TT -BTC 
 
Question 10  
 
Article 23 of Circular No. 60/2019/TT -BTC provides for organizations/individuals to request additions 
or modifications to the lists of exported/imported goods with possibly  mis declared  values. How are 
these req uests evaluated to determine whether the additions or modifications requested will actually 
be made?  
 
Reply  
 
As provided in Article 17 of the Law on Customs, the customs administration applies the principle of 
risk management to determine the subjects of c ustoms inspection measures. Accordingly, the List 
of goods at risk of value is the result of applying risk management principles to identify and warn 
about the customs declaration that needs to be checked for customs value during the process of 
customs pro cedures for export and import goods.  
 
In order to enhance the effectiveness of targeting management, the List of goods with risk in value 
is structured with groups of risky items and names of the risky items with reference prices.  
 
The list of goods with r isk in value is periodically reviewed, amended and supplemented. The review 
process for amendments and supplements will consider information reported by organizations, 
individuals and local customs offices.  
 
When receiving complaints from organizations and  individuals, the General Department of Viet Nam 
Customs is responsible for collecting relevant information and organizing risk assessment to 
determine the accuracy and reliability of the reflection, thereby decide to amend and supplement 
the List.  
 
Curren tly, after receiving feedbacks from organizations and individuals, the General Department of 
Viet Nam Customs often organizes inspection seminars to collect information before transforming 
into the list of amendments and supplements.  
 G/VAL/Q/VNM/5  
 
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  According to the provisions of Article 22 of Circular 39/2015/TT -BTC, the list, including the reference 
price, is circulated internally and used uniformly in the Customs sector.  
 
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