G/VAL/Q/VNM/3  
 
12 May 2022  
(22-3718) Page: 1/2 
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  
QUESTIONS FROM THE UNITED STATES TO VIET NAM  
REGARDING DOCUMENT G/VAL/N/1/VNM/1  
VIET NAM 
The following communication, dated 10 May 2022, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of the United States.  
 
_______________  
 
 
The United States would like to thank Viet Nam  for notification of its customs valuation legislation 
contained in document G/VAL /N/1/VNM/1.  
 
Questions  
 
The United States requests written responses to the following questions:  
 
1. When can we expect Viet Nam  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?  
 
2. Would Viet Nam  identify and notify the provisions in its national legislation that implement 
CVA Article 10 on confid entiality?  
 
3. Would Viet Nam  identify and notify the provisions in its national legislation that implement 
CVA Article 11 on the right of appeal?  
 
4. Would Viet Nam  please specify whether the fact that the buyer and seller are related is 
considered as prima fac ie evidence that the transaction value has been influenced by the 
relationship?  
 
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 pr inciple provided in 
clause 1 of this 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?  
 
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?  
 
7. Article 15.2(d)(3)(2)(3) of Circular No. 39/20 15/TT -BTC provides that "The value of the 
deduction shall be under 5% of the total value of the goods and the declared value shall not be 
under the value of the reference price of the identical goods in the List of imported goods facing risk G/VAL/Q/VNM/3  
 
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  in value ". Can Viet Nam  please explain whether this provision allows Customs to disregard legitimate 
discounts that exceed 5%?  
 
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 expl ain whether this provision authorizes Viet Nam  
Customs to proceed directly to the fallback method of valuation, rather than first verifying the truth 
or accuracy of the transaction value and, if necessary, subsequently applying the remaining valuation 
methods in sequential order?  
 
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 tran saction value is, by itself, sufficient to reject the 
transaction value?  
 
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  misdeclar ed values. 
How are these requests evaluated to determine whether the additions or modifications requested 
will actually be made?  
 
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