Customs & Global Trade Update | June 2025

This Update highlights the following matters: 

• The National Assembly passed a resolution to reduce the value-added tax (VAT) rate until the end of 2026 
• The National Assembly approved the amended Law on special consumption tax (SCT) 
• Circular amending the detailed list of goods purchased and exchanged by border residents 
• Circular amending customs procedures for exported, imported, and transited goods sent via international express delivery services 
• Circular stipulating certain matters regarding trade remedies 
• Amendments to regulations on issuing various types of non-preferential certificate of origin (C/O), certificates of non-manipulation (CNM), and registration of REX codes 
• Newly issued administrative procedures related to issuing various types of preferential and non-preferential C/O, CNM overseen by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) 

Official Letters providing guidance on the following matters:

• Post-clearance supplements of customs dossiers 
• Tax policy for goods damaged due to unexpected accidents during transportation 

The National Assembly passed a resolution to reduce VAT until the end of 2026

At the 9th session of the 15th National Assembly held on 17 June 2025, the National Assembly approved a resolution to reduce VAT applicable from 1 July 2025 to 31 December 2026 (VAT reduction resolution 2025). 

The VAT reduction resolution 2025 states the type of goods and services that will benefit from the 2% VAT rate reduction, are those specified in Clause 3, Article 9 of the Law on VAT No. 48/2024/QH15 issued on 26 November 2024 (Law on VAT 2024), except for certain groups of goods and services including: telecommunications, financial activities, banking, securities, insurance, real estate business, metal products, mining products (except coal), and goods and services subject to SCT (except gasoline). 

Accordingly, the scope of the VAT reduction has been adjusted compared to that prescribed in previously issued regulatory documents. Notable changes include: 

• Exclusion of prefabricated metal products, coke, refined petroleum, and chemical products from the list of goods and services not eligible for VAT reduction. 
• The duration of the policy is 18 months from 1 July 2025 to 31 December 2026, instead of limited to six-month phases as before. 

The National Assembly approved the amended Law on SCT

At the 9th session of the 15th National Assembly held on 14 June 2025, the National Assembly approved the amended SCT Law, which will officially take effect from 1 January 2026. 

Based on the contents presented to the National Assembly for consideration, several notable amendments to the SCT Law include: 

• Expansion of taxable items to include: 
• Air conditioners with a capacity of over 24,000 BTU to 90,000 BTU, except those designed by the manufacturer solely for installation on means of transport including cars, train cars, airplanes, helicopters, ships, and boats. Where organizations or individuals produce or import hot or cold units separately, the sold or imported goods (hot or cold units) will still be subject to special consumption tax as complete products (complete air conditioners); 
• Beverages according to Vietnamese standards (TCVN) with a sugar content exceeding 5g/100ml. 
• There is an addition of goods exempt from SCT, specifically exported goods for which SCT has been paid and are returned from the foreign country.  
• A roadmap for increasing tax rates on specific items as follows:

*From 1 January 2027, additional special consumption tax will apply to cigarettes, cigars, fine-cut tobacco, and other forms of tobacco calculated by absolute tax methods.

• From 1 January 2026, goods subject to SCT temporarily imported for re-export or business restructuring (such as ownership conversion, business transformation, division, separation, merger) will no longer be eligible for a SCT refund. SCT refund schemes will be limited and only apply to imported raw materials for producing and processing exported goods and business liquidation. 

Circular amending the detailed list of goods purchased and exchanged by border residents

On 2 June 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Circular No. 34/2025/TT-BCT (Circular 34) amending certain provisions of Circular No. 02/2018/TT-BCT dated 27 February 2018, which details the list of goods for sale and exchange by border residents. According to current regulations, border residents are allowed to import certain goods via purchasing and exchanging to meet the production and consumption needs. 

Key contents of Circular 34: 

• Replacement of Appendix I – List of goods imported in the form of purchase and exchange by border residents in Circular No. 02/2018/TT-BCT with the appendix issued together with Circular 34. 
• Supplementing regulations that items not listed in the appendix issued with Circular 34 will not be imported in the form of purchase and exchange of goods by border residents. 

Circular 34 shall enter into force from 21 July 2025. 

Please refer to Circular 34 for further details. 

Circular amending customs procedures for exported, imported, and transited goods sent via international express delivery services

On 26 May 2025, the MOF issued Circular No. 29/2025/TT-BTC (Circular 29) amending several provisions of Circular No. 191/2015/TT-BTC dated 24 November 2015, regulating customs procedures for exported, imported, and transited goods sent via international express delivery services (Circular 191), which was amended in Circular No. 56/2019/TT-BTC dated 23 August 2019 (Circular 56). 

Some notable amendments in Circular 29 include: 

• Revision of declaration requirements, stipulating that low-value import or export declarations shall apply only to goods classified under Group 2. 
• Replacement of certain forms and annexes previously issued under Circular 191 that was amended by Circular 56, with new forms and appendices issued under Circular 29: 
• Form 02-BKTKTGT, Appendix I: List of low-value export and import declarations 
• Form 06a-BKCTHH, Appendix I: Detailed list of imported goods 
• Form 06b-BKCTHH, Appendix I: Detailed list of exported goods 
• Appendix II: Reporting criteria for low-value import declaration and export declarations 

This Circular shall enter into force from 9 July 2025. 

Please refer to Circular 29 for further details. 

Circular stipulating certain matters regarding trade remedies

On 15 May 2025, the MoIT issued Circular No. 26/2025/TT-BCT (Circular 26), detailing certain contents regarding trade remedies. Key provisions concerning exemptions from trade remedies include: 

• The agency designated to be the investigator for trade remedy measures (hereafter referred to as the Investigating Agency) is the Trade Defense Department – MoIT.  
• Imported goods subject to trade remedies may be exempt from the application if they fall under one of the following cases:  

1. Goods listed for exemption in the decision imposing the trade remedies or in review decisions issued for specific cases 
2. Goods of industries that in recent cases, domestic facilities could not produce. 
3. Goods with characteristics that are materially different from those of domestically produced goods and cannot be domestically substituted. 
4. Goods deemed to be special products of similar or directly competitive domestically produced goods 
5. Goods that are similar or directly competitive but are not commercially available in the domestic market under normal conditions or are affected by force majeure leading to domestic supply shortages 
6. Goods imported for research, development, or other non-commercial purposes within the quantity proposed for exemption under the above points 

• The total duration of exemption from trade defense measures shall not exceed the effective duration of the corresponding trade defense measures. 
• Organizations and individuals must submit exemption applications to the Investigating agency. 
• The Investigation agency will receive, evaluate the request, and send exemption decisions to organizations and individuals, publicly announcing the exemption decision on the MoIT's electronic portal and the Investigation Agency's website.
• Exempted goods must undergo customs procedures and are subject to customs supervision. In addition to the required customs documentation, the importing organization or individual must submit a copy of the exemption decision to the customs authority.

• The customs authority will manage and monitor the quantity of imported and exported goods based on the quantity of goods exempted according to the exemption decision.
• Organizations and individuals are entitled to a refund of trade defense tax paid for imported batches registered for customs declarations within the exemption period of the exemption decision.
• Periodically, organizations and individuals exempted from trade defense measures must submit reports on the import and use of exempted goods and compliance with the exemption conditions and obligations to the Investigation Agency in writing or electronically according to the form in Appendix III of the Circular as follows: 
• Before 1 February each year, submit reports for the last six months of the previous year.
• Before 1 August each year, submit reports for the first six months of the current year.

Circular 26 enters into force on 1 July 2025.

Please refer to the details in Circular 26.

Amendments to regulations on issuing various types of non-preferential C/O, CNM, and registration of REX codes

On 5 May 2025, the MoIT issued Circular No. 23/2025/TT-BCT (Circular 23) amending several provisions of Circular No. 05/2018/TT-BCT dated 3 April 2018, regulating the origin of goods, and Circular No. 38/2018/TT-BCT dated 30 October 2018, regulating the certification of the origin of goods under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) of the European Union, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Circular 23 sets out the following principal provisions:

• The Agency of Foreign Trade shall issue and organize the implementation of the issuance of C/O in accordance with prevailing legislation, including C/O Form B of Vietnam, C/O Form A under the GSP, C/O Form GSTP under the Global System of Trade Preferences, C/O as required by the importing country, and CNM based on the C/O issued by the exporting country of first consignment. 
• The Agency of Foreign Trade shall act as the competent authority for the registration and revocation of REX codes. The registration of REX codes shall be conducted online via the European Commission’s official portal at https://customs.ec.europa.eu/rex-pa-ui or through MoIT’s electronic C/O management system at https://www.ecosys.gov.vn (eCoSys system). 
• The Agency of Foreign Trade shall serve as the official liaison with competent authorities of Norway and Switzerland concerning GSP certification procedures. It shall be responsible for the administration, safekeeping, and archiving of related documents and electronic records for a minimum period of five years from the end of the year of issuance. 
• Automatic GSP certification will not be applicable in the event that Vietnam is no longer eligible for GSP treatment from Norway and Switzerland. 

For further details, please refer to Circular 23. 

New administrative procedures related to issuing various types of preferential and non-preferential C/O, CNM overseen by the MoIT

On 7 May 2025, the MoIT issued Decision No. 1261/QĐ-BCT announcing new administrative procedures in the field of import and export under the management of the MOIT (Decision 1261), including: 

• The Agency of Foreign Trade of the MoIT is responsible for issuing the following certificates of origin: C/O Form GSTP, C/O Form BR9, Preferential C/O Form A, Non-Preferential C/O Form B, C/O Form DA59 (for exports to Africa), C/O Form ICO (for coffee exports), C/O Form Peru, C/O Form Turkey, C/O Form Venezuela, and CNM. 
• The Agency of Foreign Trade of the MoIT, the Department of Industry and Trade of Hai Phong City, and Management Boards of Industrial and Economic Zones is responsible for issuing subsequent and reissued C/O. 

Decision 1261 also details each administrative procedure, including the implementation process, documentation requirements, resolution time, implementing entities, responsible authorities, results, fees, and forms. 

For further details, please refer to Decision 1261. 

Some guidance has been provided in the form of Official letters