Vietnam’s Circular No. 21/2019/TT-BCT: Guidelines for treatment of erroneous declaration in C/O (Form AHK)

According to Vietnam’s current regulations, in order to be granted preferential tariff treatment, the goods must be supported by a C/O (Form AHK) issued by an issuing authority designated by the exporting Party.

According to Article 21 of Circular No. 21/2019/TT-BCT of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam guides the treatment of erroneous declaration in C/O (Form AHK) for traders, regulatory authorities, organizations and individuals that have activities related to the origin of goods. Specifically, neither erasures nor superimpositions shall be allowed on the C/O (Form AHK). Any alteration shall be made by:

- Striking out the erroneous details and making any addition required. Such alteration shall be approved by an official authorized to sign the C/O (Form AHK) and certified by the C/O issuing authority. Unused spaces shall be crossed out to prevent any subsequent addition.

- Issuing a new C/O (Form AHK) to replace the erroneous one.

Besides, issued together with Circular No. 21/2019/TT-BCT is the Specimen of C/O – Form AHK (Appendix II), Instruction for declarations in C/O (Form AHK) for exports (Appendix III), List of Vietnam’s authorized issuing authorities of C/O (Form AHK) (Appendix IV).

Notably, the C/O (Form AHK) shall be issued by the C/O issuing authority of the exporting Party prior to shipment or at the time of shipment but shall not be issued more than 3 working days after the declared shipment date. In case where the C/O (Form AHK) has not been issued at this time due to involuntary errors or other valid causes, the C/O (Form AHK) may be issued retroactively but no longer than 1 year from the date of shipment and the “ISSUED RETROACTIVELY” in Box 13 shall be ticked.

View relevant provisions at Circular No. 21/2019/TT-BCT of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, effective from December 23, 2019.

Thu Ba

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