Deputy Director of the Việt Nam Customs, Lưu Mạnh Tưởng, at the meeting. — Photo baochinhphu.vn

HÀ NỘI — A delegation led by Deputy Director of the Việt Nam Customs Lưu Mạnh Tưởng had a dialogue with enterprises, business associations and agencies to determine the HS code application for rubberwood panels on Wednesday.

Concluding the meeting, Tưởng said the customs office continued to clearly define the production and processing process of the product in a specific, public, transparent and fair manner to determine the appropriate HS code.

The classification and application of tax rates must comply with the provisions of law, and the latest provision is Circular 65/2017 on Việt Nam's list of import and export goods and the tariff in accordance with the provisions of the Government and related legal documents, said Tưởng.

The application of HS codes must comply with international customs standards, he said.

If they did not comply strictly, the management agency arbitrarily applied the wrong HS code so enterprises did not have to pay taxes which would violate regulations and customs officers would be disciplined, while enterprises will be subject to tax arrears, he noted.

However, to help enterprises solve problems, the deputy director proposed Đồng Nai Customs Department help businesses to export goods as usual, firstly for businesses to enjoy the tax rate of 0 per cent.

A representative of the Tax Policy Department under the Ministry of Finance said Việt Nam was a member of the World Customs Organisation, therefore customs offices must comply with regulations on goods classification.

The handling of problems with enterprises needs to be focused on, with an improved spirit of co-operation between State management agencies and enterprises, ensuring compliance with the provisions of law, said the representative.

Earlier, the Việt Nam Timber and Forest Product Association (Viforest) sent an urgent petition to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Ministry of Industry and Trade about congestion of wooden planks set for export at ports.

The congestion was attributed to Document No. 4250/TB-TCHQ issued by Việt Nam Customs on June 24.

"The wooden plank products have been subject to HS 4418 so far, however, with the latest announcement of the Việt Nam Customs, this product will be subject to HS 4407 with an export tax rate of 25 per cent,” said Viforest Chairman Đỗ Xuân Lập.

Viforest has proposed the Ministry of Finance tell customs offices in localities to allow the products to be exported with a tax rate of 0 per cent and immediately review and cancel Document No. 4250/TB-TCHQ. — VNS