The General Department of Vietnam Customs has sent guidance to provincial customs departments relating to the application of C/O form D.

Professional activities at Thanh Hoa port Customs Branch. Photo: N.Linh 

The guidance explains how to calculate three days from export to tick the box "Issued Retroactively", Rule 10 of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), internalised in Article 10, Appendix I issued together with Circular No. 19/2020/TT-BCT dated August 14, 2020, stipulates C/O shall be issued before or at the time of export or issued later but not exceeding three days from the date of export.

In case C/O is not issued within the above period due to an error or omission or other plausible reason, C/O may be issued after but not more than one year from the date of export and must be marked "Issued Retroactively".

The General Department of Vietnam Customs said that through discussions, ASEAN members agreed on how to calculate three days from export to tick the box "Issued Retroactively" through the following example:

The export date is December 1, 2020, the C/O issued from December 5, 2020 must tick the box "Issued Retroactively".

C/O issued on December 4, 2020, marked or unmarked in the "Issued Retroactively" box, will be considered and accepted by a customs authority.

Regarding proof of origin of back-to-back issued based on many documents certifying the origin of the original goods of different shipments, countries agreed the proof of origin of back-to-back goods can be issued on many original certificates of origin of different consignments.

Proof of origin of back-to-back should be presented to the customs authority of the importing country within the validity period of the original proof of origin.

The customs authority accepts the issuance of back-to-back C/O based on many original certificates of origin of different shipments.

The examination of back-to-back C/O should comply with the provisions of Circular No. 19/2020/TT-BCT dated August 14, 2020 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant documents.

In addition, the General Department of Vietnam Customs also provides guidance regarding the issue of replacements for the faulty C/O.