To: Provincial Customs Departments

The General Department of Customs has recently received some questions about codes of exported building stone and limestone products. The General Department of Vietnam Customs hereby provides guidelines as follows:

Pursuant to Point g Clause 1 Article 64 of the Law on Minerals No. 60/2010/QH12:

“1. Minerals used as normal building materials include:

g) Limestone, marlstone and marble (except limestone stalactites, white limestone and white marble) which fail to meet Vietnam’s standards and/or technical regulations on materials for production of portland cement, stone slabs or fine-art stones;”

Pursuant to the National Technical Regulation TCVN 6072:2013 - Limestone for portland cement clinker production:

“Quality indicators of limestone used for portland cement clinker production: content of CaCO3 ≥ 85% and content of MgCO3 ≤ 7%."

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 24a/2016/ND-CP dated April 05, 2016 on management of building materials; the Circular No. 05/2018/TT-BXD dated June 29, 2018 of the Ministry of Construction providing guidance on export of minerals used in construction industry; the Circular No. 05/2019/TT-BXD dated October 10, 2019 of the Ministry of Construction providing amendments to the Appendix of the Circular No. 05/2018/TT-BXD dated June 29, 2018 of the Ministry of Construction providing guidance on export of minerals used in construction industry;

Pursuant to the Circular No. 65/2017/TT-BTC dated June 27, 2017 of the Ministry of Finance promulgating the list of Vietnam’s exports and imports, and the Circular No. 09/2019/TT-BTC dated February 15, 2019 providing amendments to Appendixes of 65/2017/TT-BTC dated June 27, 2017;

Pursuant to Clause 3 Article 6 of the Circular No. 14/2015/TT-BTC dated January 30, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance providing guidance on classification of goods, and analysis serving classification of goods, quality inspection and food safety inspection: “If there are different opinions about the classification of goods and  application of tax rates during the  application of the list of Vietnam’s exports and imports and specialized standards, the Ministry of Finance shall reach an agreement with the relevant supervisory Ministry on any actions to be taken.“

In reference to the Notes to Chapter 25;

1. Exports that are limestone and calcium stone (except limestone stalactites, white limestone and white marble) which meet the requirements laid down in TCVN 6072: 2013 shall be classified in heading 25.21.

2. Provincial Customs Departments are requested to review customs declarations and dossiers for export of limestone, calcium stone, building stone, etc. which meet the requirements laid down in TCVN 6072: 2013 but are not yet classified in heading 25.21 as prescribed in Point 1 herein for the purposes of classification and application of correct tax rates, collection of full taxes and imposition of penalties as prescribed.

3. Reports on review, tax collection and penalty imposition shall be submitted to the General Department of Customs by January 15, 2021.

Provincial Customs Departments are requested to comply with the instructions herein./.

---------------

This document is handled by Vinas Doc. Document reference purposes only. Any comments, please send to email: [email protected]