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Vietnam's New Customs Valuation Regulations Take Effect Oct. 15

New regulations for customs valuation in Vietnam will take effect Oct. 15 and will include a hierarchy for valuation methods, a change in valuation of certain software and a change in valuation of borrowed goods, according to a Sept. 25 post by Baker McKenzie.

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The regulations, mentioned for an overhaul by Vietnam Customs in April (see 1904180029), introduce details “for customs valuation methods that will be applied to the following hierarchy,” the post said: “selling price at the export border gate, selling price of identical or similar goods in customs database, selling price of identical or similar goods sold in the Vietnamese market, and reference price.” The regulations will also provide guidelines on “allocating costs in connection with the exportation process” to harmonize the “customs valuation with different delivery terms,” the post said.

The regulations cover customs valuations for two types of software-related goods: imported equipment that has operating system software and imported “carrier media” that has application software, the post said. The customs valuation rule for operating system software will remain the same even if the software “is imported before or after the importation of the equipment,” Baker McKenzie said. If the software is “recorded on carrier media and the value of carrier media can be separated,” the customs value of the software will “not include the value of carrier media,” the post said. The regulations do not mention the value of “standalone imported carrier media bearing operating system software.”

The regulations also say the customs value of borrowed goods is “all the costs and expenses that a borrower pays to deliver the goods to the first import border gate,” the post said. But Vietnam Customs may “re-determine” the value “if there is sufficient evidence to prove that the declared value is not appropriate.”