Definition of HS code in Vietnam

In this article, HP Global explain the definition of HS code used in Vietnam

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HS Convention

At the time when international trade born and developed, every countries, territories need classification  systems to classify import/export commodity. At early stage, each country, territory use its own classification system.

Different classification systems applied in different countries caused delay and costly because of the in re-classification.

To solve this problem and facilitate the development of international trade, the Customs Cooperation Council built an internationally standardized system of names and numbers to classify traded products, which is named the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (also known as the Harmonized System (HS))

The HS was done at Brussels on 14 June 1983 and came into effect on 01 Jan 1988.

The HS is the universal economic language and code for goods authored by the World Customs Organization (WCO). It is a six-digit Code common among all WCO member countries.

06 March 1998, the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam issued the Decision No. 49/QD-CTN on Vietnam’s accession to the HS Convention.

The HS convention came into effect in Vietnam since 01 Jan 2000.

The ASEAN Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN)

The ASEAN Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN) is an eight-digit HS-based commodity nomenclature common among the ASEAN Member States (ASEAN: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations), including Vietnam.

The AHTN is based on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) of the World Customs Organisation. The first six-digit of AHTN is from HS convention, the 7th and the 8th is for ASEAN purpose.

Vietnam’s Nomenclature of Exports and imports

Vietnam has her own tariff nomenclature, which is also an eight-digit HS nomenclature, which is totally based on the ASEAN Harmonised Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN). Vietnam’s tariff nomenclature is in English and Vietnamese.

The Nomenclature includes:

Appendix I – Vietnam’s Nomenclature of Exports and imports.

Appendix II – Six (6) general rules explaining the classification of goods according to Vietnam’s Nomenclature of Exports and imports based on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) of the World Customs Organization.

Vietnam’s Nomenclature includes 21 sections, 97 chapters (in which chapter 77 is reserved for possible future use in the harmonized system)

As explained above, the HS used in customs declaration in Vietnam is the HS code stipulated in  Vietnam’s Nomenclature of Exports and imports which is effective at the time of declaration.

At the moment (Year 2019),  the Vietnam’s Nomenclature of Exports and imports is stipulated by circular 65/2017/TT-BTC issued by Ministry of Finance dated 27 June 2017 (which is supplemented by Circular No. 09/2019/TT-BTC dated 15 Feb 2019)

Meaning of above eight digits:

• The 1st and 2nd digit: Chapter
• The 3th and 4th digit: Heading
• The 5th and 6th digit: Subheading
• The 7th and 8th: Exactly classification pursuant to Vietnam’s Nomenclature of Exports and imports

A tool is check Vietnam HS descriptions  is available at website hpgloballtd.com

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