Following the analysis of the criteria for a company to be recognized as a priority enterprise and the specific priority treatments for these enterprises under Vietnamese law in Part 1, in Part 2 of this article, we will present the sequence and procedure for a company to be recognized as a prioritized enterprise.
(1) Application for Recognition of Prioritized Enterprise, including:
- Application form as per the template;
- Audited financial statements for the two most recent consecutive fiscal years;
- Audit reports for the two most recent consecutive fiscal years;
- Inspection conclusions for the past two years (if any);
- Description of the company’s internal control system, fully detailing the actual operational management, supervision, and control processes, as well as security and safety controls of the company’s export and import supply chain;
- Certificates of commendation and quality certifications (if any).
(2) Evaluation of the Company’s Application for Priority Treatment:
The General Department of Customs examines the completeness, legality, and validity of the company’s application; compares the information provided by the company with the information collected from the tax authorities and the customs authorities where the company’s headquarters and export/import activities are located, against the conditions for priority treatment as prescribed.
(3) Evaluation at the Company Applying for Priority Treatment:
If the results of the application meet the conditions for priority treatment as prescribed, the General Department of Customs will conduct an evaluation at the company. The evaluation includes:
(i) Comparing the actual inspection results with the company’s declared information;
(ii) Post-clearance audit at the declarant’s headquarters to assess compliance with the law if, within the continuous 24 months up to the date of the compnay’s application for recognition as a prioritized enterprise (“Application Date“), the company has not been inspected or audited to assess compliance with customs and tax laws. The duration of the post-clearance audit follows customs laws.
If, within the continuous 24 months up to the Application Date, the company has been subject to a post-clearance audit at its headquarters to assess compliance with the laws stipulated in the Customs Law, the General Department of Customs will accept the conclusions of that audit.
* Evaluation deadline
Within 35 business days from the date of receipt of the complete application, the General Department of Customs will evaluate and conclude on the recognition of the prioritized enterprise.
However, please note that in practice, the evaluation period may extend beyond 35 working days due to the workload of the state authority at different times or due to force majeure events.
