Vietnam Extends Laos Preferential Import Duty Scheme

Vietnam's Ministry of Finance has issued a communication extending the agreement to provide preferential duty rates on certain imports from Laos for a further year to December 31, 2013.

The provisions of its Circular No 36/2012/TT-BTC, dated March 2 last year, which provided a 50% deduction in, or an exemption from, import duties for selected goods imported into Vietnam from Laos, are to be continued to be applied from January 1, 2013 to the end of the year.

The provisions of the original Circular, which were backdated to January 1, 2012, stipulated that, to qualify for the preference, the goods should be imported and transported directly from Laos to Vietnam, accompanied by a certificate of origin and cleared at designated customs border gates.