CIRCULAR

AMENDMENTS TO CIRCULAR NO. 261/2016/TT-BTC DATED NOVEMBER 14, 2016 OF MINISTER OF FINANCE ON MARITIME FEES AND CHARGES, AND SCHEDULE OF MARITIME FEES AND CHARGES, AND CIRCULAR NO. 17/2017/TT-BTC DATED FEBRUARY 28, 2017 OF MINISTER OF FINANCE ON COLLECTION, TRANSFER, MANAGEMENT AND USE OF MARITIME FEES AND CHARGES

Pursuant to the Law on fees and charges dated November 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Maritime Code of Vietnam dated November 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP dated August 23, 2016 detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on fees and charges;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 87/2017/ND-CP dated July 26, 2017 defining functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 58/2017/ND-CP dated May 10, 2017 on elaboration of the Maritime Code of Vietnam;

At the request of the Director of the Department of Tax Policy;

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Article 1. Amendments to Circular No. 261/2016/TT-BTC dated November 14, 2016

1. Clause 1 and Clause 4 Article 2 are amended as follows:

a) Clause 1 is amended as follows:

“1. Watercraft: the vehicle defined in Clause 1 Article 4 of the Maritime Code of Vietnam”.

b) Clause 4 is amended as follows:

“4. Maritime area: the waters of a port that falls within the area of responsibility of a maritime administration as announced by the Ministry of Transport as prescribed in Clause 15 Article 3 and Article 18 of the Government’s Decree No. 58/2017/ND-CP dated May 10, 2017 on elaboration of the Maritime Code of Vietnam".

2. Article 3 is amended as follows:

a) Point dd Clause 2 is amended as follows:

“dd) Vessels of armed forces, customs authorities and maritime administrations, and those specially designed for search and rescue operations occurring within Vietnam and those of other regulatory authorities while on official duty which are not subject to the governing scope of this Circular; If involved in commercial transactions in Vietnam, they are subject to payment of maritime fees and charges as provided for in Chapter III hereof”.

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“3. Inland waterway vehicles (except for those bearing VR-SB class notations of 500 GT or more) that involve in domestic transport operations within maritime areas shall be subject to payment of fees and charges according to the Circular No. 248/2016/TT-BTC dated November 11, 2016 of the Minister of Finance prescribing fees for entering ports and inland landing stages, collection, transfer, management and use thereof. Inland waterway vehicles that operate on routes of waterway transport from a mainland shore to an island shall pay fees and charges according to Chapter III hereof”.

3. Article 6 is amended as follows:

a) Point d is added to Clause 1 as follows:

“d) If inland waterway vehicles have no parameters to be converted into gross deadweight tonnage, their gross deadweight tonnage shall be calculated according to Point c Clause 1 of this Article and used as the basis for calculation and payment of fees and charges".

b) Clause 6 is amended as follows:

“6. Payment of maritime fees and charges:

a) Payers of maritime fees and charges must fully discharge their obligations to submit and pay amounts of maritime fees and charges before their vessels are permitted by a port authority to leave maritime area. Payers of maritime fees and charges may make late payment of fees and charges within a maximum period of 5 working days from the date of grant of permission to leave a port in the following cases:

- Payers have deposits at credit institutions as prescribed in the civil code for making payment of fees and charges for the vessels defined in Clause 1 Article 3 hereof.

- Payers have entered into commitments or have deposits at credit institutions as prescribed in the civil code for making payment of fees and charges for the vessels defined in Clause 2 Article 3 hereof.

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c) In case inland waterway vehicles are permitted to carry out procedures for entering and leaving a port once when leaving the port as prescribed by law, one-time payment of fees and charges may be made according to the Circular No. 248/2016/TT-BTC dated November 11, 2016 of the Minister of Finance when leaving the port (including entrance and departure fees/charges).

d) Payers shall make cash payment of fees and charges directly to collectors or use non-cash payment services to transfer the amounts of fees and charges to accounts of collectors opened at the State Treasury (or commercial banks)”.

c) Clause 10, Clause 11 and Clause 12 are added as follows:

“10. In case of inland waterway vehicles bearing multiple registration class notations, including VR-SB and other class notations of inland waterway vehicles (issued by register authorities), based on general declarations submitted when carrying out procedures, maritime administrations shall collect fees/charges as follows:

a) Vehicles operating on domestic maritime routes and those with unknown routes or next ports, these vehicles shall bear the same fees and charges as those imposed on vessels bearing VR-SB class notation.

b) Vehicles operating on inland waterway routes or those operating on both domestic maritime routes and inland waterway routes shall incur fees and charges according to the Circular No. 248/2016/TT-BTC dated November 11, 2016 of the Minister of Finance.

11. Craft moving between ports/inland landing stages and wharves/seaports within 01 (one) maritime area under the authority of 01 (one) maritime administration shall only be subject to one-time payment of maritime fees and charges (including entrance and departure fees/charges) when carrying out procedures at the first wharf/port of arrival according to the Schedule of maritime fees and charges herein or in the Circular No. 248/2016/TT-BTC dated November 11, 2016 of the Minister of Finance.

12. With regard to craft operating on the water transport route from a mainland shore to an island as announced by the Ministry of Transport, the in-charge maritime administration shall collect fees and charges imposed on the craft according to Chapter III hereof”.

4. Article 7 is amended as follows:

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“d) Tankers transshipping oil at Van Phong – Khanh Hoa bay shall be subject to payment of the tonnage fee equal to 50% of the collection rate specified in Clause 1 of this Article. This tonnage fee shall be applied till the end of December 31, 2020; They shall be subject to payment of the tonnage fee specified in Clause 1 of this Article from January 01, 2021;

dd) Vessels of 50,000 GT, or more, carrying export, import or transshipment containers upon entering or leaving ports alongside Cai Mep - Thi Vai river shall be subject to payment of the tonnage fee equal to 60% of the collection rate specified in Clause 1 of this Article. This tonnage fee shall be applied till the end of December 31, 2020; They shall be subject to payment of the tonnage fee specified in Clause 1 of this Article from January 01, 2021”.

b) Point a Clause 3 is amended as follows:

“a) Vessels entering or leaving a maritime area to: (i) shelter from storm, bad weather conditions that may risk their safety, or provide medical emergency services to patients without handling cargoes, picking up or dropping off passengers; (ii) disembark persons, property or ships rescued at sea without involving in commercial transactions as verified by a maritime administration; (iii) participate in search and rescue, prevention and control of floods, hurricanes or natural disasters according to the dispatching call or consent from regulatory authorities”.

5. Article 8 is amended as follows:

a) Point d and Point dd Clause 2 are amended as follows:

“d) Tankers transshipping oil at Van Phong – Khanh Hoa bay shall be subject to payment of maritime safety assurance fee equal to 50% of the collection rate specified in Clause 1 of this Article. This maritime safety assurance fee shall be applied till the end of December 31, 2020; They shall be subject to payment of maritime safety assurance fee specified in Clause 1 of this Article from January 01, 2021;

dd) Vessels of 50,000 GT, or more, carrying export, import or transshipment containers upon entering or leaving ports alongside Cai Mep - Thi Vai river shall be subject to payment of maritime safety assurance fee equal to 60% of the collection rate specified in Clause 1 of this Article. This maritime safety assurance fee shall be applied till the end of December 31, 2020; They shall be subject to payment of maritime safety assurance fee specified in Clause 1 of this Article from January 01, 2021”.

b) Point b Clause 3 is amended as follows:

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6. Article 9 is amended as follows:

a) Point e Clause 1 is amended as follows:

“e) Tankers transshipping oil at Van Phong – Khanh Hoa bay shall be subject to payment of anchoring/berthing fee equal to 50% of the collection rate specified in Point a, b, c Clause 1 of this Article. This fee shall be applied till the end of December 31, 2020; They shall be subject to payment of anchoring/berthing fee specified in Point a, b, c Clause 1 of this Article from January 01, 2021”.

b) Point a and Point b Clause 2 are amended as follows:

“a) Cargoes transferred ship-to-ship at dedicated waters to move to other maritime area or for import/export purposes shall be subject to payment of anchoring/berthing fee as follows:

- General cargoes: USD 0.07/tonne;

- Refrigerator trucks, tracked vehicles, backhoes, road rollers, fork or lift trucks, cranes and other heavy-duty vehicles: USD 2/piece;

- Motor vehicles with up to 15 seats and vehicles with loading capacity of up to 2.5 tonne: USD 0.7/piece;

- Motor vehicles other than those referred to in this point: USD 1.3/piece.

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7. Point a Clause 3 Article 12 is amended as follows:

“a) Vessels entering or leaving a maritime area to: (i) shelter from storm, bad weather conditions that may risk their safety, or provide medical emergency services to patients without handling cargoes, picking up or dropping off passengers; (ii) disembark persons, property or ships rescued at sea without involving in commercial transactions as verified by a maritime administration; (iii) participate in search and rescue, prevention and control of floods, hurricanes or natural disasters according to the dispatching call or consent from regulatory authorities”.

8. Article 13 is amended as follows:

a) Point d Clause 2 is amended as follows:

“d) Vessels bearing VRH-III class notation, with a capacity of less than 500 GT, entering or leaving maritime areas shall not be subject to payment of maritime safety assurance fee till the end of December 31, 2024. They shall be subject to payment of maritime safety assurance fee at the collection rate specified in Clause 1 of this Article from January 01, 2025”.

b) Point b Clause 3 is amended as follows:

“b) Vessels entering or leaving a maritime area to: (i) shelter from storm, bad weather conditions that may risk their safety, or provide medical emergency services to patients without handling cargoes, picking up or dropping off passengers; (ii) disembark persons, property or ships rescued at sea without involving in commercial transactions as verified by a maritime administration; (iii) participate in search and rescue, prevention and control of floods, hurricanes or natural disasters according to the dispatching call or consent from regulatory authorities; (iv) vessels underway at sea that request permission to enter a seaport to shelter from storms without handling cargoes, picking up or dropping off passengers”.

9. Clause 7 is added to Article 14 as follows:

“7. Vessels bearing VRH-III class notation, with a capacity of less than 500 GT, entering or leaving maritime areas shall not be subject to payment of anchoring/berthing fee till the end of December 31, 2024. They shall be subject to payment of anchoring/berthing fee at the collection rate specified in Clause 1 of this Article from January 01, 2025”.

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1. Clause 2 and Clause 3 Article 3 are amended as follows:

“2. Maritime administrations are permitted to retain 50% of total collected fees to cover their expenditures as prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article and transfer the remainder (or 50% of total collected fees) to central-government budget according to corresponding chapter, section and sub-section in the list of state budget entries.

3. The retained amounts of collected fees shall be managed and used in accordance with regulations in Article 5 of the Government's Decree No. 120/2016/ND-CP dated August 23, 2016, including payment of the following expenditures:

a) Other recurrent expenditures arising during the performance of tasks, service provision and fee collection of maritime administrations, including: expenditures on provision of professional improvement courses; labor protection costs or costs of uniforms provided to employees as prescribed; expenditures on management and operation of VTS system; and expenditures on implementation of administrative reform policies at seaports within the ambit of assigned duties of a maritime administration.

b) Non-recurring expenditures incurred by maritime administrations, including: expenditures on maintenance and repair of VTS system and other equipment serving the performance of maritime safety and security tasks within seaport areas; expenditures on leasing of offices, canoe or public vessel piers (if any); expenditures on search and rescue of persons, cargoes, vehicles and ships suffering from accidents occurring in seaport areas; expenditures on prevention and treatment of environmental pollution within seaport waters.

c) Specific expenditures covered by the Vietnam Maritime Administration according to Decision No. 32/2019/QD-TTg dated October 29, 2019 of the Prime Minister”.

2. Article 5 is amended as follows:

“Article 5. Statement of fees and charges

Statements of maritime fees and charges shall be made according to the Circular No. 137/2017/TT-BTC dated December 25, 2017 of the Minister of Finance providing for examination, appraisal and publishing of annual budget statements”.

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1. This Circular comes into force from March 01, 2020.

2. Clause 4 Article 3, Point e Clause 2 Article 8, Clause 2 Article 17 and Appendix on list of maritime areas enclosed with the Circular No. 261/2016/TT-BTC dated November 14, 2016 of Minister of Finance are abrogated.

3. During the implementation of this Circular, if the legislative documents referred to in this Circular are amended or replaced, the new ones shall prevail.

4. Difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for consideration./.

PP. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Vu Thi Mai

Thông tư 90/2019/TT-BTC sửa đổi Thông tư 261/2016/TT-BTC quy định về phí, lệ phí hàng hải và biểu mức thu phí, lệ phí hàng hải và Thông tư 17/2017/TT-BTC hướng dẫn thu, nộp, quản lý và sử dụng phí, lệ phí hàng hải do Bộ trưởng Bộ Tài chính ban hành