Vietnamese enterprises may soon be allowed to certify the origin ofgoods themselves and be responsible for the certification, as theMinistry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is considering implementing theself-certification of origin mechanism, said the English language newswebsite VietNamNet Bridge.

The Deputy Director of MoIT’sMultilateral Trade Department, Le Trieu Dung, has confirmed that Vietnamis taking the necessary steps to apply the self-certification of originmechanism within the framework of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement(ATIGA).

The mechanism has already been applied by Brunei,Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand over the last two years in a pilotprogramme. Hundreds of businesses, including those involved inmanufacturing and trade, have benefited.

A second pilot programmewas kicked off earlier this year with the participation of Laos,Indonesia and the Philippines. Under it, those enterprises that declareand certify the origins of goods enjoy preferential tariffs.

Meanwhile, Vietnam, due to some problems in the legal framework, is still thinking about whether to join the second programme.

Dungstated that it is highly likely that Vietnam will have to apply theself-certification of origin mechanism sooner or later. ASEAN plans toapply the mechanism in 10 ASEAN member countries by 2015.

Vietnam has so far not made any official commitment on the issue of self-certification.

Analystssay self-certification is a growing trend in the world. YuichiroOkumura, a high-ranking Japanese inspector on origin of goods, said thatenterprises, instead of getting certificate of origin (C/O) from theconcerned agencies, are now tending to certify the origin themselves.This practice has been applied by many countries under the framework ofbilateral and multilateral trade agreements, especially ones in whichthe US is a signatory.

Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon (Saigon EconomicTimes) quoted Susumu Sato of the Japan External Trade Organisation(JETRO) as stating that the self-certification of origin mechanism mayalso be put into discussion at the negotiable table for TPP (the TransPacific Partnership Agreement) and the Vietnam-EU Trade Agreement.

TranTrung Thuc, Head of the Vietnamese delegation for negotiation for thefree trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and EFTA (Switzerland,Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), confirmed that EFTA countries andthe EU have been applying the mechanism for a long time.

Thucsaid he does not know when the mechanism will be applied to Vietnamesebusinesses, but Vietnam is currently being pressured to do so by othermembers of the FTAs.

EFTA countries and the EU, which have gotten used to the mechanism, may ask Vietnam to apply it as well.

Even if Vietnam is still not ready to implement the practice, its partners will still apply the mechanism unilaterally.

Accordingto Le Thi Hong Ngoc from the General Department of Customs, with themechanism, exporters must register with competent agencies to becomelicensed exporters. The licensed exporters will automatically be able todeclare the origin of goods with fixed forms if the values ofconsignments do not exceed certain thresholds.

Thuc commentedthat it would be better for Vietnamese enterprises to be able to certifyand be responsible for the declared origins of goods themselves,because this would help them save time and costs for import-exportactivities.-VNA