Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, Le Van Danh, said that after more than a month of performing its newly decentralized responsibilities, the department had received around 17,000 Certificate of Origin (C/O) applications and processed approximately 12,000, while about 5,000 remained under review.
Notably, nearly 50 percent of the applications came from businesses outside Ho Chi Minh City. At times, the number of applications processed in a single day was equivalent to the annual workload handled by some localities.
According to Mr. Le Van Danh, the volume of applications is expected to increase further as decentralization is expanded. Businesses should therefore prepare complete and accurate dossiers to shorten the appraisal process.
Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Regional Import-Export Management Office of the Agency for Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Tran Ngoc Binh, advised businesses to thoroughly understand the rules of origin under each free trade agreement (FTA), correctly determine applicable origin criteria, minimize errors, and make full use of tariff preferences.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade currently accepts C/O applications online for applicable cases. Complete and valid electronic applications are processed within six working hours, while applications submitted in person are returned within eight hours.
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