Thông tư 17/2021/TT-BCT

CIRCULAR

AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO THE CIRCULAR NO. 38/2014/TT-BCT DATED OCTOBER 24, 2014 OF THE MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE, ELABORATING ON SEVERAL ARTICLES OF THE GOVERNMENT’S DECREE NO. 83/2014/ND-CP DATED SEPTEMBER 3, 2014 ON PETROL AND OIL TRADING

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 98/2017/ND-CP dated August 18, 2017, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP dated September 3, 2014 on petrol and oil trading; the Government’s Decree No. 95/ND-CP dated November 1, 2021, amending and supplementing several Articles of the Government’s Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP dated September 3, 2014 on petrol and oil trading;

Upon the request of the Director of the Domestic Market Department;

The Minister of Industry and Trade herein promulgates the Circular on amendments and supplements to the Circular No. 38/2014/TT-BCT dated October 24, 2014 of the Minister of Industry and Trade, elaborating on several articles of the Government’s Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP dated September 3, 2014 on petrol and oil trading.

Article 1. Amendments and supplements to the Circular No. 38/2014/TT-BCT dated October 24, 2014 of the Minister of Industry and Trade, elaborating on several Articles of the Government’s Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP dated September 3, 2014 on petrol and oil trading (generally shortened to Circular No. 38/2014/TT-BCT) as follows:

1. Amending and supplementing clause 1 of Article 1 as follows:

“1. This Circular delineates several Articles of the Government’s Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP dated September 3, 2014 on petrol and oil trading (generally shortened to Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP) and the Government’s Decree No. 95/ND-CP dated November 1, 2021, amending and supplementing several Articles of the Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP (generally shortened to Decree No. 95/2021/ND-CP).”

2. Amending and supplementing several clauses of Article 2 as follows:

a) Amending clause 3 and clause 4 as follows:

“3. Petrol and oil seller is defined as:

a) a main trader or an enterprise that is authorized to underwrite all petrol and oil products manufactured by oil and petroleum refineries (when these refineries do not directly sell finished petrol and oil products) for sale to other main traders or petrol and oil distributors;  

b) a petrol and oil distributor selling petrol and oil products to other petrol and oil distributors, or selling petrol and oil products to industrial units using oil and petrol directly."

“4. Petrol and oil buyer is defined as:

a) a main trader buying petrol and oil products from other main traders;

b) a petrol and oil distributor buying petrol and oil products from main traders, or other petrol and oil distributors;

c) a unit using oil and petrol products directly for industrial purposes.”

b) Adding clause 8 as follows:

“8. International petrol and oil price is defined as the price of a finished oil and petrol product to be traded on the Singaporean market that is published by S&P Global Platt or other reliable or equivalently quality news agencies.”  

3. Amending and supplementing Article 6 as follows:

“Article 6. Pre-certification examination and grant of Certificates

1. Any trader wishing to apply for a new, updated, revised or reissued Certificate of eligibility for designation as a main petrol and oil trader; Certificate of eligibility for designation as a petrol and oil distributor; Certificate of eligibility for designation as a general oil and petrol agent; Certificate of eligibility for designation as a petrol and oil retail agent; Certificate of conformance to oil and petrol retail trading regulations, should submit one (01) set of application documents to the Ministry of Industry and Trade or the Department of Industry and Trade, whether by courier or online, to the address given by the Ministry of Industry and Trade or the Service of Industry and Trade on its website.            

2. Administrative procedures carried out on the part of the Ministry of Industry and Trade

a) Administrative procedures for grant of a new, updated or revised Certificate of eligibility for designation as a main petrol and oil trader shall be subject to the regulations laid down in clause 3 of Article 8 in the Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP ;

b) Administrative procedures for grant of a new, updated or revised Certificate of eligibility for designation as a petrol and oil distributor shall be subject to the regulations laid down in clause 3 of Article 14 in the Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP .

c) Administrative procedures for grant of a new, updated or revised Certificate of eligibility for designation as a general oil and petrol agent (running its petrol and oil distribution system in at least two (02) provinces and centrally-affiliated cities) shall be subject to the regulations laid down in clause 4 of Article 17 in the Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP .

d) If the on-site examination results are aligned with information shown in the trader’s application, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall issue the Certificate by using the Form No. 2 given in the Appendix to the Decree No. 95/2021/ND-CP ; the Form No. 6 and the Form No. 8 given in the Appendix to the Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP. 

3. Administrative procedures carried out on the part of the Department of Industry and Trade

a) Administrative procedures for grant of a new, updated or revised Certificate of eligibility for designation as a general oil and petrol agent (running its petrol and oil distribution system in one (01) province and centrally-affiliated city) shall be subject to the regulations laid down in clause 4 of Article 17 in the Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP .

b) Administrative procedures for issuance of the Certificate of eligibility for designation as a petrol and oil retail agent shall be subject to the regulations laid down in clause 5 of Article 20 in the Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP ;

c) Administrative procedures for issuance of the Certificate of conformance to oil and petrol retail trading regulations shall be subject to the regulations laid down in clause 3 of Article 25 in the Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP .

d) If the on-site examination results are aligned with information shown in the trader’s application, the Department of Industry and Trade shall issue the Certificate by using the Form No. 4, the Form No. 8 and the Form No. 10 given in the Appendix to the Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP .” 

4. Adding Article 6a below Article 6 as follows:

 “Article 6a. Petrol and oil price regulation

1. Oil and petrol commodities of which base prices are announced by the State are those commodities that are commonly consumed on the market, including biopetrol, petroleum, diesel, kerosene and mazut oil.  The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall pick through biopetrol, petroleum, diesel, kerosene and mazut oil commodities to identify the most consumed ones as a basis to announce the base prices.

2. Reporting of locally-refined petroleum production:  On a regular basis, by the 29^th day of the last month of a calendar Quarter, main petroleum producers shall prepare domestic sales reports on oil and petrol commodities classified by types by using the Form No. 7a given in the Appendix to this Circular for the period from the 21^st day of the month immediately preceding the first month of the calendar Quarter to the 20^th day of the last month of the calendar Quarter for submission to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The report shall serve as a basis for calculating the proportion (expressed in percent) of the locally-refined petrol and oil production to the imported petrol and oil quantity for use in the base price formulas."      

5. Amending and supplementing clause 7 of Article 7 as follows:

“7. Selling petrol and oil products wholesale to direct production and consumption units.

The subsidiary of the main oil and petrol trader subject to the Enterprise Law may perform the functions assigned by the main oil and petrol trader as follows: 

a) Signing contracts to sell oil and petrol to other main oil and petrol traders and direct production and consumption units;

b) Signing contracts to sell oil and petrol to oil and petrol distributors;

c) Signing contracts to assign the rights to retail oil and petrol with retail assignee traders;

d) Signing agency agreements.”

6. Adding Article 11a as follows:

Article 11a. Small gasoline vending machines

1. Small gasoline vending machine is a device with a built-in petrol meter and a tank having the static storage capacity at real temperature of 200 liters per each at maximum.

2. Locations where operation of small gasoline vending machines is permitted are the local areas situated within the districts on the list attached to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 964/QD-TTg dated June 30, 2015, approving the Commercial Development Program at mountainous, remote, isolated and island localities for the 2015 – 2020 period, and documents prescribing amendments, supplements to or replacement of this Decision.”

7. Amending Article 12 as follows:

“Article 12. Registration of total annual minimum petrol and oil quotas  

1. A main petrol and oil import and export trader shall send one (1) set of dossier for registration of the total minimum petrol and oil quota for the subsequent year under the provisions of clause 25 of Article 1 in the Decree No. 95/2021/ND-CP to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Domestic Market Department) before November 15 each year.

2. Within thirty (30) working days after receiving the trader’s registration dossier, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall, based on the total petrol and oil demand of the national economy, and the total petrol and oil demand registered by the trader, allocate the total minimum petrol and oil quota to meet domestic consumption demands for the entire year according to type-based distribution proportions of petrol and oil products to the trader.

3. In case of refusal to allocate that quota, the Ministry of Industry and Trade must send a written response clearly stating reasons for such refusal.

4. When wishing to make any change in the quota, the trader shall send a written request to the Ministry of Industry and Trade by September 30 each year.

5. The main petrol and oil trader is obliged to stick to the schedule for petrol and oil import, or domestic petrol and oil purchase, according to regulations in force or under the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (if any) in order to ensure the adequate domestic supply of oil and petrol.” 

8. Amending and supplementing clause 4 of Article 13 as follows:

“4. Export of petrol and oil by the oil and petrol producer needs to conform to the plan (or the revised plan) endorsed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Domestic Market Department) according to the regulations laid down in Article 15 in this Circular."

9. Amending and supplementing clause 3 and clause 4 of Article 14 as follows:

“3. The duration of storage in Vietnam of petrol and oil temporarily imported for re-export must comply with Article 13 of the Government’s Decree No. 69/2018/ND-CP dated May 15, 2018, elaborating on the Law on Management of Foreign Trade or documents prescribing amendments, supplements to or replacement of this Decree.” 

 “4. Traders may temporarily import petrol, oil and raw materials in large batches and re-export them in the whole batches or in smaller batches from their domestic depots according to the quantities and types of the temporarily imported petrol, oil and raw materials minus the losses which are not greater than the losses below the norms of losses incurred in the handling and storage process."

10. Adding point c to clause 3 of Article 16 as follows:

“c) In case a petrol and oil producer encounters a force majeure event leading to any interruption to production activities and cannot ensure the successful delivery of goods to the main petrol and oil trader according to contracts already in effect, the petrol and oil producer, or the enterprise that is assigned the right to underwrite all products of the petrol and oil production plant (in the case that the production plant does not directly sell finished petrol and oil products), may import finished petrol and oil products to guarantee the implementation of the petrol and oil sale contracts already in effect after registration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Domestic Market Department) according to the procedures specified at point b of this clause.”

Article 2. Replacement and annulment of the following regulations

1. Replacing several phrases in the Circular No. 38/2014/ND-CP as follows:

a) Replacing “petrol and oil import and export trader” with “main petrol and oil trader". 

b) Replacing “petrol and oil import and export license” with “Certificate of eligibility for designation as a main petrol and oil trader". 

c) Replacing “petrol and oil producer" with “main petroleum producer”.

2. Abolishing several regulations laid down in the Circular No. 38/2014/TT-BCT and the Circular No. 28/2017/TT-BCT dated December 8, 2017 of the Minister of Industry and Trade, amending, supplementing and repealing several Circulars in such sectors as petrol and oil business, conformity assessment business, import and export under the state management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade as follows:

a) Abolishing clause 2 of Article 3 and clause 10 of Article 7 in the Circular No. 38/2014/TT-BCT .

b) Abolishing Article 1 in the Circular No. 28/2017/TT-BCT dated December 8, 2017 of the Minister of Industry and Trade, amending, supplementing and repealing several Circulars in such sectors as petrol and oil business, conformity assessment business, import and export under the state management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 3. Entry into force

This Circular shall enter into force as of January 2, 2022.

Article 4. Grandfather clause

Registration of the total minimum petrol and oil quotas commences in November 2022 for later use in 2023.

Article 5. Implementation

1. Petrol and oil producers and traders, shall be responsible for monitoring, grasping and synthesizing their factual data, and reporting to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Domestic Market Department on matters stipulated in the Circular No. 38/2014/TT-BCT and this Circular.  All reports are sent to the Ministry of Industry and Trade by courier and emailed to [email protected].

2. In the course of implementing this Circular, should there be any difficulty that arises, involved persons and entities may send feedback to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to request its review and action./.

APPENDIX 7A

REPORT ON TOTAL SALES OF PETROL AND OIL PRODUCTS BY THE OIL REFINERY

Reporting period: Quarter.../Year...

(to the Circular No. 17/2021/TT-BCT dated November 15, 2021)