The recent official announcement of tax policies by the United States for a series of countries importing into the United States has significantly affected the global supply chain, including Vietnam. As a country that imports the majority of pharmaceuticals from the United States, European countries, ... Vietnam is at risk of being impacted on both exports and imports as input prices are pushed up, while regulations on import duties, documents of origin and tariff preferences are increasingly tightly managed. Not outside the reference system, the pharmaceutical industry is also one of the industries strongly affected by the fluctuating tariff policies from countries. In that context, compliance with regulations related to pharmaceutical import taxes is a mandatory requirement for businesses to maintain stable operations, avoid tax arrears or supply chain disruptions. So what are the points that businesses need to pay special attention to when importing pharmaceuticals into Vietnam in the current volatile period?
1. Vietnam will have a preferential import tax policy for the pharmaceutical industry
The pharmaceutical industry is currently playing an essential role in ensuring social security and public health. However, the current situation shows that Vietnam still largely depends on the supply of raw materials and finished drugs from abroad to produce special drugs and original brand name drugs. According to statistics, the total pharmaceutical import turnover into Vietnam in 2024 will reach nearly 4.4 billion USD, up 27.9% compared to 2023. In particular, France is the largest drug supply market for Vietnam, followed by the US, Germany, India, and countries such as South Korea, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, Spain, and Sweden,...[1].
Notably, while Vietnam has become self-reliant in most conventional therapeutic drugs, about 90% of medicinal ingredients and most of the special and essential drugs still have to be imported. The addition of preferential import tax policies for medicinal ingredients, packaging, excipients, capsule shells and ingredients that have not been produced domestically has been set up[2]. The latest, the Law on Pharmacy in 2024 has also affirmed the strategy in promulgating support and preferential policies for rare drugs, high-tech drugs, original brand names, vaccines,..., especially products that are transferred production technology in Vietnam or pharmaceuticals that Vietnam is not capable of producing domestically.
2. Notes for pharmaceutical importers
Although Decree 73/2025/ND-CP has adjusted a number of preferential tax rates, the impact on the pharmaceutical group is not significant. Meanwhile, Vietnam has participated in 17 free trade agreements (FTAs) with many countries and territories, accompanied by a system of special preferential import tariffs issued separately for each agreement. Therefore, preferential tax rates under FTAs are a factor that businesses should consider when building import strategies and optimizing tax costs. Accordingly, many items in the pharmaceutical group, including finished drugs, excipients, packaging, and raw materials for drug production,... are being applied the import tax rate of 0% in the preferential tariffs of ACFTA, AKFTA, AJCEP, AIFTA, CPTPP,... Effectively taking advantage of these tax incentives not only helps businesses reduce input costs but also increases the competitiveness of domestic pharmaceutical products. Therefore, businesses need to actively review the current FTA tariffs as well as the list of goods entitled to incentives to ensure compliance and optimize tax benefits.
In particular, on October 28, 2024, Vietnam signed the Vietnam-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The UAE was not a popular pharmaceutical supply market for Vietnam before. However, with the CEPA agreement, the opportunity to expand the pharmaceutical import market from the Middle East becomes more feasible, helping to diversify supply, especially in the context that input prices are under increasing pressure from traditional markets such as India and China. This is an opportunity that Vietnamese pharmaceutical enterprises need to research, approach and take advantage of as soon as possible through carefully studying the provisions of CEPA and the corresponding preferential tax policies.
2.1. Assurance of origin of goods
One of the mandatory conditions for businesses to enjoy preferential tax rates under FTAs is to comply with preferential rules of origin. This is a system of criteria and regulations to determine the country where the goods are produced or have a legal origin, applicable to goods circulated between countries or territories that have signed or joined FTAs with Vietnam and have commitments on corresponding tariff incentives. Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 5 of Circular 05/2018/TT-BCT, preferential rules of origin are implemented in accordance with international treaties to which Vietnam is a member and according to the specific guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The proof of preferential origin of goods is carried out through the Certificate of Origin (C/O) in accordance with each agreement. For example, C/O form E for ACFTA, C/O form AJ for AJCEP, C/O form CPTPP for CPTPP, etc. These C/Os must be issued in the right form, by the right competent authority and enclosed with import dossiers at the time of customs procedures. Failure to fully meet or falsely declare information related to origin may make goods ineligible for preferential import tax rates, leading to higher tax obligations or arrears.
In addition, businesses need to ensure that imported goods really meet the criteria of origin such as "pure origin", "conversion of commodity codes" or "regional added value" depending on the specific requirements of each agreement. Therefore, pharmaceutical importers need to proactively study the content of the rules of origin applied in each FTA, closely coordinate with foreign suppliers and check the validity of the origin dossier before carrying out import procedures in order to ensure their legitimate interests and fully comply with legal obligations in import activities.
An Khang pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City. Source: VNExpress
2.2. Other legal requirements
In addition to the conditions of origin, pharmaceutical importers must also meet a series of legal requirements and strictly comply with customs procedures. First of all, the importing enterprise must be granted a Certificate of eligibility for pharmacy business and have a professional person in charge who meets the conditions for practicing according to the provisions of the Law on Pharmacy.
When carrying out import procedures, enterprises need to prepare a complete set of documents, including: foreign trade contracts, commercial invoices, bills of lading, certificates of origin (C/O), lists of imported drugs, product circulation licenses or decisions on issuance of circulation registration numbers, etc and licenses for operation of drugs and medicinal ingredients in Vietnam (originals or notarized copies).
In addition, imported pharmaceuticals are subject to specialized inspection before customs clearance, according to the provisions of the Customs Law and guiding documents. Enterprises must register for quality inspection, prepare dossiers proving quality, origin, labels and designs,... at the request of the Ministry of Health and specialized agencies. The inspection period usually lasts up to 10 days from the date of sampling or issuance of the registration certificate, unless otherwise specified.
The year 2025 marks a period of adjusting pharmaceutical import tax policies in the direction of creating more favorable conditions for businesses, especially through the expansion of the application of FTA agreements. However, to truly benefit from these incentives, businesses need to master the rules of origin, prepare full legal documents and comply with import procedures. Proactively updating the law and closely coordinating with the authorities will help businesses both ensure tax benefits and avoid legal risks in pharmaceutical import activities.
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