Procedures for exporting cashew nuts in Vietnam

Thanks to the suitable climate and soil, Vietnam is one of the three largest cashew exporters in the world. Up to now, Vietnam has exported cashew kernels to more than 90 countries and territories, accounting for about 80% of the world’s cashew kernel exports.

In order to properly determine import policies and procedures, it is necessary to first determine the HS code of the item.

HS Code for cashew nut

The HS code of cashew nut will be specified in chapter 08 – Edible berries and nuts (NUTS); Peel of Citrus Fruits OR Melons

GROUP 0 8 0 1 – Coconuts, Brazil nuts and cashews, fresh or dried, whether or not shelled or peeled.

0 8 0 1 3 1 0 0 – unshelled cashews (raw)
0 8 0 1 3 2 0 0 – shelled cashews (cashew kernels).
2 0 0 8 1 9 1 0 – Salted roasted cashews, spiced cashews
Depending on the destination port market, there will be more specific requirements for specific export licenses such as:

US market : In addition to ISO, HACCP certificate, additional FDA license required
China market: In addition to ISO and HACCP certificates, code 248-249 is required according to the regulations of the General Administration of Customs of China.

Are there any taxes or fees for exporting cashew nuts?

According to Appendix I – Export Tariff according to the list of taxable items of the Government’s Decree 125/2017/ND-CP dated November 16, 2017 – regulations on the export of agricultural products VAT is applied with exports of 0%

Steps to export cashews

Pursuant to Article 1 of Circular 30/2014/TT-BNNPTNT dated September 5, 2014 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, vegetables and fruits on the List of objects subject to plant quarantine: Cashew nuts are products are of plant origin, so we need to do plant quarantine for each export shipment.

As well as to remove insects in goods, shipping containers, clean ship compartments, goods using paper packaging, shelves, etc., when exporting cashews, it is also necessary to fumigate.

Thus, the process of exporting cashew nuts is as follows:

STEP 1: Carrying out the procedures for plant quarantine registration:

Requirement: Documents needed to transmit PQS (PLANTS POSITIVE registration software)
Commercial contract, purchase and sale of goods
Bill of Lading (provided after the vessel runs)
Enter consignment data, then export the application for PLANT PLANTS from PQS software to send to the consignee for signature and stamp.

Then, bring the dossier to the plant quarantine sub-department to register for quarantine so that the sub-department can check the validity of the dossier

STEP 2: Open the customs declaration

Requirements for customs declaration documents:

– Sale contract

– Commercial invoice

– Goods packing slip

– Booking

Enter the cashew nut shipment information into the customs declaration software (ECUS), transmit the declaration and get the channeling response.

STEP 3: Bring the dossier to the customs office to register (in case the shipment is classified into the yellow or red channel)

STEP 4: Take a sample of PLANTS, fumigate (if any) and issue a certificate of POTATO PLANTS, Fumigation.

Quarantine agency conducts sampling for PLANT CHECKLIST at warehouses, ports – where consignments are awaiting export.

After taking the PLANTS sample, fumigate the consignment (required: bill of lading)

The time to issue a Phytosanitary Certificate for the consignment is within 24 hours from the beginning of the quarantine.
Time to issue fumigation certificate is from 1-2 days from the time of spraying.

STEP 5: Clearance of shipments, liquidation of export customs clearance declarations.