Consultant on Training Course on Rules of Origin in the new Free Trade Agreements and Prevention of Origin Fraud

USAID Trade Facilitation Program

SCOPE OF WORK

Training course

on Rules of Origin in the new Free Trade Agreements and Prevention of Origin Fraud

Proposed Personnel:    1 Local Short-term Technical Assistance (STTA)                           
                                    Training Course Consultant on Rules of Origin in the new Free Trade Agreements and Prevention of Origin Fraud
Period of Performance: April-May 2022
Origin/Destination:       Hai Phong
Travel Dates:                 tbc
Activity No.                    4.8.2 Support Activities for PTFC Hai Phong
MEL indicator(s):           IR3.1-2.

Under activity 4.8 – The USAID Trade Facilitation Program will focus part of its efforts in Years 3 & 4 on the six (06) selected provinces and agreed with General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC to develop and introduce a mechanism for the GVN’s trade facilitation measures, ventures, and related activities at the provincial level. 

To improve the harmonized implementation at the provincial level of government policies and activities emanating from the NTFC’s roles and responsibilities, under activity 4.8.2, the Program has promoted the establishment of a local Trade Facilitation (TF) mechanism in each province to maintain the regular dialogue/consultation between key government agencies and private sector actors including the VCCI, focusing on the hot issues/obstacles to the implementation of trade facilitation provisions. The local TF mechanism, in each locality, will promote and organize awareness events and communication campaigns to advocate for the appropriate implementation of trade facilitation policy elaborated at central level. 

The local TF mechanism will facilitate the establishment of a central-provincial cooperation and communication mechanism focused on trade facilitation measures, including simplification, streamlining, reduction of specialized inspection through, among the others, the adoption of a risk-management approach, and enhancement of coordinated border management (CBM). The Program will support the development of this mechanism in close cooperation with local authorities of the six targeted provinces and in consultation with the representatives of private sector, including business associations, local customs departments, and line departments, and VCCI at the provincial level. The Program will look for innovative and alternative methods to increase awareness amongst the private sector stakeholders other than the conventional and familiar workshops.

So far, 5 out 6 provinces have set up their local TF mechanisms. For Hai Phong in particularly, the People’s Committee issued Decision in Sept 2021 on the setup of Hai Phong Committee for International Integration, in which TF is one of its key function and Hai Phong Department of Industry and Trade (DOIT) is the executive agency.

Upon the working discussion with the USAID TFP team, Hai Phong DOIT would like to implement some capacity building activities for local authorities and businesses, which will be supported by the Program.

The first activity is a Training Workshop on Rules of Origin in the New Free Trade Agreements and Prevention of Origin Fraud, which is tentatively organized on April 21 2022, whose content is elaborated as below:

Objectives:

• Improve the knowledge of local authorities and enterprises of Hai Phong of the ROOs in the new FTAs recently accessed by Vietnam
• Provide specific examples for the application in origin definition, examination and verification
• Provide case studies to help better understanding and interpretation of the provisions on ROOs in FTAs for the right application in the future
• Provide instruction on the application relating to any products of the local interest
• Provide answers all the questions raised by local customs officers about the subject with the view to improve their application.

Tasks & Responsibilities:

One local consultant will implement the following tasks:

• To produce materials in the forms of PowerPoint (a must for the presentation), Words/ Excel and others on the following topics:
  
  • How to understand in the right way the advantage taking of the FTA preferences through origin of goods
  • Trends in origin certification and verification of the new FTAs
  • Origin Certification Mechanism on exports to EU after GSP expiration
  • PSR transformation according to HS2022
  • Rules of origin of the FTAs accessed by Vietnam which will take effect from 2022                                                               
• Provide responses to questions raised by participants and prepare a quick test at the training WS

Qualifications:

Ideally, the Consultant should have:

• Practical experience involving in the negotiation process of FTAs and drafting legislation documents relating to ROO provisions
• Master's degree or higher in trade policy, international trade, Customs law or administration, economics, business administration, or similar field
• Minimum 15 years of experience in policy making and practical working in ROO training, particularly in FTAs
• Deep understanding and experience of the FTAs accessed by Vietnam and international regulations and application on customs procedures in general
• Good written, oral, and presentation skills in Vietnamese and English (preferable); and
• Ability to travel within Vietnam.

Reporting:

The National Consultant(s) will be required to report to the Program Deputy Chief of Party Nguyen Hong Son ([email protected]) and the Trade Facilitation Coordinator Le Thanh Hai ([email protected])

How to apply:

Interested candidates should send applications no later than April 12, 2022 to email [email protected]

Applications should include:

1. Cover letter (no longer than 1 page)
2. CVs (see attached template);
3. Updated USAID 1420 form (see attached template)
4. Cost proposal (See attached template)