Decree No. 59/2018 / ND-CP: New points on Customs declaration and inspection

	Authorized economic operators are exempted from post clearance audit at customs office
	Decree No. 59/2018 / ND-CP clarifies regulations on transshipped goods and goods in transit
	Decree No. 59/2018 / ND-CP supplements regulations on customs value

Enterprises carry out Customs procedures at Gia Thuy Customs Branch (under Hanoi Customs Department). Photo: N.Linh.

Supplementing Customs declarants

Specifically, on the issue of the Customs declarant, Decree 59/2018 / ND-CP supplements person in charge of the goods transit service as Customs declarant to match the reality, as well as ensure the publicity and transparency. Besides, supplementing Customs declarant such as person authorized by goods owner if those goods are individual’s donations and gifts; deposited luggage before and after the trip of a person on exit or entry; or goods imported to implement the tax-free investment projects

Regarding the time of notifying the Customs inspections (channel classification results), Decree 59/2018 / ND-CP is amended and supplemented as follows. The General Director of Customs shall base on criteria for classification of risk levels as prescribed by the Minister of Finance to decide the Customs inspections and to notify it on the e-customs data processing system in one of the following forms: accepting information on the Customs declarations for customs clearance of goods; checking related documents attached to the Customs dossiers submitted by Customs declarants to the National Single Window portal to decide the Customs clearance or physical inspections. The Ministry of Finance shall specify the time of notifying customs inspections on the e-customs data processing system.

Regarding the issue of physical inspections of goods, Decree 59/2018 / ND-CP specifies that Customs verification agency carries out classification, analysis or appraisal. Because under Decision No. 65/2015 / QD-TTg dated 17th December 2015 of the Prime Minister on the organizational restructuring of the General Department of Customs. In which, Customs Verification Department has its branches in key provinces and cities, which is a state management agency in charge of technical analysis and classification of goods and inspection and supervision of technical standards for imported and exported goods. Therefore, Decree 59/2018 / ND-CP amends and supplements the phrase "Customs verification agency" to replace the phrase "professional groups of customs agency" in Clause 5 of Article 29 of Decree 08/2018 / ND-CP. Specifically, with existing technical machinery and equipment at the customs office or the Customs inspection areas, the Customs officers inspect the actual goods but they do not get sufficient basis to determine the accuracy of contents declared by Customs declarants on goods names, codes, types, quality, weight and volume, in this circumstance, the Customs Verification Agency shall be requested to analyse, classify or appraise to identify the above contents. If the Customs agency does not have sufficient basis to determine the accuracy of contents declared by the Customs declarants, the Customs agency shall ask for verification from a verification organization prescribed by law and shall decide the Customs clearance under the result by the verification organization.

Adding cases subject to inspection of export manufacturing and processing establishments

In order to comply with the Law on Import and Export Duties and avoid trade frauds and tax evasion, Decree No. 59/2018 / ND-CP has added cases subject to inspection of manufacturing and processing establishments and manufacturing and processing capacity.

According to the Drafting Committee, the Law on Import and Export Duties regulates that raw materials, supplies and components imported for export production are subject to import tax exemption; therefore, the provision of inspection of manufacturing establishments for organizations and individuals enjoying the 275-day tax payment period specified at Point a, clause 1 of Article 39 of Decree No. 08 is inconsistent with the Law on Import and Export Duties. Whereas, according to the provisions of clause 2 of Article 10, clause 2 of Article 12 of Decree 134/2016 / ND-CP of the Government, the condition for tax exemption for goods imported for export manufacturing and processing is that organizations and individuals must have manufacturing establishments in the Vietnamese territory.

Therefore, Decree 59/2018 / ND-CP has amended and supplemented the cases subject to inspection of manufacturing and processing establishments and manufacturing and processing capacity, which is reflected in Clause 17 of the Decree. 59/2018 / ND-CP. Accordingly, the cases subject to inspection include: Organizations and individuals that import goods for the first time for export manufacturing and processing; when detecting signs that organizations or individuals have changed information on their addresses, business lines, sizes and manufacturing capacity, but fail to notify the changes to the Customs; Organizations and individuals importing goods for processing for foreign traders but they hire other organizations and individuals to re-process the whole processing contracts; When detecting signs that organizations and individuals retain imported raw materials, supplies and components and export products outside the places already notified to the customs; and other cases on the basis of risk management application.

Decree No. 59/2018 / ND-CP: Amendments to procedures for temporary imported goods for re-exports VCN - In Decree No. 59/2018 / ND-CP amending and supplementing Decree 08/2015 / ND-CP, some issues ...

Regarding the implementation of inspection results of manufacturing and processing establishments and manufacturing and processing capacity as stipulated in Point b, Clause 3 of Article 39, Decree No. 59/2018 / ND-CP. It has also amended some phrases to comply with the provisions in Law on Enterprises, Law on Investment and Law on Foreign Trade Management. Accordingly, the phrase "not suitable to business lines stated in the business certificate" in Point b, Clause 3 of Article 39 shall be amended into "or in the conditional investment business lines according to the law, which organization or individuals fail to present permits or certificates of business eligibility”