Many new points apply to transit goods activities

Deputy Director of Customs Control and Supervision Department Nguyen Anh Tuan made a speech at the conference. Photo: T.D

Facilitate enterprises’operation

The ASEAN Customs Transit System (ACTS) is an integrated information technology system established by ASEAN countries, connecting and exchanging information with each other to perform electronic transit procedures and control transport of goods in transit through the territory of ASEAN countries.

In Vietnam, the ACTS system is developed, managed and operated by the General Department of Vietnam Customs based on technical documents agreed between ASEAN member countries participating in Protocol 7.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Director of Customs Control and Supervision Department Nguyen Anh Tuan said ACTS was the only unified system to perform electronic transit procedures and control the transit of goods through the territory of ASEAN countries. The advantages of this system for businesses are reducing cargo clearance time, reducing paperwork and being implemented synchronously in all ASEAN countries.

Besides that, when participating in the ACTS system, the procedures would be very simple and open for businesses when they only have to use one customs transit declaration to declare goods transported in one means of transport from the country of origin to the country of transit and to the final destination country of the journey.

On that basis, Decree 46/2020/ND-CP became effective from 1 June 2020 and has contributed to creating a legal basis for implementing customs modernisation for goods in transit between ASEAN countries and Vietnam, cutting costs and facilitating businesses in transit goods.

At the same time, contributing to improving competitiveness among firms participating in goods transit, facilitating and promoting goods transit and promoting the geographical advantage of Vietnam in transportation of goods in transit to further facilitate the transport of goods in transit and support the implementation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area and ASEAN economic integration.

Guarantee and deposit for goods in transit

During the conference, representatives of the Customs Control and Supervision Department, the Import and Export Duty Department under the General Department of Vietnam Customs provided guidance on the contents of the decree on the procedures of customs inspection and supervision for goods in transit through the ACTS system.

For guidance on regulations about guarantee and deposit of goods in transit when implemented through ACTS system, Le Manh Hung - Deputy Director of the Import and Export Duty Department, said this was a new regulation to avoid the risk of tax loss for the State because competent forces have discovered many cases of transporting goods in transit through Vietnamese border gates and goods were stolen on the way of transport, causing tax losses to the State.

Accordingly, to ensure that the risks and disputes could be arisen during the implementation process, Decree 46 stipulates that the customs declarant can choose a one-trip guarantee or multi-trip guarantee and submit a letter of guarantee of the credit institution's foreign bank branch to the customs authority where registering the declaration to updated through the ACTS system. The guarantee is valid for countries participating in the carriage of goods in transit.

However, guarantees via ACTS system have no penalty for late payment. After the transport of goods in transit ends, the customs authority will return the deposit like refunding an overpaid amount in accordance with the law on tax management.

In addition, enterprises are exempt from guarantee for many journeys when in transit if they meet the following conditions: Recognised as priority transit enterprise; enterprises that have registered transport services or provide logistics services in accordance with the law; enterprises are not overdue for more than 90 days of tax, late payment interest, fines and are not subject to coercive measures for implementing tax management decisions in the customs field for two consecutive years.

Enterprises are exempted from guarantee for many many journeys upon transit if they meet the following conditions: Recognised as a priority transit enterprise; enterprises that have registered transport services or providing logistics services in accordance with the provisions of law; the enterprise does not owe more than 90 days of tax, late payment interest and fines, and are not subject to coercive measures for the implementation of tax management decisions in customs for two consecutive years.

Besides that, goods in transit through the ACTS system can only be brought from Vietnam to ASEAN countries or brought from ASEAN member countries to Vietnam through three international border gates, namely Cau Treo (Ha Tinh); Lao Bao (Quang Tri), Moc Bai (Tay Ninh).

Decree 46 provides for the rights of customs declarants. Accordingly, customs declarants can choose to carry out customs procedures for transit through the ACTS system specified in Decree 46 or customs procedures for transit in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese law.