Only conduct physical inspections for transit goods when detecting a sign of violation

illustration image. Photo: N.Linh

Regarding conducting physical inspections of goods in transit, the General Department of Vietnam Customs recently received a reflection from a number of enterprises and the Goods Transit Service Business Association about the entire shipment of goods in transit through Vietnam subject to physical inspection, causing congestion of goods and difficulties for the business operation of goods in transit.

To unify the implementation, pursuant to Article 43 of Decree 08/2015/ND-CP amended and supplemented in Clause 19 Article 1 of Decree 59/2018/ND-CP of the Government, Article 51 of the Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC is amended and supplemented in Clause 29, Article 1 of Circular 39/2018/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance, the General Department of Vietnam Customs said the customs authority only inspects goods in transit if they show a sign of law violation.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs also requested some local customs units direct their affiliated customs branches to work with the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department to conduct 100% physical inspections of all transit goods of some enterprises that show suspect signs to increase control of activities of taking advantage of transit for transporting counterfeit goods, goods infringing upon intellectual property rights.

At the same time, a number of units have been also requested by the General Department of Vietnam Customs to assess inspection and control against counterfeit goods and intellectual property infringement goods as well as proposed solutions in the future.

According to the Customs Control and Supervision Department, legal provisions on management policies and customs procedures for the type of goods in transit have basically met demand on development, while ensuring the customs management of goods transport activities subject to customs supervision.

However, the implementation of customs management for transit activities still contains some potential risks for subjects to take advantage of acts of violation and trade fraud. For example, goods in transit include goods imported conditionally or banned from import. After the goods leave the territory of Vietnam, enterprises try to import them back to Vietnam.

To strengthen the management of this type, the Customs Control and Supervision Department has advised the General Department of Vietnam Customs to direct the Customs Departments of the provinces and cities to implement.