Revising regulations on customs procedures, inspections, supervision and control

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Customs officers at work at North Hanoi Customs Branch (Hanoi Customs Department). Photo: N.Linh

Integration and technology trends

Deputy Director of the Customs Control and Supervision Department (General Department of Customs) Dao Duy Tam said that after the draft Decree is signed and issued, the General Department of Customs will urgently submit it to the leaders of the Ministry of Finance, for the signing and promulgation of draft Circular amending and supplementing Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC; and decisions to replace Decision 1966, Decision 1810 dated June 15, 2018; Decision 1921 dated June 28, 2018; and Decision 2999 dated September 6, 2017 of the General Department of Customs, and organize training seminars for customs officers and businesses to unify the implementation and avoid problems arising when the Decree takes effect.

A representative of the Customs Control and Supervision Department said that the draft Decree will amend problems and inadequacies of Decree 08/2015/ND-CP and the contents that were not the consistency of this Decree with other legal documents and new international treaties related to the customs field. In addition, the regulations are developed in the direction of increasing the application of information technology, modernizing customs operations andpromoting the application of achievements of the 4.0 industrial revolution in customs management, moving towards building a smart Customs model.

At the same time, the draft decree will simplify administrative procedures, support businesses, and improve customs management for imports and exports, entry and exit, and transit of vehicles.

Facilitate the release of goods

Notably, regarding customs procedures, the draft Decree amends and supplements Clause 3, Article 5 stipulates customs declarants for goods as movable properties of individuals, goods of individuals entitled to immunity as well as; goods temporarily imported for re-export to replace or repair foreign ships and aircraft and amends Point b, Clause 4, Article 25, on making and submitting customs dossiers through the system in accordance with the electronic customs model (e-documents or digitized data). The draft adds responsibilities of warehouse, yard and port operators during goods storage at border gates or ports and pay related costs to serve inspection activities of the Customs agency in Article 28.

An important revised content also this time is the regulation for the release of goods. According to the Customs Control and Supervision Department, current regulations allow goods that have been sampled, analyzed, classified and assessed to be released. According to the provisions of Point b, Clause 5, Article 59 of the Law on Tax Administration, late payment interest will not be charged on goods waiting for analysis and assessment results. However, for goods which have the same product brand, composition, structure, physico-chemical properties, features, uses andpacking specifications, and the same manufacturer as the goods which were previously sampled, and are waiting for analysis and assessment results of the same customs declarant, it is mandatory to take samples and charge late payment interest.

In order to facilitate businesses, the draft Decree supplements a regulation on explanation in Article 32 as follows; goods are considered to be subject to analysis, classification, inspection or assessment and testing to determine HS code of without sampling for analysis, classification or assessment when they have the same product brand, composition, structure, physico-chemical properties, features, uses, and packing specifications and the same manufacturer as the goods which were previously sampled and are waiting for the results of analysis, classification or assessment of the same customs declarant.

Furthermore, in this draft Decree, the contents of specialized inspection will be also amended to provide consistency with other relevant Decrees. The draft Decree will be reviewed to annul inappropriate regulations on specialized inspection for imported and exported goods, avoiding overlaps with the Government's Decree 85/2019/ND-CP dated November 14, 2019 and the draft Decree stipulating the management mechanism, method, order and procedures for quality and food safety inspection for imported goods.

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Moreover, the draft Decree will amend and add contents to Article 33 to ensure consistency with the Decree stipulating the management mechanism, methods, order and procedures for state inspection of quality and food safety for imported goods, such as; specialized inspection agencies and organizations carry out the inspection, notifying the inspection results and updating them on the National Single Window Portal within a period of time prescribed by the law on specialized inspection and that Customs authorities will base the specialized inspection results to decide customs clearance.