The customs office conducts the electronic data exchange with the EAEU

Speeding up customs clearance

In order to implement the commitments in the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam - EAEU including five countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan effective from 5 October 2018, signed among the customs authorities, the electronic exchange of customs information shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 4 of Article 5.7 of this Agreement.

The pilot implementation of electronic information exchange before arrival will be implemented from 5 October, 2018 for 5 groups of goods exported from Vietnam to the EAEU market under the HS code with six numbers including: 0902 40 (black tea); 2103 90 (sauces and preparations for sauces, mixed condiments and mixed seasonings, fine flour and meal of mustard seeds and prepared mustard); 3206 49 (pigment); 6203 42 (textiles) and 6203 49 (textiles).

For goods imported into Vietnam from EAEU countries, electronic data will be exchanged before arrival according to the 6-digit HS codes: 030363 (fish); 220860 (alcohol, wine); 270111 (coal); 720720 (steel); 870422 (motor vehicle used for cargo).

The purpose of electronic information exchange is to facilitate the implementation of customs operations, expedite the process of releasing goods and preventing potential dangers of customs law violations.

Electronic data interchange information between the parties is not a basis for the Customs authorities to decide on the tariff preferences of the agreement, but the data received will assist the Customs Office. Parties have further information to analyze the risk assessment of import and export consignments between the parties for the purpose of facilitating and expeditiously clearing customs clearance for imported consignments that are assessed as compliant with customs regulations of each party.

In principle, the information on the customs declaration of the exporting country must be consistent with the information on the certificate of origin (C/O) and related documents such as commercial contracts, commercial invoices... These documents are usually required to be presented to the customs authorities of the importing country in accordance with the regulations of the importing country in the customs file.

Over time, according to EAEU's customs authorities, some cases of counterfeit vouchers in customs dossiers or low value declarations have been detected. These violations affect the prestige of goods exported from Vietnam to these markets. According to the customs authorities of the EAEU countries, goods imported from Vietnam are likely to be subject to tighter control by Customs if the violations of customs documents continue to be detected. .

Implementation schedule

With respect to the Customs Modernization and Trade Facilitation Chapter (Chapter 5) of this Agreement, the Parties have the obligation, in accordance with Article 5.7 (4), to implement, in accordance with the schedule as follows:

- No later than 2 years after the entry comes into force of this Agreement, no later than 5 October 2018, commencement of the electronic exchange of test items for specific goods between the customs authorities of the parties.

- Not later than 3 years from the date of entry comes into force of the Agreement, no later than 5 October 2019, electronic communications shall apply to goods with a trade turnover of more than 20% from the date of entry into force of the Agreement.

- Not later than 5 years from the date of entry comes into force of this Agreement, no later than 20 May, 2021, all parties exchanging electronic communications of all goods traded between the Parties between all customs authorities related.

For the purpose of exchanging electronic information, in accordance with paragraph 6 of Article 5.7 of the Agreement, all technical requirements and standards for the exchange of electronic information as well as the specific content of the information exchanges must be provided for in separate Protocols between the central customs authorities of the parties.

For this purpose, the General Department of Customs has cooperated with the EAEU to complete negotiations on the Protocol and sign the Protocol on June 28. Accordingly, the parties exchanged pilots for five groups of goods for a period of one year from October 5. Between 5 October, 2019 and 5 October, 2021, the exchange of information will be made with goods whose trade turnover has increased by more than 20% since the entry of the Agreement comes into force. The specific category will be determined later on the basis of trade statistics. From October 5, 2021, the exchange of information is made on the whole of commodity transactions between the parties.

The exchange of electronic information is not later than 4 hours after the liberation/ customs clearance of the exported goods. The parties undertake that the information exchanged between the parties shall only be for the purposes of customs operations analysis of the risk assessment for imported consignments, and shall not be communicated to third parties without prior notice by written consent of the information provider.