The Ministry of Finance has recently released Circular no. 39/2018/TT-BTC on amendments, adjusted Circular no. 38/2015/TT-BTC on guidelines for the Law on Customs in terms of customs procedure, customs supervision and inspection; Law on export and import tax. According to the Circular, there are 6 new legislations allowing businesses to complete customs procedure more easily – New legislation on convenient customs procedures.
Circular no. 39/2018/TT-BTC has 5 Chapters and 5 Appendix including several new contents based on investigation and application of methods which facilitate commerce, as well as suits the changes of international commercial trends, pursues customs management’s requirements and solves issues that arise during the implementation of Circular no. 38/2015/TT-BTC, details as below:
- New legislations concerning customs dossier – New legislation on convenient customs procedures.
Firstly, electronical submission of customs documents will be the main method of customs-document submission. Customs documents will be submitted electronically (scan of photocopies enlosed with electronic signature) while registering for the customs declaration. Therefore, it will not be obligatory for declarants to prepare paper-based customs declarations packs and bring to customs authorities as it is at present.
Secondly, clearly discriminate between customs dossier of declarants who need to submit to customs authorities for the purpose of completing customs procedure and that needs retaining at declarants’ department to present when customs authorities carry out inspections. Along with that, when doing customs declaration, instead of all documents relating to packs of goods for import and export, customs dossier submitted only requires minimum amount of documents providing necessary information for customs management.
This new legislation on convenient customs procedures not only ensures the transparency but also mitigates costs and human resources for both firms and customs authorities in the process of preparing customs dossier and customs-dossier inspection.
- New legislations concerning customs declaration – New legislation on convenient customs procedures.
To ensure the consitency in declaration and more electronicized implement of electronic customs procedure, apart from the principles prescribed in Article 19 Circular no. 38/2015/TT-BTC, Circular no. 39/2018/TT-BTC on amendments to some principles such as:
Firstly, a bill of lading must be declared on a separate import declaration. If a bill of lading is declared on more than one declaration, the declarant shall send request to separate the bill of lading to the customs authority before registering for declaration. If goods are imported without a bill of lading, the declarant shall specify reference number of the goods via e-customs system before declaration.
Secondly, If goods on more than one export declaration of the same owner are loaded in the same container or on the same vehicle, the declarant shall specify the information of the goods through the e-customs system before goods are released from the customs controlled area.
Thirdly, regarding exports and imports requiring licensing by line management authority, the license must be available upon registration of the customs declaration and specified in the customs declaration…
- Additional declaration, customs declaration cancellation, declaration of repurposed – new legislation on convenient customs procedures.
One among big changes regarding the implementation of additional declaration is that additional declaration procedure shall be carried out completely via system, instead of submitted with paper-based documents as present. Besides, to make additional declaration procedure more transparent, with every additional declaration case suits international commercial custom and each field’s characteristics;
Article 20 Circular no. 38/2015/TT-BTC was adjusted into directions as followed: clearly discriminate cases whose errors are found by the declarant and additional declaration made in customs declearation and additional declaration made after customs declearation. Amendment to additional declaration procedure for specific cases such as: the exports, imports are bulk cargo and there is an agreement on quantity or weight tolerance and commercial level of the goods; wrongly shipped goods, excess goods sent, insufficient goods sent and the goods are not partially or entirely removed from the customs controlled area.
- Registration, classification and solution for customs declaration – new legislation on convenient customs procedures.
E-customs system shall receive, inspect, register, classify customs declaration for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and respond with the result of classifying customs declaration as soon as the customs declaration is successfully registered. However, according to information updated by the time the exports or imports arrive at the border checkpoint, the e-customs system will automatically process and inform the declarant if its classification is changed due to changes in information.
For inspections, customs’ values definition, Circular no. 39/2018/TT-BTC adds more basis for the customs authority to reject the declared value, allows customs authority to allocate adjusted articles as well as makes amendment to one-time consultation. Moreover, 3 more methods of customs valuation applied to exports compared to current legislation were added and so did principles concerning contents, conditions, order of applying, documents, references of each methods.
- Exports and imports management, inspection. – new legislation on convenient customs procedures.
For acquiring exports and imports’ sample, if the declarant requests samples he shall conduct his request via System without going to the customs office. The customs office shall receive the request and confirm via System. In case of acquiring samples for the purpose of specialized inspection and goods are in customs controlled area, the customs authority shall put force for supervision based on risk management application.
Circular no. 39/2018/TT-BTC – on guidelines for the New legislation on convenient customs procedures adds several principles in order to clarify the responsibility of port/warehousing service providers concerning providing information for the customs authority (about the volume, get in and get out time, storing location and changes in the storing process…). In the condition that warehouse/depot/port area are connected to System’s information of the customs authority, the declarant only needs to contact the port service provider to delivery goods through controlled area on the basis of eligible information which was provided by via systems by the customs authority. This is the principle with the aim to foster electronic procedures in inspections, which were mainly conducted manually so far.
- Processed goods management, manufacturing export, export processing enterprise’s goods – new legislation on convenient customs procedures.
To manage processed goods, manufacture exports, export processing enterprises shall produce efficiently and follow the principle of the Law on Customs, Decree no. 134/2016/NĐ-CP, Circular no. 39/2018/TT-BTC on guidelines for contents relating to these types by: giving consistent definition of processed goods’ norm; adding rules that the declarant must declare materials’ reference number, products’ reference number in import declaration of materials, commodities and products’ export; more transparent regulations concerning manufacturer center, processed goods’ depot, export manufacturing and responsibility for notifying processed contracts and processed contracts’ appendix.
Besides, to encourage organizations, individuals to spontaneously obey and be willing to connect, share management-related data, resource utilize, materials imports, these firms do not need to conduct settlement report for the customs authority following principles in Circular no. 38/2015/TT-BTC. For organizations, individuals who have not participated in the system shall submit settlement report as prescribed. Moreover, Circular no. 39/2018/TT-BTC is added principles concerning amending settlement report, guidelines for processed goods (whose have domestic supply chains and tax rate, export tax) declaration, guidelines for imports procedures belongs to financial lessors…”
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