Consult southern customs and enterprises on on-the-spot import-export management

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Deputy General Director of General Department of Customs Nguyen Van Tho speaks at the conference.

At the conference, in addition to gathering comments from 19 Southern Customs units, the General Department of Customs also consulted representatives of enterprises dealing with import and export activities in some southern provinces on contents related to the State management of customs for on-spot import and export activities which are amended and supplemented in Article 35 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015 of the Government.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Director General Nguyen Van Tho said that amendments and supplements to Decree 08/2015/ND-CP have been contributed by customs officers in the whole sector. When the draft decree was submitted to the Government members for comments, they raised concerns regarding the relevant content in Article 35, especially Point c, Clause 1 of this article.

From the above fact, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai requested the Ministry of Finance to comprehensively evaluate the state management of customs for on-the-spot import and export activities to have a solution to deal with problems and shortcomings related to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 35 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP, specifically Point c, Clause 1, Article 35.

The Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant agencies in, reviewing and finalizing the draft Decree, and evaluating and summarizing the implementation of regulations on on-the-spot imports and exports specified in Clause 1 of this Article 35 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP, in which it is necessary to clearly state the legal basis, implementation results, advantages and disadvantages, impacts and proposed solutions. On that basis, the Ministry shall report to the Government Standing Committee to consider and give opinions on the promulgation of the Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP and provisions in Clause 1, Article 35 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP.

Following the conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, the General Department of Customs assessed and summarized the implementation of regulations on on-the-spot imports and exports specified in Clause 1, Article 35 of Decree No. 08/ 2015/ND-CP and proposed amendments and supplements.

Accordingly, the leaders of the General Department of Customs had a meeting and discussed very carefully in the direction of including Points a and b, Clause 1, Article 35 to Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC (amended and supplemented in Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC) related to outsourcing activities for foreign traders, in order to comply with the legal system on trade and foreign trade management and import and export activities of export processing enterprises and enterprises in the non-tariff zone and the provisions of the Commercial Law, the Law on Foreign Trade Management, the Customs Law and the Law on Import and Export Taxes.

Head of Customs Control and Supervision Division, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department Vuong Tuan Nam speaks at the conference. Photo: Q.H

Point c, Clause 1, Article 35 states: "Goods traded under the sale or purchase contract between Vietnamese enterprises and overseas organizations or individuals that have no representative in Vietnam, and delivered or received under the designation arrangement between foreign merchants with other enterprises in Vietnam”, this is essentially a purely commercial business based on two separate sale contracts; goods can be raw materials for the production of export goods or other products and goods for business consumption or implementation of investment, construction or construction projects; goods do not move through the territory of Vietnam. The General Department of Customs proposes to remove the content specified at Point c of this article.

However, according to local customs, the number of declarations made under Point c, Clause 1, Article 35 has accounted for a large turnover. If this point is removed, it will affect state management activities on customs as well as the production and business activities of enterprises. Therefore, the Deputy General Director suggested that, from the actual activities in their management areas, the customs units should focus on discussing and assessing the impact on policies, especially tax policies, and propose policies to strictly manage tax while facilitating import and export activities.

According to the Customs Control and Supervision Department under the General Department of Customs, before organizing this conference, the General Department of Customs held a comprehensive assessment of on-the-spot import-export activities specified in Article 35 of Decree No. 08/2015. /ND-CP dated January 21, 2015, of the Government and clarifies the legal basis, as well as the impacts of amendments and supplements to this content.

Deputy Director of the Customs Control and Supervision Department Nguyen Bac Hai introduced a report on assessing and summarizing the implementation of customs procedures for on-the-spot imports and exports specified in Clause 1, Article 35 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP and proposed amendments and supplements to relevant contents.

At the conference, the local customs units all agreed on the proposal on removing the content specified in Point c, Clause 1, Article 35. However, it is necessary to have a solution to the difficulties that enterprises encounter, avoiding affecting import-export activities as well as attracting local investment.

In addition, the Deputy Director General hoped that, if the customs units have any comments, they should send them in writing to the Customs Control and Supervision Department.