Customs sector strengthens anti-smuggling for e-commerce products

Concerns over counterfeit goods in e-commerce and express delivery

Director Vu Quang Toan presents achievements in the anti-smuggling in 2024 and the direction and tasks for 2025 at the online conference to review performance in 2024 and set out tasks for 2025 of the General Department of Vietnam Customs (December 16, 2024). Photo: Q. Hung.

Facing many difficulties and obstacles

In 2024, the Customs sector has gained achievements in preventing and combating smuggling, trade fraud and illegal transportation of goods across the border.

Specifically, the whole Customs sector detected, arrested and handled 16,390 cases of Customs offences. The Customs prosecuted 24 cases and transferred 157 cases to other agencies for prosecution.

However, Director Vu Quang Toan said that during performing the tasks of combating smuggling, trade fraud and illegal transportation of goods across the border, the Customs Enforcement Force many difficulties and obstacles.

For example, the power to investigate under criminal procedures of the Customs in the fight against smuggling is still limited.

The 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017, stipulates that the Customs only have competency to investigate under criminal procedures for three crimes: “smuggling” (Article 188), “illegal transportation of goods and currency across the border” (Article 189) and “production and trading of prohibited goods” (Article 190).

Therefore, when performing duties in the customs control area, many types of offences have taken place under the management of the Customs sector such as illegal transportation of weapons and drugs across the border; tax evasion, money laundering, infringement of intellectual property rights, counterfeit goods, goods listed in the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora),

“In fact, when detecting these crimes, the Customs must handover them to the investigation agency. This takes a lot of time to process administrative procedures, not ensuring the promptness and timeliness in detecting and investigating crimes,” the Director said.

Deploying the Operation Mekong Dragon VII

Regarding the tasks for 2025 and the coming time, Director Vu Quang Toan said that the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department focuses on key tasks such as:

Building and arranging the Department's organization in a streamlined, effective, efficient, standardized and professional manner.

Building and implementing human resource management based on capacity and working positions; strengthening administrative discipline, and public ethics, etc.

Reviewing legal documents and procedures to assess the impact and propose amendments, supplements and replacements to ensure smooth operations, meeting the professional requirements of the new organizational model and apparatus.

Effectively exploiting and using specialized equipment to ensure maximum use of the strengths of science and technology for preventing and combating smuggling and drug-related crimes.

Strengthening the prevention and combat of drug-related crimes by developing plans and strategies to successfully tackle major projects. Identifying, detecting, and warning about new and sophisticated methods and tricks of drug crimes...

Continuing to maintain and promote the effectiveness of bilateral and multilateral cooperation channels with Customs administrations of other countries on exchanging intelligence information for anti-smuggling, especially implementing Operation Mekong Dragon VII...

Strengthening inspection and control of the import and transportation of goods traded online applications, goods traded on e-commerce platforms and sent via express delivery service from abroad to Vietnam. Combating acts such as making false documents to illegally import goods subject to conditional import and export...

In 2024, the preventing and combating smuggling, trade fraud and illegal transportation of goods across the border have gained remarkable achievements.

The whole Customs detected, arrested and handled 16,390 cases of customs offences. The Customs Department prosecuted 24 cases and transferred 157 cases to other agencies for prosecution.