Decree 59/2018/ND-CP: New contents on Customs declaration and inspection

	Decree No. 59/2018 / ND-CP supplements regulations on customs value
	Decree 59 amended the customs declaration
	What's new in Decree 59/2018 / ND-CP on Customs procedures, inspections and supervision?

Enterprises carry out Customs procedures at Gia Thuy Customs Branch (Ha Noi Customs Department). Photo: N.L

Customs declarant is supplemented

Specifically, for contents on Customs declarant, Decree 59/2018/ND-CP supplements that an object carrying out goods transport service is a Customs declarant to match with the reality and ensures transparency. It also supplements Customs declarants as: people authorized by the goods owners in the case where goods are gifts or donation of an individual; Luggage is sent before and after the trip by passengers on exit or entry; goods are imported for tax-exempt investment projects.

For the time for Customs authority to announce the Customs inspection (channel classification result) for Customs declarant, Decree 59/2018 is supplemented and amended as follows: the Director General of General Department of Vietnam Customs shall base on criteria for classification of risk levels as prescribed by the Minister of Finance to decide Customs inspection and publicize in the e-Customs data processing system under one of following forms: Approving information in Customs declaration for decision on Customs clearance; Checking documents in Customs dossier which are submitted and presented by Customs declarant or relevant documents in the National Single Window for decision on Customs clearance or physical inspection. The Ministry of Finance specifies the time for announcement of Customs inspection on the e-Customs data processing system.

Regarding physical inspection, Decree 59/2018/ND-CP specifies that the Customs Verification authority shall carry out analysis and classification or verification. Because, according to the Prime Minister’s Decision 65/2015/QD-TTg dated 17th December 2015 on organizational structure of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, in which the Customs Department of Goods Verification which has Customs Branches of Goods Verification in key provinces and cities, which are the State management agencies in charge of analysis and classification, inspection and supervision of technical standards for imported and exported goods. Therefore, Decree 59/2018/ND-CP amended and supplemented the phrase "Customs verification agency" to replace the phrase "specialized teams of Customs offices" in Clause 5, Article 29 in Decree 08/2018 / ND-CP. Specifically: if Customs officers use machinery and equipment of Customs branch, Customs check point to implement physical inspection but they do not have basis to determine the accuracy of contents declared by Customs declarant on goods name, code, category, quality, quantity, weight, they shall request Customs Verification authority to implement analysis and classification or verification to determine the accuracy of these contents. If the Customs authority has not basis enough to determine the accuracy of contents declared by a Customs declarant, the Customs shall request the verification from a verification organization described in the provisions of the law and base on this verification result to decide Customs clearance.

Supplementing cases subject to the inspection of export processing and production establishments

In order to comply with the Law on Import and Export Duty and prevent trade frauds and tax evasion, the Decree 59/2018/ND-CP has supplemented cases subject to the inspection of export processing and production establishments and processing and production capacity.

According to the drafting committee, the Law on Import and Export Duty stipulates that imported raw materials, supplies and components imported for export production are subject to tax exemption. Thereby, the provision on the inspection of export processing and production establishments for organizations and individuals entitled to the 275-day tax payment term specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 39 of Decree No. 08 is inconsistent with the Law on Import and Export Duty. Whereas, the provisions in Clause 2 Article 10 and Clause 2 Article 12 of the Government’s Decree 134/2016/ND-CP stipulates that the condition for individuals and organizations entitled to tax exemption for imported goods for export production and processing is that they must have production establishments in the Vietnamese territory.

Therefore, Decree 59/2018/ND-CP amended and supplemented the cases subject to inspection of production establishments and processing and production capacity, these contents are prescribed in Clause 17 of the Decree 59/2018/ND-CP. Accordingly, the cases subject to the inspection include: Organizations and individuals importing goods for the first time for export processing and production; When detecting signs that organizations or individuals have changed information on their addresses, business lines, sizes and production capacities but fail to notify such changes to the Customs authority; Organizations and individuals importing goods for processing for foreign traders but ordering other organizations and individuals to process the entire processing contracts; When detecting signs that organizations and individuals retain imported raw materials, supplies and components and exported products outside the places already notified to the Customs authority; and other cases based on the risk management application.

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For the handling of inspection results of processing and production establishments and processing and production capacity as stipulated in Point b, Clause 3 of Article 39, Decree 59/2018/ND-CP also amended some phrases to comply with the Law on Enterprises, Investment Law, Law on Foreign Trade Management. Accordingly, the phrase "not suitable to business lines stated in the business license" in Point b, Clause 3 of Article 39 shall be amended into "or under the conditional investment business lines according to the provisions of law, but the organization , individuals failing to submit the business license or certificates of business conditions".