Enterprises "wait" for the list of specialized inspection exemptions

Ho Chi Minh City Customs discussed with businesses at the Dialogue Conference on March 31, 2023.

Waiting for opinions of specialized ministries

Kintetsu World Express Vietnam Co., Ltd., specializing in logistics, asked a question regarding the implementation of the regulation on the exemption from state inspection of quality for imported goods for non-commercial purposes (non-commercial goods) in Decree No. 13/2022/ND-CP, the Ministry of Finance issued Official Letter No. 11827/BTC-TCHQ dated November 14, 2022, requesting the ministries to have clear regulations on each circumstance as well as procedures and documents for implementation. So it is expected that the relevant ministries and branches will issue these guideline documents.

Responding to this content, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department said, in Official Letter No. 11827/BTC-TCHQ dated November 14, 2022, of the Ministry of Finance on the implementation of regulations on the exemption from quality inspection for imported goods that are non-commercial in Decree No. 13/2022/ND-CP of the Government, the Ministry of Finance has sent an official dispatch requesting the concerned ministries and branches to issue soon documents guiding regulations on the exemption from state inspection of quality, the quantity for imported goods with non-commercial purposes. The Ministry of Finance proposes ministries to instruct vividly: Cases that are considered as imported goods for non-commercial purposes that are exempted from inspection; procedures for requesting inspection exemption (if any); documents and forms of documents must be submitted to the customs office when carrying out import procedures for exempted goods (if any). However, up to now, the Ministry of Finance has not received instructions from specialized management ministries on this issue. The Customs will immediately notify the business community when there are instructions from specialized management ministries.

Also, on this issue, enterprises reflect in the above regulation that the exemption from quality inspection of imported goods with non-commercial purposes is under the decision of the minister in charge of the industry or field that causes the problem of administrative procedures. Although it is called an exemption from inspection, it is necessary to apply for a decision on exemption from inspection to get clearance. Therefore, the enterprise requested that the management agencies adjust the wording to create favorable conditions for this import type.

Regarding specialized inspection for imported goods from abroad into the separate customs area, a representative of Techtronic Industries Vietnam Manufacturing Co., Ltd. said that the company specializing in the production of electrical and portable equipment should be very interested in the application of specialized inspection exemption for goods imported from abroad into a separate customs area as prescribed in the Law on Foreign Trade Management. In guiding enterprises on this content, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department said that in Article 57 of the Law on Foreign Trade Management 2017, the application of measures to manage imported goods to a separate customs area is as follows:

"Apply foreign trade management measures to goods brought from a separate customs area to the inland as for goods brought from abroad into the Vietnamese territory.

Foreign trade management measures are not applied, except for import bans, import suspension, and quarantine measures for goods brought from abroad into a separate customs area.

Only one-time application of import goods management measures to a separate customs area.

The customs authority must supervise the goods specified in Clause 2 of this Article following the law on customs and other relevant laws." However, the exemption from specialized inspection for goods imported from abroad into the Customs area must also comply with specialized inspection laws.

It is necessary to shorten specialized inspection time

As reflected by businesses, the specialized inspection procedures, although improved than before, are still a bottleneck for import and export goods because it takes a long time. For example, regarding the registration of state quality inspection for goods of group 2, in Decree 74/2018/ND-CP, at point b, clause 3, article 1, it is stated: "Within 1 working day, the inspection agency will confirm that the importer has registered for quality inspection of imported goods on the registration form of the importer. Then, the importer submits the registration certificate certified by the inspection agency to the customs office for permission to clear the goods. Some businesses have asked if specialized ministries have deployed to register for quality inspection and return results online. Because currently, the time to register for quality inspection by paper records to get confirmation from specialized ministries is quite long, not one working day as the document stipulates, but in fact, some shipments take up to 4-5 working days even though the dossier is complete as prescribed.

Sharing with enterprises' difficulties in specialized inspection, Mr Dang Thai Thien, Deputy Head of Customs Control and Supervision Division - Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, said that the Government had approved the Project on reforming the quality inspection model, food safety for imported goods, the Ministry of Finance has drafted a decree and consulted with relevant units, when the decree on specialized inspection is passed, it will be a strong improvement of specialized inspection for import and export goods.

Currently, the specific regulations on procedures, dossiers, and competence to allow goods to be brought back for storage pending specialized inspection results have been guided in Article 32 of Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC, amended and supplemented in Circular 39/2018/TT-BTC. The customs declarant should pay attention to the documents proving the place to bring the goods for preservation, the responsibilities of the customs declarant, and the cases in which the goods are not allowed to be brought back for preservation. According to the provisions at Point đ, Clause 2, Article 33 of Decree 08/2015/ND-CP as amended and supplemented by Decree 59/2018/ND-CP, "In case of the overdue time limit, if a specialized manager or a specialized inspection organization has not yet concluded on the specialized inspection, it must send a document clearly stating the reason and the date of issuance of the inspection conclusion to the customs authority". Therefore, in case of late submission of specialized inspection results due to the fault of the specialized inspection agency, the enterprise shall request the specialized inspection agency to certify in writing so that the customs sub-department has a basis to resolve.