Traditional procedures do not meet requirements on development of import and export via e-commerce

	Need for a legal corridor to manage e-commerce tax
	E-commerce expected to help Hung Yen longan reach out to foreign markets

Illustrative photo.

The draft decree has been widely consulted on by people, businesses and relevant agencies by the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC).

According to the GDVC, e-commerce is developing strongly and Vietnam is also included in this development. Therefore, there needs to be new management policies consistent with cross-border e-commerce transactions to ensure customs management but not affect the development of this sector.

The current regulations for import and export goods transacted via e-commerce or traditional methods are all performed by Customs, causing some shortcomings.

For example, regarding customs dossiers, if the buyer does not submit or present paper documents related to import and export goods (because the buyer often pays via debit cards, e-wallets, etc.) to customs when carrying out customs procedures, especially documents to prove the transaction value of goods and as the basis for the customs authority to assess customs value and calculate tax.

Regarding the speed of customs clearance, the trade in goods via e-commerce tends to develop strongly, so the number of small shipments increases. Therefore, the Customs needs modern technical solutions to expedite the customs clearance process and reduce the risk of goods congestion at border gates.

Regarding the pre-arrival information of import and export goods, Customs authority applies risk management to decide on customs inspection and supervision for exported and imported goods. To do this, Customs needs to have pre-arrival information of goods.

However, at present, the Customs does not have pre-arrival information of goods transacted via e-commerce (information of order, shipping, payment) so there is not enough grounds for the authority to issue a decision on exemption from inspection for imported and exported goods.

The management of goods transacted via e-commerce also faces problems related to specialized inspection. Currently, legal documents regulate cases subject to exemptions from licensing, conditions and specialized inspection are issued, but regulations for these goods have not yet been issued, especially goods bought by individuals with small volumes.

The individuals buy goods with small quantity for personal purposes, they still have to comply with the regulations on licensing, conditions and specialized inspection. Meanwhile, only the import-export organizations can meet these requirements, causing difficulties for individual buyers.

In addition, the state management agency does not have a separate mechanism for management of exported and imported goods transacted via e-commerce channels, as carrying out customs procedures and related procedures, buyers in Vietnam face difficulty in receiving goods purchased from abroad.

Therefore, a part that buys goods on the website and illegally transports these goods to Vietnam has been established, especially across the land border, leading to shortcomings in preventing trade fraud.

The draft Decree provides regulations to control imported and exported goods transacted via e-commerce while ensuring favorable conditions for buyers and sellers to comply with the law.

According to the GDVC, the decree aims to create a legal framework on management policies, regimes, ensuring effective customs control and meeting the requirements of administrative procedure reform.

The decree also provides specific and transparent provisions and in line with international practices, which is the basis for the regulation of customs procedures and ensure the performance in a simple and transparent manner.

The draft decree has eight major groups of regulations, including: general provisions; regulations on systems; regulations on commodity management policies; regulations on tax administration; regulations on information supply related to orders, payment and transportation for exported and imported goods transacted via e-commerce; regulations on customs procedures; responsibilities of relevant agencies, organizations and individuals; terms of enforcement.