CIRCULAR

REGULATIONS ON CUSTOMS PROCEDURES FOR IMPORTED GOODS FOR COVID-19 PREVENTION AND CONTROL, SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS IN CUSTOMS DOSSIERS AND PHYSICAL INSPECTION OF EXPORTED AND IMPORTED GOODS IN THE CONTEXT OF COVID-19

Pursuant to the Law on Customs dated June 23, 2014;

Pursuant to Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015 of the Government detailing and providing measures for implementing the Customs Law on customs procedures, inspection, supervision and control and Decree No. 59/2018/ND-CP dated April 20, 2018 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP;

Pursuant to Decree No. 134/2016/ND-CP dated September 1, 2016 of the Government detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Law on Export Tax and Import Tax and Decree No. 18/2021/ND-CP dated March 11, 2021 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 134/2016/ND-CP;

Pursuant to Decree No. 31/2018/ND-CP dated March 8, 2018 of the Government detailing the Law on Foreign Trade Management on origin of goods;

Pursuant to Decree No. 69/2018/ND-CP dated May 15, 2018 of the Government detailing a number of articles of the Law on Foreign Trade Management.

Pursuant to Decree No. 87/2017/ND-CP dated July 26, 2017 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 86/NQ-CP dated August 6, 2021 of the Government on urgent solutions to prevent and combat the Covid-19 epidemic to implement Resolution No. 30/2021/QH15 dated July 28, 2021 of the 15th National Assembly;

Pursuant to Resolution No. 105/NQ-CP dated September 9, 2021 of the Government on supporting enterprises, cooperatives, and business households in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic:

Pursuant to Resolution No. 106/NQ-CP dated September 11, 2021 of the Government on tax policy on imported goods to finance the prevention and control of Covid-19;

At the request of the General Director of the General Department of Customs.

The Minister of Finance issued a Circular regulating customs procedures for imported goods serving the prevention and control of the Covid-19 pandemic; submission of documents in customs dossiers and physical inspection of exported and imported goods in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Circular provides for:

1. Customs procedures for imported aid goods from foreign sponsors; gifts, presents from abroad or goods imported by domestic organizations and individuals to support, assist, sponsor, donate, or present to the Government, the Ministry of Health, People's Committees of provinces and cities, and Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees of provinces and cities to serve urgent requirements for epidemic prevention, control, treatment, and medical examination and treatment in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic (hereinafter referred to as imported aid goods, gifts, presents serving the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic).

2. Submit documents in customs dossiers for exported and imported goods to resolve cargo congestion during customs clearance in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

3. Physically inspect goods at the request of the Customs Branch where the customs declaration is registered.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. Customs declarant.

2. Customs authorities, customs officials.

3. Agencies, organizations and individuals have related rights and obligations.

Article 3. Customs procedures for imported goods as aid, gifts, and presents for Covid-19 prevention and control

1. Customs procedures for imported goods as aid, gifts, and presents serving the prevention and control of the Covid-19 pandemic shall comply with the provisions of Article 50 of the Customs Law and Clause 7, Article 26 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015 of the Government detailing and providing measures for implementing the Customs Law on customs procedures, inspection, supervision, and control.

2. Documents in customs dossier:

a) Incomplete customs declaration for imported goods;

b) Confirmation document from competent state agency:

b.1) For imported aid goods from foreign donors: Decision of approval or document of agreement to receive aid goods from foreign donors to serve the prevention and control of Covid-19 pandemic from competent authority.

b.2) For goods that are gifts from abroad: Written agreement on gifts from foreign organizations and individuals to Vietnamese organizations and individuals to serve the prevention and control of Covid-19 or written consent from competent authorities on receiving donated goods from Vietnamese organizations and individuals to serve the prevention and control of Covid-19.

b.3) For goods imported by Vietnamese organizations and individuals to support, assist, sponsor, donate, or present to serve the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic: Approval documents of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Health or the People's Committees of provinces and cities, and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees of provinces and cities.

The documents specified in Point b of this Clause shall be submitted in the form of originals or copies, scans certified by the digital signature of the customs declarant.

c) Import license for goods on the List requiring an import license;

d) Notice of inspection area or notice of inspection results from a specialized inspection agency for goods on the List of goods subject to specialized inspection;

d) Declaration of aid confirmation with confirmation from the Finance agency for goods donated by foreign organizations and individuals to Vietnam according to the provisions of law on management and use of non-refundable aid;

e) Other relevant documents in the customs dossier for imported goods as prescribed in Clause 5, Article 1 of Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC dated April 20, 2018 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC dated March 25, 2015 of the Minister of Finance regulating customs procedures; customs inspection and supervision; export tax, import tax and tax management for exported and imported goods.

3. Deadline for submitting documents in customs dossier:

a) The customs declarant must submit the documents at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article at the time of registration of the incomplete import customs declaration.

b) The customs declarant is allowed to delay submitting the documents at Point c, Point d, Point d, Point e, Clause 1 of this Article within 30 days from the date of registration of the incomplete customs declaration for imported goods, together with the complete customs declaration.

4. Responsibilities of customs declarants:

a) Declare and submit incomplete customs declarations as prescribed in Article 50 of the Customs Law, Clause 7, Article 26 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015 of the Government and submit documents in the customs dossier within the time limit prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article.

b) Declare information requesting late submission of documents at Point c, Point d, Point d and Point e, Clause 2 of this Article (except for the case specified in Clause 1, Article 11 of Circular No. 13/2021/TT-BYT dated September 16, 2021 of the Minister of Health regulating the issuance of import circulation numbers for medical equipment serving the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic in urgent cases) in the "notes" box on the electronic customs declaration according to Form No. 01, Appendix I of Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC dated April 20, 2018 of the Minister of Finance amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC dated March 25, 2015 of the Minister of Finance regulating customs procedures; customs inspection and supervision; Export tax, import tax and tax management for exported and imported goods or in the "Other notes" box on the customs declaration for cases of customs declaration on paper declaration according to form HQ/2015/NK Appendix IV issued with Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC dated March 25, 2015 of the Minister of Finance regulating customs procedures; customs inspection and supervision; export tax, import tax and tax management for exported and imported goods.

After 30 days from the date of registration of an incomplete declaration for imported goods, if additional documents in the customs dossier have not been submitted to the customs authority, the customs declarant will be handled for violations according to the provisions of the law on customs and the law on taxes.

When submitting a complete customs declaration and documents in the customs dossier set according to Point b, Clause 3 of this Article, in case the customs declarant or the Customs Sub-Department located in a quarantined, isolated, or blockaded area as notified by a competent authority, the customs declarant cannot submit documents within the time limit prescribed in this clause, then within 05 working days from the end of the quarantined, isolated, or blockaded period as notified by a competent authority, the customs declarant must submit the unsubmitted documents to the customs authority together with 01 photocopy of the notification document of the competent authority on the application of quarantined, isolated, or blockaded measures certified by the digital signature of the customs declarant.

If the documents specified in Clause 1 of this Article have been issued on the National Single Window Portal, the customs declarant does not have to submit paper copies to the customs authority.

c) Keep the goods intact at the storage location and only put them into use after customs clearance.

5. Responsibilities of customs authorities

a) Customs authorities shall carry out customs clearance procedures for goods in accordance with the provisions of Article 50 of the 2014 Customs Law, Clause 7, Article 26 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015 of the Government detailing and providing measures for implementing the Customs Law on customs procedures, inspection, supervision and control; Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC dated March 25, 2015 of the Minister of Finance (amended and supplemented by Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC dated April 20, 2018) and this Circular.

b) Monitor late submission, urge submission of relevant documents in customs dossiers and update late submission documents submitted by customs declarants through the customs electronic data processing system.

c) Handle violations according to regulations and send written notices to specialized management agencies, specialized inspection agencies, aid confirmation agencies, competent agencies or local authorities of organizations and individuals in cases where the deadline for submitting relevant documents in customs dossiers as prescribed has passed but the customs declarant has not yet submitted these documents to the customs agency.

Article 4. Submission of documents in customs dossiers to resolve cargo congestion during customs clearance in the context of the Covid 19 epidemic and responsibilities of customs declarants and customs authorities

1. Conditions for customs declarants to submit documents in customs dossiers as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article:

a) The customs declarant or the Customs Sub-department whose address is in a quarantined, isolated or locked-down area as notified by the competent authority to implement measures to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic.

b) The time of submission of documents in the customs dossier occurs during the time announced by the competent authority on the implementation of social distancing, isolation or blockade measures.

2. Documents in the customs dossier for imported and exported goods as prescribed in Clause 5, Article 1 of Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC must be submitted in paper form (including: originals, notarized and certified copies). Customs declarants may submit scanned copies certified by digital signatures via the customs electronic data processing system when carrying out customs procedures. At the same time, submit 01 scanned copy of the notice of the competent authority on the application of distancing, isolation or blockade measures certified by the customs declarant's digital signature.

Regarding certificates of origin of goods, it shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of Circular No. 47/2020/TT-BTC dated May 27, 2020 of the Minister of Finance regulating the time of submission of certificates of origin and the form of certificates of origin for imported goods applicable during the Covid-19 pandemic.

3. When registering a customs declaration, the customs declarant shall declare information requesting late submission of paper documents in the "notes" box on the electronic customs declaration according to form No. 01 or form No. 02 Appendix 1 issued with Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC.

4. Deadline for submitting documents

a) The customs declarant shall submit additional paper documents in the customs dossier for exported and imported goods specified in Clause 2 and Clause 3 of this Article within 30 days from the date of customs declaration registration.

In case of force majeure due to the customs declarant or the Customs Sub-Department located in the isolation, quarantine or blockade area, the customs declarant cannot submit within the above-mentioned deadline, then within 05 working days from the end of the isolation, quarantine or blockade period as notified by the competent authority, the customs declarant must submit paper copies of the documents specified in Clause 2 of this Article to the customs authority, together with 01 copy of the notice of the competent authority on the application of isolation, quarantine or blockade measures, certified by the digital signature of the customs declarant.

b) After the deadline specified in this clause, if additional paper documents have not been submitted, the customs declarant will be subject to administrative sanctions in accordance with the provisions of the law on customs.

5. Responsibilities of customs authorities

a) Customs authorities shall handle customs procedures in accordance with the provisions of Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC; Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC and this Circular.

b) In case the late submission document is an export or import license, upon receiving a scanned copy of the document sent by the declarant via the customs electronic data processing system, the receiving officer shall update the license information on the system to track deductions according to regulations.

c) Monitor and handle violations according to customs law provisions for cases of violations of regulations on document submission deadlines or failure to submit documents as prescribed in this Article.

Article 5. Regulations on physical inspection of goods at the request of the Customs Sub-Department where the customs declaration is registered

1. For exported and imported goods subject to physical inspection, if the Customs Sub-Department where the customs declaration is registered has a written request or sends a request via the Customs electronic data processing system, the Customs Sub-Department where the goods are stored shall carry out physical inspection of the goods.

2. The procedure for physical inspection of goods at the request of the Customs Sub-Department where the customs declaration is registered shall comply with the provisions of Clause 18, Article 1 of Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC.

Article 6. Entry into force

1. This Circular takes effect from the date of signing. Based on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on customs clearance of imported and exported goods, the Minister of Finance issues a Circular amending, supplementing, replacing or abolishing this Circular.

2. In case the legal documents referred to in this Circular are amended, supplemented or replaced, the newly amended, supplemented or replaced documents shall apply.

3. During the implementation process, if there are any problems, organizations and individuals are requested to promptly report to the Ministry of Finance for research, guidance and supplementation./.