Collecting Polls from Businesses for Draft Revised Customs Law

 

Deputy Finance Minister Do Hoang Anh Tuan said the 10-year enforcement of Customs Law has significantly promoted economic growth and ensured economic security, sovereignty interests, and national security. However, the act has revealed some limitations and shortcomings in practice. He added that although the law was amended in 2005, the Law on Customs did not provide sufficient legal basis for e-customs application. Vietnam's import and export turnover expanded 25 percent a year on average in the 2005 - 2010 period. In 2012, it grossed US$228.3 billion, equal to 1.68 times GDP, and customs declarations reached 5.18 million sets. By 2020, the import and export revenue is estimated to reach US$400 billion with 10 million customs declaration documents to be issued. Therefore, the new law with amended contents related to the application of e-customs is very urgent.

 

Facing that reality, the Government has assigned the Ministry of Finance to draft the amended Law on Customs. The revision aims to focus on three goals: Ensure the amended Law on Customs complies with international standards and practices; Ensure administrative procedure reform and import - export facilitation; and Ensure that customs agencies apply risk management principles on a consistent and thorough basis.

 

The draft law has nine chapters and 112 clauses, including 33 unchanged clauses, 44 amended and supplemented clauses, and 35 new clauses. The workshops received many suggestions from attending companies. According to Dao and Associates Law Firm, the duration for post-clearance procedures needs to be changed to match the reality. The draft law provides that "the post-clearance examination period of 10 years from the date of approved import and export declaration registration" is too long and it allows for arbitrary careless operation by customs officers when they perform their clearance examination duties. Specifically, regarding goods temporarily imported for re-export, businesses only keep ‘temporary import for export’ records when the goods are exported. When procedures are fully settled and customs authorities finish inspecting, enterprises do not keep the records. Hence, for records made 10 years ago, enterprises hardly meet the request for submission for checking from customs authorities.

 

Remarking on the time limit for settling customs procedures, a deputy general director of Thang Long Logistics Co., Ltd proposed extending the effect duration of declaration papers to 30 days from the date of registration, and allowing declarants to submit original documents within 30 days in arrears, from 15 days in the draft law, to facilitate enterprises. He also suggested more flexible regulations on e-customs declaration methods. The draft law provides that cases specifically regulated by the Government are allowed to submit paper declaration forms. However, he suggested that declarants should be allowed to declare on paper forms when transmission lines fault and electronic methods are out of service.

 

Specialist Tran Nguyen Chan said that to make the Law on Customs compatible with international standards, we must change laws of State customs agencies before making changes in the Law on Customs. For instance, Article 1, Clause 27 of the Law on Commerce 2005 specifying international commodity trading is basically incorrect. The world disallows transaction during the duration of temporary import for re-export and temporary export. Clause 27 makes customs authorities powerless to prevent smuggling. Temporary import turns out to be public smuggling.

 

Speaking highly of comments by businesses and professionals, Deputy Finance Minister Do Hoang Anh Tuan stressed that the drafting body will collect all straightforward and responsible opinions to make the new Law on Customs perfect.

 

Mr Pham Gia Tuc, VCCI Vice President, said the Customs Law has a huge impact on export and import activities. The revision to the Customs Law is necessary to ensure that State management over customs promotes favourable conditions for trading activities. Therefore, opinions from enterprises will help the drafting body to modify the contents for further facilitation for import and export activities.