Digitization of Goods Declaration: Advancing Customs Modernization

The General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDC) initiated an electronic import information declaration manifest reception system. This system is designed to expedite customs procedures at land and waterway border gates, thereby reducing clearance time, cost and personnel requirements for businesses.

Kim Thanh Border Gate in Lao Cai province

In order to facilitate the declaration of import manifests prior to the entry of goods into Vietnamese territory, the GDC instructed customs departments in land border provinces to make necessary announcements. Consequently, vehicle owners, drivers, and authorized individuals (those granted permission by vehicle owners) are required to submit a declaration detailing vehicle information to customs authorities before importing goods into Vietnam.

However, there were instances where transport vehicles entering Vietnam through the Kim Thanh Border Gate in Lao Cai province failed to declare their merchandise manifests as mandated. This oversight led to backlogs at the border gate. The absence of clearly stated merchandise owners complicates the task of customs authorities in managing and dealing with goods that violate regulations. Moreover, these congested backlogs adversely affect the environment, landscape, and security at the border gate.

In response to this situation, the GDC instructed the Lao Cai Customs Department to strictly enforce legal regulations pertaining to the management of vehicles entering and exiting the country, as well as the import and export of goods. Emphasis has been placed on regulations requiring the prior declaration of information for imported goods. In instances where a vehicle transporting imported goods arrives at the quarantine area in Kim Thanh Border Gate without an import manifest, customs authorities will collaborate with the Border Guard and the Border Gate Management Board. The vehicle driver will be instructed to redirect to the export stream and return to China immediately.

"In the event that numerous vehicles are engaged in exit procedures on the export stream and are unable to return immediately, drivers are mandated to enter the quarantine area at the border gate. Here, they are required to declare the imported merchandise information on the regulatory manifest. Vehicles are permitted to remain in the quarantine area only within the current day to finalize the import manifest, and cannot extend their stay beyond the border gate’s closing time. Entry into the country and progression to freight gathering yards to execute mandatory customs procedures is only granted upon the successful declaration of the import information manifest. It is imperative that all shipments on these vehicles undergo a comprehensive physical inspection, under the watchful eye of online surveillance cameras operated by the Lao Cai Customs Department and the GDC," as per the directive issued by the GDC.

Furthermore, the GDC instructed the Lao Cai Customs Department to liaise with the Chinese Customs at the Hekou Border Gate. The aim was to solicit their cooperation and support in notifying Chinese importers, exporters, and shipping companies of the new regulations. Specifically, the GDC highlighted that from April 20, 2023, ground vehicles transporting imported goods into Vietnamese territory are required to declare information on vehicles of entry and exit, as well as the imported goods on such vehicles, in advance on the electronic information portal at https://banke customs.gov.vn/ktdb.

Customs authorities will only accept the prior information manifest about vehicles of entry and the imported goods on such vehicles in the event that the electronic declaration system is not operational. This digital solution is designed to replace traditional paper declarations, thereby facilitating the import of merchandise into Vietnamese territory while ensuring the effective enforcement of customs laws. In the absence of an import manifest, customs authorities will deny the vehicles permission to carry out procedures for entering Vietnam.

Prior to the implementation of this system, customs agencies were required to manually verify the manifest declared and submitted by companies, affix authoritative seals, and receive and confirm goods entering the border gate using paper declaration forms.

However, with the advent of the electronic declaration system, these processes have been significantly streamlined. The system automatically receives, verifies and delivers results to declarants, eliminating the need for paper records and archiving.

The electronic system allows customs declarants to declare and submit the manifest from any location, providing that there is an internet connection. The system automatically receives and delivers results to customs declarants, who only need to use these results and provide the manifest number/barcode to customs offices to confirm the entry of goods at the border gate. Declarants have the ability to save information independently and edit it before sending the manifest to the system, thus eliminating the need to print the manifest and wait for customs agencies to affix the official seal. Importantly, the electronic declaration system negates the need for customs declarants to maintain paper records.

By Hien Phuc, Vietnam Business Forum