The General Department of Customs has just issued a Official Letter on support for customs clearance of goods to prevent COVID-19. Notably, the General Department of Customs requires, when there is a problem, within 3 hours after receiving the information reported by the Sub-department of Customs, the Customs Department of the province or city must guide and handle the problem. reason immediately.

The General Department of Customs said that in the process of handling customs procedures, the General Department of Customs received a number of recommendations and complaints from enterprises related to difficulties in submitting documents. from the paper in the customs file of the electronic customs declaration during the time of social distancing to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic.
Besides, according to the report on the satisfaction of enterprises about the implementation of import-export administrative procedures in 2020 jointly implemented by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), USAID and the General Department of Customs, There are still many surveyed enterprises reflecting on the fact that some customs officers require customs declarants to submit documents in addition to customs dossiers or paper documents, even though they have declared and sent them on the system to the customs authorities. customs authority.

After receiving the above complaints, the General Department of Customs has issued Official Letter No. 3980/TCHQ-GSQL on supporting enterprises to clear goods for the prevention of COVID-19 in order to thoroughly understand the units to create favorable conditions for the declarants. Customs in handling goods clearance procedures, ensuring the dual goal of both effective anti-epidemic and smooth import and export activities.

Specifically, regarding the submission of customs dossiers of the electronic customs declaration, the customs declarant declares and submits a complete set of documents as prescribed in Article 16 and Point a, Clause 1, Article 18 of Circular No. 38/2015/TT -BTC dated March 25, 2015 was amended and supplemented in Clauses 5 and 7, Article 1 of Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC dated April 20, 2018 of the Ministry of Finance for customs authorities through the system. e-customs data processing for customs clearance.

In case the documents are included in the customs dossier as prescribed, the customs declarant must submit the original in the form of a paper/notarized/certified true copy… when carrying out customs procedures, if the declarant If the customs declarant declares the request for late payment, the Director of the Sub-department of Customs shall guide the customs declarant to declare information on the request for late payment in the information item inscribed on the electronic customs declaration and send it to the customs authority. through the customs electronic data processing system and submit the paper documents converted to electronic documents (scanned copies with digital signature) to the customs authorities.

The Directors of Customs Sub-Departments shall base themselves on the provisions of Clause 3, Article 27 of the Government’s Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015 to consider and decide to extend the time limit for submitting paper copies according to regulations. identify these documents within 30 days from the date of registration of the customs declaration.

For permits, when receiving the scanned copy enclosed with the customs declaration by the declarant, the receiving officer must update the tracking information on the E-Customs5 system according to the instructions in Official Letter No. 8175/ TCHQ-GSQL dated December 31, 2013 of the General Department of Customs… In case it is detected that the quantity of goods stated in the license has been used up for import, or there is no longer enough quantity for import, it shall be handled according to regulations. under the law.

According to the General Department of Customs, the customs declarant must submit additional paper copies of the above-delayed documents to the customs authority within 30 days from the date of registration of the customs declaration.

In case of force majeure, the enterprise or the Customs Sub-Department has an address in the area of ​​​​isolation, isolation or blockade according to the directives of the Government or the People’s Committees of the provinces and cities, making it impossible for the customs declarant to pay properly. the above time limit, within 5 working days from the end of the time of separation/isolation/blockade as notified by the competent authority, the customs declarant must submit the paper copies of the above documents to customs authority.

The General Department of Customs requested the Customs of the provinces and cities to direct the anti-smuggling and risk management forces of the Department and its affiliated Sub-Departments to strengthen the work of information collection and risk assessment for schools. In case of late submission of paper documents of the above-mentioned customs dossiers for timely inspection and handling of violations (if any) in accordance with the provisions of law.

In addition, the General Department of Customs proposed customs units to set up teams to support and handle customs procedures for import and export goods (especially goods serving the prevention and control of goods). COVID-19 epidemic such as: Medical supplies, equipment, new drugs, vaccines, biological tests, etc.).

In case there is a problem, within 3 hours after receiving the information reported by the Customs Sub-Department, the Customs Department of the province or city must guide and handle immediately. Along with supporting businesses, the General Department of Customs requested the Customs Departments of provinces and cities to direct their Customs Sub-Departments to strengthen supervision and inspection of the implementation of customs procedures, inspection and supervision. customs supervision of civil servants.

In case a civil servant is found to have violated discipline, improperly performed professional procedures, has an attitude that causes difficulties or troubles, or prolongs the time for customs clearance of goods, his/her work shall be suspended for a period of 15 days. to consider responsibility and handle according to regulations.

Talking to the Government Electronic Newspaper about the issue of customs dossiers, Mr. Tran Duc Hung, Deputy Director of the Customs Supervision and Administration Department (General Department of Customs) affirmed that basically, customs has applied electronic synchronously, the documents in the customs dossier can be in the form of electronic data or paper documents are converted into electronic documents (scanned copies certified by digital signatures).

“Thus, most of the documents in the customs dossier can be submitted electronically, without having to present the original. Except for a very few cases, a paper copy is still needed due to the regulations on specialized inspection related to different ministries and branches, “said Mr. Tran Duc Hung.