Circular No. 45/2011/TT-BTC dated April 04, 2011 of the Ministry of Finance on regulating customs formalities for cargoes in international multimodal transportation

THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

Circular No. 45/2011/TT-BTC of April 4, 2011, providing customs procedures for goods in international multimodal transport

Pursuant to June 29, 2001 Customs Law No. 29/2001/QH10 and June 14, 2005 Law No. 42/2005/QH11, Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Customs Law;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP of December 15, 2005, providing customs procedures and customs inspection and supervision regimes;

Pursuant to Article 3 of the Government’s Decree No. 87/2009/ND-CP of October 19, 2009, on multimodal transport;

In implementing the Government’s Resolution No. 68/NQ-CP of December 27, 2010, on simplification of administrative procedures under the Ministry of Finance’s management;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 118/2008/ND-CP of November 27, 2008, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance. After considering the Ministry of Transport’s opinions in Official Letter No. 826/BGTVT-VT of February 18, 2011, the Ministry of Finance provides customs procedures for goods in international multimodal transport as follows:

Article 1. General provisions

1. Scope of regulation:

This Circular provides customs procedures for goods in international multimodal transport.

2. Subjects of application:

2.1. Organizations, traders and persons related to goods in international multimodal transport under law.

2.2. Customs offices.

3. Goods in international multimodal transport:

3.1. Goods in international multimodal transport (below referred to as goods) are subject to customs clearance and supervision in the process of storage and transport in the Vietnamese territory. Goods must be transported on proper routes and through proper border gates and delivered to recipients at the border gates or inland clearance depots stated in documents of international multimodal transport.

3.2. Goods must be kept in containers or vehicles or specialized vehicles meeting customs sealing requirements. Oversize and overweight goods and goods being vehicles for which customs sealing is impossible shall be certified as such by district-level Customs Departments on the list of goods in international multimodal transport, and international multimodal transport service providers or goods transporters shall take responsibility before law for keeping the goods intact throughout their transport and storage in Vietnam.

3.3. Goods transported from overseas to Vietnam and delivered to recipients outside the Vietnamese territory are exempt from physical inspection, except cases showing signs of transporting drugs, weapons and other banned commodities.

3.4. Goods transported from overseas to Vietnam and delivered to recipients in the Vietnamese territory are subject to customs clearance under current regulations at district-level Customs Departments of the border gates or inland clearance depots indicated in documents of international multimodal transport. For imported goods, customs procedures shall be carried out under regulations applicable to such imports.

Article 2. Customs procedures for goods transported from overseas to Vietnam and delivered to recipients outside the Vietnamese territory

1. Customs procedures for goods transported from overseas to Vietnam and delivered to recipients outside the Vietnamese territory shall be carried out according to the procedures applicable to goods in transit provided in Article 19 of the Government’s Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP of December 15, 2005, detailing a number of articles of the Customs Law concerning customs procedures, inspection and supervision.

2. In addition to the papers in customs dossiers to be submitted under Article 19 of Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP, international multimodal transport service providers shall submit and produce the following documents to district-level Customs Departments:

- To submit 1 copy of the Ministry of Transport’s license for international multimodal transport business (only at the first time of clearing customs procedures at a district-level Customs Department) and to produce the original for customs officers’ examination and comparison.

- To submit the international multimodal transport document (according to the form registered with the Ministry of Transport): 1 original.

- To submit the declaration of goods in international multimodal transport (with the following particulars: number, name of goods, quantity, weight, value): 1 original.

3. In addition to carrying to customs procedures under current regulations, when receiving customs dossiers and after examining and comparing copies with their originals, customs officers shall certify such examination and comparison on the copies.

Article 3. Customs procedures for goods transported from overseas to Vietnam and delivered to recipients in the Vietnamese territory

1. Goods transported from overseas to Vietnam and delivered to recipients in the Vietnamese territory at border gates other than the first border gate of importation or at inland clearance depots (ICD).

2. Responsibilities of international multimodal transport service providers:

2.1. To carry out import procedures for goods transported from port to port under Article 17 of the Government’s Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP of December 15, 2005, detailing a number of articles of the Customs Law concerning customs procedures, inspection and supervision.

2.2. Particularly for documents of goods transported from overseas to Vietnam and delivered to recipients in the Vietnamese territory related to the contents provided at Point b, Clause 3, Article 17 of Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP, the following regulations apply:

- To submit one copy of the Ministry of Transport’s license for international multimodal transport business (only at the first time of clearing customs procedures at a district-level Customs Department) and to produce the original for customs officers’ examination and comparison.

- To submit the international multimodal transport document (according to the form registered with the Ministry of Transport): 1 original.

- To submit the declaration of goods in international multimodal transport (with the following particulars: number, name of goods, quantity, weight, value): 1 original.

3. Responsibilities of district-level Customs Departments of the first border gates of importation:

3.1. To carry out import procedures for goods transported from port to port under Point b, Clause 3, Article 17 of the Government’s Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP of December 15, 2005.

3.2. In addition to carrying to import procedures for goods transported from port to port under current regulations, when receiving customs dossiers and after examining and comparing copies with their originals, customs officers shall certify such examination and comparison on the copies.

4. Responsibilities of district-level Customs Departments of border gates other than the first border gates of importation or of inland clearance depots (ICD):

To carry out import procedures for goods transported from port to port under Point c, Clause 3, Article 17 of the Government’s Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP of December 15, 2005.

Article 4. Receipt of exports for which customs procedures have been cleared and which are transported to border gates designated for delivery to recipients outside the Vietnamese territory

1. Exports for which customs procedures have been cleared at the district-level Customs Department of a border gate other than the border gate of exportation or of an inland clearance depot and which are received and transported by international multimodal transport service providers to the border gate of exportation designated for delivery to recipients outside the Vietnamese territory.

2. Export procedures for goods transported from port to port:

Responsibilities of international multimodal transport service providers, district-level Customs Departments having cleared customs procedures for exports and district-level Customs Departments of border gates of exportation carrying out export procedures for goods transported from port to port are similar to those provided in Article 3 of this Circular.

Article 5. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect on May 19, 2011.

2. To annul the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 125/2004/TT-BTC of December 24, 2004, guiding customs procedures for goods in international multimodal transport.

3. In the course of implementation, should the documents referred to in this Circular be amended, supplemented or replaced, the amending, supplementing or replacing documents will apply.

4. The General Director of Customs shall direct directors of Customs Departments of concerned provinces and cities in managing, monitoring and organizing the implementation of this Circular.

Provincial-level Customs Departments and customs declarants should report specific problems arising in the course of implementation to the Ministry of Finance (the General Department of Customs) for consideration, guidance and specific settlement.-

For the Minister of Finance
Deputy Minister
DO HOANG ANH TUAN