Circular No. 64/2011/TT-BTC dated May 13, 2011 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 19/2011/QD-TTg of March 23, 2011, on the pilot acceptance of electronic cargo declarations and other relevant documents and pilot application of e-customs clearance for seagoing ships on entry and exit

THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

Circular No. 64/2011/TT-BTC of May 13, 2011, guiding the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 19/2011/QD-TTg of March 23, 2011, on the pilot acceptance of electronic cargo declarations and other relevant documents and pilot application of e-customs clearance for seagoing ships on entry and exit

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 June 14, 2005 Vietnam Maritime Code No. 40/2005/QH11;

Pursuant to November 29, 2005 Law No. 51/2005/QH11 on E-Transactions;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 71/2006/ND-CP of July 25, 2006, on management of seaports and marine navigable channels;

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

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;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 19/2011/QD-TTg of March 23, 2011, on the pilot acceptance of electronic cargo declarations and relevant documents and pilot application of e-customs clearance for seagoing ships on entry and exit;

The Ministry of Finance guides the pilot acceptance of electronic cargo declarations and other relevant documents and pilot application of e-customs clearance for seagoing ships on entry and exit as follows:

Chapter I

GENERAL GUIDANCE

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Circular guides the pilot acceptance of cargo declarations and other relevant documents presented in the form of electronic data and pilot application of e-customs clearance for seagoing ships on entry and exit (below collectively referred to as e-customs procedures for seagoing ships on entry and exit).

Article 2. Subjects, duration and place of pilot application

1. Subjects, duration and place of pilot application

Subjects, duration and place of pilot application comply with Clauses 2, 3 and 4, Article 1 of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 19/2011/QD-TTg of March 23, 2011.

2. The selection of shipping companies/shipping agents and district-level seaport Customs Departments to participate in the pilot application of e-customs procedures in each period shall be decided by the General Department of Customs. The procedures for notification and selection of subjects participating in the pilot application of e-customs procedures are specified as follows:

a/ Shipping companies/shipping agents send a notice of participation (made according to form No. 1 provided in Appendix I) via electronic means to the e-Portal of the General Department of Customs;

b/ In pursuance to Clause 2, Article 6 of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 19/2011/QD-TTg of March 23, 2011, within 2 working days after receiving a notice of participation from a shipping company/shipping agent, the General Department of Customs shall send a letter of acceptance or non-acceptance (clearly stating the reason) via electronic means to the shipping company/shipping agent;

c/ If, for force majeure reasons, notices of shipping companies/shipping agents and replies of the General Department of Customs cannot be sent via electronic means as specified at Points a and b, Clause 2 of this Article, they shall be made in paper documents.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Circular, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. E-customs procedures for seagoing ships on entry and exit means customs procedures under which the making of customs declaration, receipt of cargo declarations and other relevant documents and issuance of customs clearance decisions for seagoing ships on entry or exit are carried out via the customs e-data processing system.

2. Customs e-data processing system means an information system which is solely managed and used by the General Department of Customs to carry out e-customs procedures.

3. E-customs declaration system means an information system which is managed and used by customs declarants to carry out e-customs procedures.

4. E-customs clearance for seagoing ships on entry or exit means the issuance of customs clearance decisions for seagoing ships on entry or exit by customs offices via electronic means.

Article 4. Principles of e-customs procedures applicable to seagoing ships on entry or exit

1. Customs declarations must be made and submitted before ships arrive at or leave ports under Article 3 of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 19/2011/QD-TTg of March 23, 2011.

2. Customs clearance for seagoing ships on entry or exit shall be decided before ships arrive at or leave ports on the basis of customs declaration information on the condition that no sign of violation is detected. If detecting signs of violation of the customs law or other relevant laws, customs offices may conduct physical inspection of ships before issuing customs clearance decisions.

Article 5. E-customs declaration for seagoing ships on entry or exit

1. Customs declarants:

a/ Shipping companies;

b/ Shipping agents;

c/ Forwarding companies.

2. Creation of customs declaration information:

a/ Shipping companies/shipping agents shall create, send and receive e-information under the guidance in Articles 6, 7, 10 and 11 of this Circular;

b/ For a ship which is co-operated by many shipping companies/shipping agents, the company/agent participating in the pilot application of e-customs procedures shall request co-operating  companies/agents to create and send e-information under the guidance in Clause 1, Article 6 of this Circular;

c/ In case a shipping company/shipping agent lacks sufficient details on the house bill of lading such as those on goods descriptions, consignor and consignee, the forwarding company that has issued such bill of lading shall create and send detailed information on the house bill of lading via electronic means to the e-Portal of the General Department of Customs according to a roadmap guided by the General Department of Customs.

3. When carrying out e-customs procedures, customs declarants must comply with the contents and forms of e-declarations provided in this Circular.

4. The General Department of Customs shall guide in detail the creation of declarations included in e-customs dossiers of seagoing ships on entry or exit.

Chapter II

PROCEDURES FOR RECEIVING CUSTOMS DECLARATIONS AND EFFECTING E-CUSTOMS CLEARANCE FOR SEAGOING SHIPS ON ENTRY

Section I

PROCEDURES FOR CREATING, SENDING AND PROCESSING CUSTOMS DECLARATIONS OF SEAGOING SHIPS ON ENTRY

Article 6. Creation of e-customs dossiers

1. Customs declarants may select either of the following two forms of creating e-declarations:

a/ Creating e-declarations according to standard formats announced by the General Department of Customs for sending to the e-Portal of the General Department of Customs; or

b/ Making e-declarations directly on the e-Portal of the General Department of Customs.

2. An e-customs dossier consists of 8 documents (made according to forms provided in Appendix II), including:

a/ A manifest of goods imported by sea (form No. 1);

b/ A house bill of lading (form No. 2);

c/ A general declaration (form No. 3);

d/ A crew list (form No. 4);

e/ A declaration of crew’s effects (form No. 5);

f/ A declaration of ship’s store (form No. 6);

g/ A list of passengers (if any) (form No. 7);

h/ A manifest of dangerous cargoes, in case of carrying dangerous cargoes (form No. 8).

Article 7. Procedures for sending and receiving e-customs dossiers

1. Time limits for sending e-customs dossiers:

a/ For imported goods declarations:

a.1/ For ships in under 5-day voyages: At least 12 hours before the expected time of arrival;

a.2/ For ships in other voyages: At least 24 hours before the expected time of arrival.

b/ For house bills of lading: Forwarding companies shall comply with the pilot roadmap guided by the General Department of Customs;

c/ For documents specified at Points c, d, e, f, g and h, Clause 2 of Article 6: At least 8 hours before the expected time of arrival. In case shipping companies/agents can obtain these documents concurrently with the cargo manifest, they may provide them to customs offices concurrently with the cargo manifest under the guidance at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article;

d/ In case a customs declarant, for force majeure reasons, cannot send e-declarations according to Clause 1 of this Article, when the ship arrives at the port, it shall send a paper notice thereof and carry out customs procedures with paper dossiers under current regulations.

2. Receipt and processing of e-customs dossiers:

a/ The customs e-data processing system receives e-customs declarations 24 hours a day and 7 days a week;

b/ Processing of e-declarations:

b.1/ In case e-declarations are sufficient and compliant with prescribed formats, the customs e-data processing system shall automatically send a notice of acceptance of customs declarations (made according to form No. 9 provided in Appendix II);

b.2/ In case e-declarations are insufficient, the customs e-data processing system shall automatically send a notice of non-acceptance (made according to form No. 9 provided in Appendix II), clearly stating the reason and guiding the customs declarant to make re-declaration.

3. Modifications and supplementations to e-customs dossiers of seagoing ships on entry:

a/ A customs declarant who wants to modify or supplement an e-customs dossier of a seagoing ship on entry which has been sent to a customs office shall create modified or additional declarations and send them via electronic means to the customs office which carries out customs procedures for the ship. If, for force majeure reasons, the customs declarant cannot send modified or additional declarations via electronic means, it shall send a notice to the customs office and submit modified or additional declarations in paper documents. The time of making modified or additional declarations is specified as follows:

a.1/ Modified or additional declarations to the import manifest or house bill of lading must be made before the time of registration of the customs declaration for the import consignment;

a.2/ Modified or additional declarations to other documents must be made before the ship arrives at port.

b/ District-level Customs Departments which carry out procedures for ships on entry shall received modified or additional declarations and update them in the system for provision to functional units to perform relevant professional operations.

Section II

CUSTOMS CLEARANCE PROCEDURES FOR SEAGOING SHIPS ON ENTRY

Article 8. Processing of customs declaration information

District-level border-gate Customs Departments which carry out procedures for ships on entry shall check, synthesize and analyze customs declaration information available on the system (information provided in cargo manifests and relevant documents and risk management information) and proceed with the following:

1. If customs declaration information is lawful and reliable, customs offices shall effect customs clearance for ships under Article 9 of this Circular.

2. If detecting any signs of violation of the customs law and other relevant laws, customs offices shall coordinate with port authorities and other functional agencies in handling violators according to Clause 3, Article 51 of the Customs Law.

Article 9. Customs clearance for ships

1. District-level border-gate Customs Departments which carry out procedures for ships on entry shall send an e-notice or a paper notice of customs clearance for seagoing ships (made according to form No. 10 provided in Appendix II) to customs declarants, port authorities, concerned agencies and port operators (paper notices shall be sent to recipients who are incapable of receiving e-notices). Such a notice must clearly state that:

a/ The ship is cleared from customs procedures;

b/ The ship is cleared from customs procedures after all necessary professional operations are performed, for the cases guided in Clause 2, Article 8 of this Circular.

2. Customs declarants shall comply with decisions and instructions of customs offices according to notices of customs clearance for seagoing ships.

3. After the ship anchors at a safe place designated by the port authority and all entry procedures with other management agencies are completed, the shipping company/shipping agent shall send a notice of ship arrival (made according to form No. 2 provided in Appendix II) via electronic means to the district-level Customs Department which has carried out procedures for the ship. The time for sending a notice of ship arrival shall be determined to be the time when imports carried on board the ship arrive at a Vietnamese border gate, to serve the implementation of relevant management policies.

Chapter III

PROCEDURES FOR RECEIVING CUSTOMS DECLARATIONS AND EFFECTING E-CUSTOMS CLEARANCE FOR SEAGOING SHIPS ON EXIT

Section I

PROCEDURES FOR CREATING, SENDING AND PROCESSING CUSTOMS DECLARATIONS FOR SEAGOING SHIPS ON EXIT

Article 10. Creation of e-customs dossiers

1. Customs declarants may select one of the following forms of making e-customs declarations:

a/ Making e-declarations according to standard formats announced by the General Department of Customs for sending to the e-Portal of the General Department of Customs; or

b/ Making e-declarations directly on the e-Portal of the General Department of Customs.

2. An e-customs dossier consists of 6 documents made according to the forms provided in Appendix II to this Circular, including:

a/ A declaration of exports (form No. 1);

b/ A general declaration (form No. 3);

c/ A crew list (form No. 4);

d/ A declaration of crew’s effects (form No. 5);

e/ A declaration of ship’s store (form No. 6);

f/ A list of passengers (if any) (form No. 7).

Article 11. Procedures for sending and receiving e-customs dossiers

1. Time limits for sending e-customs dossiers:

a/ Customs declarants shall send e-customs dossiers at least 1 hour before the ship leaves the port. In case customs declarants fail to provide sufficient information to customs offices by that time, they shall send modified or additional declarations no later than 6 hours after the ship leaves the port under the guidance in Clause 3 of this Article;

b/ A customs declarant who, for force majeure reasons, cannot send e-declarations specified in Clause 2, Article 10 above shall make a paper notice thereof and carry out customs procedures with a paper dossier according to current regulations.

2. Receiving and processing e-customs dossiers:

1. The customs e-data processing system shall receive e-declarations 24 hours a day and 7 days a week;

b/ Processing e-declarations:

b.1/ In case e-declarations are sufficient and compliant with prescribed formats, the customs e-data processing system shall automatically send a notice of acceptance of customs declarations (made according to form No. 9 provided in Appendix II);

b.2/ In case e-declarations are insufficient, the customs e-data processing system shall automatically send a notice of non-acceptance (made according to form No. 9 provided in Appendix II) and guide customs declarants to make re-declaration;

3. Modification and supplementation of e-customs dossiers of seagoing ships on exit:

a/ A customs declarant who wants to modify or supplement an e-customs dossier of a seagoing ship on exit which has been sent to a customs office shall create modified or additional declarations and send them via electronic means to the customs office which carries out customs procedures for the ship;

b/ The district-level Customs Department which carries out procedures for the ship on exit shall receive modified or supplemented declarations and update them in the system for provision to functional units to perform relevant professional operations.

Section II

CUSTOMS CLEARANCE PROCEDURES FOR SEAGOING SHIPS ON EXIT

Article 12. Processing customs declaration information

District-level border-gate Customs Departments which carry out procedures for ships on exit shall check, synthesize and analyze custom declaration information available on the system and proceed with the following:

1. If customs declaration information is lawful and reliable, customs offices shall effect customs clearance for ships under Article 13 of this Circular.

2. If detecting any signs of violation of the customs law and other relevant laws, customs offices shall coordinate with port authorities and other functional agencies in handling the cases according to Clause 3, Article 51 of the Customs Law.

Article 13. Customs clearance for ships

1. District-level Customs Departments which carry out procedures for ships on exit shall send an e-notice or a paper notice of customs clearance for seagoing ships (made according to form No. 10 provided in Appendix II) to customs declarants, port authorities, concerned agencies and port operators (paper notices shall be sent to recipients who are incapable of receiving e-notices), clearly stating that:

a/ The ship is cleared from customs procedures;

b/ The ship is cleared from customs procedures after all necessary professional operations are performed, for the cases guided in Clause 2, Article 12 of this Circular.

2. Customs declarants shall comply with decisions and instructions of customs offices according to notices of customs clearance for seagoing ships.

3. After completing all exit procedures at management agencies, shipping companies/shipping agents shall send a notice of ship departure via electronic means to the district-level Customs Department which has carried out procedures for the ship (made according to form No. 3 provided in Appendix I). The time of sending such a notice is determined to be the time the ship, together with exports on board, leaves the Vietnamese port, to serve the implementation of relevant management policies.

Chapter IV

ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

Article 14. Effect

This Circular takes effect on June 28, 2011.

Article 15. Organization of implementation

1. The General Director of Customs shall, pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 19/2011/QD-TTg of March 23, 2011, and this Circular:

a/ Formulate and announce standard formats of e-data;

b/ Build the General Department of Customs’ e-Portal and e-customs declaration system;

c/ Decide on the selection of shipping companies, shipping agents and district-level seaport Customs Departments to participate in the pilot application in each period;

d/ Work out a plan on provision of instructions and guidelines to customs offices participating in the pilot application of e-customs procedures and take the initiative in coordinating with concerned organizations and individuals in implementing this plan;

e/ Work out a roadmap for and guide forwarding companies to create and send e-data on house bills of lading to the e-Portal of the General Department of Customs;

f/ Upon expiration of the pilot application duration, organize preliminary review, final review and evaluate the implementation results to the Minister of Finance for reporting to the Prime Minister.

2. Any problems arising in the course of implementation of this Circular should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance (the General Department of Customs) for consideration and settlement.-

(All the forms provided in this Circular are not printed herein)

For the Minister of Finance
Deputy Minister
DO HOANG ANH TUAN