Circular 06/2026/TT-BTC amend Circular 13/2015/TT-BTC inspection of customs procedures for goods subject to intellectual property protection

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Minister of Finance's Circular No. 13/2015/TT-BTC dated January 30, 2015, on inspection, supervision and suspension of customs procedures for exported and imported goods subject to intellectual property protection requirements; and control of counterfeit goods and goods infringing intellectual property rights, as amended and supplemented under Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC

Pursuant to the Customs Law No. 54/2014/QH13, amended and supplemented under Law No. 90/2025/QH15;

Pursuant to the Law on Intellectual Property No. 50/2005/QH11, amended and supplemented under Law No. 36/2009/QH12, Law No. 42/2019/QH15 and Law No. 07/2022/QH15;

Pursuant to the Law on E-Transactions No. 20/2023/QH15;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015, detailing, and providing measures to implement the Customs Law regarding customs procedures and customs inspection, supervision and control, amended and supplemented under Decree No. 167/2025/ND-CP;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP dated August 23, 2023, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures to implement, the Law on Intellectual Property regarding industrial property, protection of industrial property rights and plant variety rights, and the state management of intellectual property;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 17/2023/ND-CP dated April 26, 2023, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures to implement, the Law on Intellectual Property regarding copyright and related rights;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 29/2025/ND-CP dated February 24, 2025, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, amended and supplemented under Decree No. 166/2025/ND-CP;

At the proposal of the Director General of the Customs Department;

The Minister of Finance hereby promulgates the Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 13/2015/TT-BTC dated January 30, 2015, on inspection, supervision and suspension of customs procedures for exported and imported goods subject to intellectual property protection requirements; and control of counterfeit goods and goods infringing intellectual property rights, as amended and supplemented under Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 13/2015/TT-BTC, as amended and supplemented under Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC

1. To amend and supplement Article 3, as amended and supplemented under Clause 1 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC, as follows:

“Article 3. Interpretation of terms

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

1. Counterfeit goods include types of goods as prescribed in Clause 7 Article 3 of the Government’s Decree No. 98/2020/ND-CP dated August 26, 2020, providing penalties on administrative violations in commercial activities, production of, trading in counterfeit or banned goods and protection of consumer rights.

2. Protection of intellectual property rights in the customs field means the application by customs offices of measures implemented by customs offices in the course of carrying out customs procedures, inspection, supervision, control and suspension of customs procedures for exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights in accordance with Article 216 of the Law on Intellectual Property No. 50/2005/QH11, as amended and supplemented under Clause 80 Article 1 of Law No. 07/2022/QH15; Article 73 of the Customs Law No. 54/2014/QH13, as amended and supplemented under Point b Clause 2 Article 2 of Law No. 07/2022/QH15; Articles 74, 75 and 76 of the Customs Law No. 54/2014/QH13 and other relevant legal normative documents in order to detect, prevent and handle acts of exporting or importing counterfeit goods and goods infringing intellectual property rights.

3. Suspension of customs procedures for goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights means a measure implemented by customs offices at the request of intellectual property right holders in order to collect information and evidence regarding shipments so that intellectual property right holders may exercise the right to request handling of infringement acts and request application of provisional urgent measures or preventive measures to ensure handling of administrative violations; or a measure proactively implemented by customs offices in the course of inspection, supervision and control upon detection of clear grounds for suspicion that exported or imported goods are goods counterfeiting intellectual property rights.

4. Customs inspection of counterfeit goods and goods infringing intellectual property rights means the examination of customs dossiers, relevant documents and physical inspection of goods and means of transport conducted by customs offices in order to detect goods suspected of being counterfeit goods or goods infringing intellectual property rights.

5. Customs supervision of counterfeit goods and goods infringing intellectual property rights means operational measures applied by customs offices to ensure the integrity of goods and compliance with legal provisions in the preservation, storage, loading, unloading, transportation and use of exported or imported goods related to intellectual property rights which are under customs management.

6. Customs control of counterfeit goods and goods infringing intellectual property rights means the application of customs control operational measures and other operational measures implemented by customs offices in accordance with the law to prevent and combat smuggling and illegal transportation of goods being counterfeit goods or goods infringing intellectual property rights within customs operation areas.

7. An application includes: An application for inspection and supervision of exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights; an application for updating or supplementing information on exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights; an application for extension of inspection and supervision of exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights; an application for termination of the request for inspection and supervision of exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights; and an application for suspension of customs procedures.

8. The applicant means an intellectual property right holder (including the owner of intellectual property rights and organizations or individuals assigned intellectual property rights by the owner) or a person lawfully authorized by the intellectual property right holder.

9. Goods infringing intellectual property rights mean exported or imported goods that violate the provisions prescribed in Article 28 and Article 35 of the Law on Intellectual Property No. 50/2005/QH11, as amended and supplemented under Clauses 8 and 10 Article 1 of Law No. 07/2022/QH15; and Articles 126, 127, 129 and 188 of the Law on Intellectual Property No. 50/2005/QH11.

10. Intellectual property counterfeit goods mean goods prescribed in Article 213 of the Law on Intellectual Property No. 50/2005/QH11, as amended and supplemented under Clause 79, Article 1 of Law No. 07/2022/QH15.”

2. To amend and supplement Article 6, as amended and supplemented under Clause 4 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC, as follows:

“Article 6. Submission of application dossiers for inspection and supervision of exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights

1. An application dossier for inspection and supervision of exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights must comprise:

a) An application for inspection and supervision of exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights according to information criteria or 01 original copy, made according to Form No. 01 in Appendix II to this Circular.

b) A protection title for industrial property rights or other documents proving that industrial property rights are protected in Vietnam, or a certificate of registration of a contract for transfer of the right to use industrial property objects; a certificate of copyright registration, a certificate of related rights, a certificate of rights to plant varieties or other documents proving copyright, related rights to copyright, or rights to plant varieties, including certificates issued abroad in conformity with treaties to which Vietnam is a contracting party: 01 copy;

In case protection titles or certificates are issued by competent agencies in electronic form on the website as notified by competent agencies, the applicant is not required to submit them but shall fully declare information on the protection titles or certificates in the application for inspection and supervision together with the website for the customs office to check and compare.

c) Photographs of actual goods for which protection of intellectual property rights is requested; photographs and detailed descriptions of goods infringing intellectual property rights, and characteristics distinguishing genuine goods from counterfeit goods or goods infringing intellectual property rights (if any).

d) A list of organizations and individuals lawfully exporting or importing goods subject to inspection and supervision; and a list of organizations and individuals likely to export or import goods infringing intellectual property rights.

dd) A power of attorney (in case of authorization for submission of the application): 01 copy;

2. The applicant submitting an application for inspection and supervision of exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights shall submit the dossier to the Customs Department through the electronic customs data processing system.

In case the electronic customs data processing system encounters incidents or has not yet met the requirements, the applicant shall submit 01 paper dossier comprising the documents prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article directly at the Single-Window Section of the Customs Department or send it by post to the Customs Department.

The applicant shall be responsible before law for the accuracy, legality and validity of the information declared and submitted in the application dossier.”

3. To amend and supplement Article 7, as amended and supplemented under Clause 5 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC, as follows:

“Article 7. Examination and processing of application dossiers

1. The Customs Department shall examine the completeness of the dossier prescribed in Clause 1 Article 6 of this Circular and handle it as follows:

a) In case of incomplete dossier, within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the application dossier, the Customs Department shall notify the applicant to submit additional documents.

b) In case of complete dossier, the following contents shall be examined:

b.1) The legal status of the applicant in accordance with the law;

b.2) The consistency between the contents of the application and the enclosed documents;

b.3) Information and validity period of the protection title/intellectual property right certificate;

b.4) Photographs, descriptions and information on goods consistent with the contents of the relevant intellectual property rights or with the contents of denunciation of infringement acts;

b.5) The contents of authorization in conformity with the law and the validity period of the power of attorney (if any).

2. Within 20 working days from the date of receipt of a complete dossier, the Customs Department shall examine the contents prescribed at Point b Clause 1 of this Article, compare the information in the application with the intellectual property database and handle it as follows:

a) In case of non-acceptance, notify the applicant and clearly state the reasons;

b) In case of acceptance, notify the applicant, the regional Customs Sub-departments and the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Sub-department to conduct customs inspection and supervision of exported and imported goods in accordance with Article 12 of this Circular.

3. Notification shall be made through the electronic customs data processing system. In case the electronic customs data processing system encounters incidents or has not yet met the requirements, the Customs Department shall notify the applicant and relevant units in writing.

4. Cases of refusal to accept an application include:

a) The applicant does not have legal status in accordance with the law;

b) The contents of the application and the enclosed documents are inconsistent or not uniform;

c) The contents of authorization are not in conformity with the law or the authorization has expired;

d) During the processing of the application, the Customs Department receives a written notice from a competent agency regarding disputes or complaints concerning the intellectual property right holder or the lawfully authorized person, or regarding the protectability or the scope of protection of intellectual property rights;

dd) Additional dossiers are submitted beyond the time limit of 10 working days from the date the Customs Department issues the notification requesting supplementation as prescribed at Point a Clause 1 of this Article.

5. Updating and supplementing information on exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights.

a) In case there are changes or supplements to information that has been accepted by the customs office for inspection and supervision of goods related to intellectual property rights, the applicant shall submit an application dossier for updating or supplementation according to information criteria or according to Form No. 07 in Appendix II to this Circular to the Customs Department by the method prescribed in Clause 2 Article 6 of this Circular. The application must clearly state the number and date of the notification document on acceptance of inspection and supervision issued by the customs office; the updated or supplemented information and enclosed relevant documents.

b) Within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the application for updating or supplementation, the Customs Department shall examine and handle it in accordance with Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article.

4. To add Article 10a after Article 10 as follows:

“Article 10a. Order and procedures for proactive suspension of customs procedures

1. In the course of implementing measures of inspection, supervision and control of exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights; through analysis of the intellectual property database; on the basis of information provided by customs professional units, where there are clear grounds to suspect that exported or imported goods are trademark counterfeit goods, geographical indication counterfeit goods or pirated goods, the Head of the Customs Team at the place of registration of the customs declaration shall issue a Decision on suspension of customs procedures made according to Form No. 10 in Appendix II to this Circular.

2. The customs office at the place of registration of the customs declaration shall notify the intellectual property right holder, the copyright holder, the related rights holder or the lawfully authorized person within 08 working hours from the issuance of the Decision on suspension of customs procedures according to the contact information in the accepted dossier and notify related organizations and individuals through the electronic customs data processing system.

In case the electronic customs data processing system encounters incidents or has not yet met the requirements, the customs office at the place of registration of the customs declaration shall notify the related parties in writing.

3. The period of suspension of customs procedures for trademark counterfeit goods, geographical indication counterfeit goods, and for pirated goods shall comply with Clause 3 Article 103 of Decree No. 65/2023/ND-CP dated March 28, 2023, and Clause 3 Article 89 of Decree No. 17/2023/ND-CP dated April 24, 2023, respectively.

4. Immediately after issuing the Decision on suspension of customs procedures, the customs office at the place of registration of the customs declaration shall conduct physical inspection of the goods in order to determine violations and handle them as follows:

a) Where no violation is detected, customs procedures shall continue to be carried out in accordance with Article 11 of this Circular.

b) Where the customs office determines that the suspended goods are trademark counterfeit goods, geographical indication counterfeit goods or pirated goods, they shall be handled in accordance with the law.

Where the violation shows signs of a criminal offence as prescribed in the Criminal Code, the customs office shall transfer the case to the competent agency for coordinated investigation and initiation of criminal proceedings in accordance with the law.

c) Where there are insufficient grounds to determine the violation, the customs office at the place of registration of the customs declaration shall carry out the following tasks:

c.1) Send complete images of the exported or imported goods to the intellectual property right holder, the copyright holder, the related rights holder or the lawfully authorized person (if contact information is available);

c.2) Request the importer or exporter or the right holder of the trademark or geographical indication; the copyright holder, the related rights holder or the lawfully authorized person (if contact information is available) to provide documents related to the goods (catalogues, assessment conclusions, documents from foreign countries, results of handling similar cases, etc.);

c.3) Request relevant organizations and individuals to take samples for assessment in accordance with Article 201 of the Law on Intellectual Property No. 50/2005/QH11, as amended and supplemented under Clause 26 Article 1 of Law No. 36/2009/QH12 and Clause 78 Article 1 of Law No. 07/2022/QH15. Procedures for sampling, sampling techniques, sample storage locations and storage periods for goods shall comply with the guidance of the Ministry of Finance (if necessary);

c.4) In cases requiring coordination or exchange with state management agencies in charge of industrial property, copyright and related rights where disputes or complaints arise concerning the right holder, the protectability or scope of protection of rights to trademarks or geographical indications or copyright and related rights, or the competence to handle violations, handling shall be based on the written responses of the competent state management agencies in accordance with the law.

d) Where the applicant initiates civil proceedings, the customs office shall act in accordance with the opinion of the Court;

dd) Report to the directly supervising Regional Customs Sub-department and the Customs Department for direction and timely settlement of cases beyond its competence.

5. In case where the proactive suspension of customs procedures is incorrect and causes damage to the cargo owner, the customs office issuing the suspension decision shall, within 10 working days, compensate the cargo owner for damages and pay the incurred expenses including warehousing, yard, loading, unloading and storage charges for the goods as prescribed.

6. Within 30 days from the date of issuance of the decision on application of administrative measures to handle trademark counterfeit goods, geographical indication counterfeit goods and pirated goods in accordance with Clause 1 Article 216 of the Law on Intellectual Property No. 50/2005/QH11, the customs office issuing the decision on handling of violations shall notify the intellectual property right holder or the lawfully authorized person in writing of the following information: name and address of the consignor; exporter, consignee or importer; description of the goods; quantity of goods; country of origin of the goods, if known.”

5. To amend and supplement Article 11 as follows:

“Article 11. Continuation of customs procedures

1. The Head of the Customs Team at the place of registration of the customs declaration shall issue a decision on continuation of customs procedures for the shipment according to Form No. 05 in Appendix II to this Circular in the following cases:

a) As prescribed in Clause 4 Article 76 of the Customs Law No. 54/2014/QH13;

b) The inspection results of the customs office determine that there is no violation;

c) The decision on suspension of customs procedures is cancelled in accordance with the law.

2. Within 10 working days from the date of completion of customs procedures for the shipment that has been suspended at the request of the applicant,  the customs office at the place of registration of the customs declaration shall:

a) Notify the intellectual property right holder or the lawfully authorized person to make payment to the cargo owner for the expenses incurred in accordance with Clause 5 Article 76 of the Customs Law No. 54/2014/QH13;

b) Refund to the intellectual property right holder or the lawfully authorized person the security amount in accordance with Clause 6 Article 76 of the Customs Law No. 54/2014/QH13.”

6. To add Article 14a after Article 14 as follows:

“Article 14a. Customs inspection and supervision of exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights traded via e-commerce

1. Customs inspection and supervision of exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights traded via e-commerce shall be carried out on the basis of the principle of risk management.

Where the customs office at the place of registration of the customs declaration has clear grounds regarding intellectual property counterfeit goods, the order and procedures prescribed in Article 10a of this Circular shall be applied.

2. Handling of exported and imported goods traded via e-commerce showing signs of counterfeit goods or infringement of intellectual property rights shall comply with Articles 13 and 14 of this Circular.”

Article 2. Amending, supplementing and replacing a number of phrases and forms

1. To replace the phrase “exported and imported goods subject to intellectual property right protection requirements” with the phrase “exported and imported goods related to intellectual property rights” in Article 1, Clause 4 Article 4, the title of Chapter II of Circular No. 13/2015/TT-BTC; and Clause 7 and Clause 9 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.

2. To replace the phrase “General Department of Customs” with the phrase “Customs Department” at Point e Clause 3 Article 10, Clause 1 Article 17 of Circular No. 13/2015/TT-BTC; and Clause 6, Clause 9, Clause 10 Article 1 and Clause 2 Article 2 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.

3. To replace the phrase “General Department of Customs (Customs Supervision and Management Department)” with the phrase “Customs Department” in Clause 3 and Clause 4 Article 7 of Circular No. 13/2015/TT-BTC; and Clause 4, Clause 6, Clause 7, Clause 9 and Clause 10 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.

4. To replace the phrase “Provincial-level Customs Department” with the phrase “Regional Customs Sub-department” at Point e Clause 3 Article 10 of Circular No. 13/2015/TT-BTC.

5. To replace the phrase “Customs Departments of provinces and cities” with the phrase “Regional Customs Sub-departments” in Clause 6 and Clause 10 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.

6. To replace the phrase “Provincial, inter-provincial and municipal Customs Departments (hereinafter collectively referred to as provincial-level Customs Departments)” with the phrase “Regional Customs Sub-departments” in Clause 10 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.

7. To replace the phrase “Director of the Customs Sub-department” with the phrase “Head of the Border-gate/Non-border-gate Customs Team” in Clause 1 and Clause 5 Article 10 of Circular No. 13/2015/TT-BTC; and Clause 9 and Clause 11 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.s

8. To replace the phrase “Customs Sub-department issuing the suspension decision” with the phrase “Border-gate/Non-border-gate Customs issuing the suspension decision” in Clause 3 Article 10 of Circular No. 13/2015/TT-BTC.

9. To replace the phrase “Customs Sub-department” with the phrase “Border-gate/Non-border-gate Customs at the place of registration of the customs declaration” at Point a Clause 5 Article 10 and Point b Clause 8 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.

10. To replace the phrase “Customs Sub-department carrying out customs procedures” with the phrase “Border-gate/Non-border-gate Customs carrying out customs procedures” in Clause 7 and Clause 13 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.

11. To replace the phrase “Customs Sub-department issuing the suspension decision” with the phrase “Head of the Border-gate/Non-border-gate Customs Team issuing the suspension decision” in Clause 8 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.

12. To replace the phrase “Director of the Customs Sub-department at the place of registration of the customs declaration or the place where goods are stored” with the phrase “Head of the Border-gate/Non-border-gate Customs Team at the place of registration of the customs declaration or the place where goods are stored” in Clause 9 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.

13. To replace the phrase “Customs Sub-department carrying out customs procedures/Customs Sub-department where goods are stored” with the phrase “Border-gate/Non-border-gate Customs carrying out customs procedures or where goods are stored” in Clause 13 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.

14. To replace the phrase “Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department” with the phrase “Anti-Smuggling Investigation Sub-department” in Clause 6 and Clause 9 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.

15. To add Appendix I and Forms No. 07, 08, 09, 10 and 11 of Appendix II to this Circular.

16. To replace Forms No. 01-DDN/SHTT/2020, Form No. 02-DTD/SHTT/2020, Form No. 03-QDTD/SHTT/2020, Form No. 04-GHTD/SHTT/2020, Form No. 05-TT/SHTT/2020 and Form No. 06-TBTD/SHTT/2020 in the Appendix to Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC with Forms No. 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 and 06 of Appendix II to this Circular.

Article 3. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect from March 01, 2026.

2. Dossiers received before the effective of this Circular shall comply with provisions of Circular No. 13/2015/TT-BTC, as amended and supplemented under Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC.

3. In case any legal documents cited in this Circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced by other legal normative documents, the amending, supplementing, or replacing ones shall prevail./.