Decision No. 431/QD-TTg 2020 Scheme on management of e-commerce activities for imports and exports

DECISION

Approving the Scheme on management of e-commerce activities for imports and exports^[1]

Pursuant to the June 19, 2015 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the Government’s Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP of January 01, 2019, on major tasks and solutions for implementation of the 2019 plan on socio-economic development and state budget estimates; 

At the proposal of the Minister of Finance,

DECIDES:

Article 1. To approve the Scheme on management of e-commerce activities for imports and exports (below referred to as the Scheme), with the following contents:

1. Subjects of application and scope of regulation

a/ Subjects of application

- State management agencies involved in goods imported and exported via e-commerce transactions;

- Organizations and individuals conducting import and export of goods via e-commerce transactions;

- Providers of e-commerce trading floor services and owners of goods-selling e-commerce websites;

- Enterprises transporting goods imported and exported via e-commerce transactions; enterprises providing bonded warehouse services;

- Customs procedure agents;

- Other organizations and individuals having rights and obligations related to import and export of goods via e-commerce transactions.

b/ Scope of regulation

E-commerce transactions of imports and exports which are conducted on e-commerce trading floors or goods-selling e-commerce with information on goods orders sent in advance to the e-customs data processing system.

2. Objectives and viewpoints

a/ Objectives

Firstly, to establish a system for receipt and processing of information relating to goods imported and exported via e-commerce transactions on the National Single Window and ASEAN Single Window mechanism platforms, thus creating favorable conditions for the control of transactions and speeding up customs clearance thanks to sufficiency of databases.

Secondly, to formulate policies on import and export activities via e-commerce transactions such as customs order and procedures, customs valuation methods, licensing, conditions, specialized inspection, and exemption from licensing, conditions, and specialized inspection.

b/ Viewpoints

Firstly, to institutionalize the Party’s viewpoints and orientations on socio-economic and international integration development and innovation;

Secondly, to ensure the comprehensiveness, feasibility and suitability to practical conditions, and overcome difficulties, problems and shortcoming arising during the implementation of current regulations;

Thirdly, to ensure the legacy and development of current regulations on import and export activities;

Fourthly, to ensure conformity with international practices, conventions/international agreements which Vietnam has signed or acceded to, and Vietnam’s laws. 

3. Solutions for management of e-commerce activities for imports and exports

a/ Improving legal foundations relating to e-commerce activities for imports and exports

- Regarding customs procedures

Customs procedures must be simple and quick, ensuring the management by customs offices, accurate and sufficient collection of import and export duties, and trade fraud prevention and combat. In order to meet these requirements, parties to e-commerce transactions must submit in advance their information to the customs management system. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate:

+ Regulations on involved entities that participate or stop participating in the customs management system for goods imported and exported via e-commerce transactions.

+ Regulations on units required to submit in advance information on their goods orders or goods shipments to the customs management system for goods imported and exported via e-commerce transactions.

+ Regulations on the order of carrying out customs procedures after information about goods orders is transmitted to the system.

- Regarding licensing, licensing conditions and specialized inspection

+ To supplement regulations on exemption from licensing, licensing conditions and specialized inspection for good subject to licensing, licensing conditions and specialized inspection which:

• Have a customs value of VND 1,000,000 or less, unless  line ministries send to the General Department of Customs a notice of goods’ ineligibility for exemption from licensing, licensing conditions or specialized inspection;

• Have a customs value exceeding VND 1,000,000 but are included in the list of goods exempt from licensing, licensing conditions or specialized inspection in a certain quantity/amount. Organizations and individuals may not purchase goods bought via e-commerce transactions by other organizations or individuals under the quotas of goods exempt from licensing, licensing conditions or specialized inspection. All violations shall be handled under regulations.

+ Regulations on the time limit for updating specialized inspection results:

• The time limit for updating results of specialized inspection of goods imported and exported via e-commerce transactions to the System is 2 working hours after acquiring such results but must not be later than the time limit for notification of specialized inspection results of imports and exports currently applied.

• To ensure food safety and prevent epidemic contagion and environmental pollution, thus affecting national security, it is necessary to prescribe that regulations on exemption from licensing, licensing conditions, and specialized inspection shall not be applied in case line ministries issue warnings about food safety or epidemic contagion adversely affecting human health and life, causing environmental pollution, affecting social ethics and fine traditions and customs, or harming the economy or national security, or issue a notice of suspension of the regime of exemption from specialized inspection before customs clearance.

+ Regulations on goods stored in bonded warehouses (pending completion of import procedures), requiring specialized management agencies to carry out procedures for licensing, condition examination and specialized inspection at the request of enterprises being goods owners or authorized by goods owners to carry out procedures in Vietnam. After acquiring licensing, condition examination, and specialized inspection results, customs offices shall reconcile goods on licenses and notices of condition examination and specialized inspection results to carry out import procedures for each order of goods imported into Vietnam.

- Regarding the methods of calculating taxable value

In order to facilitate the development of e-commerce activities and ensure compliance with the provisions on customs value in guiding documents, the principles and methods of customs valuation applicable to goods imported and exported via e-commerce transactions are prescribed as follows:

+ For exports:

• Customs valuation principle: Customs value is the selling price of goods at the border gate of exportation, exclusive of international insurance cost (I) and international freight cost (F).

• Customs valuation method: The selling price of goods at the border gate of exportation is the value stated in the e-invoice or other documents of equivalent validity, exclusive of international insurance cost and international freight cost.

+ For imports:

• Customs valuation principle: Customs value is the actual payable price of goods at the first border gate of importation, inclusive of international freight cost and international insurance cost (if any).

• Customs valuation method: The actual payable price of goods at the first border gate of importation is the value stated in the e-invoice or other documents of equivalent validity, inclusive of international freight cost and international insurance cost (if any).

b/ Building databases relating to e-commerce activities for imports and exports

In order to have databases serving the management of goods imported and exported via e-commerce transactions, it is necessary to build an e-customs data processing system for goods imported and exported via e-commerce transactions with the following characteristics:

- Being built under the general imports and exports management system;

- Receiving and storing information relating to e-commerce transactions;

- Updating information on e-commerce trading floors, goods-selling e-commerce websites (information on sales promotion, sales policies, shippers, sellers, etc.) and mechanisms and policies on e-commerce management (tax policies, HS codes, list of goods subject to specialized inspection, etc.);

- Processing received information and sharing information with other systems serving management purposes;

- Decentralizing the right to assess the System to users;

- Processing received information in the System to give feedbacks to data transmitters and related management agencies; conduct risk assessment and give warnings to management units; and transmit processed data to other related systems for performing customs clearance;

- Storing necessary information serving statistical and reporting work which is input information for information processing of sectors, fields and the State. 

c/ Formulating policies on management of e-commerce transactions and mechanisms on electronic payment and guarantee for cross-border e-commerce transactions of imports and exports

To assign the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the State Bank of Vietnam to carry out study and evaluation for reporting to the Prime Minister within the 4^thquarter of 2020.

4. Funds for implementation of the Scheme

Funds for implementation of the Scheme shall come from the state budget and other lawful funding sources in accordance with law.

5. Organization of implementation

a/ The Ministry of Finance shall:

- Assume the prime responsibility for formulating and submitting to the Government for promulgation a decree on customs management of goods imported and exported via e-commerce transactions, thus implementing the solutions for improvement of legal foundations prescribed in Section 3 of this Decision. The time for submission is the 4^thquarter of 2020.

- Develop and improve the customs management system for goods imported and exported via e-commerce transactions. The implementation period is from 2020 through 2022.

- Assume the prime responsibility for summarizing and evaluating the effectiveness of the management of e-commerce transactions of imports and exports from 2020 through 2025, and propose the management of e-commerce transactions of imports and exports in the following period, and report such to the Government in the 1^stquarter of 2026.

b/ Ministries and sectors assigned to manage the licensing, examination of conditions, and specialized inspection related to imports and exports shall:

- Proactively review the list of imports and exports subject to licensing, licensing conditions, and specialized inspection to add to the list of goods exempt from licensing, licensing conditions, and specialized inspection when being imported and exported via e-commerce transactions, including their HS codes, descriptions and quantities eligible for exemption every year, and send such list to the Ministry of Finance in the 2^ndquarter of 2020 for inclusion in a decree to be submitted to the Government.

- Formulate regulations on procedures for updating results of licensing, licensing conditions, and specialized inspection within the prescribed time limit.

- Coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in monitoring the licensing and updating of information in the customs management system for imports and exports.

c/ The State Bank of Vietnam shall:

- Study, evaluate and propose mechanisms on electronic payment and guarantee related to cross-border e-commerce transactions of imports and exports for reporting to the Prime Minister.

- Review and revise legal documents relating to payment, money transfer and collection of import and export duties serving e-commerce transactions of imports and exports, which are no longer suitable.

d/ The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall take the initiative in formulating policies on management of e-commerce transactions of imports and exports.

Article 2. This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 3. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees, heads of related organizations and agencies, and related individuals shall implement this Decision.-

Prime Minister
NGUYEN XUAN PHUC