Directive No. 23/CT-TTg on business of temporary import for re-export, transit, and bonded warehouses

DIRECTIVE

ON THE ENHANCEMENT OF STATE MANAGEMENT OF THE BUSINESS OF TEMPORARY IMPORT FOR RE-EXPORT, TRANSIT, AND BONDED WAREHOUSES

The business of temporary import for re-export, transit of goods, and bonded warehouses has obtained certain economic achievements, contributed to commercial development in some localities with border-gates and sea ports. However, it also reveals certain limitations in the management that negatively affect the production and life, especially the control and prevention of the misuse of temporary import for re-export to trade prohibited goods, commit trade frauds, evade tax, smuggle goods, including unhygienic and unsafe goods into the domestic market, threaten the environmental safety and cause apprehension in the society.

In order to ensure the conformity of business of the temporary import for re-export, transit of goods, and bonded warehouses, to promptly detect, prevent, and strictly handle all violations, the Prime Minister requests relevant Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Governmental agencies, People’s Committees of central-affiliated cities and provinces to take on the following tasks:

I. THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE

1. Leading and cooperating with relevant agencies in reviewing the current provisions on temporary import for re-export and transit of goods, for implementing or requesting competent levels to discard inappropriate provisions; for supplementing and amending the current provisions to ensure the conformity to the policy and the requirements for strict management of the temporary import for re-export and transit of goods, and to ensure the compatibility with the socio-economic development of Vietnam.

2. The provisions promulgated in September 2012:

a) The list of goods banned from temporary import for re-export and transit: hazardous wastes such as leaded batteries, circuit boards, wastes plastic, cooling devices using C.F.C, chemicals being precursor substances banned from export and import according to the International Conventions to which Vietnam is a signatory. The prohibition against the temporary import for re-export and transit of the goods stated above takes effect on the date of signing of this Directive.

b) The list of goods suspended from temporary import for re-export, transit, and bonded warehouses: the used consumables and frozen food being organs and by-products of livestock and poultry. The suspension of the temporary import for re-export, transit, and bonded warehouse storage of such goods begins on September 30, 2012.

The consignments of goods in the List of suspension above and the goods temporarily imported for re-export according to the Licenses issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade that is not in the List of goods suspended from temporary import for re-export, that arrives at Vietnam’s ports before September 30, 2012, is allowed to be temporarily imported for re-export as prescribed in the previous provisions before this Directive is promulgated.

c) The list of other frozen food temporarily imported for re-export (livestock, poultry meet, aquatic products) must comply with the licenses issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

3. The conditions for doing business of the temporary import for re-export and transit of goods subject to special excise duty (wine, beer, cigarettes, cigars) and goods temporarily imported for re-export under the licenses issued by the Ministry of Finance are prescribed and announced as follows:

a) The trader must operate in goods export and import, or temporary import for re-export of goods, for at least 2 years as from the date of establishment to be eligible for doing business of temporary import for re-export and transit of such goods.

b) The trader must leave a deposit of at least 5 billion VND for environmental treatment and destruction of dead stock, of goods imported inconsistently with the declaration that must be destructed.

c) The nominative bills of lading for goods temporarily imported for re-export and transited (specifying the receiver’s name, and must not be transferred) must contain the license number issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. When the ship arrives at the Vietnam’s port, the captain must add the license number in the bill of lading to the manifest, and send it to the customs, the Border guard, and port authorities for classifying, managing, and monitoring.

d) Traders doing business of temporary import for re-export and transit of goods must notify the delivery plan and the details related to the consignments temporarily imported for re-export or transited to the licensing agencies, the customs, and the port authorities at least 7 days before the goods arrives at the Vietnam’s port.

dd) Regarding border-gates of re-export:

- The goods temporarily imported for re-export belonging to the list of goods banned from export and import may only be re-exported through international border-gates.

- Goods subject to special excise duty (wine, beer, cigarettes, cigars) may be re-exported through international border-gates and the border-gate or customs clearance posts in border-gate economic zones, allowed to be established by the Prime Minister and have all the sector management agencies as prescribed. This provision is also applicable to the imported goods stored in bonded warehouses for exporting to a third country.

- Frozen food: may be re-exported through international border-gates, main border-gates, and the border-gate or customs clearance posts in border-gate economic zones, allowed to be established by the Prime Minister and have all the sector management agencies as prescribed. This provision is also applicable to the imported goods stored in bonded warehouses for exporting to a third country.

e) The container must not be divided during the transport of goods from the border-gate of temporary import to the area supervised by the customs and the re-export location at the border-gate or customs clearance post as prescribed.

g) The goods must not stay in Vietnam more than 45 days. This period is only extended once, and the extension must not exceed 15 days. After this period, the trader must export the goods from Vietnam within 15 days through the border-gate of temporary import. The goods must not be exported through other border-gates than the border-gate of temporary import. The goods not being able to be exported shall be confiscated and handled as prescribed. In case the goods must be destructed, the expense on the destruction shall be extracted from the deposit paid by the trader.

h) It is prohibited to convert the temporary import for re-export into import for domestic sale. This provision is also applicable to the goods in the List of goods of which the import is not encouraged.

4. For the temporary import for re-export and transit of petrol and oil:

The condition for doing business of temporary import for re-export and transit of petrol and oil shall be prescribed and supplemented under the direction of the Prime Minister in the Official Dispatch No. 1136/VPCP-KTTH dated August 01, 2012 of the Government Office.

II. THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

1. Leading and cooperating with relevant agencies in issuing documents guiding the enhancement of inspection and control of goods transited and temporarily imported for re-export.

2. Leading and cooperating with relevant agencies in amending and supplementing or promulgating new documents on the guidance and application of the following contents:

a) Goods subject to special excise duty (wine, beer, cigarettes, cigars) being transitted or temporarily imported for re-export must be kept in areas supervised by the customs, such as inland clearance depots (ICD), bonded warehouses, or border-gate areas.

b) Traders may only re-export their goods through the border-gate where they register for the temporary import. The change of the border-gate of re-export must be accepted by the border-gate customs.

c) The General Department of Customs shall guide the customs officers to implement the Article 39 of the Law on Trade applicable to goods rejection. The buyer is entitled to reject the goods if the seller provides the goods inconsistently with the contract, but the buyer must be responsible for handling the rejected consignments as prescribed.

d) When implementing the customs procedures for the temporary import, the trader must provide the export contract and import contract, signed by the Vietnamese trader and the foreign trader, to the customs.

dd) Enhancing the guidance, inspection, and supervision of the storage of goods subject to special excise duty in bonded warehouses; of the import of frozen food for export processing (do not confuse with the import of materials for processing exports).

e) Enhancing the management of goods temporarily imported for re-export; taking measures for strictly supervising the goods from the temporary import to the re-export, especially when it is re-exported.

g) Guiding the anti-smuggling team of the customs to cooperate with the market management forces and economic police in inspecting and controlling the goods temporarily imported for re-export while they are being circulated domestically from the border-gate of temporary import to the border-gate of re-export to promptly detect and handle the violations.

h) Reviewing for amending and supplementing intra vires or request competent authorities to supplement and amend the current law provisions, in order to ensure the tight management of the bonded warehouse storage; increasing the penalties for the violations such as selling goods in domestic market without permission, late liquidation of customs declarations, incorrectly declaring the name and quantity of goods temporarily imported for re-export…

3. Leading and cooperating with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and People’s Committees of bordering provinces, in making plans for disposing inspectors and controllers to ensure the State management of the business of temporary import for re-export, transit, and bonded warehouses.

III. THE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT

Leading and cooperating with relevant agencies, based on the provisions in the Maritime Code to guide the particular rights and duties of the deliverers, receivers, and transporters of the goods being loaded and unloaded at the ports, as well as the auctions of such goods if they are not received.

IV. THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

1. Cooperating with the Ministry of Finance in considering and handling the increase of fees and charges for the quarantine of animal and animal products being temporarily imported for re-export.

2. Enhancing the management and quarantine of frozen food transited and temporarily imported for re-export.

3. Cooperating with local authorities in bordering provinces in guiding quarantine agencies at the border to enhance the measures and forces to efficiently prevent the traffic of livestock and poultry from unknown origins or without quarantine.

V. THE MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE

1. Closely cooperating with relevant Ministries, sectors and localities in the inspection and control of the transport of goods temporarily imported for re-export, from the border-gate of temporary import to the border-gate of re-export.

2. Cooperating with the customs in unifying the procedures for customs supervisor of goods temporarily imported for re-export, especially at the border-gates of re-export.

VI. THE MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE, THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY, THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE, AND THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY AND TRADE

Being responsible for guiding the affiliated units (the Border guard; economic police, anti-smuggling police; market management forces…) Closely cooperating with local authorities in inspecting and controlling the goods temporarily imported for re-export while they are being circulated from the border-gates of temporary import to the border-gates of re-export to promptly detect and handle the violations.

VII. RELEVANT PEOPLE’S COMMITTEES OF CENTRAL-AFFILIATED CITIES AND PROVINCES(where the border-gates are located or the goods temporarily imported for re-export goes through)

1. Submitting suggestion on the appropriate fees for goods transited, temporarily imported for re-export, or in bonded warehouses, to increase the budget receipts for reinvesting, upgrading the roads, channels, and wharves, protecting environment and ensuring security at the border-gates to the Ministry of Finance.

2. Managing and using the deposit: the People’s Committee of the province where the goods goes through shall request the provincial State Treasury to extract the deposit paid by the trader for destructing the goods procedures violate the provisions on the conditions for temporary import for re-export that must be destructed as prescribed.

3. Reviewing and submitting the suggestions on the border-gates and routes that the goods temporarily imported for re-export may go through to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance, ensuring the strict State management, trade fraud and trafficking prevention.

4. Guiding the local functional agencies to take measures for strictly inspecting and controlling, in order the promptly detect the trading and transport of goods transited or temporarily imported for re-export without legal papers, from unknown origins, to be sold locally or in other localities.

5. Cooperating with functional agencies in enhancing the inspection and control of goods temporarily imported for re-export or in transit, or in bonded warehouses that is circulated locally; disposing forces to tightly control the re-export of goods at the border-gates of re-export; strictly handle the violations in accordance with law.

The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of Governmental agencies, the Presidents of People’s Committees of central-affiliated cities and provinces, relevant agencies, organizations, units, and individuals are responsible for implementing this Directive./.