Joint Circular No. 64/2016/TTLT-BTC-BVHTTDL dated April 25, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on guiding the implementation of the national single-window mechanism with respect to the procedure of appraising contents of imported children’s toys under specialized management of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guiding the implementation of the national single-window mechanism with respect to the procedure of appraising contents of imported children’s toys under specialized management of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism[1]

Pursuant to June 23, 2014 Customs Law No. 54/2014/QH13;

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

Pursuant to June 14, 2005 Commercial Law No. 36/2005/QH11;

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

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 187/2013/ND-CP of November 20, 2013, detailing the Commercial Law regarding international goods purchase and sale activities and goods purchase, sale, processing and transit agency activities with foreign countries;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 215/2013/ND-CP of December 23, 2013, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 76/2013/ND-CP of July 16, 2013, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism;

The Minister of Finance and the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism promulgate the Joint Circular guiding the implementation of the national single-window mechanism with respect to the procedure of appraising contents of imported children’s toys under specialized management of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.Scope of regulation

This Joint Circular guides the implementation of the national single-window mechanism with respect to the procedure of appraising contents of imported children’s toys under specialized management of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism under June 23, 2014 Customs Law No. 54/2014/QH13 and the Government’s Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP of January 21, 2015, detailing, and providing measures to implement, the Customs Law regarding customs procedures, inspection, supervision and control (below referred to as Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP), with respect to:

1. Provisions on the process of declaring information and receiving declared information and notifying results of performance of administrative procedures by electronic mode; contents and formats of e-documents used for carrying out the procedure of appraising imported children’s toys managed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

2. Provisions on the mechanism for coordination and information exchange for conducting administrative procedures under the single-window mechanism under this Article between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

3. Other matters related to administrative procedures prescribed in this Article must comply with specialized legal documents.

Article 2.Subjects of application

1. Agencies and units under the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism that process the administrative procedures under the single-window mechanism prescribed in Article 1 of this Joint Circular, and agencies under the General Department of Customs that are responsible for clearing customs procedures for goods imported into Vietnam.

2. Goods importers and organizations and individuals with rights and obligations related to goods import activities that choose to carry out administrative procedures via the Vietnam National Single Window.

Article 3.Interpretation of terms

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

1.Single-window administrative procedure-processing agencies(below referred to as processing agencies) means agencies and units under the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism that have the function of processing and licensing the administrative procedures prescribed in Article 1 of this Joint Circular.

2.Vietnam National Single Windowprescribed in Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP means an integrated information system consisting of customs clearance systems of customs offices and the information system of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (below referred to as specialized processing systems).

3.Single-window administrative filesinclude e-documents and accompanying documents as prescribed in specialized legal documents for each administrative procedure in the form of e-document converted from paper documents under the law on e-transactions, or paper document.

4.E-documentmeans declared information, processing results and notices which are created, sent, received and stored electronically for carrying out single-window administrative procedures.

5.Declarantmeans an organization or individual carrying out single-window administrative procedures prescribed in Article 1 of this Joint Circular.

6.System usermeans an entity defined in Clause 1, Article 11 of this Joint Circular that is permitted to access the Vietnam National Single Window.

7.Unit managing the Vietnam National Single Windowprescribed in Clause 3, Article 8 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP is the General Department of Customs under the Ministry of Finance.

Article 4.E-transactions conducted under the national single-window mechanism

E-transactions conducted under the national single-window mechanism (below referred to as e-transactions) include:

1. Declaring, receiving, and giving feedback on the processing of, files for carrying out administrative procedures on the Vietnam National Single Window.

2. Receiving and transmitting declared information to processing agencies via the Vietnam National Single Window.

3. Receiving the processing results from processing agencies via the Vietnam National Single Window.

4. Exchanging information among processing agencies via the Vietnam National Single Window.

Article 5.Single-window administrative files

Single-window administrative files prescribed in Clause 3, Article 3 of this Joint Circular for carrying out the procedure of appraising contents of imported children’s toys include:

1. Request for appraisal of imported children’s toys under the specialized management of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, made according to form No. 1, Appendix No. I to this Joint Circular.

2. Request for showing of sample goods, made according to form No. 2, Appendix No. I to this Joint Circular.

3. Notice of the result of appraisal of imported children’s toys according to form No. 3, Appendix No. I to this Joint Circular.

Article 6.E-documents, conversion of paper documents into e-documents and vice versa

1. E-documents declared or produced to state management agencies under the national single-window mechanism may be converted from paper documents if they:

a/ Reflect the entire contents of paper documents;

b/ Bear the digital signature of the converter (declarant) already registered to join the Vietnam National Single Window.

2. E-documents issued via the Vietnam National Single Window may be converted into paper documents if the paper documents:

a/ Reflect the entire contents of e-documents;

b/ Bear identification signs, including information showing that the documents have digital signatures given by licensing agencies or the Vietnam National Single Window, names and emails and/or telephone numbers of agencies giving digital signatures, and time of giving such signatures. Identification signs shall be posted up by the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window athttps://vnsw.gov.vn;

c/ Bear the signature, full name and lawful seal of the converter (declarant).

3. E-documents are valid for carrying out procedures with state management agencies like their paper form.

4. Declarants shall keep e-documents and paper documents under regulations.

Article 7.Registration of accounts of users of the Vietnam National Single Window

1. A declarant that has been granted by the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism accounts for accessing existing specialized processing systems may choose one of these accounts to access the Vietnam National Single Window. To use the account, the declarant shall access the Vietnam National Single Window athttps://vnsw.gov.vnand register his/her user account according to form No. 1, Appendix No. II to this Joint Circular. Should any problems arise, the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window shall provide declarants with instructions on how to use their registered accounts to access the Vietnam National Single Window.

2. If a declarant has no user account granted by the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, he/she shall register his/her user account on the Vietnam National Single Window as follows:

a/ He/she shall access the Vietnam National Single Window athttps://vnsw.gov.vnand register file information according to form No. 2, Appendix No. II to this Joint Circular. Within one working day after receiving the declarant’s file information registered on the Vietnam National Single Window, the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window shall check such information. If rejecting the file or finding that the file is incomplete, the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window shall notify such by email (clearly stating the reason) to the declarant. If the file is complete and satisfactory, this unit shall notify by email its acceptance of the dossier, and the username and initial passcode to the declarant;

b/ After granting a new account to the declarant, the Vietnam National Single Window shall send information on this account to relevant specialized processing systems.

3. For cadres and civil servants of agencies and units under the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the grant of user accounts on the Vietnam National Single Window is prescribed as follows:

a/ The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall draw up lists of to-be-granted user accounts, containing names, titles, working units, and authority to use the functions managed by these ministries on the Vietnam National Single Window, made according to the form issued by the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window on this window, and send written notices to this unit;

b/ Within 5 working days, the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window shall, based on technical requirements on system security and safety, consider the number of to-be-granted accounts requested by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and grant user accounts and notify in writing usernames and default passcodes to these ministries. If the number of to-be-granted accounts is smaller than the number of accounts requested by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window shall clearly state the reason in writing to these ministries.

Article 8.Responsibilities of users of the Vietnam National Single Window

Users shall take responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of information and data they have provided to the Vietnam National Single Window in accordance with specialized legal documents applicable to relevant administrative procedures.

Chapter II

PROVISIONS ON THE VIETNAM NATIONAL SINGLE WINDOW

Article 9.Principles of operation of the Vietnam National Single Window

1. Complying with specialized laws and regulations on protection of state secrets, trade secrets and business secrets for e-transactions conducted on the Vietnam National Single Window.

2. Ensuring the accuracy, objectivity, completeness and timeliness of e-transactions conducted on the Vietnam National Single Window.

Article 10.Functions of the Vietnam National Single Window

1. To receive e-documents and relevant information; to certify digital signatures of declarants and processing agencies.

2. To forward e-documents and other information of declarants to processing agencies and designated conformity assessment organizations selected by enterprises, and concurrently store declarants’ information on the Vietnam National Single Window for search and statistical purposes.

3. To receive notices from processing agencies.

4. To return e-documents to declarants.

5. To exchange processing results among processing agencies.

6. To store the status of e-transactions conducted on the Vietnam National Single Window and store e-documents.

7. To provide the functions of reporting and making statistics at the request of processing agencies and declarants.

Article 11.Competence for and levels of access to the Vietnam National Single Window

1. Entities entitled to access the Vietnam National Single Window include:

a/ Organizations and individuals carrying out the administrative procedures prescribed in Article 1 of this Joint Circular;

b/ Customs offices, and agencies and units under the the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism that appraise contents of imported children’s toys;

c/ State management agencies not mentioned at Point b of this Clause that exploit information from the Vietnam National Single Window.

2. Access levels and authority:

a/ Organizations and individuals defined at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article may access the Vietnam National Single Window for declaring information and receiving feedback on the processing of their files in order to carry out single-window administrative procedures, receive single-window administrative documents and other processing results for single-window administrative procedures, and search for information announced on the Vietnam National Single Window;

b/ The entities defined at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article may access the Vietnam National Single Window for receiving information, processing information and notifying processing results in the form of single-window administrative documents or other processing results for single-window administrative procedures, and receiving single-window administrative documents and other processing results from related agencies;

c/ The entities defined at Point c, Clause 1 of this Article shall comply with Clause 2, Article 22 of this Joint Circular.

Article 12.Use of digital signatures for conducting single-window administrative procedures

Declarants that use digital signatures for conducting single-window administrative procedures on the Vietnam National Single Window shall comply with the following provisions:

1. Their digital signatures must be public ones granted to organizations which have been registered with the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window and certified as compatible with the Vietnam National Single Window system.

2. The use and legality of digital signatures must comply with the State’s current regulations on digital signatures and digital signature certification service.

3. Before using digital signatures for carrying out single-window administrative procedures, declarants shall register such signatures with the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window. Information on digital signatures may be immediately registered when declarants carry out the procedures to apply for user accounts. If declarants already have user accounts but do not yet register information on digital signatures or wish to register additional digital signatures, they shall access the Vietnam National Single Window with the registered accounts and fill in the following information:

a/ Name and tax identification number of the importer or exporter;

b/ Full name, identity card or passport number, and title (if any) of the digital certificate holder;

c/ Serial number of the digital certificate;

d/ Validity duration of the digital certificate.

4. Declarants shall re-register with the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window the information mentioned in Clause 3 of this Article in the following cases: change in registered information; extension of digital certificate; change of key pair; or suspension of digital certificate. Information mentioned in Clause 3 of this Article shall be re-registered like when it is initially registered.

5. A declarant that has registered to use different digital signatures with specialized processing systems may choose to use one of these signatures.

Article 13.Responsibilities of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

1. To develop information contents and formats of e-documents under their respective management.

2. To update information relating to the granted accounts of cadres and civil servants for accessing the Vietnam National Single Window in case of change in their posts, working positions or tasks.

3. To store, and protect the integrity of, e-documents and relevant processing results in specialized processing systems.

4. To comply with the Regulation on management, operation, exploitation and information safety assurance of the Vietnam National Single Window promulgated together with Decision No. 75/QD-BCDASW of November 20, 2014, of the National Steering Committee for the ASEAN and National Single Window Mechanism.

Chapter III

PROCEDURE OF APPRAISING CONTENTS OF IMPORTED CHIDLREN’S TOYS ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL SINGLE WINDOW MECHANISM

Article 14.Declarants and their rights and obligations

1. Declarants defined in Clause 5, Article 3 of this Joint Circular include:

a/ Customs declarants defined in Article 5 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP;

b/ Organizations and individuals involved in the process of appraising contents of imported children’s toys managed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

2. Declarants have the following rights:

a/ To be assisted by the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window and processing agencies in user training and provision of information for access to, information declaration and use of utilities on the Vietnam National Single Window;

b/ To have their information secured and business and trade secrets protected by the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window and processing agencies;

c/ To be provided by processing agencies with information about the processing of files for carrying out single-window administrative procedures.

3. Declarants have the following obligations:

a/ To comply with regulations on contents and format of information declared according to technical requirements for each single-window administrative procedure;

b/ To comply with regulations on digital signatures for e-transactions requiring digital signatures;

c/ To pay taxes, charges, fees and other amounts in accordance with law;

d/ To strictly follow the processes for ensuring the integrity, safety and confidentiality in carrying out single-window administrative procedures;

dd/ To store single-window administrative documents (including copies) in accordance with the law on e-transactions and specialized legal documents; to provide e-documents and/or paper documents relating to goods imported, exported or in transit and vehicles on exit, entry or in transit to processing agencies for examination and inspection according to their competence;

e/ To meet information technology and technical requirements prescribed in specialized laws for carrying out single-window administrative procedures;

g/ To take responsibility before law for information declared when carrying out single-window administrative procedures.

Article 15.Requirements on appraisal of contents of imported children’s toys

In the course of carrying out customs clearance procedures for imported children’s toys under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Circular No. 28/2014/TT-BVHTTDL of December 31, 2014, import-requesting declarants shall carry out import procedures at the customs office. If the customs office has doubts but cannot ascertain whether or not children’s toys to be imported by the declarant are banned from distribution, sale or trading in Vietnam, the customs office shall send an electronic appraisal request, made according to form No. 1, Appendix I to this Joint Circular, via the Vietnam National Single Window to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to solicit assessment or consult related state management agencies for determining whether such toys may be imported.

Article 16.Receipt of appraisal requests and appraisal of contents of imported children’s toys

1. Receipt of requests for appraisal of contents of imported children’s toys

a/ The processing agency shall receive an e-request for appraisal of imported children’s toys from the customs office via the Vietnam National Single Window;

b/ Within 36 working hours after receiving the appraisal request, the processing agency shall send an e-request for showing of sample goods to the customs office and declarant via the Vietnam National Single Window.

2. Appraisal of contents of imported children’s toys

a/ The declarant shall show sample goods and accompanying documents at the place and time stated in the request for showing of sample goods he/she has received via the Vietnam National Single Window;

b/ Within 36 working hours after the declarant shows sufficient sample goods and accompanying documents, the processing agency shall send an e-notice of refusal to appraise imported children’s toys, made according to form No. 4, Appendix No. I to this Joint Circular, to the customs office and declarant via the Vietnam National Single Window, stating the reason;

c/ The processing agency shall conduct appraisal within 7 working days from the date the declarant shows sufficient sample goods and documents as prescribed, or within 15 working days from such date in case it has to consult related ministries and sectors;

d/ The processing agency shall send an e-notice of the result of appraisal of imported children’s toys to the declarant and customs office via the Vietnam National Single Window;

dd/ The customs office shall issue a final decision on customs clearance for imported children’s toys, based on the appraisal result notice sent by the processing agency via the Vietnam National Single Window.

Article 17.Receiving information and giving feedback on the Vietnam National Single Window

1. The Vietnam National Single Window shall receive e-information 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

2. The Vietnam National Single Window shall automatically receive information and give feedback to declarants, processing agencies and customs offices.

3. The Vietnam National Single Window shall:

a/ Give feedback on processing results of processing agencies to declarants and customs offices right after receiving the processing results;

b/ Provide customs declarations and processing results of customs offices to processing agencies in case customs declarations are required in administrative procedures falling within the competence of processing agencies, or when processing agencies request provision of customs declarations and processing results of customs offices which are related to the procedures falling within the competence of processing agencies.

Chapter IV

COORDINATION AND INFORMATION EXCHANGE FOR CARRYING OUT SINGLE-WINDOW ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES

Article 18.Principles of information exchange and provision

1. Information exchange and provision shall be conducted in accordance with law and within the ambit of functions, tasks and powers of related parties.

2. Exchanged and provided information shall be used properly for operational activities according to the functions and tasks of information recipients.

3. Related parties shall exchange and provide information in a prompt, accurate and sufficient manner.

4. Related parties shall exchange, provide, manage and use information in accordance with regulations on protection of state secrets and secrets under the specialized management of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

5. Information shall be exchanged and provided among parties of the same level, or may be exchanged and provided among parties of different levels when necessary.

6. Information exchanged and provided among related parties must be consistent and comply with regulations on information exchange among state agencies.

7. Agencies and units assigned to act as focal points of related parties in exchanging and providing information as defined in Article 23 of this Joint Circular shall arrange manpower and means to ensure uninterrupted and timely exchange and provision of information.

Article 19.Contents of information provision

1. The Ministry of Finance shall provide the Vietnam National Single Window with:

a/ E-documents related to the Ministry’s administrative procedures as prescribed in Article 1 of this Joint Circular;

b/ Other processing results of customs offices which are related to administrative procedures;

c/ Information relating to goods already cleared from customs procedures or released at the request of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

2. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall provide the Vietnam National Single Window with:

a/ E-documents related to the Ministry’s administrative procedures as prescribed in Article 1 of this Joint Circular;

b/ Other processing results of processing agencies under the Ministry which are related to administrative procedures;

c/ Information about goods already appraised to be satisfactory or unsatisfactory at the request of the Ministry of Finance.

Article 20.Forms of information exchange and provision

Information shall be exchanged and provided online as e-documents under regulations. The unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window shall act as the focal point in receiving and processing information provided by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for carrying out single-window administrative procedures. If incidents or technical errors occur or this window has no function of information exchange and provision, making it impossible to exchange and provide information electronically, related parties may temporarily use other forms like email, facsimile or paper document for information exchange and provision.

Article 21.Compilation of statistics, exchange and provision of information

1. If the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism connects its specialized processing system to the Vietnam National Single Window, the compilation of statistics and reporting on information relating to the administrative procedures prescribed in Article 1 of this Joint Circular shall be conducted via this system.

2. If the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has not yet connected its specialized processing system to the Vietnam National Single Window, the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window shall provide the focal units defined in Article 23 of this Joint Circular with statistics and reports related to the administrative procedures prescribed in Article 1 of this Joint Circular at the request of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

3. Extraordinary information: In case the National Assembly, the Government, the National Steering Committee for ASEAN and National Single Window Mechanism, competent authorities or the ASEAN Secretariat request(s) reporting on and provision of information relating to the administrative procedures prescribed in Article 1 of this Joint Circular, the Vietnam National Single Window, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism or related agencies shall provide information to these agencies and concurrently to the Vietnam National Single Window and related agencies.

Article 22.Information management and use

1. The Ministry of Finance shall provide the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism with a username and passcode for exploiting information from the Vietnam National Single Window athttps://vnsw.gov.vn. Related agencies shall keep confidential their usernames and passcodes and properly exercise the rights already registered with the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window when requesting grant of user accounts.

2. The Ministry of Finance shall share information with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as well as competent agencies and persons for using and exploiting information from the Vietnam National Single Window. Before officially providing information within the management scope of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the Vietnam National Single Window to competent agencies or persons for use, the Ministry of Finance shall obtain approval from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Information provision must comply with specialized laws on protection of state secrets and business secrets of enterprises.

Article 23.Focal points in information provision and exchange

1. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall assign their focal points to be responsible for information provision and exchange in accordance with this Joint Circular.

2. Focal points defined in Clause 1 of this Article shall assign heads of their functional divisions to perform information exchange, provision and management tasks, and open and register their emails, facsimile numbers, telephone numbers and addresses with the unit managing the Vietnam National Single Window for coordination.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 24.Effect

1. This Joint Circular takes effect on June 15, 2016.

2. Focal points shall promptly report any problems arising in the course of implementation of this Joint Circular to related ministries for settlement.

Article 25.Implementation responsibility

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall:

1. Organize the implementation of, and direct their attached agencies and units in implementing, this Joint Circular.

2. Facilitate uninterrupted and timely performance of administrative procedures.

3. Announce administrative procedures under their respective management, specifying the quantity, composition and types of documents (e-documents, paper documents converted into e-documents, or paper documents) in single-window administrative files.

4. Ensure the accuracy, timeliness, safety and confidentiality of exchanged and provided information in accordance with current law.

* All appendices to this Joint Circular are not translated.-