CIRCULAR

RISK MANAGEMENT IN CUSTOMS OPERATION

Circular No. 81/2019/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2019 of the Minister of Finance on risk management in customs operation, which comes into force from January 01, 2020 is amended by:

Circular No. 06/2024/TT-BTC dated January 29, 2024 of the Minister of Finance on amendments to certain articles of Circular No. 81/2019/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2019 of the Minister of Finance of Vietnam on risk management in customs operation, which comes into force from March 15, 2024.

Pursuant to the Law on Customs dated June 23, 2014;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015 on customs procedures; customs examination, supervision and control procedures; export duties, import duties and tax administration applied to exports and imports and the Government’s Decree No. 59/2018/ND-CP dated April 20, 2018 on amendments to some articles of the Government’s Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 87/2017/ND-CP dated July 26, 2017 on functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam;

At the request of General Director of General Department of Vietnam Customs,

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Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Circular prescribes:

1. Collection, processing, management and use of risk management information; assessment  of compliance with regulations of law by customs declarants.

2. Classification of risk levels of customs declarants and import, export, entry, exit and transit activities.

3. Application of risk management to customs operation.

Article 2. Regulated entities

1. Customs declarants and taxpayers involved in imports and exports (hereinafter referred to as "customs declarants”).

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3. Regulatory authorities involved in cooperation in state management regarding customs.

4. Organizations and individuals involved in import, export, transit of goods, entry, exit and transit of means of transport.

5. This Circular is not applicable to organizations prescribed in point c clause 4 Article 3 of the Law on Export and Import Duties dated April 6, 2016.

Article 3. Term interpretation

1. “Application of risk management” refers to application of principles, procedures, measures, operational techniques and information products regarding risk management for decision and execution of decisions to carry out customs inspection and supervision, post clearance examination, inspection and other operations.

2. “Risk management information” refers to information collected and processed by customs authorities to enable application of risk management to customs operation.

3. “Risk management information systems” refer to data and information systems managed customs authorities and used to collect, process and provide risk management information products for customs operations.

4. “Compliance degree” refers to result of assessment and classification by a customs authority regarding compliance with regulations and law by a customs declarant on management of import, export, entry, exit and transit.

5. Compliance assessment criteria” refer to criteria that are used to classify compliance degrees in import, export, entry, exit and transit.

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7. “Compliance assessment” refers to collection, analysis, verification and comparison of information on operation process and compliance with regulations and law with compliance assessment indicators for classification of compliance degrees of declarants.

8. “Enforced compliance” refers to compliance assessment and risk level classification by customs authorities for implementation of measures necessary for each level, thereby ensuring adequacy and accuracy of compliance with the customs law, the law on tax administration and the tax law.

9. “Risk analysis” refers to estimation of frequency and consequences of risks.

10. “Risk level” refers to seriousness of the risk determined on the basis of a combination between frequency and consequences of the risk.

11. “Risk level classification criteria” refer to criteria that are used to classify risk levels in management of import, export, entry, exit and transit.

12. “Risk level classification indicators” refer to information bearing specific value of the risk level classification criteria.

13. “Risk assessment” refers to classification, consideration and comparison of risk levels with risk level classification indicators and processing of previous risks for formation of order of priority.

14. “Signs of risk” refer to information about potential violations against customs laws.

15. “Signs of violations” refer to information that is well-grounded to carry out an assessment of occurrence of violations against customs laws.

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17. “Determination of focus” refers to use of results of assessment of compliance and risk to decide application of measures for controlling risks in customs inspection and supervision, post clearance examination and inspection, and other measures with respect to import, export, entry, export and transit.

18. “Focused enterprise” refers to an enterprise which is assessed to pose a high risk in customs operation depending on respective field of operation namely import, export or transit from time to time.

19. “Focused person making entry, exit or transit” refers to a person making an entry, exit or transit and assessed to pose a high risk in customs operation depending on respective field of operation namely entry, exit or transit from time to time.

20. “Risk documents” refer to collection of information and data on subjects of risks or situations of risks stored in written form or digital form to serve monitoring and management purposes and determine focuses of customs inspection and supervision, post clearance examination and inspection, and other measures with respect to import, export, entry, exit and transit.

21. “Risk control” refers to adoption of measures for inspection, supervision and control of customs, post clearance inspection and examination, investigation and other measures by customs authorities with a view to preventing and reducing frequency and consequences or detecting and taking actions against violations against customs laws.

22. “Risk control plan” refers to a general program for risk control issued by Director General of General Department of Customs to conduct organization, assign tasks, distribute resources and take measures for control of risks in management of import, export, entry, exit and transit.

23. “Compliance calibration” refers to decision on inspection of specimens, consolidation and analysis of information and data according to figures for determination of compliance degree in each field of import, export and transit.

Article 4. Principles of management of risks

1. Risk management information shall be collected from domestic and international information sources as per the law; concentratedly managed at General Department of Customs via information technology application and processed, shared and provided for customs bodies of all levels and other regulatory agencies as per the law.

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3. Decision on customs inspection or examination, adoption of post clearance examination, inspection or other operations shall depend on results of compliance assessment, classification of risk levels, risk management information on customs information system and other signs of violations, signs of risk provided at the time of decicision and adoption.

4. Customs authorities shall jointly inspect, supervise and control high and moderate risks and adopt necessary measures with respect to low risks.

5. In case the system malfunctions or fails to satisfy requirements for application of risk management in customs operation as specified in this Circular, the risk management shall be applied in a manual manner that competent authorities shall consider approving proposals or issuing documents on adoption of customs operation measures. 

6. After fully complying with regulations and law, regulations under this Circular and regulations, guidelines on risk management as designated, customs officials shall be exempt from personal responsibilities as per the law.

Article 5. Technical measures for risk management in customs operation

Technical measures for risk management in customs operation include:

1. Collecting and processing risk management information.

2. Managing and assessing compliance with regulations and law and classifying risk levels with regard to customs declarants.

3. Analyzing and assessing risks.

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5. Inspecting and assessing implementation and application of risk management and management of compliance with regulations and laws in customs operation.

6. Other technical measures for risk management include:

a) Developing and managing the lists of goods susceptible to risks;

b) Making and managing risk documents;

c) Developing documents and managing key enterprises;

d) Calibrating compliance with customs laws in import, export and transit;

dd) Managing risk control plans and risk control schemes; carrying out analysis after detecting and taking actions against typical smuggling, tax evasion and trade frauds to estimate tendencies and provide risk warnings.

Chapter II

COLLECTION AND PROCESSING OF RISK MANAGEMENT INFORMATION

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1. Risk management information includes:

a) Information about customs declarants:

a.1) Information about enterprises participating in goods import, export and transit activities;

a.2) Information about customs brokerage agents;

a.3) Information about enterprises providing international postal services and international express delivery services;

a.4) Information about owners of transports and operators of transports making entry, exit or transit, or persons authorized by owners of transports making entry, exit or transit;

a.5) Information about persons authorized by goods owners according to Clause 3 Article 1 of the Government’s Decree No. 59/2018/ND-CP dated April 20, 2018 on amendments to a number of Articles of the Government’s Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015 elaborating Law on customs and customs procedures, customs examination, supervision and control (hereinafter referred to as “Decree No. 59/2018/ND-CP”).

b) Information about import, export and transit goods;

c) Information about transports making entry, exit and transit;

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dd) Information about organizations and individuals participating in or related to customs declarants, import, export and transit goods:

dd.1) Information about organizations and individuals who are foreign business partners contributing capital;

dd.2) Information about enterprises trading duty-free goods;

dd.3) Information about enterprises operating ports, storage and warehouses;

dd.4) Information about enterprises operating bonded warehouses;

dd.5) Information about enterprises operating container-freight stations;

dd.6) Information about enterprises providing LCL consolidation services;

dd.7) Information about enterprises providing transport for import, export and transit goods;

dd.8) Information about enterprises carrying out assessment regarding import, export and transit goods;

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e) Information about results of customs procedures and adoption of risk control measures, and operational information that is provided, created and processed during application of risk management as specified in this Circular and other relevant documents;

g) Other information related to state management activities regarding customs.

2. Risk management information specified in Points a, b, c, d and dd Clause 1 of this Article is prescribed in details under Annex I Information fields of risk management attached to this Circular.

Article 7. Collection and processing of risk management information

1. 1. Risk management information shall be collected from the following sources:

a) Information and data systems inside and outside of customs;

b) Regulatory agencies, organizations and individuals related to customs as specified in Articles 107 and 108 Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015 of Government on elaborating and providing guidelines for implementation of Law on Customs regarding customs procedures, customs inspection, supervision and control (hereinafter referred to as “Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP”);

c) Customs authorities of countries, foreign relevant agencies, organizations and individuals as per the law;

d) Information provided by organizations and persons participating in import, export, entry, exit and transit activities as per the law;

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e) Hotline or e-mail of General Department of Customs;

g) Processes of customs inspection, supervision and control with respect to import, export and transit goods; transports making entry, exit or transit;

h) Other necessary operation measures as per the law.

2. Risk management information shall be:

a) provided and exchanged in form of digital data, digital documents, e-mail and messages from phone number officially publicized by customs authorities;

b) provided and exchanged in written form, telegraph, fax or paper documents;

c) exchanged directly on the basis of being recorded and agreed upon by relevant parties or via information processing, verification and collection by representatives or via convention and other methods.

3. Risk management information shall be processed after being collected as follows:

a) The information shall be assessed in terms of relevance to need and use purpose of the information, and in terms of trustworthiness and accuracy of the information;

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c) The information shall be analyzed to identify constituent of information to serve risk management;

d) Relevant factors that have been discovered shall be consolidated and linked via analysis; the information shall be clarified in terms of value and content in order to complete risk management information.

Article 8. Development, management and use of risk management information

1. Risk management information shall be developed and managed together with consolidated information and data systems, updated, integrated, processed, stored, provided and shared according to this Circular. In case the systems encounter errors or connection flaws, the update, integration, processing and storage of information on the systems shall be performed promptly after such errors or flaws are corrected.

2. The risk management information system shall be developed and connected online with customs electronic data processing systems and relevant information and data systems.

3. Connection and sharing of risk management information with organizations and individuals outside of customs field; with customs of other countries and international organizations according to Vietnam’s regulations and law, international agreements to which Vietnam is a signatory must comply with regulations on information technology security and regulations on protection of state secrets and customs operation.

4. Customs authorities shall adopt measures to ensure data safety and security, computer safety and cyber security as per the law.

Chapter III

ASSESSMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH REGULATIONS AND LAW BY DECLARANTS AND CLASSIFICATION OF RISK LEVELS IN CUSTOMS OPERATIONS

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Article 9. Enforced compliance with regulations and law by declarants

1. Enforced compliance with regulations and law by declarants includes:

a) Development and management of dossiers on customs declarants; establishment and management of risk documents regarding declarants potentially failing to comply with regulations and law;

b) Development of criteria, indicators for assessment of compliance with the legal requirements, criteria and indicators for classification of risk levels of customs declarants;

c) Assessment of compliance with regulations and law by customs declarants;

d) Classification of risk levels of customs declarants;

dd) Application of measures to perform customs inspection and supervision, customs control, post clearance examination, inspection and other operational measures to customs declarants as per the law;

e) Examination of assessment of compliance with regulations and law of customs declarants;

g) Organization and development of the partnership between customs authorities and enterprises (organization and implementation of programs for promoting voluntary compliance; exchange and provision of information and support to customs declarants for improving legal compliance with customs laws, tax administration laws and tax laws).

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3. (Annulled)

Article 10. Classification of legal compliance degrees of customs declarants

Customs authorities shall assess and classify legal compliance degrees of customs declarants involved in import or export and immigration activities for 365 consecutive days before the date of assessment according to one of the following degrees:

1. 1. First-degree: Prioritized enterprises.

2. 2. Second-degree: Highly compliant.

3. 3. Third-degree: Moderately compliant.

4. 4. Fourth-degree: Poorly compliant.

5. 5. Fifth-degree: Incompliant.

Article 11. Criteria for assessing compliance with legal requirements by customs declarants

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2. Criteria of a highly compliant declarant (Second-degree compliance) shall comply with regulations in Parts I, II, III and IV and criteria of a highly compliant enterprise operating ports, warehouses and yards (Second-degree compliance) shall comply with regulations in Part V, Appendix II enclosed herewith.

3. Criteria of a moderately compliant declarant (Third-degree compliance) shall comply with regulations in Parts I, II, III and IV and criteria of a moderately compliant enterprise operating ports, warehouses and yards (Third-degree compliance) shall comply with regulations in Part V, Appendix III enclosed herewith.

4. Criteria of a poorly compliant declarant (Fourth-degree compliance) shall comply with regulations in Parts I, II, III and IV and criteria of a poorly compliant enterprise operating ports, warehouses and yards (Fourth-degree compliance) shall comply with regulations in Part V, Appendix IV enclosed herewith.

5. Criteria of an incompliant declarant (Fifth-degree compliance) shall comply with regulations in Parts I, II, III and IV and criteria of an incompliant enterprise operating ports, warehouses and yards (Fifth-degree compliance) shall comply with regulations in Part V, Appendix V enclosed herewith.”.

Article 12. Methods of assessment of compliance with regulations and law of customs declarants

1. Degree of compliance with regulations and law of customs declarants shall be automatically assessed by the information technology system at 12 a.m every day at General Department of Customs on the basis of consolidating and integrating customs information according to the criteria specified in Clause Article 14 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP, Article 11 of this Circular and the following principles:

a) An enterprise shall be assessed as prioritized enterprise (first-degree compliance) according to Circular No. 72/2015/TT-BTC and Circular No. 07/2019/TT-BTC dated January 28, 2019 on amendments to a number of Articles of Circular No. 72/2015/TT-BTC of Ministry of Finance on adoption of prioritized treatment in customs procedures, customs inspection and supervision regarding import and export goods of enterprises;

b) A customs declarant shall be assessed for compliance with regulations and law for the first time or have his/her degree of compliance with regulations and law adjusted in subsequent assessment sessions in Second-degree, Third-degree or Fourth-degree when all respective criteria specified under Annex II, III or IV attached to this Circular are satisfied;

c) A customs declarant shall have his/her degree of compliance with regulations and law assessed or adjusted to be Fifth-degree compliance degree when he/she satisfies any of the criteria under Annex V attached to Circular.  His/her compliance degree from Fifth-degree shall be raised as follows:

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c.2) In case he/she conducts any act specified in Point 2 Section I Annex VI attached to this Circular and fully satisfies criteria of a higher degree of compliance with regulations and law within 365 days from the date on which previous change in degree of compliance is made, his/her degree of compliance with regulations and law shall be raised to Fourth-degree compliance. Subsequent sessions of assessment of compliance with regulations and law shall comply with Point b of this Clause;

c.3) In case he/she does not conduct any act specified in Section I Annex VI attached to this Circular while fully satisfies criteria of a higher degree of compliance with regulations and law, his/her degree of compliance with regulations and law shall be raised to corresponding degree.

2. In case the system malfunctions, assessment results of customs declarants shall be determined according to assessment results of the day immediately before the day on which the malfunction takes place.

3. Customs authorities shall monitor and inspect results of compliance assessment of customs declarants by:

a) Selecting customs declarants at random to analyze, assess and adjust compliance degree of customs declarants based on compliance assessment criteria specified in Article 11 of this Circular;

b) Cooperating with relevant bodies in exchanging and providing information regarding process of complying with regulations and law by customs declarants to verify additional information.

4. Customs authorities shall assist increase of compliance degree of customs declarants via applications on the customs website as follows:

a) Look up results of compliance degree and explanation for classification of degree of compliance with regulations and law;

b) Exchange and provide information serving assessment of compliance with regulations and law, and propose difficulties and recommendations related to assessment of compliance with regulations and law.

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5. Customs authorities encourage customs declarants to voluntarily comply with regulations and law by organizing customs - enterprise partnership programs, memoranda, conference, conventions, training and assisting customs declarants in complying with regulations and law voluntarily.

Section 2. CLASSIFICATION OF RISK LEVELS IN CUSTOMS OPERATIONS

Article 13. Principles of classification of risk levels

1. Risk levels in import, export, entry, exit and transit activities are classified on the basis of degrees of compliance with regulations and law of customs declarants and relevant factors specified in Article 15 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP.

2. In case relevant factors specified in Article 15 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP of 2 or more customs declarants are identical, a customs declarant having higher degree of compliance with regulations and law shall be classified with a lower risk level and vice versa.

3. Each customs authority shall manage and utilize the information system for risk management which automatically integrates and processes data according to criteria specified in Articles 15 and 17 of this Circular to classify risk levels in customs operations.

Article 14. Classification of risk levels of customs declarants

Customs declarants shall be classified in one of the following risk levels:

1. Level 1: Prioritized enterprises that are enterprises specified in Point a Clause 1 Article 12 of this Circular.

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3. Level 3: Customs declarants with low risks.

4. Level 4: Customs declarants with moderate risks.

5. Level 5: Customs declarants with high risks.

6. Level 6: Customs declarants with very high risks.

7. Level 7: Customs declarants who are not involved in goods import and export activities for 365 days before the date of assessment and have not been penalized for violations against regulations on customs and other regulations by customs authorities.

8. Level 8: Customs declarants who are not involved in goods import and export activities for 365 days before the date of assessment and have been penalized for violations against regulations on customs and other regulations by customs authorities, except for the acts specified in Level 9 of this Article.

9. Level 9: Customs declarants who are not involved in goods import and export activities for 365 days before the date of assessment and have been penalized for one of the violations specified in Sections I and II Annex VI enclosed herewith.”.

Article 15. Criteria for classification of risk levels of customs declarants

Risk level 2 to risk level 6 of customs declarants shall be classified according to the regulations in Article 15 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP as follows:

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2. Year of establishment; head office; factory scale; number of employees; type of enterprise; information about owner of enterprise; capital; participation in the stock market; Certificate of compliance with International Standard ISO 9001.

3. Period and frequency of activity, route; goods, type of import and export; export and import turnovers, total tax paid; sales, profits; results of inspection, examination, post clearance examination, inspection and investigation of customs authorities, tax authorities and other relevant agencies; results of inspection of customs authorities for information related to conditions for establishment, recognition of enterprises operating ports, warehouses and yards; customs authorities’ results of inspecting enterprises operating ports, warehouses and yards for the compliance with regulations on customs supervision of import, export and transit goods.

4. Frequency, nature, severity of the violations and compliance with customs laws, laws on tax administration and tax laws; compliance with laws on post, transport, commercial, quality measurement standards and other laws relating to import, export, entry, exit and transit activities.

5. Previous violations related to goods owners, consignors and consignees

6. Purposes and requests for customs management from time to time.

7. Signs of risks and signs of violations against regulations and laws on customs, tax administration and tax.

8. Cooperation with customs authorities in providing information of enterprises.".

Article 16. Classification of risk levels of import, export, entry, exit and transit activities in customs operation

Risk levels of import, export, entry, exit and transit activities in customs operation shall be classified as follows:

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2. Moderate risk.

3. Low risk.

Article 17. Criteria for classification of risk levels of import, export, entry, exit and transit activities in customs operation

Risks in import, export, entry, exit and transit activities in customs operation shall be classified based on factors specified in Article 15 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP as follows:

1. Degrees of compliance and risk levels of customs declarants specified in Articles 10 and 14 of this Circular.

2. Policies on management and policies on tax with respect to import, export and transit goods.

3. Previous violations related to:

a) Goods owners, consignors, consignees, recipient address;

b) Import, export and transit goods;

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d) Persons making entry, exit, transit and luggage thereof.

4. Properties, attributes, origin, route and means of transportation of:

a) Import, export and transit goods;

b) Transports making entry, exit and transit;

c) Persons making entry, exit, transit and luggage thereof.

5. Customs declarants, import, export and transit goods; transports making entry, exit and transit; persons making entry, exit and transit; luggage of persons making entry, exit and transit that are subject to management according to risk control plan, risk control schemes and risk documents.

6. Purposes and requests for customs management from time to time.

7. Results of implementation of operations related to import, export and transit goods; transports making entry, exit and transit; persons making entry, exit, transit and luggage thereof.

8. Operational information and warning about subjects, methods, forms of smuggling, tax evasion, illegal transport of goods across borders, trade frauds in import, export, entry, exit and transit from time to time.

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10. Signs of risks and signs of violations against regulations and law on customs.

11. Random selection at management request from time to time.

12. Other factors related to import, export, entry, exit and transit activities.

Article 18. Methods of classification of risk levels

1. Risk levels of custom declarants, enterprises operating ports, warehouses and yards and import, export, entry, exit and transit activities shall be automatically classified by the system on a regular basis by processing customs data and information taking account of factors specified in Article 15 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP , Articles 15 and 17 of this Circular.

2. The system shall automatically update the assessment and classification of risk levels of customs declarants in case degrees of compliance with regulations and law of customs declarants and factors specified in Article 15 of this Circular change.

3. In case the customs electronic data processing system fails to automatically adjust and classify risk levels, the updating of results of classification of risk levels of customs declarants, enterprises operating ports, warehouses and yards and import, export, entry, exit and transit activities shall be performed manually by customs officials.

Article 19. Lists of goods susceptible to risks

1. Lists of goods susceptible to risks shall be issued and used by customs authorities as sources of information to analyze and assess risks, assist adoption of customs measures, and propose, develop policies and regulations on management of import and export goods.

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2. Lists of goods susceptible to risks in customs operations must include:

a) List of goods susceptible to risks of line management policies;

b) List of goods susceptible to risks of goods classification;

c) List of goods susceptible to risks of price;

d) List of goods susceptible to risks of origin;

dd) List of goods susceptible to risks of environment;

e) List of goods susceptible to risks of counterfeits, protection of intellectual property rights;

g) List of goods susceptible to risks of drugs and precursors;

h) List of goods susceptible to risks of weapons and radioactive materials;

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3. List of goods susceptible to risks shall cover following contents:

a) Both import and export or either import or export;

b) Name and code of goods susceptible to risks specified according to 8 digits and 10 digits HS code and standardized to meet data processing requirements on the system;

c) Types and features for distinction of goods;

d) Signs of risks and other relevant information.

4. Criteria for development of lists of goods susceptible to risks prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article shall comply with regulations in Article 17 of this Circular.

5. The lists of goods susceptible to risks shall be monitored, assessed and revised according to criteria specified in Clause 4 of this Article in conformity with management of import, export activities and updating, management on the information system for risk management.

Chapter IV

APPLICATION OF RISK MANAGEMENT TO CUSTOMS OPERATIONS

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1. Based on results of assessment of compliance with regulations and law of customs declarants specified in Article 10 and results of classification of risk levels in customs operations specified in Articles 14 and 16 of this Circular, customs authorities shall adopt the following operational measures as follows:

a) Decide goods inspection during loading, unloading and storage process at warehouses, storage, ports and border areas;

b) Decide inspection during customs procedures;

c) Opt to conduct post clearance examination;

d) Decide examination in management of toll manufacturing and manufacturing of export goods, and export processing enterprises;

dd) Decide examination in management of sale of duty-free goods;

e) Classify and decide examination of refund claims and claims for duty cancellation with respect to import and export goods;

g) Decide methods of supervising and examining goods during customs supervision;

h) Decide supervision of specimen collection serving specialized examination within customs controlled areas;

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k) Decide collection of specimens for goods analysis and assessment;

l) Select specialized inspection and apply risk management to other operations.

m) Decide methods for supervision of destruction of scrap and waste products.”.

2. Customs authorities shall conduct examination and supervision as per the law and according to instructions on the systems. In case of suspicion or discovery of signs of violations against customs laws, tax administration laws and tax laws, heads of customs authorities within their competence shall decide change of examination methods and intensity, and shall be responsible for their decisions.

Article 21. Decision on inspection of goods during loading, unloading and storage process at warehouses, storage, ports and border areas

Based on risk levels during loading, unloading and storage at warehouses, storage, ports and border areas and operational information at the time of making decisions, customs authorities shall decide inspection of goods and give notification on the customs electronic data processing system as follows:

1. High and moderate risks: Physical inspection of goods by one or a combination of the following methods:

a) Non-intrusive inspection;

b) Inspection by other technical equipment;

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2. Low risks: No inspection or non-intrusive inspection on the basis of random selection for assessment of compliance with customs laws, tax administration laws and tax laws.

Article 22. Decision on inspection during customs procedures

1. Decision on inspection with respect to import and export goods

Based on risk levels during customs procedures, operational information at the time of making decisions and information stated on the declarations, customs authorities shall conduct customs inspection and give notification on the customs electronic data processing system as follows:

a) Lane 1 (Green): Accept information stated on the declarations with respect to low risk cases or on the basis of randomly selected categories for inspection;

b) Lane 2 (Yellow): Inspect customs documents during customs procedures with respect to moderate risk cases or on the basis of randomly selected categories for inspection;

c) Lane 3 (Red): Physically inspect goods on the basis of inspection of relevant papers included in the customs documents during customs procedures with respect to high risk cases or on the basis of randomly selected categories for inspection with the following intensity and methods:

c.1) Direct inspection conducted by customs officials;

c.2) Inspection by screening device or other technical equipment and operational measures;

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2. Decision on inspection with respect to goods transported by private carriers

Based on risk levels during customs procedures, operational information at the time of making decisions and information stated on the declarations, customs authorities shall conduct customs inspection and give notification on the customs electronic data processing system as follows:

a) Lane 1 (Green): Accept information stated on the declarations with respect to low risk cases;

b) Lane 2 (Yellow): Inspect papers related to customs documents during customs procedures with respect to moderate and high risk cases.

Article 23. Option to conduct post clearance examination

1. Opt to conduct post clearance examination based on risk management

Based on risk levels in post clearance examination, customs authorities shall opt to conduct post clearance examination and give notification on the customs electronic data processing system as follows:

a) High and moderate risks: Conduct post clearance examination;

b) Low risks: Postpone post clearance examination, continue to assess compliance with regulations and law and classify risk levels for the next assessment period.

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No more than 0.5% of total import and export enterprises shall be selected for compliance assessment specified in Clause 3 Article 78 of Law on Customs within a period from January 1 to December 31 of the year preceding the year of assessment.

Article 24. Decision on examination in management of toll manufacturing and manufacturing of export goods, and export processing enterprises

Based on risk levels in toll manufacturing, manufacturing for export, export processing enterprises and operational information at the time of making decisions, customs authorities shall decide examination and give notification on the customs electronic data processing system as follows:

1. High risks: Conduct examination regarding one or a combination of the following contents:

a) Examine facilities and capacity of toll manufacturing and manufacturing of export goods, storage of materials, equipment, machinery, equipment and export products as specified in Clause 1 Article 39 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP and amendments thereto in Clause 17 Article 1 of Decree No. 59/2018/ND-CP ;

b) Examine usage and stock of materials, equipment, machinery, equipment and export products as specified in Clause 1 Article 40 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP and amendments thereto in Clause 18 Article 1 of Decree No. 59/2018/ND-CP;

c) Examine final accounts regarding usage of import materials and components, and export goods as specified in Clause 2 Article 41 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP.

2. Moderate risks: Randomly select enterprises and examine one or a combination of contents specified in Articles 39, 40 and 41 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP and amendments thereto in Clauses 17 and 18 Article 1 of Decree No. 59/2018/ND-CP .

3. Low risks: Postpone examination, continue to assess compliance with regulations and law and classify risk levels for next assessment period.

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Based on risk levels in sale of duty-free goods and operational information at the time of making decisions, customs authorities shall decide examination and give notification on the customs electronic data processing system as follows:

1. High risks: Conduct examination regarding one or a combination of the following contents:

a) Examine goods transported between duty-free warehouses and duty-free stores as specified in Point b Clause 2 Article 10 of Decree No. 167/2016/ND-CP dated December 27, 2016 of Government on sale of duty-free goods (hereinafter referred to as “Decree No. 167/2016/ND-CP”);

b) Examine sale of duty-free goods of enterprises selling duty-free goods as specified in Point b Clause 5 Article 12, Point b Clause 3 Article 13, Point b Clause 3 Article 14, Point c Clause 3 Article 15 and Point b Clause 2 Article 16 of Decree No. 167/2016/ND-CP ;

c) Physically examine cash of enterprises selling duty-free goods brought into and out of sterile areas and restricted areas as specified in Point c Clause 2 and Point b Clause 3 Article 20 of Decree No. 167/2016/ND-CP ;

d) Examine final accounts of goods brought into duty-free stores for sale as specified in Point c Clause 5 Article 21 of Decree No. 167/2016/ND-CP .

2. Moderate risks: Randomly select enterprises and examine one or a combination of contents specified in Articles 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20 and 21 of Decree No. 167/2016/ND-CP .

3. Low risks: Postpone examination, continue to assess compliance with regulations and law and classify risk levels for next assessment period.

Article 26. Classification and decision on examination of refund claims and claims for duty cancellation with respect to imports and exports

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1. High risks: Examination precedes tax refund.

2. Moderate risks: Tax refund precedes examination and examination shall be conducted within the period prescribed in Clause 1 Article 77 of the Law on Tax Administration dated June 13, 2019.

3. Low risks: Tax refund precedes examination and examination shall be randomly conducted within the period prescribed in Clause 1 Article 77 of the Law on Tax Administration dated June 13, 2019.”.

Article 27. Decision on methods of supervising and examining goods during customs supervision

Based on risk levels during customs supervision and operational information at the time of making decisions, customs authorities shall decide methods of supervising and examining goods, and give notification on the customs electronic data processing system as follows:

1. High risks: Apply customs seal in combination with supervision by technical equipment and devices or seals as per the law in combination with direct supervision offered by customs officials.

2. Moderate risks: Apply customs seal or seal as per the law in combination with supervision by technical equipment and devices.

3. Low risks: Apply seals as per the law or exercise supervision by technical equipment and devices.

4. Customs authorities shall physically examine goods during customs supervision in case of signs of violations against regulations and law.

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Based on risk levels during supervision of specimen collection serving specialized inspection within customs controlled area and notice on specimen collection serving specialized inspection, customs authorities shall decide supervision and give notification on the customs electronic data processing system as follows:

1. Moderate and high risks: Conduct direct supervision.

2. Low risks: Postpone supervision, continue to assess compliance with regulations and law and classify risk levels for next assessment period.

Article 29. Decision on examination and supervision with respect to transports making entry, exit, transit; persons making entry, exit, transit and luggage thereof

Based on risk levels of entry, exit and transit activities of transports, persons making entry, exit, transit and luggage thereof and operational information at the time of making the decision, customs authorities shall decide examination and supervision and give notification on the customs electronic data processing system as follows:

1. Moderate and high risks: Conduct examination and supervision.

2. Low risks: Postpone examination and supervision, continue to assess compliance with regulations and law of customs declarants and classify risk levels for next assessment period.

Article 30. Decision on collection of specimens for goods analysis and assessment

Based on risk levels of import and export activities and operational information, customs authorities shall decide to collect specimens for analysis and assessment, and give notification on the customs electronic data processing system as follows:

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2. Low risks: Postpone specimen collection for analysis, assessment or evaluation, continue to assess compliance with regulations and law and classify risk levels for next assessment period.

Article 31. Selection of specialized inspection and application of risk management to other operations

1. Select specialized inspection

Based on risk levels in specialized inspection, customs authorities shall select specialized inspection and give notification on the customs electronic data processing system as follows:

a) High and moderate risks: Conduct specialized inspection;

b) Low risks: Postpone specialized inspection, continue to assess compliance with regulations and law and classify risk levels for next assessment period.

2. Application of risk management to other operations

Based on risk levels in other operations and operational information, customs authorities shall decide to adopt operational measures within their functions and tasks.

Article 31a. Decision on methods for supervision of destruction of scrap and waste products in management of processed, manufactured and exported goods and goods of export processing enterprises

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1. High risks: Direct supervision.

2. Moderate and low risks: Supervision using technical means and equipment.”.

Article 32. Examination and assessment of application of risk management to customs operations

1. Examination and assessment of application and implementation of risk management to customs operations include:

a) Examine and assess adequacy of implementation of operational measures and techniques regarding risk management;

b) Examine and assess effectiveness and efficiency in application of risk management to customs operations;

c) Examine and assess implementation organization and results of examination, supervision, customs control, post clearance inspection and inspection or other operational measures regarding application of risk management.

2. Details and methods of conducting examination and assessment of adoption and implementation of risk management in customs operations include:

a) Consolidate information and report figures of entities regarding implementation and application of risk management;

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c) Analyze and consolidate violations discovered during examination, supervision and post clearance inspection;

d) Establish groups to examine implementation and application of risk management of entities related to customs at all levels.

3. Director General of General Department of Customs shall assign risk management entities to examine and assess implementation and application of risk management to customs operations according to Clause 2 of this Article. The assessment shall be performed on a periodic (monthly, 6-monthly and annual) basis and as requested.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 33. Implementation responsibilities

1. Director General of General Department of Customs shall be responsible for issuing:

a) The criteria specified in Articles 11, 15 and 17 of this Circular;

b) Lists of goods susceptible to risks on a periodic basis;

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d) List of key enterprises in terms of customs value from time to time;

dd) Director General of General Department of Customs shall be responsible for organizing and developing programs for promoting voluntary compliance; exchanging and providing information for and assisting customs declarants in improving compliance with customs laws, tax administration laws and tax laws).”.

2. Director General of Risk Management Agency affiliated to General Department of Customs shall act as focal and presiding entity and be responsible for:

a) managing and operating risk management information system and information, data systems serving risk management within competence;

b) organizing implementation and providing instructions on operation and inspection of collection and processing of risk management information; operational measures and techniques for risk management and application of risk management to customs operations;

c) managing criteria sets issued by the Director General specified in Point a Clause 1 of this Article on the risk management information system and relevant information systems; monitoring, assessing, adjusting and adding criteria so as to meet management requirements from time to time.

3. Customs authorities and customs officials at all levels shall be responsible for implementing risk management plans of customs; adopting operational measures on the basis of risk management information provided.

4. Regulatory authorities via performance of joint state management regarding customs; customs declarants; organizations and individuals related to import, export and transit of goods, entry, exit and transit of transports shall be responsible for implementation of this Circular.

Article 34. Effect

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2. Regulations set forth in Articles 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 15 Section I Chapter II of Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC dated March 25, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance on customs procedures, customs examination and supervision, import and export duties, and tax administration with respect to import and export goods; Decision No. 464/QD-BTC dated June 29, 2015 of the Minister of Finance on risk management in customs operations and Decision No. 465/QD-BTC dated June 29, 2015 of the Minister of Finance on criteria sets of risk management in customs operations are effective until January 1, 2021.

3. During the implementation of this Circular, if relevant legislative documents mentioned in this Circular are revised or replaced, the new and revised, replaced documents shall prevail.

4. Difficulties that arise should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance (General Department of Customs) for consideration and solutions./.

CERTIFIED BY

PP. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Nguyen Duc Chi