Vietnam: Does the customs authority have the right to inspect the storage warehouse?

Goods are permitted to be taken to warehouses

Pursuant to Clause 1 Article 32 of the Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC, taking goods to warehouses are stipulated as following:

Goods of prioritized enterprises shall be put in storage as prescribed in Clause 3 Article 9 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP and the Circular of the Ministry of Finance on prioritized enterprises.

According to this Decree, goods of prioritized enterprises are subjects to specialized examinations shall be entitled to keep them stored in such enterprises' warehouses while waiting for the result of specialized inspection in order to avoid backlog and damage to perishable goods.

At the time the goods are brought to the storage warehouse, the responsibility of the Customs Sub-department  where the customs declaration is registered will arise for the inspection and supervision of the preservation activities of the customs declarant.

Cases of warehouses inspection

Pursuant to Clause 21 Article 1 of the Circular No. 39/2018/TT-BTC amendment to Clause 5 Article 32 of the Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC, there are 03 cases that the Sub-department of Customs has rights to inspect warehouses as following:

1. No inspection result is received after 30 days from the first date of storage or no confirmation of extended inspection period is sent from the inspecting authority.

2. There is information that the imports are not preserved properly or not moved into storage by the registered deadline.

3. The registered storage location has not been inspected and certified by the customs authority (Point b Clause 3 Article 33 of Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP).

Therefore, the Sub-department of Customs is fully competent to inspect the warehouse where imported goods are stored of the customs declarant if they fall into the above cases.

Responsibilities of the declarant in warehouses inspection

Before conducting the inspection, the Sub-department of Customs is not obliged to notify the customs declarant in advance but may conduct an unscheduled inspection. The declarant has the duty to coordinate with the Sub-Department of Customs in the inspection, namely: Present the goods in storage to the customs authority to inspect on request (according to Point a.2 Clause 5 Article 32 of the Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC).

Duc Dung

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