What is the crime of the act of transporting aquatic products as under the Vietnamese Criminal Code?

1. What is the crime of the act of transporting aquatic products as under the Vietnamese Criminal Code?

Recently, the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court issued Resolution 04/2024/NQ-HDTP providing guidelines on the application of several provisions of the Criminal Code regarding criminal liability for acts related to the illegal exploitation, trading, and transportation of aquatic products.

The specific guidance on criminal liability for the illegal transportation of aquatic products is provided in Clause 2, Article 10 of Resolution 04/2024/NQ-HDTP as follows:

Anyone who transports aquatic products across the border or from a non-tariff zone into the mainland or into Vietnamese waters without a permit, or not in accordance with the contents of the permit, or without documents proving the origin, shall be prosecuted for the crime of illegal transportation of goods across the border as stipulated in Article 189 of the Criminal Code, if there are sufficient elements to constitute a crime.

The crime of illegal transportation of goods across the border as mentioned in Article 189 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended 2017) is stipulated as follows:

For individuals:

Framework 1: Anyone who illegally transports goods, Vietnamese currency, foreign currency, precious metals, or gemstones valued between 100,000,000 VND and under 300,000,000 VND, or under 100,000,000 VND but falls under one of the following cases, shall be fined from 20,000,000 VND to 200,000,000 VND, subject to community sentence for up to 2 years, or imprisoned from 3 months to 2 years:

- Previously subjected to administrative fines for the acts stipulated in Article 189 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended 2017) or under Articles 188, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, and 200 of the Criminal Code or has been convicted of one of these crimes, not yet cleared of criminal record, but re-offends;

- The contraband is an artifact or antiquity.

Framework 2: Offenders falling under one of the following cases shall be fined from 200,000,000 VND to 1,000,000,000 VND or imprisoned from 2 years to 5 years:

- Organized crime;

- The contraband valued from 300,000,000 VND to under 500,000,000 VND;

- The contraband is a national treasure;

- Exploiting a position of power;

- Exploiting the name of an agency or organization;

- Committing the offense 2 or more times;

- Dangerous recidivism.

Framework 3: Committing the offense where the contraband values 500,000,000 VND or more, shall be fined from 1,000,000,000 VND to 3,000,000,000 VND or imprisoned from 5 years to 10 years.

Additional penalties: Offenders may also be fined from 10,000,000 VND to 50,000,000 VND, prohibited from holding certain positions, practicing certain professions, or performing certain jobs for 1 to 5 years.

For commercial legal entities:

- Committing the acts specified in Clause 1, Article 189 of the Criminal Code with goods, Vietnamese currency, foreign currency, precious metals, or gemstones valued from 200,000,000 VND to under 300,000,000 VND; goods valued under 200,000,000 VND but are artifacts or antiquities; goods, Vietnamese currency, foreign currency, precious metals, or gemstones valued from 100,000,000 VND to under 200,000,000 VND but already subjected to administrative fines for the acts specified in Article 189 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended 2017) or under Articles 188, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, and 200 of the Criminal Code or has been convicted of one of these crimes, not yet cleared of criminal record but re-offending, shall be fined from 200,000,000 VND to 500,000,000 VND;

- Committing the offense specified in points a, b, c, e, and g of Clause 2, Article 189 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended 2017), shall be fined from 500,000,000 VND to 2,000,000,000 VND;

- Committing the offense specified in Clause 3, Article 189 of the Criminal Code 2015 (amended 2017), shall be fined from 2,000,000,000 VND to 5,000,000,000 VND or suspended from operation for a term of 6 months to 3 years;

- Committing the offense specified in Article 79 of the Criminal Code, shall be permanently terminated from operation;

- The commercial legal entity may also be fined from 50,000,000 VND to 200,000,000 VND, barred from conducting business, engaging in certain activities, or mobilizing capital for 1 to 3 years.

Thus, in Vietnam, the act of illegally transporting aquatic products across the border will be charged with the crime of illegal transportation of goods across the border, with the highest penalty being imprisonment for up to 10 years for individuals and permanent suspension for commercial legal entities.

2. What are penalties for the act of forging seals, documents of agencies, organizations; using seals or forged documents of agencies, organizations to exploit, buy, sell, illegally transport seafood in Vietnam?

According to Article 9 of Resolution 04/2024/NQ-HDTP, the act of forging seals, documents of agencies, organizations; using forged seals or documents of agencies, organizations to exploit, trade, transport aquatic products illegally shall be prosecuted for criminal liability in Vietnam as follows:

- Anyone violating regulations on exit or organizing, brokering for others to exit illegally while forging seals, documents, or other papers of agencies, organizations, or using forged seals, documents, or other papers to exploit, trade, transport aquatic products illegally shall, in addition to being prosecuted for the crime of violating exit regulations as specified in Article 347 or the crime of organizing, brokering for others to exit illegally as specified in Article 348, be prosecuted for the crime of forging seals, documents of agencies, organizations; the crime of using forged seals or documents of agencies, organizations as specified in Article 341 of the Criminal Code 2015, if there are sufficient elements to constitute a crime.

- Forged documents, forged papers mentioned above include:

+ Personal identification papers, passports, laissez-passer, documents valid for international travel;

+ Documents issued to foreigners for entry, exit, residence in Vietnam or the ABTC card;

+ Registration records for fishing vessels;

+ Export, import permits for goods; certificates of origin of goods;

+ Quarantine certificates;

+ Permits from competent authorities for aquaculture with species listed in the exported aquatic species requiring conditions or banned aquatic species;

+ Other forged records and documents to legalize export records of aquatic products;

+ Permits or approvals for the exploitation of aquatic products;

+ Other documents and papers to support the exploitation, trading, transportation of aquatic products illegally.

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