The Workplace of Customs Authorities at Warehouses Must be at Least 20m2

The Ministry of Finance has just issued Circular 84/2017/TT-BTC providing detailed guidance on certain provisions of Decree 68/2016/ND-CP.

This circular regulates the working conditions for customs authorities, locations for inspecting goods, locations for installing customs inspection and supervision equipment, bonded warehouses for storing seized goods, consolidated goods gathering locations, extended air cargo warehouses, centralized locations for inspecting and supervising imported and exported goods, expedited delivery locations, and postal items as stipulated in Decree 68/2016/ND-CP.

Specifically, the working areas for customs authorities at warehouses and locations established by warehouse operators must meet the following conditions: located within the area of newly recognized or previously recognized warehouses or premises, or within the same land area under the enterprise's usage rights, facilitating customs inspection and supervision activities; minimum area of 20m2, separated from surrounding areas to ensure customs inspection and supervision operations.

For centralized locations for gathering, inspecting, and supervising goods at seaports, international airports, and international border gates, customs office working areas must have a minimum area of 50m2.

Regarding equipment, computers must be installed with management software connected to the warehouse operator’s management system and integrated with the Customs Department's electronic data processing system as required by the General Department of Customs. Devices must be connected to the surveillance camera system of the warehouse operator to monitor, store, retrieve, and display images at all areas containing export and import goods, warehouse entry and exit points, and locations.

Goods inspection locations must be arranged within sheltered areas located at warehouses or premises, convenient for customs authorities to conduct actual goods inspection and customs sealing. For warehouses or premises with a total area of 3 hectares or more, space for container scanning operations must be arranged with a minimum area of 2,000m2 to ensure radiation safety and scanning operations.

Particularly, storage areas for seized items must have a minimum area of 30m2 and be separate from other goods storage areas. Specifically, centralized inspection and supervision places for postal items and expedited deliveries, and storage areas for violating goods must have a minimum area of 10m2.

In cases where storage areas for seized items are built within recognized or projected warehouse areas, they must ensure customs sealing policies, the integrity, and quality of the goods during retention. When not storing seized items, individuals or organizations may use these storage areas for other goods as regulated.

For warehouses or premises larger than 3 hectares without storage areas for violating goods, a separate yard with a minimum area of 200m2 must be allocated to store vehicles and containers containing violating goods.

This circular is effective from September 30, 2017.

Source: Vietnam Financial Times Online

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