Vietnam: Applications for inspection of exports and imports that are subject matters of intellectual property rights

According to Clause 4 Article 1 of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam amending Article 6 of Circular No. 13/2015/TT-BTC, from April 20, 2020, the applicant shall submit an application for inspection and supervision of exports and imports that are subject matters of intellectual property rights (IPRs) to the General Department of Customs through the e-customs system. The application includes:

- An application form, which is made using the Form No. 01 - DDN/SHTT/2020 in the Appendix of Circular No. 13/2015/TT-BTC;

- An industrial property right protection certificate or another document proving that the industrial property rights are under protection in Vietnam or certificate of registration of the contract for licensing of an industrial property object; certificate of registration of copyright and related rights and plant variety rights or other documents proving copyright and related rights and plant variety rights;

- A detailed description of IPR-infringing goods, photos and characteristics intended for distinguishing genuine goods from IPR-infringing goods;

- A list of legal exporters and importers of goods that are required to undergo supervision; a list of persons who may export and import of IPR-infringing goods;

- A power of attorney (if the applicant authorizes another to submit the application).

The power of attorney shall be prepared in accordance with regulations of law; if the authorizing organization/individual is not located/resided in Vietnam, the power of attorney shall undergo consular legalization unless otherwise agreed upon under international treaties to which Vietnam is a signatory;

- A receipt of payment of customs fees, which is specified in Circular No. 274/2016/TT-BTC dated November 14, 2016 of the Minister of Finance on the rate, collection, submission, management and use of the customs fees and the charges on goods and vehicles in transit.

However, if any revision is made to the documents provided to the General Department of Customs as prescribed in this Article, the applicant shall notify the General Department of Customs of information about number and date of the notice of inspection and supervision acceptance issued by the customs authority and revisions enclosed with documents related to the revisions by using the method specified in this Article. The customs authority shall check and compare information in the applicant's notification with that in the accepted application for inspection and supervision and send a written notification of revised information to the provincial Customs Department and Smuggling Investigation and Prevention Department.

If the e-customs system is unresponsive or fails, the applicant shall submit 01 physical application including the documents specified in this Article through the single-window system of the General Department of Customs or by post to the General Department of Customs (the Customs Control and Supervision Department). The documents specified in Points a, c and d Clause 1 of this Article must be originals; the documents specified in Points b, dd and e Clause 1 of this Article must be photocopies bearing the signature and seal of the IPR holder or legal authorized person.

View more details at: Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam takes effect from April 20, 2020.

Thu Ba

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