Decree 128: Increasing fines for offenses against regulations on customs declaration in Vietnam

According to Article 8 of the Decree No. 128/2020/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, fines for offenses against regulations on customs declaration are specified as follows:

1. A fine ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 2,000,000 shall be imposed for any of the following offenses:

- Providing incorrect information about the quantity (the exhibit is worth more than VND 10,000,000), names, categories and origins of goods being humanitarian aid or grant aid approved by competent authorities;

- Providing incorrect information about the quantity (the exhibit is worth more than VND 10,000,000), names, categories, quality, customs values, origins and codes of taxable imports without affecting the tax payable; except for the cases specified in Point a Clause 1, and Clause 2 of Article 8 of Decree No. 128/2020/NĐ-CP;

- Failure to specify the special relationship between the buyer and the seller in the customs declaration in accordance with regulations of law on customs without affecting the customs values.

Current regulation:

According to Article 7 of the Decree No. 127/2013/NĐ-CP amended by Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 45/2016/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, a fine of from VND 500,000 to VND 1,000,000 shall be imposed for failure to make a declaration or to provide correct information about the names, categories, quantity, weight, and origins of goods that are humanitarian aid or grant aid approved by competent authorities.

2. A fine ranging from VND 2,000,000 to VND 4,000,000 shall be imposed for failure to declare or to provide correct information about the names, categories, quality, customs values and origins of goods that are:

- Goods in transit, transshipped or involved in the merchanting trade transactions;

- Goods used or destroyed within a free trade zone.

Current regulation:

According to Article 7 of the Decree No. 127/2013/NĐ-CP amended by Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 45/2016/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, a fine of from VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed for failure to declare or to provide correct information about the names, categories, quantity, weight, and origins of goods that are:

- Goods sent from abroad to a free trade zone or vice versa; or

- Goods in transit; goods sent from abroad to a transshipment port or vice versa;

- Goods used or destroyed within a free trade zone.

3. A fine ranging from VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for providing incorrect information about the quantity (the exhibit is worth more than VND 10,000,000), names, categories, quality, customs values and origins of exports or imports that are exempt from tax or tax-free as prescribed by law; except for the following cases:

- Providing incorrect information about the quantity (the exhibit is worth more than VND 10,000,000), names, categories and origins of goods being humanitarian aid or grant aid approved by competent authorities;

- Providing incorrect information about the quantity (the exhibit is worth more than VND 10,000,000), names, categories and origins of goods sent to a bonded warehouse or tax-suspension warehouse; goods sent abroad from a bonded warehouse or tax-suspension warehouse.

Current regulation:

According to Article 7 of the Decree No. 127/2013/NĐ-CP amended by Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 45/2016/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, a fine of from VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for failure to make a declaration or to provide correct information about the names, categories, quantity, quality, or value of exported or imported goods that are tax-free or eligible for tax exemption as prescribed by law.

4. A fine ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed for any of the following offenses:

- Incorrectly specifying the number of master and house bills of lading in the goods manifest included in the dossier on the vehicle entering and leaving Vietnam or the vehicle in transit;

- Incorrectly specifying the number of passengers in the passenger list included in the dossier on the vehicle entering and leaving Vietnam or the vehicle in transit;

- Incorrectly specifying the number of pieces of baggage in the baggage declaration included in the dossier on the vehicle entering and leaving Vietnam or the vehicle in transit;

- Providing incorrect information about the quantity (the exhibit is worth more than VND 10,000,000), names, categories and origins of goods sent to a bonded warehouse or tax-suspension warehouse; goods sent abroad from a bonded warehouse or tax-suspension warehouse.

Current regulation: There is no penalty for this act.

5. A fine ranging from VND 20,000,000 to VND 40,000,000 shall be imposed for following customs procedures for exporting goods without actually exporting them or failure to sufficiently export goods as declared in terms of the quantity (the exhibit is worth more than VND 10,000,000), names and customs values of exports; except for those that are processed products, domestic exports, exports of export processing enterprises and temporarily imported goods.

This regulation shall not apply in the cases where the customs declaration is not valid for completing customs procedures as prescribed in Clause 2 Article 25 of the Law on Customs 2014 of Vietnam.

Current regulation:

According to Article 7 of the Decree No. 127/2013/NĐ-CP amended by Clause 4 Article 1 of Decree No. 45/2016/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government:

- A fine of from 10,000,000 VND to 20,000,000 VND shall be imposed for declaring imported goods as processed products or domestic exports without a processor or manufacturer.

- A fine of from VND 20,000,000 to VND 40,000,000 shall be imposed for declaring false name, quantity, weight, or value of goods for exported, except for those that are processed products, domestic exports, exports of export processing enterprises and temporarily imported goods.

Moreover, if the customs declarant discovers an offense against regulations on customs declaration himself/herself and makes an additional declaration behind schedule, penalties shall be imposed as follows:

- A fine ranging from VND 500,000 to VND 1,000,000 shall be imposed for the offense in section 1;

- A fine ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 2,000,000 shall be imposed for the offense in section 2;

- A fine ranging from VND 1,500,000 to VND 2,500,000 shall be imposed for the offense in section 3;

-A fine ranging from VND 2,500,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for the offense in section 4;

- A fine ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for the offense in section 5;

=> If the customs declarant discovers an offense against regulations on customs declaration himself/herself and makes an additional declaration behind schedule, penalties shall be reduced by half of the prescribed fine. This is a completely new regulation compared to the previous one.

Thus, Decree No. 128/2020/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government will take effect from December 10, 2020 and completely replace Decree No. 127/2013/NĐ-CP and Decree No. 45/2016/NĐ-CP. Customers and Members who are working or interested in this field should note this change, especially the regulation on fines for violations of regulations on customs declaration.

Thuy Tram

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