Organizational structure of Department for Smuggling Investigation and Combat in Vietnam

Organizational structure of Department for Smuggling Investigation and Combat in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. The Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department is a unit under which authority in Vietnam?

The Department for Smuggling Investigation and Combat is a unit directly under the General Department of Customs, has the function of advising and assisting the General Director of Customs in managing, guiding, directing, and inspecting units in the customs sector, and organizes the work of preventing and combating smuggling and illegal cross-border transportation of goods; Drug Prevention; enforces the protection of intellectual property rights; combats counterfeiting in the field of customs; and collects and processes information on customs control operations within the scope of their assigned tasks and powers and in accordance with the law.

Thus, the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department is a unit directly under the General Department of Customs.

(Clause 1, Article 1 of Decision 1399/QD-BTC in 2016)

2. Organizational structure of Department for Smuggling Investigation and Combat in Vietnam

Specifically, according to  Article 3 of Decision 1399/QD-BTC in 2016, the organizational structure of the Department for Smuggling Investigation and Combat includes:

- General Advisory Division;

- Division of collecting and processing information on customs control operations;

- Online Customs Supervision Division;

- Drug Control Division;

- Violations Handling Division;

- Staff organization Division;

- Division of Finance - Administration;

- Criminal Investigation Team;

- Team of management, training, and use of working dogs;

- Northern Region Anti-Smuggling Control Team (Team 1);

- Central Anti-Smuggling Control Team (Team 2);

- Southern Anti-Smuggling Control Team (Team 3);

- Control Team to fight counterfeiting and protect intellectual property rights (Team 4);

- Northern Region Anti-Smuggling Control Team (Team 5);

- Southern Region Anti-Smuggling Control Team (Team 6);

- Northern Sea Control Squadron (Flotilla 1);

- Sea Control Squadron in the Central Region (Flotilla 2);

- Sea control squadron in the South region (Flotilla 3).

Teams and Squadrons have their own seals to perform their assigned tasks in accordance with the law.

The Director of the General Department of Customs stipulates the tasks and powers of the Divisions, teams, and squadrons under the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department.

The payroll of the Department for Smuggling Investigation and Combat is decided by the Director of the General Department of Customs out of the total number of staff assigned.

3. Tasks and powers of Department for Smuggling Investigation and Combat in Vietnam

The Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department has the following Tasks and powers:

- Submit to the General Director of Customs for submission to the Minister of Finance:

+ Legislative documents on professional measures of customs control; the work of preventing and combating smuggling and illegal cross-border transportation of goods; Drug Prevention; protection of intellectual property rights, anti-counterfeiting in the field of customs; ...

+ Long-term schemes, programs, and plans on the prevention and combat of smuggling and illegal cross-border transportation of goods; Drug Prevention; protection of intellectual property rights; anti-counterfeiting goods in the field of customs; collection and processing of information on customs control operations;

+ Proposing and recommending to competent authorities that they consider the amendment of legislative documents related to their assigned management domains.

- Submitting to the General Director of Customs for promulgation procedures, regulations, and plans on the implementation of professional customs control measures; the work of preventing and combating smuggling and illegal cross-border transportation of goods; Drug Prevention;…

- Organizing implementation:

+ Guide, direct, and inspect the Customs Departments of provinces, inter-provinces, and cities in performing the task of preventing and combating smuggling and illegal transportation of goods across the border;

+ Collect and process information from public and secret sources, at home and abroad, related to customs control activities; build and manage a database of information on customs control operations; ...

+ Organize the implementation of professional customs control measures in accordance with the law to prevent, detect, block and investigate acts of smuggling; handle acts of smuggling, illegally transporting goods, counterfeit goods, and goods infringing intellectual property across the border;

+ Organize the connection, reception, and exploitation of information and data from the online professional information system to serve the prevention and combat of smuggling and trade fraud and the direction and administration of the General Director of Customs;

+ Perform the task of acting as the focal point to advise and assist the Minister of Finance and the General Director of Customs in performing the tasks of being a member of the National Steering Committee against smuggling, commercial fraud and counterfeiting and the tasks that the National Steering Committee against Smuggling, Trade Fraud, and Counterfeit Goods directs the Finance sector to perform in the field of customs control;

+ Organize propaganda and dissemination of policies and laws on preventing and combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and illegal cross-border transportation of goods;

+ Implement decisions on the enforcement of tax administrative decisions according to the provisions of law and as assigned by the Director of the General Department of Customs;

+ Organize the control of anti-counterfeiting and the protection of intellectual property rights in the field of customs;

+ Carry out the work of preventing and combating money laundering and terrorism in the field of customs;

+ Synthesize, analyze, forecast, warn, and provide information for the development of laws, regimes, policies, management, and professional direction; provide information to relevant organizations in accordance with the law;

+ Guide and explain professional activities within the scope of assigned functions and tasks in accordance with law;

+ Coordinate to propose the arrangement of civil servants and equipment of professional technical means, weapons, support tools, and sniffer dogs for the customs control force.

…

(More details regarding the tasks and powers of Department for Smuggling Investigation and Combat in Article 2 of Decision 1399/QD-BTC 2016)

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