Good practices will be the basis and premise for reforms of procedures in the fields of specialized management and inspection for imported and exported goods.

Inspecting imported goods at Giang Thanh-KienGiang border gate Photo: DN 

Review and apply good practices

Previously, according to Resolution No. 19/2018 / NQ-CP dated May 15, 2018, on continuing to perform key tasks and solutions to improve the business climate and national competitiveness in 2018 and the years to come, the Government stated (in Point 14, Section III): to assign the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to: “Study the application of regulations on exemption from conformity announcement in Clause 2, Article 4 on exemption from quality inspection in Clauses from 1 to 7 of Article 13 of the Government's Decree No. 15/2018 / ND-CP dated February 2, 2018 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety in quality management for animal feed”.

Point 15, Section III: to assign the Ministry of Health to “coordinate with the Ministry of Finance (the General Department of Customs) to guide and organize the effective implementation of Decree No. 15/2018 / ND-CP dated February 2, 2018, on food safety aims to create breakthrough changes in specialized management and inspection for imported and exported goods, as a premise for procedural reform in other fields of management and specialized inspection”.

Implementing the above direction of the Government, the Ministry of Finance has reviewed good practices specified in the decrees to add cases of exemption from quality and food safety inspections in the draft. For example, in terms of exemptions from food safety inspections, there are 13 cases of exemption from food safety inspections (nine cases in Decree No. 15/2018 / ND-CP, and four additional cases in Decree 85/2018 / ND-CP). In the new model, cases of exemption from food safety inspection are proposed to be applied for exemption from quality inspection.

Regarding exemptions from quality inspection, there are currently 18 cases of exemption from quality inspection (15 cases in Decree No. 15/2018 / ND-CP, and three additional cases in Decree 85/2018. / ND-CP). In the new model, cases of exemption from quality inspection are proposed to be applied for exemption of food safety inspection. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance has also reviewed and considered additional cases of exemption applicable to all fields of quality and food safety inspection.

The addition of subjects of exemption is in principle that the subjects of exemption or reduction in thea Decree (Decree No. 15/2018 / ND-CP, Decree No. 132/2015 / ND-CP, Decree No. 74/2018 / ND- CP, Decree No. 85/2018 / ND-CP, Decree No. 17/2020 / ND-CP) will be considered for exemption in the other decree and vice versa. At the same time, the addition and extension of application for all fields of quality inspection will increase subjects and shipments exempted from quality inspection.

18 cases of exemptions

18 cases of exemption from quality inspection and food safety inspection under the Scheme include:

1. Movable assets of organizations and individuals within the duty-free allowance; gifts and donations within the import duty-free allowance according to provision of the law on tax.

2. Imported goods within duty-free allowance accordingto the law to serve personal needs of foreign individuals or organizations entitled to diplomatic immunity.

3. Goods in transit, border-gate transfer, transshipment, temporary import for re-export or goods from abroad deposited into bonded warehouses for export.

4. Samples for advertisement, not for use, samples for testing or research with a quantity suitable for the testing or research purposes and with a confirmation by the owners.

5. Temporarily imported goods for display at fairs or exhibitions.

6. Temporarily imported goods for sale at duty-free shops.

7. Goods exchanged by border residents within the duty-free allowance.

8. Imported goods sent by post or courier services with customs value exempt from tax in accordance with the tax law.

9. On-spot imported goods.

10. Temporarily imported goods for repair or recycling.

11. Imported goods used for security and defense purposes.

12. Goods which have been granted a Certificate of registered product declaration (for goods subject to food safety inspection).

13. Imported products, raw materials and components for export production or processing.

14. Imported products, raw materials and components for direct production of the importer.

15. Imported goods asbulk goods for warranty or replacement purposes; Goods as part of a complete equipment chain.

16. Goods imported from manufacturers, which have been inspected by competent Vietnamese agencies at source, announced by ministries and agenciesaccording to each period.

17. Goods are manufactured according to advanced technology and originating from countries and territories with high quality standards that are shown through quality labels (for example, goods labeled with CE, KC, FDA), announced by ministries and agencies according to each period.

18. Imported goods to serve emergency purposes under the direction of the Government or the Prime Minister.

Regarding the above reforms, according to an import-export staff of Yusen Logistics Company, these 18 cases cover most goods for import and export activities, which facilitates people and businesses in customs clearance.

"From the perspective of the customs declarant as an enterprise, if this new regulation comes into effect, it will help to solve many problems and reduce compliance costs," said a representative of Yusen Logistics Company.

For example, the goods are imported into Vietnam but only serve the internal activities of the enterprise such as: samples, goods for repair or recycling purposes, raw materials for production or components to replace for operating machines at the enterprise. Exemption from food quality and food safety inspection is appropriate, as these goods are not sold on the domestic market or, if later they are liquidated into the domestic market, they must comply with compulsory regulations of goods which are circulating in the market. If they violate the regulations, they will be handled by other forces such as Market Surveillance, specialized inspectors, and they are not required to be controlled from the import stage.

Another bright spot is that goods eligible for international standards such as CE, KC, FDA are exempt from inspection. These are all high standards set by developed countries and widely recognized.

In these countries, state management agencies appreciate the self-compliance role of enterprises and do not inspect each shipment, if the post-inspection stage detects violations of quality management policies, then the enterprises will be severely punished. On the other hand, manufacturers that meet these standards disclose information so that state management agencies and consumers can check them easily. Therefore, it is not necessary to inspect again at the import stage from abroad into Vietnam.