Section 2, Chapter 4, Decree No. 85/2019/ND-CP regulates on watercrafts ingoing, outgoing, in transit, entering or exiting seaports, inland ports. (Source: diendandoanhnghiep)

Information exchange and handling of procedures for watercrafts ingoing, outgoing, in transit, entering or exiting seaports, inland ports and offshore oil ports and operating in territorial waters of Vietnam shall be carried out via the Vietnam National Single Window.

Article 33. Dossiers and deadline for declaration and carrying out procedures for watercrafts ingoing, outgoing, in transit, entering or exiting seaports, inland ports and offshore oil ports and operating in territorial waters of Vietnam

1. Dossiers

Dossiers to be declared or presented to carry out procedures for watercrafts ingoing, outgoing, in transit, entering or exiting seaports, inland ports and offshore oil ports are prescribed by regulations in the Decrees No. 58/2017/ND-CP, No. 59/2018/ND-CP, No. 77/2017/ND-CP and No. 89/2018/ND-CP.

2. Deadline for dossier submission

The declarant shall notify the entry, exit or transit of the watercraft at the port according to regulations of Article 87 of the Decree No. 58/2017/ND-CP; and confirm the arrival of the watercraft at the port according to regulations of Article 88 of the Decree No. 58/2017/ND-CP. The deadline for declaration of other documents is as follows:

a) For inbound watercrafts

- For the general declaration, cargo declaration, master bill of lading and house bill of lading: No later than 12 hours before the estimated time of arrival for watercrafts whose courses last under 05 days; and no later than 24 hours before the estimated time of arrival for the other watercrafts;

- For the crew list, passenger list, ship's store declaration, crew baggage declaration and dangerous goods manifest: No later than 08 hours before the estimated time of arrival;

- For the maritime declaration of health: No later than 02 hours before the watercraft arrives at the boarding and landing areas;

- For the declaration of weapons and explosives and declaration of stowaway: No later than 04 hours before the estimated time of arrival;

- For other documents: No later than 02 hours from the time the watercraft is anchored to a wharf or 04 hours from the time the watercraft is anchored to another structure in the port water; or no later than 24 hours after the watercraft returns to shore if it enters an offshore oil port.

b) For outbound watercrafts:

For the crew list, passenger list, declaration of weapons and explosives and declaration of stowaway: No later than 02 hours before the estimated time of departure. For other documents: No later than 01 hour before the estimated time of departure.

For passenger ships and liners: the documents shall be submitted upon departure.

c) In-transit watercrafts shall implement the regulations of Point a herein upon entry and, if there is change to the documents presented or submitted upon entry, implement the regulations of Point b herein.

3. Administrative procedures for Vietnamese and Cambodian inland watercrafts entering or exiting Vietnamese inland ports are stipulated by the Prime Minister.

Article 34. Responsibilities of handling authorities

1. Handling authorities shall review documents submitted electronically or physical documents presented and handle procedures for watercrafts according to their assigned tasks and regulations of the Decrees No. 58/2017/ND-CP, No. 59/2018/ND-CP and No. 77/2017/ND-CP.

2. In the event that state management authorities cooperating in handling have different opinions on one document declared by the declarant, handling authorities shall act as the contact point and make the final decision. To be specific:

a) Maritime port authorities and inland port authorities shall bear the main responsibility and have the power to make the final decision for general declarations;

b) Customs authorities shall bear the main responsibility and have the power to make the final decision for the following documents: cargo declarations, dangerous goods manifests, baggage declarations and ship's store declarations;

c) Border guard authorities at border checkpoints shall bear the main responsibility and have the power to make the final decision for the following documents: passenger lists, crew lists, declarations of stowaway and declarations of weapons and explosives;

d) Animal quarantine authorities shall bear the main responsibility and have the power to make the final decision for animal quarantine declarations;

dd) Plant quarantine authorities shall bear the main responsibility and have the power to make the final decision for plant quarantine declarations;

e) Health quarantine authorities shall bear the main responsibility and have the power to make the final decision for the following documents: maritime declarations of health, ship sanitation control exemption certificates/ship sanitation control certificates, certificates of health inspection/control for cargo (on vessel) and vessel (if any), health quarantine declarations of corpses, bones and body ash (if any), health quarantine declarations of microorganism samples, biological products, tissues and human body organs (if any).

3. E-permits

No later than 01 hour from the time the declarant has submitted or presented the adequate documents as regulated, state management authorities shall handle the procedures according to regulations of specialized laws and inform the results to maritime port authorities or inland port authorities to complete the procedures for outbound, inbound and in-transit watercrafts. To be specific:

a) Customs authorities shall confirm the completion of customs procedures for outbound, inbound and in-transit watercrafts via the VNSW. For inbound watercrafts transporting goods banned from import, suspended imports or goods not meeting regulations of environmental protection laws, customs authorities shall notify the watercraft’s captain and port service providers to prevent the cargoes from being unloaded, excluding the cases where the permit from a competent authority has been obtained;

b) Border guard authorities at border checkpoints shall confirm the completion of procedures for passengers and crew and of security procedures for inbound, outbound and in-transit watercrafts via the VNSW;

c) Animal quarantine authorities shall confirm the time of completion of application for animal quarantine for the goods subject to animal quarantine via the VNSW according to regulations of the Law on Veterinary Medicine and other regulations of relevant laws;

d) Plant quarantine authorities shall confirm the time of completion of application for plant quarantine for the goods included in the list of plant quarantine articles via the VNSW. Plant quarantine authorities shall notify the declarant of the time for physical inspection of the shipment according to regulations of the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine;

dd) Health quarantine authorities shall confirm the time of completion of application for health quarantine for watercrafts departing from or traveling through an epidemic zone, or watercrafts carrying persons departing from or traveling through an epidemic zone or deceased persons, or watercrafts carrying body ash, corpses, tissues or human body organs;

e) Maritime port authorities or inland waterway authorities shall confirm the completion of procedures for inbound watercrafts or grant exit permits or transit permits via the VNSW.

4. Cooperation in receipt and exchange of information

a) In case a watercraft is not permitted to enter or exit according to regulations of adopted international conventions or Vietnamese law, handling authorities must provide the explanation via the VNSW for relevant parties for their cooperation in handling.

b) If handling authorities fail to provide handling results by the deadline prescribed in Clause 3 herein, maritime port authorities shall decide the contents mentioned in Point e Clause 3 herein.

c) In case the declared information is found to be inaccurate, inadequate or invalid, handling authorities shall instruct the declarant to make the necessary change and inform relevant bodies via the VNSW.

d) If an authority rejects an electronic dossier but still processes the corresponding physical dossier offline, such authority shall provide the explanation via its system and inform the result to relevant parties via the VNSW. Other handling authorities may decide to continue to process said dossier on their systems or switch to the corresponding physical dossier.

Section 3. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES AND LAND VEHICLES

Article 35. Information exchange for administrative procedures for railway vehicles and land vehicles

Procedures and information exchange for outbound, inbound and in-transit railway and land vehicles at land and railway border checkpoints shall be carried out via the VNSW.

Article 36. Administrative procedures

Administrative procedures for outbound, inbound and in-transit railway and land vehicles via the NSW are stipulated by the Prime Minister.