Containers of infringing cigarettes in transit are seized and prosecuted by Ho Chi Minh City Customs in 2023. Photo: L.T.

Violations of goods in transit reduce

According to Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, (the unit is managing 13 seaports, 7 ICDs; inspecting and supervising at 43 ports and buoys; conducts immigration clearance for nearly 10,000 ships and more than 80,000 flights; processes procedures for tens of thousands of declarations of goods in transit and re-exported goods each year) in 2 years alone (2022 and 2023), Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department completed procedures for over 84,000 declarations of goods in transit to Cambodia and over 7,000 declarations of temporarily imported goods for re-export.

Such a large volume of goods, and motivated by the attention and direction of the leaders of the General Department of Customs, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has offered many solutions to ensure strict management of all activities related to means of transport and goods in the management area.

Through supervision and management, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department said that, in addition to many businesses which comply well with the law and international practices on temporary import for re-export, transit, and transshipment of goods, there are also businesses taking advantage of these activities to commit violations, mainly by making false declarations about quantity, product name, type, quality, customs value, and origin of goods, transit of goods with counterfeit trademarks... Typically, there are also cases where businesses and individuals take advantage of transit to bring banned and smuggled goods into Vietnam, which have been detected and prosecuted by the Customs authorities.

Therefore, in addition to trade facilitation, to prevent the above violations, the Customs agency has had strict management solutions to deter and prevent smuggling activities, illegal cross-border transportation of goods, focusing on anti-smuggling of re-exported and transited goods.

Regarding inspection and supervision during the process of loading and unloading goods by using screening methods, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has strengthened direction to increase the screening rate. Through the screening process, many violations have been discovered. This is an activity that is both a deterrent and demonstrates the application of Customs technology to the management and supervision of goods.

Thanks to the application of many management measures, strict supervision as well as strict handling of violations of goods in transit, temporary imports for re-exports, the situation of violations from this type has been significantly reduced. If in 2022, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department handled over 600 violations and fined administrative violations of over VND2.5 billion, then in 2023, the number of violations from this type decreased to over 160 cases, with an administrative fine of nearly VND700 million.

Strict management by e-seals

To strengthen supervision for re-export and transit, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has directed units to strictly comply with the regulations. Accordingly, in addition mandatory procedures, goods in transit and re-exported goods must meet requirements on e-seal, be closely monitored and confirmed about incoming and outgoing time as registered time of transport route.

Specifically, for independent transportation activities and transportation between customs supervision areas, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department directs branches to thoroughly implement the application of e-seals and monitoring of transport route. In particular, the unit regularly reviews and checks cases of overdue transportation time registered on the system. Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has used the HCM City Customs Administration System (HCAS) to conduct daily analysis (at the branch level) and monthly analysis (at the department level) for all cases on the system to promptly detect shipments that exceed the prescribed time and take timely handling measures.

To further enhance management efficiency for goods in transit, independently transported goods, temporarily imported for re-export, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department reports to the General Department of Customs to increase screening and physical inspection of goods in transit at the final export border gate for high-risk businesses. At the same time, increasing sanctions for incorrect declaration of goods names and quantities of goods in transit when amending and supplementing Decree 128/2020/ND-CP dated October 19, 2020 of the Government. Along with that, coordinating with other authorities to provide information about high-risk businesses on types to the National Steering Committee 389 and Committees 389 of provinces and cities where goods in transit pass through for supervision.

Based on the actual situation at each time, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department will analyze and evaluate the situation and direct relevant units to develop a thematic control plan for goods in transit for effective control.