Customs procedures for luggage of passengers on exit and entry are regulated from Article 57 to Article 60 of Decree 08/2015 of the Government (amended and supplemented in Decree 59/2018), according to the General Department of Customs.

Customs officer insructs passengers to check baggage at Van Don international airport.

Current legal documents stipulate customs management for luggage of passengers on exit and entry. However, they still have some shortcomings.

Decree 08/2015/ND-CP only regulates the handling of goods that people on exit or entry have stored in warehouses beyond the time limit.

The Decree stipulates the time limit for carrying out customs procedures for luggage of residents on exit or entry sent before and after the trip, but does not stipulate the time limit for implementing customs procedures for goods on the same trip but exceeding the duty-free quota.

Therefore, Government Decree 08/2015 is be revised to solve the shortcomings.

Provisions on luggage stored in the warehouses of port operators are supplemented in Clause 5, Article 59 of the draft decree saying that “passengers on exit and entry are allowed to temporarily store their luggage at the warehouses of port, yard operators at border gates and receive them upon entry and exit.

Passengers on exit are only allowed to store their luggage in the warehouses before entering the isolation area.

At the end of the day, warehouse, yard and port operator must send information about luggage to border gate customs branches via the customs electronic data processing system under the form issued with this Decree.

The regulations on responsibilities of the luggage transporter or its legal representative if the luggage owner cannot be identified or the luggage is not received, are added in Clause 7, Article 59 of the draft decree.

“If the luggage is transported by air and lacks baggage tags, and the owner cannot be identified, the airline or legal representative must be responsible for verifying the luggage owner. If the luggage owner cannot be identified, the airline or the legal representative is responsible for coordinating with the customs authority in the liquidation of the luggage.”

The lime limit for carrying out customs procedures for luggage sent on the same trip and exceeding the tax-free quota is also supplemented in Clause 6, Article 59 of the draft decree.

“During the time limit for temporary storage of luggage, if the passenger on exit or entry has a written request to give up the luggage, or does not receive those or warehouse, yard and port operators determines that the luggage owner abandoned it, he/she will be handled according to the provisions of law. Revenue from the liquidation of goods will be paid into the state budget after deducting arising expenses.”