On March 11, 2020, the General Department of Customs issued Official Letter No. 1512/TCHQ-PC guiding that in case the goods label does not fully display the mandatory contents when carrying out customs procedures, no penalty from the customs authority. 

However, on December 9, 2021, the Government issued Decree No. 111/2021/ND-CP on goods labels.

Mrs. Dam asked, in this case, is Official Letter No. 1512/TCHQ-PC still valid? If not, request authorities to consider and guide businesses.

The General Department of Customs responded to this issue as follows:

Official Letter No. 1512/TCHQ-PC dated March 11, 2020 of the General Department of Customs guiding the handling of imported goods with labels but not showing all required information as prescribed in Decree No. 43/2017 /ND-CP on goods labels.

Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP does not specify mandatory information on the original label of imported goods. Therefore, Official Letter No. 1512/TCHQ-PC guiding the case that the original label of imported goods does not contain all mandatory contents as prescribed in Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP, no penalty from customs authorities.

On December 9, 2021, the Government issued Decree No. 111/2021/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP.

Accordingly, this Decree specifically stipulates the mandatory contents to be shown on the original labels of goods imported into Vietnam (Clause 5, Article 1); Organizations and individuals importing goods into Vietnam must label them according to the regulations on compulsory content shown on the labels of imported goods (Clause 4, Article 1).

Thus, the legal basis for issuing Official Letter No. 1512/TCHQ-PC has been changed.

Regarding sanctions for administrative violations related to goods labels, the Government has prescribed sanctions in Decree No. 128/2020/ND-CP stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the field of customs, specific regulations at Article 22; Decree No. 126/2021/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of the decrees on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of industrial property; standards, measurement and quality of products and goods; scientific and technological activities, technology transfer; atomic energy (Clause 48, 49, 53, 54, Article 2).

Clause 1, Article 156 of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents stipulates: Legal documents shall be applied from the time of entry into force.

Therefore, the regulations on the original labels of imported goods must be applied according to the above-mentioned legal documents from the time of entry into force.

It is recommended that enterprises study the above regulations for implementation. If you still have problems, please contact the Customs Sub-department directly where the declaration is registered for instructions on how to follow the specific case.