Customs Law amended to advance digital and smart customs

Deputy Minister of Finance Le Tan Can. Photo: chinhphu.vn

On September 10, the Office of the State President held a press conference to announce presidential orders promulgating laws passed by the 16^th National Assembly at its first extraordinary session, including the amended Customs Law, which is Law No.11/2026/QH16, passed by the National Assembly on August 23, and will take effect on March 1, 2027.

Deputy Minister of Finance Le Tan Can said that the Customs Law has been amended five times. However, further amendments were considered necessary to redesign customs procedures, develop digital and smart customs systems, strengthen customs management, facilitate trade, and ensure consistency with international rules and related legislation.

The amended law provides a legal basis for redesigning customs management processes, restructuring IT systems, and strengthening interconnected data sharing among ministries, sectors, and local authorities. It also promotes administrative reform and reduces procedural costs, expands decentralisation and delegation of authority to local customs authorities, and encourages voluntary compliance based on taxpayers’ and customs declarants’ levels of legal compliance and risk.

A key focus of the amended law is to simplify administrative procedures and advance digital customs. Customs procedures will be streamlined through revised regulations on customs dossiers, the National Single Window, risk and compliance management, and customs dossier inspections.

The law removes conditions applicable to customs procedure agents and their employees to align with the Law on Investment - No.143/2025/QH15.

It also extends the permitted storage periods for goods kept in bonded warehouses, duty-free goods business locations, and cargo consolidation points, while removing the requirement to apply for extensions. For bonded warehouses and cargo consolidation points, businesses will face fewer reporting requirements, while IT will play a greater role in management.

Inspection and supervision procedures for goods transported under customs supervision will also be simplified. Customs declarants will only need to notify customs authorities, instead of registering the shipment and waiting for customs approval.

The amended law also revises provisions on supplementary customs declarations and authorises the Minister of Finance (MoF) to issue detailed regulations on this matter. The MoF will also be empowered to decide on other special cases eligible for exemption from physical inspection of goods.

The MoF will issue detailed regulations on customs procedures, inspection and supervision for goods exported to or imported through postal and express delivery services.

To reflect actual customs management practices and ensure consistency with relevant legislation, the law adds Article 16a on customs inspection and supervision of goods exported to and imported through e-commerce platforms.

The provision provides a comprehensive legal basis for customs management of goods traded through e-commerce platforms while facilitating cross-border e-commerce activities.

The law also introduces the concept of “duty-free goods business locations” and revises the definitions of “bonded warehouses” and “customs declarants” to reflect commercial practices and align with the Law on E-commerce, the Law on Postal Services and other relevant legislation.

The locations where bonded warehouses, cargo consolidation points, and areas for the gathering, inspection, and supervision of imported and exported goods can be established will be expanded to include free trade zones, logistics centres, concentrated digital technology zones, and industrial clusters.

The amended law also introduces rights and obligations for duty-free goods businesses and responsibilities for competent agencies, organisations, and individuals involved in planning and construction design related to free trade zones.

Another new provision assigns warehouse, yard, and port operators' responsibility for destroying abandoned goods that cause environmental pollution.

To strengthen inspection and efforts to combat smuggling and trade fraud, the amended law gives customs authorities the power to proactively suspend transit goods where there are clear grounds to suspect that the goods infringe intellectual property rights.

Consistent with this provision, the Law on Intellectual Property has also been amended to empower customs authorities to proactively suspend transit goods suspected of being counterfeit or otherwise infringing intellectual property rights.

The amended law also revises the principles governing post-clearance audits. The time limit for such audits and extensions has been changed from “10 working days” to “no more than 20 days”, with the government tasked with providing detailed regulations on related matters.

Regulations on goods classification codes under lists of goods subject to import and export licences, conditions, and specialised inspection requirements have also been revised to ensure consistency with the commodity codes in Vietnam’s import and export goods classification.

In addition, the law classifies transhipment goods as goods transported under customs supervision. It revises the responsibilities of customs authorities in collecting taxes and other payments to ensure consistency with the Law on Tax Administration, amends regulations on customs valuation of exported goods, and removes provisions concerning tax-suspension warehouses.

The amended law also revises several provisions of the Law on the Organisation of Criminal Investigation Bodies, the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Law on Handling Administrative Violations to ensure consistency with the titles, functions, and responsibilities under the current organisational structure of state agencies.