Thông tư liên tịch 110/2016/TTLT-BTC-BKHCN

JOINT CIRCULAR

COOPERATION IN QUALITY INSPECTION AND CUSTOMS CLEARANCE OF IMPORTS

Pursuant to the Law on Customs No. 54/2014/QH13 dated June 23, 2014;

Pursuant to the Law on product quality No. 05/2007/QH12 dated November 21, 2007;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 132/2008/NĐ-CP dated December 31, 2008, detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on product quality;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 80/2013/NĐ-CP dated July 19, 2013 on penalties for administrative violations against regulations on standards, measurements and product quality;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 08/2015/NĐ-CP dated January 21, 2015 on guidelines for some Articles of the Law on Customs on customs procedures, customs supervision and inspection;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 187/2013/NĐ-CP dated November 20, 2013 on international trade of goods;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 20/2013/NĐ-CP dated February 26 2013 defining the functions, tasks, entitlements and organizational structure of the Ministry of Science and Technology;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 215/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 23, 2013 defining the functions, tasks, entitlements and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 36/2010/QĐ-TTg dated April 15, 2010 on cooperation in product quality inspection;

The Minister of Finance and the Minister of Science and Technology promulgates a Joint Circular on cooperation in quality inspection and customs clearance of imports.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

1. This Circular provides for cooperation in quality inspection and grant of customs clearance of imports required to undergo state quality inspection as prescribed by law.

2. This Circular does not apply to:

a) Luggage, personal belongs within tax-free allowance;

b) Goods of diplomatic entities and international organizations within tax-free allowance;

c) Samples for advertising purpose only; samples serving scientific research or research into its production;

d) Temporarily imported goods for displayed or introduction at a trade fair or exhibition;

dd) Gifts within tax-free allowance;

e) Goods exchanged by border residents within tax-free allowance;

g) Goods, supplies, machinery and equipment temporarily imported and re-exported without being used in Vietnam;

h) Transit or transshipped goods;

i) Goods sent to a bonded warehouse from abroad (other than goods sold domestically from a bonded warehouse);

k) Raw materials, supplies and samples for outward processing or manufacture of exports;

l) Duty-free goods sold to emigrating people (managed as temporarily imported goods);

m) Goods re-exported for repair or recycling at the request of a foreign partner;

n) Imports serving emergency purposes;

o) Imports serving national defense and security purposes;

p) Goods exempted from quality inspection by the Ministry of Science and Technology and relevant Ministries.

3. Imports that are radioactive substances or radioactive products defined by the Law on Atomic Energy and its instructional documents.

Article 2. Regulated entities

This Circular applies to:

1. Customs declarants defined in Clause 14 Article 4 of the Law on Customs and Article 5 of the Government's Decree No. 08/2015/NĐ-CP;

2. Authorities carrying out inspection of imported goods (hereinafter referred to as inspecting authorities) comprising inspecting agencies affiliated to relevant Ministries, organizations appointed to carry out import quality inspection by relevant Ministries;

3. Conformity-assessing organizations;

4. Customs authorities and customs officials;

5. Other regulatory bodies cooperating in implementation of relevant contents of this Circular.

Article 3. Rules for cooperation

1. Inspecting authorities and conformity assessment bodies shall inspect goods quality and publish the inspection results in accordance with the Law on product quality 2007, the Government's Decree No. 132/2008/NĐ-CP and instructional Circulars.

2. Customs authorities shall follow customs procedures and procedures for putting goods in storage in accordance with the Law on Customs, Decree No. 08/2015/NĐ-CP and Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC.

3. Part from the aforementioned provisions, inspecting authorities, conformity assessment bodies and customs authorities shall implement this Circular.

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 4. Cooperation in sampling, inspection and assessment of conformity of imports

1. Procedures for samplings and templates of sampling documents are provided for in legislative documents on Certificate of conformity promulgated by relevant Ministries.

2. Sampling within customs controlled area:

a) The inspecting authority, conformity assessment body and customs authority shall agree upon the time for goods inspection and sampling so that a shipment is only inspected and sampled once unless otherwise prescribed by law to facilitate the declarant’s presentation of goods;

b) The declarant shall inform the customs authority when the inspecting authority and conformity assessment body take samples of goods.

3. Sampling at the declarant’s site:

a) The customs authority that allows a shipment to be put into storage shall specify the date and time of movement on the declarant’s request. The declarant shall inform the inspecting authority and conformity assessment body when the shipment arrives at the storage location;

b) During the sampling, if the organization conformity assessment finds that the quantity or categories of imports is not conformable with that on the documents or the status quo of goods is not maintain e.g. packages or seals are broken, the violations shall be specified on the sampling record and a report shall be submitted to a competent quality control authority and the customs authority within 24 working hours in accordance with Article 7 of this Circular;

c) Otherwise, conformity assessment body is responsible for failure to report such violations and will dealt with in accordance with product quality laws.

4. The conformity assessment body shall carry out conformity assessment and send the result to the declarant within 07 days from the date of inspection or sampling. If the conformity assessment duration has to be extended because of technical issues or inevitable difficulties, the conformity assessment body shall inform the importer of the reasons and the deadline for giving the result and the importer shall request the inspecting authority and customs authority to permits such extension.

5. The conformity assessment body shall send the result by fax or electronically to the inspecting authority within 04 working hours from the availability of the result.

Article 5. Cooperation in notifying quality inspection result

1. The inspecting authority shall carry out the inspection and notify the inspection result within 03 days from the day on which the conformity assessment result is received if the shipment is satisfactory.

2. The inspecting authority shall send the inspection result to National Single-window Information Portal in accordance with Article 35 of the Law on Customs for the customs authority to grant customs clearance.

If the inspecting authority has not connected with National Single-window Information Portal, it shall send the inspection result by fax or electronically to the customs authority.

Where the inspection result cannot be sent to the customs authority, the inspecting authority shall it to the declarant who will send them to the customs authority in order to have customs clearance granted.

3. If the inspection or conformity assessment duration has to be extended because of technical issues or inevitable difficulties, the inspecting authority shall inform the declarant and the customs authority of the reasons and deadline for giving the result.

4. Relevant Ministries shall provide templates of the notice of imports quality inspection result. The notice has to specify whether the import shipment is satisfactory or not and remedial measures if it is not satisfactory.

Article 6. Cooperation in information provision

1. Information to be exchanged between:

a) Customs authorities;

b) Inspecting authorities; and

c) Conformity assessment bodies.

2. Information to be provided:

a) Where the customs authority finds the quality of an import shipment is suspicious, it shall inform the inspecting authority or request the inspecting authority to inspect goods within the customs controlled area;

b) The supervisory authority, inspecting authority and conformity assessment body that are informed of a suspicious import shipment or finds another shipment of the same kind of goods whose quality is not satisfactory shall apply enhanced goods inspection at the checkpoint of import and inform the customs authority to supervise the shipment in cooperation until the shipment is proved satisfactory by inspection;

c) During the inspection and sampling of a shipment allowed to be put into storage, if the inspecting agency and conformity assessment body find that the quantity or categories of the goods is not conformable with that on the documents, they shall take the measures specified in Article 7 of this Circular or inform the customs authority.

3. Means of information provision

a) Information shall be exchanged by phone, fax, the Internet, post, express mail, or directly;

b) Relevant organizations shall provide their phone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses for relevant organizations in the same provinces or customs area to send and receive information;

4. Information shall be provision by phone, fax, email, official dispatches (to superior authorities); the manner of information provision shall be specified in page two of the request for quality inspection (for customs authorities, inspecting authorities and conformity assessment bodies) or the request for permission to put goods into storage (for customs authorities).

5. Information shall be provided for relevant organizations within 04 working hours or 02 working days from the time of availability of information mentioned in Clause 2 of this Article.

Article 7. Cooperation in penalty imposition

1. Customs offences discovered by customs authorities or other authorities shall be recorded and dealt with in accordance with the Government's Decree No. 127/2013/NĐ-CP dated October 15, 2013 on penalties for customs offences.

2. Administrative violations against regulations on product quality discovered by inspecting authorities or other authorities shall be recorded and dealt with in accordance with the Government's Decree No. 80/2013/NĐ-CP

Chapter III

RESPONSIBILITY OF RELEVANT ENTITIES

Article 8. Responsibility of declarants

1. Follow customs procedures and quality inspection quality in accordance with effective regulations of law.

2. Select a conformity assessment body appointed by the supervisory Ministry to assess quality of imports.

3. Submit the conformity assessment result to the inspecting authority and quality inspection result to the customs authority to complete customs clearance procedures as prescribed by law.

4. If the inspection result is not satisfactory, the declarant may propose a remedial measure to the inspecting authority in writing, such as: recycling, destruction, re-export or repurposing.

If the declarant recycling, the proposal shall specify the recycling plan, location and the person in charge of recycling.

5. Comply with the decision issued by a competent authority; pay the remedial costs in accordance with regulations of law on administrative penalties.

Article 9. Responsibility of conformity assessment bodies

1. Assess quality of imports within the scope specified by supervisory Ministries; issue certificates of satisfactory quality to declarants as prescribed by law.

2. Cooperate with customs authorities, provide relevant information specified in Article 6 of this Circular and supervise declarants in implementing remedial measures in case of unsatisfactory quality of goods.

3. Collect goods quality assessment fees as prescribed.

Article 10. Responsibility of inspecting authorities

1. Receive applications for quality inspection from declarants, receive notices of quality inspection results from conformity assessment bodies; carry out document inspection and physical inspection of goods where necessary; prepare notices of inspection result punctually.

2. Cooperate with customs authorities in providing relevant information specified in Article 6 of this Circular and supervise declarants in implementing remedial measures in case of unsatisfactory quality of goods.

3. Where a violation is discovered during physical inspection, request the supervisory authority to transfer the case to an inspecting authority or another competent authority in order to impose penalties in accordance with the administrative penalty laws and Article 7 of this Circular.

Article 11. Responsibility of customs authorities

1. Follow customs procedures, procedures for putting goods into storage and procedures for granting customs clearance to goods required to undergo quality inspection in accordance with effective regulations of law and this Circular.

2. Cooperate with inspecting authorities and conformity assessment bodies in carrying out inspection and sampling in accordance with customs and product quality laws; monitor implementation of remedial measures (recycling, destruction, re-export, repurposing); provide relevant information specified in Article 6 of this Circular.

Cooperate with inspecting authorities in carrying out enhanced quality inspection of imports in accordance with Article 9 of Circular No. 27/2012/TT-BKHCN dated December 12, 2012 of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

3. Receive electronic (from National Single-window Information Portal) or physical (from inspecting authorities and declarants) notices of quality inspection results.

4. Discover violations of law, issue violation records and penalty imposition decisions in accordance with law and instructions this Circular.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION CLAUSES

Article 12. Effect

1. This Circular comes into force from September 01, 2016.

2. Joint Circular No. 37/2001/TTLT-BKHCNMT-TCHQ dated June 28 of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the General Department of Customs providing guidelines for customs procedures and quality inspection of imports is abolished.

Article 13. Implementation organization

1. The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science and Technology and relevant Ministries specified in Clause 2 Article 70 of the Law on product quality, relevant organizations and individuals are responsible for the implementation of this Circular.

2. Customs-related difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular should be reported to the Ministry of Finance (General Department of Customs), product quality-related difficulties to the Ministry of Science and Technology or relevant Ministries for consideration./.