ELECTRONIC EXPORT CUSTOMS DECLARATION PROCESS (VNACCS)

What Are Customs Procedures?

Customs procedures are the required formalities and processes that goods and means of transport must undergo in order to be imported into or enter a country, or exported from or leave the territory of a country.

Purpose

• To enable the government to assess and collect taxes and duties. This is one of the most important purposes and explains why so much time, effort, and manpower are devoted to handling customs procedures.
• To control and supervise goods entering and leaving the country, ensuring that they are not included in the list of prohibited items. For example, it is illegal to import ivory, firearms, or narcotics into Vietnam. Likewise, antiques and wildlife cannot be legally exported from Vietnam through official trade channels.

Legal Framework

• Customs Law 2005;
• Customs Law 2014 (effective from January 1, 2015);
• Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP, providing detailed regulations for the implementation of the Customs Law 2005;
• Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC, providing guidance on customs procedures (replacing Circulars No. 128/2013/TT-BTC and No. 194/2010/TT-BTC);
• Circular No. 22/2014/TT-BTC on electronic customs procedures (replacing Circular No. 196/2012/TT-BTC).

ELECTRONIC CUSTOMS DECLARATION PROCESS FOR EXPORT SHIPMENTS

Overview of the customs declaration process and amendment/supplementary declaration procedures during customs clearance for export goods:

1. Export Information Declaration (EDA)

The customs declarant must submit export information through the EDA declaration function before registering an export customs declaration. After completing all required fields on the EDA screen (109 data fields), the declarant transmits the information to the VNACCS system.

The system will automatically assign a declaration number, generate information corresponding to the entered codes (e.g., importing country name corresponding to the country code, exporter name corresponding to the enterprise code), automatically calculate values related to customs value and duties/taxes, and return the information to the declarant via the Export Declaration Registration screen (EDC).

Once the system assigns a number, the Export Information Declaration (EDA) is stored in the VNACCS system.

2. Export Declaration Registration (EDC)

Upon receiving the Export Declaration Registration screen (EDC) from the system, the customs declarant reviews both the declared information and the information automatically generated and calculated by the system.

If all information is confirmed to be accurate, the declarant submits it to the system for official declaration registration.

If any incorrect information is identified, the declarant must use the EDB function to recall the Export Information Declaration screen (EDA), amend the necessary information, and repeat the procedures described above.

3. Verification of Declaration Registration Eligibility

Before allowing declaration registration, the system automatically checks the list of enterprises that are ineligible to register customs declarations (e.g., enterprises with tax debts overdue by more than 90 days, suspended operations, dissolution, or bankruptcy).

If an enterprise is included on this list, the declaration registration will be rejected, and the system will notify the customs declarant accordingly.

4. Channel Assignment, Inspection, and Customs Clearance

After registration, the system automatically assigns the declaration to one of three inspection channels:

• Green Channel
• Yellow Channel
• Red Channel

4.1 Green Channel Declarations

Where no tax is payable:

The system automatically grants customs clearance (expected processing time: approximately 3 seconds) and issues a Goods Clearance Decision to the declarant.

Where tax is payable:

• Payment by tax credit limit or guarantee (general or specific guarantee):

  The system automatically verifies the declared credit limit or guarantee amount. If the available amount is equal to or greater than the tax payable, the system issues:

  • A Tax Collection Record; and
  • A Goods Clearance Decision.

  If the available amount is insufficient, the system generates an error notification.

• Immediate tax payment (bank transfer, cash payment at customs office, etc.):

  The system issues a Tax Collection Record. Once the tax, fees, and charges have been paid and VNACCS receives confirmation of payment, the system issues the Goods Clearance Decision.

At the end of each day, all Green Channel declarations are transferred to the VCIS system.

4.2 Yellow and Red Channel Declarations

a. Responsibilities of the Customs Declarant

The declarant must:

• Receive the channel assignment result and information regarding the location, method, and level of physical inspection;
• Submit hard-copy documents for detailed document inspection by customs authorities;
• Prepare the necessary conditions for physical inspection of goods;
• Fulfill all tax, fee, and charge obligations (if any).

b. System Processing

The system will:

1. Issue the Customs Declaration Form, indicating the inspection classification code.
2. Issue a Notice of Physical Inspection Requirement for goods assigned to the Red Channel or when customs authorities change the inspection channel using the CKO function.
3. Immediately after customs officers complete the CEE function, the system automatically processes customs clearance as follows:

If no tax is payable:

• The system automatically grants customs clearance and issues a Goods Clearance Decision.

If tax is payable:

• For declarations using a tax credit limit or guarantee, the system verifies the available amount and issues the necessary documents if sufficient funds are available.
• For immediate tax payment declarations, the system issues a Tax Collection Record and grants clearance once payment confirmation is received.

5. Amendment and Supplement During Customs Clearance

Amendments or supplements may be made after declaration registration but before customs clearance.

To make an amendment:

• For the first amendment, the declarant uses the EDD function to retrieve the original Export Information Declaration (EDA).
• For the second and subsequent amendments, the declarant retrieves the amended declaration information (EDA01).

After completing the amendment declaration (EDA01), the information is transmitted to VNACCS. The system assigns an amendment declaration number and returns the amended information via the EDE screen. The declarant then clicks "Submit" to complete the amendment registration process.

The amendment number is represented by the last digit of the declaration number.

• Maximum amendments allowed during customs clearance: 9 times
• Amendment numbers range from 1 to 9
• If no amendment is made, the final digit of the declaration number is 0

Declarations that have been amended or supplemented can only be assigned to the Yellow Channel or Red Channel; they are not eligible for the Green Channel.

The data fields on the amendment screen (EDA01) are generally the same as those on the original export declaration screen (EDA), except for certain fields that cannot be modified or are not subject to amendment.