Vietnam: Changes to inspection, supervision, suspension of Customs procedure for IPR protection

The Vietnam Ministry of Finance issued Circular 13/2020/TT-BTC, which has been effective from April 20, 2020 on amendment, supplementation of some articles of 13/2015/TT-BTC regulating on inspection, supervision, suspension of Customs procedure for imported and exported goods recorded for intellectual property right ("IPR") protection; monitoring counterfeit goods and IPR-infringing goods.

Definitions and regulations

In addition to clarification for definitions such as "counterfeit goods", "Customs control of counterfeit goods or IPR-infringing goods" and "applications", the new Circular also supplements rights and obligations of relevant individuals and organizations.  In particular, all relevant individuals and organizations are responsible for providing information to Customs authorities to serve the inspection, supervision, control and updating of contents related to differentiation between counterfeit goods, IPR-infringing goods and genuine goods that have been recorded for IPR protections with Customs".

For inspection and supervision of imported and exported goods, the new Circular clearly provides two kinds of inspection, namely, inspection of Customs dossier and inspection of actual goods, in replacement of the inspection of Customs dossier only under the previous regulations.  For inspection of actual goods, Customs would compare goods name and brand written on packages or goods with those written on the Customs declaration; compare the actual goods with those specified in the application for inspection and supervision that has been accepted by the General Department of Customs ("GDC") to determine whether the goods are genuine or counterfeit, etc.

Introduction of Customs Electronic Data Processing System

The new Circular introduces the Customs Electronic Data Processing System (e-Customs), which is now used for filing of all applications in terms of Customs recordation, including applications for inspection and supervision of imported and exported goods in relation to IPR protection; applications for renewal or termination of inspection and supervision of imported and exported goods in relation to IPR protection; applications for suspension of Customs procedures, etc.  This would help simplify the dossiers, shorten the processing time and increase the capacity of Customs authorities as well as the effectiveness of Customs measures fighting against counterfeiting and IPR-infringing goods.  

Simplifying dossiers

Under the previous regulations, applications for suspension of Customs procedures needed to be filed with all supporting documents which had already been filed under applications for supervision and monitoring of imported and exported goods in relation to IPRs protection.  From the effective date of the new Circular, in case applications for supervision and monitoring of imported and exported goods have not been accepted by the GDC, a full package of applications and supporting documents still needs to be submitted.  However, where GDC has already accepted the applications for inspection and supervision and monitoring of imported and exported goods, supporting documents do not need to be re-filed for applications for suspension of the Customs procedures.

Transparency in information and administrative procedures

Administrative procedures are more transparent with some new regulations on notification and information provided to the IPR owners, together with amended or new fixed due dates for the issuance of the notification.  In particular:

• a written notification on insufficiency of application for inspection, supervision, suspension of Customs procedure asking for provision of additional documents should be issued within five working days of receipt of the application;
• application for inspection, supervision, suspension of Customs procedure will be rejected if the applicant fails to provide additional documents within 10 working days of the date on which such additional documents are requested in writing;
• renewal application must be submitted to the GDC through their Customs Electronic Data Processing System within a period of 20 days (instead of 7 through 10 days under the previous practice)prior to the expiration date specified in the notification of acceptance of application for inspection and supervision of imported and exported goods;
• the maximum period for suspension of Customs procedure is 20 working days, including the extended period if accepted.  This newly regulated period has replaced the unclear one which lasts until receiving the results of the IPR assessment or expertise; and
• within 30 days of the date of issuance of the decision to impose administrative sanctions for counterfeiting goods and pirated goods, Customs authority informs the IPR holder or their authorized representative of the following information: name and address of the shipper; exporter, consignee or importer; description of goods; quantity of goods; origin of goods, etc.

Next steps

In light of the new Circular, we would encourage IPR owners to take advantage of this new change to record their IPRs with the Vietnam Customs for more effective protection of their IPRs in relation to the imported and exported goods in Vietnam.  We are happy to assist with this matter.

Authored by My Doan and Ly Nguyen