Customs Authorities
Customs Authorities includes:
• Vietnam General Department of Customs (VGDC)
• Customs Control and Supervision Department (CCSD)
• Customs Departments at the provincial level
1. Vietnam General Department of Customs
Address: No. 9 – Duong Dinh Nghe street, Yen Hoa, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: 84 24 39440833 (ext: 8621)
Email: tongcuchaiquan@customs.gov.vn or bophanhotrotchq@customs.gov.vn
Website: https://www.customs.gov.vn/
Vietnam General Department of Customs has the mission of, inter alia, enforcing the effective management over imports & exports activities and international trade, providing favourable conditions to the trade and production development; fighting against smuggling, combat commercial fraud, protecting the interests of consumers, etc.
2. Customs Control and Supervision Department (CCSD)
CCSD is an agency directly under VGDC, with the function of advising and assisting the VGDC’s General Director in managing, directing and guiding agencies in the customs sector to carry out customs procedures, customs inspection and supervision for exported, imported, and transited goods, means of transport on exit, entry or in transit; inspect and determine the origin of goods; guiding the implementation of the protection of intellectual property rights in accordance with the laws.
3. Customs Departments at the provincial level
Provincial, inter-provincial, city Customs Departments (Customs Department) are units under General Department of Customs of Vietnam, have functions of implementing State law on customs and other provisions of related laws in the location of such Customs Departments.
FYI ! Customs recordal in Vietnam provides a powerful weapon to IPR holders to stop counterfeiters from flooding the market with IPR infringing goods. Thus, customs recordal should be prioritized if it is suspected that the infringing goods were imported into Vietnam from other countries. The customs authority in Vietnam serves as a “gatekeeper” with full competence to monitor, block and seize the suspicious goods at the borders. After receipt of the customs recordal request and once accepting the customs recordal request, the CCSD shall disseminate such request and other supporting documents to all the provincial and city Customs Authorities throughout Vietnam for the purpose of monitoring imports. What about exports? Another significant development in the protection of IPR across borders in Vietnam is that, pursuant to a draft decree amending provisions on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of industrial property in Decree No. 99/2013/ND-CP, Vietnamese customs now have authority to cease the export of infringing goods out of Vietnam and impose sanctions on the exporter. It is thus useful to record your IP such as trademark, copyrights and design rights with the Vietnamese customs to benefit from the customs protection. |
Related Articles:
• The Inspectorate of Science and Technology
• The Inspectorate of Information and Communications
• The Inspectorate of Culture, Sport and Tourism
• The Market Management Bureau (MMB)
• Administrative procedure for IPR enforcement in Vietnam