On 19 October, the Government issued Decree 128/2020/ND-CP setting out administrative penalties for violations on customs matters. Decree 128 will take effect from 10 December and will replace Decree 127/2013/ND-CP and Decree 45/2016/ND-CP. Some notable points under Decree 128 are:

(i) Penalty for certain errors on customs declarations: a fine from VND 1,000,000 to VND 2,000,000 will be imposed for failure to declare a special relationship between the seller and the buyer in customs declarations. This is a particular area of focus by Customs at present, and they are more likely to challenge dutiable values where such relationships exist;

(ii) A fine from VND 2,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 for late submission of certain customs dossiers such as: application for tax incentive program applicable for automotive components and parts, actual consumption norms of goods produced for export, repurposing customs declarations for duty-exempt imported goods;

(iii) In case of late amendment of customs finalization reports, a fine of 10% or 20% of the difference in the tax exempted amount might be imposed;

(iv) A fine from VND 2,000,000 to VND 4,000,000 for non-compliance with the requirements for retention of customs dossiers, books and electronic data which is discovered during a customs audit. Decree 128 supplements penalty rates for violations in labeling of imported goods, goods with fraudulent origin, exports and imports having improper images or contents regarding national sovereignty, etc.

In general, the administrative fines are increased. Companies can find further details in Decree 128.