On 23/8, the National Assembly approved the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Customs Law, with 94.6% of attending deputies voting in favor.

Under this law, the government will add regulations on customs inspection and supervision for imported and exported goods conducted via e-commerce platforms. Concurrently, organizations and individuals in Vietnam involved in buying or selling goods internationally through e-commerce must implement electronic identification and authentication.

Platform owners are responsible for connecting with the customs authority's e-commerce data processing system when performing electronic identification and authentication.

_Cac dai bieu bieu quyet thong qua luat tai phien hop Quoc hoi sang 23/8. Anh: Cong thong tin dien tu Quoc hoi_

Presenting the explanatory and acceptance report, Minister of Finance Ngo Van Tuan stated that regulating the inspection and supervision of goods via e-commerce platforms at the law level is necessary.

According to him, the law establishes basic principles and tasks the government with detailing the value threshold for e-commerce goods requiring customs procedures. Additionally, the government will stipulate the process and roadmap for electronic identification authentication, and add data connection responsibilities for foreign platform owners without offices in Vietnam.

During prior discussions, some deputies suggested that applying the same inspection and supervision processes to e-commerce goods as traditional goods could cause congestion at border gates. This is because e-commerce channels often involve a large volume of orders, each with small individual value, requiring rapid turnover.

Regarding customs agents, the Ministry of Finance accepted feedback and revised the law to regulate their management and operations, rather than business conditions. This change aligns with the Investment Law, which reduced business conditions, shifting the operational mechanism towards professional standards.

For physical goods inspection, the law transferred the authority to decide "other special cases" from the head of the customs agency processing the file to the Minister of Finance. The Minister of Finance will also provide detailed regulations on responsibilities and mechanisms for handling backlog goods.

The Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Customs Law will take effect from 1/3/2027.

Anh Tu