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Difficult to execute decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations

Why is it difficult to enforce?

In the process of monitoring the law compliance on the handling of administrative violations in the whole sector, on the basis of reporting data on sanctioning of administrative violations, the General Department of Customs acknowledges that some decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations have expired but have not yet been implemented, and the coercive measures for executing the sanctioning decisions in accordance with the regulations have not yet been taken. Particularly, some cases of violations have been detected but there have been no sanctioning decisions issued yet.

At HCMC Customs Department, from October 1st, 2017 to June 30th, 2018, 60 cases have not yet been sanctioned. The reason is that the Department has transferred 59 cases with criminal signs to the Procuracy for consideration, then the Procuracy asked to transfer the cases to the Police Agency of Criminal Investigation for investigation, but up to now, the Police Agency is in the investigation process and has issued a sanctioning decision due to the reporting deadline of data being June 30th, 2018,

Also, in Dong Thap Customs Department, there are 4 cases that have not been applied coercive measures for execution of sanctioning decisions. In which, the decision to fine Mr. Nou Ravy-a Cambodian citizen born in 1967, an amount of VND 10 million for breaking the regulations on Customs control, has not been executed because the Customs cannot contact him to announce this decision.

Especially, 3 decisions (to fine Truong Thanh Hung private enterprise for the business of goods with unknown origin; to fine Mr. Nguyen Van Suong VND 40 million and to confiscate the material evidences of second-hand agrimotor KUBOTA M7000DT for the business of smuggled goods, and to fine Mr. Le Huu Phu for the violation of trading and transportation of banned goods) can not be executed. Dong Thap Customs Department says that although the material evidences of the cases have been auctioned to the state budget, but violators cannot afford to pay the fines, causing difficulties for the enforcement bodies in the implementation of the decisions.

In Ba Ria - Vung Tau Customs Department there are 3 cases that have expired but have not been executed by Yen My Co, Ltd., MKY Co, Ltd., and Tien Minh Co, Ltd. Yen My Company has left the registered business address; Tien Minh Co, Ltd., has signs of escape and the Customs authority is cooperating with police to conduct investigation and verification; and MKY Company is in the process of verification.

The same situation took place at the Lang Son Customs Department with 52 decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations, which have expired because the violators do not voluntarily execute them, the violators do not have assets to execute the sanctioning decision; the violators are being prosecuted and taken into custody; or enterprises are no longer in operation.

Exchanging with some customs officers in charge of administrative sanctions, it is known that most decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations which have not been executed are because the violators fail to execute or do not have assets to execute. The enforcement to carry out the decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations according to the regulations also meets difficulties because some regulations on the Law on the handling of administrative violations are unclear and incompatible with the reality, leading to the sanctioning of administrative violations in the Customs field difficult in the execution.

Enforcement for execution

According to the General Department of Customs, administrative violations in the Customs are on the rise with tens of thousands of cases annually. This situation not only directly affects the import-export activities, immigration, transit ... but also poses potential risks of tax revenue losses for the state budget.

Over the past years, the handling of administrative violations has been fully and comprehensively implemented by all units in the whole Customs sector. The detection of law violations, the profiling for handling and settlement of cases have basically been carried out in a timely and effective manner, in accordance with the order and procedures and in compliance with the law on the handling of administrative violations on jurisdiction, fine level and legal grounds in administrative decisions in full and strict manner.

However, Customs operation is generally involved in the provisions of various law documents, such as the Penal Code, the Criminal Code, the Trade Law, Import and Export Tax Law, Value Added Tax Law, Special Consumption Tax Law, Investment Law, Environmental Law and Tax Administration Law, and the regulations of international law. Consequently, administrative violations in the customs field are related to many specialized regulations.

Particularly, the reports of the provincial / municipal Customs Departments and the inspection of the handling of administrative violations and the execution of sanctioning decisions in the whole customs sector show that a number of decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations have expired but have not yet been executed and have not been enforced for execution according to the regulations.

Therefore, to rectify this work in accordance with the provisions in Clauses 1, Articles 3, 66, 73, 74 and 86 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, the General Department of Customs requests its units to review the execution of decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations in their units in order to take coercive measures for execution of decisions on sanctioning of administrative violations according to regulations.

At the same time, inspecting and reviewing cases of law violations that have been detected but not yet executed to urgently handle in compliance with the provisions of law on handling of administrative violations or in compliance with the provisions of the criminal procedure law (if there are signs of criminal violations).

Source: Customs News