Hearing “evading customs inspection”, many assume the law has a standalone offence with a fixed fine. It does not: Decree 169/2026/ND-CP (effective 1 July 2026, replacing Decree 128/2020/ND-CP) contains no article titled “evading customs inspection or supervision”. Evasive conduct is covered by three groups of provisions: Article 12 (customs inspection), Article 13 (customs supervision), Article 14 (customs control) — each with its own fine scale, and evasion aimed at tax avoidance is punished more severely under Article 15.
Note on fine levels: the fines stated in Chapter II of Decree 169/2026 are fines for organisations; fines for individuals are one-half of the organisational level (Article 6(3)(a)). The figures below are therefore the levels applicable to businesses/organisations.
Group 1 — Inspection violations (Article 12): VND 2–30 million
- VND 2,000,000–4,000,000 (Article 12(2)): failing to arrange personnel or means for the customs authority’s physical inspection of goods or transport means; breaching dossier, document and electronic-data preparation/storage rules;
- VND 4,000,000–10,000,000 (Article 12(3)): failing to present goods under customs supervision (or goods retained as post-clearance inspection subjects) for inspection; providing dossiers or electronic data incompletely or late;
- VND 8,000,000–12,000,000 (Article 12(4)): disobeying a customs inspection decision;
- VND 20,000,000–30,000,000 (Article 12(5)): swapping inspected goods with uninspected goods (plus confiscation of the uninspected goods — Article 12(8)(a)); failing to provide dossiers, documents or electronic data.
Group 2 — Supervision violations (Article 13): VND 10–80 million
- VND 10,000,000–20,000,000 (Article 13(2)): transporting transit/transshipped/temporary-import goods on unapproved routes; unauthorised changes to packaging or labels of supervised goods; failing to preserve goods intact;
- VND 20,000,000–30,000,000 (Article 13(3)): customs seals no longer intact; unauthorised removal or alteration of seals — rising to VND 60,000,000–80,000,000 (Article 13(6)) where the supervised goods have been consumed;
- VND 30,000,000–40,000,000 (Article 13(4)(a)): consuming goods under customs supervision;
- VND 40,000,000–50,000,000 (Article 13(5)): consuming goods released for preservation pending completion of clearance.
Group 3 — Control violations (Article 14): dispersing goods to evade inspection, VND 40–60 million
- VND 1,000,000–3,000,000 (Article 14(1)(a)): disobeying an order to stop a transport means for search; failing to provide cargo-hold diagrams or open suspected hiding places for an administrative search;
- VND 40,000,000–60,000,000 (Article 14(5)(d)): dispersing, destroying or discarding goods to evade customs inspection, supervision or control — the classic “evasion” act. In addition: confiscation of infringing goods and means (Article 14(7)) and an order to disgorge an amount equal to the value of consumed, dispersed or destroyed goods (Article 14(8)(a)).
When “evading inspection” becomes “tax evasion”
Where evasion of inspection/supervision is aimed at tax evasion, the case moves beyond Articles 12/13/14 to punishment for tax evasion under Article 15 of Decree 169/2026 (“Penalties for tax evasion”): a fine of 1 times the evaded tax (no aggravating circumstances), plus 0.2 times per aggravating circumstance up to a maximum of 3 times the evaded tax, plus an order to pay the full evaded tax (Article 15(2)–(3)). For example, using forged documents to evade tax (Article 12(7)(a)) is redirected to Article 15 punishment (Article 12(10)).
Beyond that — where goods value or evaded tax reaches Penal Code thresholds — the case can become smuggling (Article 188), illegal cross-border transport (Article 189) or tax evasion as a crime (Article 200). Conversely, if the proceedings authority returns the file without prosecution, the case reverts to administrative sanctioning with the limitation period extended by 1 year.
Limitation period and aggravation to remember
- Penalty limitation: 2 years (Article 5(2) of Decree 169/2026) — except tax-evasion-linked acts, which take the 5-year tax-administration limitation;
- “Multiple violations” aggravation: violations across multiple declarations at different times, not yet handled and within the limitation period, are punished once with the multiple-violation aggravating circumstance applied (Article 3(1));
- Organisational fines are double individual fines: as noted, decree levels are organisational; individuals pay one-half.
Recommendations for businesses
- Never “evade”: dispersing or destroying goods to dodge inspection (VND 40–60 million + confiscation + disgorgement of goods value) always costs more than compliance;
- Protect seals absolutely: tampered customs seals with goods intact already cost VND 20–30 million; with goods consumed, VND 60–80 million;
- Keep the three groups distinct: inspection (Article 12) / supervision (Article 13) / control (Article 14) — and do not merge “evading inspection” with “tax evasion” (Article 15) when assessing risk;
- Goods released for preservation are not yours: consuming supervised goods or goods preserved pending clearance carries the heaviest fines in this group (VND 30–50 million).
Need help reviewing customs and import-export tax risks for your business? Reach us via the Contact page of FLAT Law Firm.
The information above is for reference only and does not constitute legal advice. Each business situation should be assessed separately by a lawyer.
For reference only, not legal advice. Content quality-checked by the AI Legal Council; not yet reviewed by a human lawyer.