What are the penalties for violating regulations on the storage, purchase, transportation, and exchange of goods in border areas?

Reply:

Currently, the Government has issued Decree No. 79/2026/ND-CP dated March 18, 2026, stipulating administrative penalties for violations in the field of national border management and protection (effective from May 2, 2026).

The decree stipulates the following:

1. Storing, buying, selling, transporting, or exchanging goods in border areas without proper documentation or with incomplete documentation proving the legality of the goods at the time of inspection:

a) A fine of VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed on infringing goods with a value of less than VND 5,000,000;

b) A fine of VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed on infringing goods with a value ranging from VND 5,000,000 to less than VND 10,000,000;

c) A fine of VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed on infringing goods with a value ranging from VND 10,000,000 to less than VND 20,000,000;

d) A fine of VND 10,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 shall be imposed on infringing goods with a value ranging from VND 20,000,000 to less than VND 50,000,000;

d) A fine of VND 15,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed on infringing goods with a value ranging from VND 50,000,000 to less than VND 70,000,000;

e) A fine of VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed on infringing goods with a value ranging from VND 70,000,000 to less than VND 100,000,000;

g) A fine of VND 30,000,000 to VND 40,000,000 shall be imposed on infringing goods with a value of VND 100,000,000 or more;

h) A fine twice the amount stipulated in points a, b, c, d, e, f, and g above, but not exceeding the maximum fine stipulated in this Decree, shall be imposed in the following cases: Foodstuffs, food additives, food processing aids, preventive and curative medicines for humans, functional foods, cosmetics; detergents, insecticides, veterinary medicines, fertilizers, cement, animal feed, plant protection products, growth stimulants, plant seeds, animal breeds; and other goods belonging to the list of conditional investment and business sectors.

Fines ranging from 10 to 20 million VND will be imposed for violations involving storing goods in locations other than those designated.

2. A fine of VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for any of the following acts occurring outside the customs operational area:

a) Transporting goods in transit, transshipment, re-export, or goods for temporary import-re-export purposes that do not comply with the prescribed routes, locations, border gates, or timeframes, or are not registered in the goods documentation without the permission of the competent authorities as required by law;

b) Willfully breaking the seal on goods;

c) Failure to ensure the integrity of goods under supervision or goods entrusted for safekeeping in accordance with the law while awaiting completion of export or import procedures;

d) Storing goods in locations other than those designated.

3. A fine of VND 20,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of arbitrarily consuming goods that are under legal supervision.

4. Additional forms of punishment:

a) Confiscate the goods involved in the administrative violation as stipulated in Clause 1 above, except in cases where the goods have been determined to have a legitimate origin;

b) Confiscation of evidence of administrative violations for acts violating the provisions of Clause 3 of this Article with respect to goods on the list of prohibited exports, prohibited imports; temporarily suspended exports, temporarily suspended imports or not meeting the conditions for export, import or requiring a license but not having one when exporting or importing, except in cases where the following remedial measures are applied:

Mandatory destruction of goods and items harmful to human health, livestock, plants, the environment, and cultural products with harmful content in the aforementioned violations;

For violations of the regulations specified in point a, clause 2 above, the following actions are required: transporting goods in transit, transshipment, re-export, and goods under temporary import-re-export arrangements through designated border gates and routes;

The offender shall be required to return an amount equal to the value of the confiscated goods that were consumed, disposed of, or destroyed in violation of the law, for the violations specified in Clauses 1 and 3 above;

The goods, items, and means of transport must be removed from the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam or re-exported. If this is not done within 30 days from the expiration of the remedial measures, the infringing items shall be confiscated for violations of the provisions in points b, c, and d of clause 2 above.

GH