Vietnam proposes e-ID verification for cross-border e-commerce traders

Vietnamese Minister of Finance Ngo Van Tuan presented the draft law at the opening session of the first extraordinary sitting of the 16th National Assembly on Monday.

Tuan said the amendments are necessary to translate policies into regulations, aimed at streamlining the state apparatus, improving operational efficiency, reducing administrative procedures, and providing fully online public services regardless of administrative boundaries.

The draft law also seeks to improve transparency and automation, apply AI and big data to customs procedures, strengthen e-commerce management, facilitate data connectivity and sharing.

A notable part of the draft concerns the management of e-commerce activities.

The draft adds postal service providers, international express delivery service providers, e-commerce platform operators, and providers of goods transit and transshipment services to the list of customs declarants, except when goods owners make other requests.

It also introduces new regulations requiring goods exported to or imported from foreign countries through e-commerce platforms to undergo customs procedures and be subject to customs inspection and supervision.

E-commerce platform operators, bonded warehouse operators, transport companies or their agents, and organizations and individuals involved in goods exported to or imported from foreign countries through e-commerce platforms would be responsible for providing customs authorities with relevant information about the goods.

Phan Chi Hieu, chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs, said a majority of committee members supported the requirement for Vietnamese organizations and individuals buying or selling goods with foreign partners through e-commerce platforms to undergo electronic identity verification.

The committee also proposed studying a mechanism under which electronic identity verification would be carried out only once for each account and used consistently for transactions conducted through that account, ensuring convenience for users and effective management.

Some opinions noted that the responsibility for verifying the identities of sellers on e-commerce platforms is already stipulated in the Law on E-Commerce. Therefore, the draft law should be further reviewed to avoid overlap and duplication with existing regulations.

The draft law also sets out groups of measures to cut and simplify administrative procedures, including removing requirements for customs procedure agents and their employees, revising regulations on customs dossiers, the national single window mechanism, risk management, compliance management, and customs dossier inspections.

Hieu agreed that the Law on Customs needs to be amended and supported the direction of simplifying administrative procedures, promoting digital transformation, and strengthening data-based customs management, risk management and the delegation of authority.

However, he called for further refinement of detailed regulations on customs management of cross-border e-commerce and mechanisms for data connectivity and sharing.