Circular No. 33/2004/TT-BTC guiding the handling of goods, luggage, and unclaimed assets at Vietnamese airports

 CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Handling Unclaimed Goods, Luggage, and Property Left at Vietnamese Airports

Pursuant to the Civil Aviation Law dated December 26, 1991; the amended Civil Aviation Law dated April 20, 1995;

Pursuant to Decree No. 86/2002/NĐ-CP dated November 5, 2002 of the Government stipulating functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of Ministries and Ministerial-Level Agencies;

Pursuant to Decree No. 77/2003/NĐ-CP dated July 1, 2003 of the Government stipulating the tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

To resolve unclaimed goods, luggage, and property left at airports; At the request of localities and air cargo transport enterprises, the Ministry of Finance provides guidance on certain aspects of handling unclaimed goods, luggage, and property  left at Vietnamese airports as follows:

I- SCOPE AND APPLICABLE SUBJECTS:

These Circulars guide the handling of unclaimed goods, luggage, and property (hereinafter referred to as "unclaimed goods") left at Vietnamese airports, including:

a. Unclaimed goods: Are imported goods transported by air that the carrier cannot deliver to the consignee after having completed the procedures to notify the consignee listed on the air waybill, including:

Notified the consignee but the consignee refused to accept.

Notified the consignee but the consignee did not come to accept.

Notified the consignee but received no feedback from the consignee.

b. Unclaimed luggage: Is luggage not claimed by any passenger at departure and arrival airports, including:

Tagged luggage (misdirected and correctly directed luggage).

Untagged luggage.

c. Unclaimed lost property: Is carry-on luggage or items left behind by passengers in airport terminal areas, check-in counters, waiting rooms, or on aircraft.

The above types of goods, luggage, and property are considered to be unclaimed at airports after the air carrier has notified the consignee (or announced through appropriate media and posted at the airport in cases where the consignee cannot be identified) within 90 days or within 3 days for perishable goods (fresh produce, live animals, fruits, etc.) but there is no one to claim them.

II- PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING UNCLAIMED GOODS AT AIRPORTS:

1. Establishing a committee to handle unclaimed goods at airports:

The members of the committee to handle unclaimed goods at airports (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) include:

Local Department of Finance leadership: Chair of the Committee.

Leadership of the unit responsible for the warehouse of the air cargo carrier at the airport.

Airport representative.

Customs representative of the locality.

The Committee has a working group. Members of the working group are staff from the aforementioned agencies and are led by a member of the local Department of Finance.

In addition, depending on the nature, importance, and special characteristics of the assets, the Chairman of the Committee decides to invite relevant members and other technical agencies to participate in the Committee.

During its operation, the Committee may use the seal of the local Department of Finance to serve its work and necessary transactions.

2. Organizing the handling of unclaimed goods at airports:

Air cargo transport enterprises, based on the quantity of unclaimed goods, luggage, and property needing to be handled, periodically declare each type of unclaimed goods in writing every three or six months to report to the Committee for handling unclaimed goods. Based on the actual situation of unclaimed goods volume at the airport, the Committee will decide the time to organize the handling of unclaimed goods at airports.

For perishable unclaimed goods such as fresh produce, live animals, fruits...  the air cargo transport enterprise actively coordinates with relevant agencies and is responsible for disposing of and destroying these goods within three days from the date of their emergence.

If unclaimed goods fall under the list of prohibited imports, the Committee prepares a record and transfers the goods to the customs authority for disposal according to current regulations.

2.1/ Inventory and classification for handling unclaimed goods at airports:

The Committee conducts an inventory of the actual quantity of unclaimed goods at airports and classifies them for handling as follows:

For unclaimed goods that have no remaining value (rotten, damaged, not meeting quality standards as determined by quality inspection results) or have expired according to labels or accompanying documents or are banned for circulation according to Vietnamese law, the Committee prepares a record to organize destruction.

For unclaimed goods that still have value, the Committee requests a quality inspection if necessary, and organizes public auction for organizations and individuals who wish to purchase according to current regulations.

2.2/ Organizing public auction: The Committee determines the starting price of the goods based on the remaining quality according to inspection results (if available) or the assessment of the specialized working group assisting the Committee, and the market price of new goods of the same type at the time of auction. The procedures and formalities for public auction are carried out according to current state regulations.

Based on the results of the auction of unclaimed goods, the Committee instructs the air cargo transport enterprise to sell and collect payment for the unclaimed goods at the airport and report the results to the Committee.

2.3/ Organizing destruction: The organization of destruction of unclaimed goods must be recorded by the Committee and implemented by the air cargo transport enterprise with the presence of the Committee (except for perishable goods that have been handed over to the enterprise for active destruction and responsibility). When necessary, the Committee may invite relevant state management agencies to witness the destruction.

For goods whose destruction affects the environment, approval and guidance from the local environmental management agency must be obtained before organizing destruction.

2.4/  Unclaimed goods at airports can be processed without import procedures and are exempt from import duties when sold.

III. MANAGEMENT OF FINANCIAL INCOME AND EXPENSES FOR HANDLING UNCLAIMED GOODS AT AIRPORTS:

1. Air cargo enterprises shall issue VAT sales invoices for goods sold to buyers using VAT sales invoices issued by the Ministry of Finance. The sale price of surplus goods (designated sale price or auction price) accepted by the buyer is the price inclusive of VAT. The declaration and payment of VAT on surplus goods shall be carried out in accordance with current regulations.

Proceeds from the sale of surplus goods shall be deposited into the enterprise's account to offset costs as decided by the Liquidation Board.

2. Based on the reasonableness and legitimacy of expenses related to the disposal of surplus goods at airports, the Board shall decide to pay in the following priority order:

a/ Payment of VAT.

b/ Expenses for valuation and auctioning of surplus goods at airports including: loading and unloading expenses, inventory checking expenses, quality inspection expenses, valuation organization expenses, advertising expenses, printing expenses for auction documentation, expenses for organizing the auction.  in accordance with state regulations.

c/ Allowance for members of the Board for meetings held during the disposal of surplus goods at airports up to a maximum of VND 50,000 per day per person.

d/ Expenses for the destruction of surplus goods.

e/ Settlement of handling, storage, delivery, and preservation fees arising from surplus goods stored at airports (maximum expense not exceeding 50% of the remaining amount after settling expenses under items a, b, c, and d of point 2 above).

3. The proceeds from the liquidation of surplus goods at airports, after deducting the expenses mentioned in point 2 of Part III of this Circular (if any), shall be retained in the air cargo enterprise's account to be returned to the entitled party. Within 180 days from the date of liquidation of the goods without a claim for the remaining amount, the air cargo enterprise shall deposit the entire amount into the local budget.

In cases where the proceeds from selling surplus goods at airports are insufficient to cover the expenses, air cargo enterprises may record the shortfall as production costs for the year.

IV- IMPLEMENTATION:

This Circular takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

During implementation, if there are any difficulties, organizations and individuals are requested to promptly report to the Ministry of Finance for review and appropriate amendments./.