Foreign-invested enterprises (FDI enterprises) are not permitted to carry out transshipment business activities.
On April 21, 2025, the General Department of Customs issued Official Letter No. 2642/CQH-GSQL in response to Official Letter No. 21032025-PEWVN dated March 21, 2025, from Panasonic Electric Works Vietnam Co., Ltd., regarding guidelines for customs procedures related to importing goods from overseas and subsequently exporting goods to a third country.
Specifically, the General Department of Customs emphasized that transporting goods from an exporting country to an importing country via Vietnamese border gates, placing them into bonded warehouses or transshipment areas at Vietnamese ports without completing import procedures into Vietnam or export procedures from Vietnam constitutes one of the forms of transshipment of goods stipulated at Point c, Clause 2, Article 30 of the Commercial Law No. 36/2005/QH11 dated June 14, 2005.
Additionally, pursuant to Clause 2, Article 18 of Decree No. 69/2018/ND-CP issued by the Government on May 15, 2018, economic organizations with foreign investment capital (FDI enterprises) are prohibited from conducting transshipment business activities.