4 Changes businesses should not overlook when protecting intellectual property rights at customs checkpoints after Circular 06/2026

Circular No. 06/2026/TT-BTC amending Circular No. 13/2015/TT-BTC, as amended by Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BTC (“Circular 06”), took effect on 1 March 2026 and is an important circular on the protection of intellectual property rights at the customs border. For businesses engaged in import and export activities, especially those facing the risk of counterfeit goods, counterfeit trademark goods, or goods infringing intellectual property rights at customs checkpoints, correctly understanding these changes is not merely a matter of procedural compliance but also one of risk management. Bross & Partners would like to highlight 4 important changes under Circular 06 for businesses.

Circular 06 changes the requirements for customs surveillance application dossiers in the direction of simplification and greater digitalization

Priority is given to filing dossiers on the electronic platform: The new Article 6 makes the Customs electronic data processing system the primary filing channel; businesses only revert to paper filing when the system encounters technical problems or is not yet capable of handling the required data. At the same time, the dossier may be declared according to the prescribed information criteria or by using Form No. 01 in Appendix II. This indicates that the customs surveillance procedure is shifting from a “paper-based” mindset to an “electronic data” mindset.

Simplification of proof of rights: For protection titles or certificates issued by a competent authority in electronic form on an official website, businesses are not required to submit copies. Instead, they only need to declare the relevant information in the application and provide the webpage so that Customs can check and verify it.

Relaxation of formal requirements for the Power of Attorney: Compared with the old Article 6, the new Article 6 makes a significant change in that it no longer requires the Power of Attorney to be consularly legalized where the right holder is an organization or individual without a presence in Vietnam.

Increased self-compliance responsibility of businesses: Along with more flexible procedures comes greater responsibility, as the applicant must bear full legal responsibility for the accuracy, legality, and validity of all information declared and submitted in the dossier.

Circular 06 provides clearer rules on the review and processing of customs surveillance application dossiers

The procedure for reviewing and processing customs surveillance applications is set out in the amended Article 7. Under the new Article 7, the processing workflow is clearly divided into two stages. First, the Customs Department reviews whether the dossier is complete. If the dossier is incomplete, a notice requesting supplementation must be issued within 05 working days. Only after the dossier is confirmed to be complete does Customs proceed to substantive review.

The scope of review of customs surveillance application dossiers has also been broadened and made more substantive. The Customs Department will no longer only check whether the protection title remains valid, but will also review the information contained in the protection title/certificate, the consistency between the application and the accompanying documents, photographs, descriptions, information on the goods, as well as the contents and validity period of the Power of Attorney. If the Power of Attorney is not proper or has expired, this may independently serve as a ground for refusing the dossier.

The new Article 7 also clarifies the time limit for processing: within 20 working days from the date of receipt of a complete dossier, the Customs Department must issue a notice of acceptance or non-acceptance. This helps businesses better monitor progress while also requiring them to prepare complete and accurate dossiers from the outset.

Customs authorities may proactively block counterfeit goods and counterfeit intellectual property goods

The most striking new point of Circular 06 is the authority to proactively block counterfeit goods and counterfeit intellectual property goods, now provided in Article 10a. Under Article 10a, during inspection, supervision, and control activities, if Customs has clear grounds to suspect that goods are counterfeit trademark goods, counterfeit geographical indication goods, or pirated goods, the Head of the Customs unit where the customs declaration is registered may issue a Decision on temporary suspension of customs procedures. Customs must then notify the right holder or its lawful authorized representative within 08 working hours if contact details are available in the dossier.

The basic characteristic of Article 10a is that it more clearly recognizes the proactive (ex officio) mechanism of Customs. However, businesses should not misunderstand this to mean that there is no longer any need to file customs surveillance dossiers because Customs will “take care of everything on its own.” Article 10a only operates where Customs already has clear grounds for suspicion, and in practice, the quality of the surveillance dossier previously filed by the business is a factor that may strengthen or weaken Customs’ ability to “detect on its own.” In other words, Article 10a does not replace customs surveillance; rather, it makes early customs surveillance filing more worthwhile.

Handling goods traded through e-commerce

Circular 06 also, for the first time, introduces Article 14a on customs inspection and supervision of export and import goods related to intellectual property rights traded through e-commerce. This is the first time e-commerce goods have been addressed in a separate provision, showing that Vietnam has formally recognized this as an independent risk area. Under Article 14a, inspection and supervision are carried out on the basis of risk management; if there are clear grounds indicating counterfeit intellectual property goods, the matter is handled under Article 10a; while the handling of goods showing signs of being counterfeit or infringing intellectual property rights still reverts to Articles 13 and 14 of the Circular, as applicable.

The defining feature of Article 14a is that Customs has now formally brought e-commerce into the direct regulatory scope of the mechanism for protecting intellectual property rights at the border. For businesses whose goods are imported or exported through digital platforms, this is no longer merely an issue worth paying attention to; it is an issue that requires immediate attention.

Bross & Partners – a Vietnam-based intellectual property law firm ranked Tier 1 by Legal 500 Asia Pacific, with extensive experience in IP litigation and cross-border enforcement.
For further information, please contact:
🔗 LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lequangvinh  | ✉️ vinh@bross.vn | 📞 +84 903 287 057
Zalo: +84 903 287 057 | Microsoft Teams: vinh@bross.vn
🌐 http://www.bross.vn