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Regulatory Radar · Vietnam (Ministry of Finance, General Department of Customs) · Customs

Vietnam Circular 142: new customs procedure for postal and express parcels from 16 November 2026

Adopted · updated 29 September 2026 · reviewed 29 October 2026 · Southeast Asia
Next date: 16 Nov 2026

Circular 142/2026/TT-BTC, issued by the Ministry of Finance on 29 September 2026, changes customs procedures for imports, exports and transit of goods sent by designated postal services and international express, from 16 November 2026. Electronic identification and authentication become mandatory for Group 1 postal goods and for Group 1 and Group 2 express goods; groups depend on customs value against the duty-free thresholds and on whether the goods need licences or specialised inspection. Express and postal operators may prepay duties into a customs deposit account and must self-declare, self-calculate and self-pay.

For a parcel Recipient: must complete electronic identity verification before a Group 1 postal or Group 1 or 2 express parcel clears; the operator must tell the consignee (imports) or sender (exports) about this step. Shipper: needs to supply identification and complete data (exporter, importer, goods, customs value, freight, insurance, taxpayer). Intermediaries: new declaration codes for low-value goods (procedure A45; P for postal, E for express, G for gifts), a deposit account at the State Treasury and operator liability for the amounts due. The articles we read do not say what happens to a parcel whose party has not completed verification; goods routed to channel 3 can be physically inspected.

Key dates

  • Done29 Sep 2026

    Circular 142/2026/TT-BTC issued (amends Circulars 49/2015 and 191/2015) Vietnam Financial Times

  • 16 Nov 2026

    Circular applies; operators asked to update software and test data before this date Tai chinh Hai quan

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Who it hits

Express operatorsVietnam Post and postal operatorsCustoms brokersPlatforms and shippers sending to VietnamVietnamese consignees

What to prepare

  • Update declaration software and intake procedures to the new data fields and message formats, and run tests with customs before 16 November
  • Classify each consignment into Group 1 or Group 2 on both value and licensing or inspection conditions, not value alone
  • Decide whether to prepay into a customs deposit account and set up reconciliation against the summary form HQ 08-BTH-TT

Our reading

Vietnam is putting the same data discipline on parcels that its new Customs Law will put on e-commerce platforms from March 2027, and it makes the operator the accountable payer. Operators' own publications are thin: DHL Express Vietnam's legal and customs director asked customs for early guidance on how to identify parties and what to collect from shippers, and a Vietnam Post logistics unit called the software cost significant (Tai chinh Hai quan, 24 October). We found no carrier, broker or forwarder notice to customers yet. The duty-free threshold figure is not given in the articles we read; our Vietnam duty-free limit rule lists the current limits.
End of de minimisASEAN rulebook

Sources

  1. Ministry of Finance steps up digitalisation of customs procedures for postal and express goods (Vietnamese) · Vietnam Financial Times · 2026-10-02
  2. Postal and express goods: changes to the customs procedure (Vietnamese) · Tai chinh Hai quan · 2026-10-15
  3. Digitalising customs procedures for postal and express goods (Vietnamese) · Tai chinh Hai quan · 2026-10-24

Information, not legal advice. Dates come from official texts or quality legal and trade press, and slip often: always check the current text before acting. Back to the full radar.

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