What is a bonded warehouse? Top 5 largest ones in Vietnam

RSL Group – Bonded Warehouse is an area that plays a crucial role in the supply chain as well as the import and export process of goods. So what services are provided bonded by bonded warehouses and where are bonded warehouses allowed to be built? The article below will answer the above questions and list top 5 largest bonded warehouses in Vietnam today.

I. What is a bonded warehouse?

1. Concepts

According to Clause 10, Article 4 of the 2014 Customs Law, bonded warehouse is the area of a warehouse or storage yard for goods that have gone through customs procedures and are sent to wait for export; goods sent from abroad to be sent to wait for export abroad or import into Vietnam.

2. Services provided by bonded warehouses

Under Article 83 of Decree 08/2015/ND-CP, owners of commodities stored at bonded warehouses shall directly carry out or authorize bonded warehouse proprietors or customs brokerage agents to carry out the following services:

Package reinforcement, splitting and repackaging; consolidation; freight classification and maintenance.
Freight sampling for managerial work or customs procedures.
Transfer of the ownership of freight.
Especially for bonded warehouses particularly intended for chemicals or petrol, if they meet requirements for customs managerial operations and relevant requirements for specialized management activities, their preparation or mixture or conversion of different freight types shall be allowed.

3. Areas allowed to establish bonded warehouses

According to Clause 1, Article 62 of the 2014 Customs Law, bonded warehouses shall be permitted to set up in the following areas:

Areas adjacent to civil international airports, ports of import/export of inland goods (inland customs deport), land border checkpoints, and international inter-modal rail terminals.
Industrial parks, hi-tech zones, export-processing zones.

4. Requirements for establishment of bonded warehouses

According to Article 82 of Decree 08/2015/ND-CP, an establishment of a bonded warehouse need to meet the following conditions:

Proposed sites for establishment of bonded warehouses must be located at the areas stipulated in Clause 1 Article 62 of the Customs Law; the areas where competent regulatory agencies draw up the planning to develop logistics services, support exportation of agricultural, forest and aquatic products which are manufactured in the concentration manner. Bonded warehouses shall be separated from surrounding areas by walls, fences, and meet requirements for regular customs examination or supervision, except for those located in border checkpoints or ports with walls or fences to keep it completely separated from surrounding areas;
Bonded warehouse proprietor is the enterprise established under legal regulations, and provides services such as warehouse, storage and forwarding of exports or imports, and customs brokerage;
A bonded warehouse must cover a minimum area of 5,000 m2 (including spaces used for warehouse, commodity handling yards and auxiliary facilities), of which the warehouse must cover an area of 1,000 m2 or more. As for specialized warehouses particularly intended for one or several type(s) of cargos required to be specially stored, bonded warehouses must cover a minimum area of 1,000 m2. In particular, bonded yards intended for special purposes must cover a minimum area of 10,000 m2 and the size of warehouse space is not specified;
Bonded warehouse proprietor must have accounting record system developed and administrated by the application of information technologies in order to meet criteria stipulated by regulatory agencies for monitoring, managing commodities which are received, dispatched, stored or inventoried and connected with customs authorities in charge of bonded warehouses. Bonded warehouses must be equipped with surveillance cameras which meet the standards for customs supervision of commodities which are received, dispatched or inventoried.

II. Top 5 largest bonded warehouses in Vietnam

Even spread across the territory of our country, all provinces and cities have appropriate bonded warehouses to promote industrial transportation, enhance goods exchange activities, and serve the world-integrated economy of the country.

1. U&I Logistics Northern Joint Stock Company

Area: 242,320 m2
Location: Nam Tan Uyen Industrial Park, Binh Duong Province

U&I Logistics Northern Joint Stock Company owns a system of 10 bonded warehouses, in which the entire area of the warehouses is equipped with a multi-storey storage rack system, so the total storage area of the warehouse system reaches more than 2,000,000 m². This is the most modern bonded warehouse system managed with advanced technology according to international standards, recognized as the largest centralized bonded warehouse in Vietnam and the largest bonded warehouse system in the furniture industry in Southeast Asia.

The entire warehouse system is fully equipped with modern infrastructure, and technology in accordance with C-TPAT standards of U.S CBP and ISO 9001 certification such as Modern warehouse management software (WMS), barcode inventory management, humidity control and pest management, etc. As a result, U&I Logistics has received the trust of many prestigious strategic partners such as Saigon Co.op and Trancy Logistics and is confident in providing practical solutions that meet the demands of each and every client.

2. Vietnam Post Corporation

Area: 73,000 m2
Location: Dong Van III Industrial Park, Ha Nam Province & Thang Long Industrial Park, Vinh Phuc Province

Vietnam Post is the unit that built and put into operation the first bonded warehouse system in Vietnam to achieve TAPA level A security standard certification. With a total area of 02 bonded warehouses of more than 73,000m2 designed according to international standards, of which Vinh Phuc warehouse has an area of 28,000m2 and Ha Nam warehouse has more than 45,000m2, this is a model bonded warehouse system that provides The most modern VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) application in our country to date.

3. Gemadept Logistics One Member Company Limited

Area: 55,676 m2
Location: Song Than 1 Industrial Zone & An Thanh Production Cluster, Binh Duong

Gemadept has 2 main bonded warehouse systems in Di An district and An Thanh district, Binh Duong province. Gemadept Logistics is a pioneer in the field of bonded warehouses in Binh Duong by providing effective warehousing solutions for businesses importing and exporting goods in Binh Duong and Ho Chi Minh City, ensuring local and regional regulations and laws.

4. Dai Duong Trade and Logistics Services Joint Stock Company

Area: 28,904 m2
Location: Ba Thien Industrial Park, Vinh Phuc Province

Dai Duong Logistics Trade and Logistics Services Joint Stock Company is a large-scale logistics and warehousing operator in the Northern region. Established in 2016, the company has quickly developed a modern bonded warehouse system.

5. Yusen Logistics (Vietnam) Co., Ltd

Area: 28,000 m2
Location: Song Than Industrial Park, Binh Duong Province

Yusen Logistics (Vietnam) Co., Ltd., a member of Yusen Logistics Group, was established in 2006 in Vietnam with six logistics centers in provinces and cities including Bac Ninh, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Binh Duong and Danang. In particular, Yusen Logistics (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. is operating a bonded warehouse system spanning the whole country.

Above, RSL Group has provided basic information about bonded warehouses and statistics of the top 5 largest bonded warehouses in Vietnam, hoping to bring useful information to readers. Read more articles here.