Venezuela: SENIAT Issues Instructions to Simplify Customs Procedure

Key takeaways

The Notice introduces several practical changes for foreign trade operators and customs brokers, including: (i) a reduction in the documentation that customs authorities may require in connection with various customs procedures; (ii) a stricter application of the selectivity channels established under the SIDUNEA system, limiting physical inspections and documentary reviews to those corresponding to the assigned channel; (iii) greater restrictions on requests for additional information during cargo inspection procedures; and (iv) the streamlining of certain procedures by delegating decision-making authority directly to customs offices, without requiring approvals from other SENIAT units.

In more detail

The most relevant aspects of the Notice are as follows:

1. Reduction of Documentary Requirements: The Notice removes the obligation to provide certain supporting documents in a range of customs procedures, including import and export operations, tariff classification and valuation requests, authorizations for customs service providers, and special customs regimes.

In particular, the Notice primarily removes requirements to submit documents that have either been previously filed with SENIAT or can be verified through digital means. The documents that will no longer be required include the following:

1. Copies of national identity cards
2. Tax Information Registry (RIF) certificates and income tax returns
3. Printed copies of documents already available through the Automated Customs System ("SIDUNEA")
4. Originals of documents issued electronically in Venezuela that contain a readable QR code
5. Powers of attorney previously accepted by the relevant customs authority

2. SIDUNEA selective channels: The Notice requires customs offices to process and review Single Customs Declarations ("DUA") in accordance with the selectivity channel assigned by the SIDUNEA system.

1. Green Channel: no documentary review or physical inspection is required
2. Yellow Channel: subject only to documentary review
3. Red Channel: subject to both documentary review and physical inspection²

3. Cancellation of Customs Declarations: The Notice expedites the correction of filing errors by requiring customs offices to cancel a registered DUA within one business day where the declarant identifies inaccuracies and the applicable duties and taxes have not yet been paid.

4. Decentralization of Approvals: The Notice provides that certain procedures must be processed and decided directly by the relevant customs offices, without requiring prior authorization or approval from other SENIAT units. These procedures include:

1. Verification procedures relating to certificates evidencing the use of vehicles imported under the Passenger Baggage Regime.
2. Procedures relating to the customs regimes of exportation, temporary exportation, temporary exportation for outward processing, and the re-exportation of goods classified as capital goods (BK).

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1 In our view, the Notice does not introduce a substantive change to Venezuela's administrative simplification framework. Rather, it provides guidance on the implementation of principles and obligations already embedded in Venezuelan law. In particular, the reduction of documentary requirements, the use of information available through public databases and systems, and the streamlining of administrative procedures are concepts that can be traced back to the 1999 Law on the Simplification of Administrative Procedures (as amended in 2008) and, more recently, to the Organic Law for the Expedited and Optimized Processing of Administrative Procedures, published in Official Gazette Extraordinary No. 7,018 on 8 April 2026. Accordingly, while the Notice is significant because it establishes specific directives for customs authorities and promotes a more consistent application of these principles within SENIAT, the underlying concepts have long enjoyed recognition under higher-ranking legislation.

2 Prior to the issuance of the Notice, the practical application of the selectivity channels had become increasingly distorted, with the red channel being used in the majority of customs inspections regardless of the risk profile assigned by the system. This measure seeks to restore the efficiency and expedited nature of the electronic selectivity process by ensuring that customs controls are carried out in accordance with the channel assigned to each declaration.

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