Border gates shifting procedures for consumable goods should be officially applied at My Dinh ICD

The meeting view

The mechanism of shifting border gates for consumable goods at My Dinh ICD has been piloted since June 27, 2014. The mechanism has been applied to enterprises which have operated for more than 365 days and have their headquarters or branches, offices in Ha Noi.

In order to conduct the experiment, the Northern Ha Noi Customs Branch and Interserco Company (ICD My Dinh business) signed the coordination regulations to inspect and control goods entering and leaving My Dinh ICD. Interserco has deployed a camera system to supervise and track goods coming in and out of the ICD. My Dinh ICD infrastructure has been invested in a synchronous manner. Moreover, 500 GPS tracking devices have been connected to the Northern Ha Noi Customs Branch for monitoring and examining transportation processes.

During implementation, the Northern Ha Noi Customs Branch has been in coordination with Port Customs Branches under Hai Phong Customs Department in supervising and inspecting goods transported from Hai Phong Ports to the ICD on the right routes as scheduled.

The tracking and supervision of the routes have been conducted regularly, storing GPS pictures for 30 days. At the same time, offenses have been detected and treated as regulated to ensure application to right beneficiaries.

Since the experiment date until August 31, 2016, the total number of declarations as well as the turn-over and the revenue have been significantly increased. In detail, from June 2014 to the end of the year 2014, there were 232 declarations registered with a turn-over of $US 13.2 million and 187.9 billion vnd as the entire amount of duties collected. In 2015, the total number of declarations increased to 1,384; the turn-over reached $US 75.5 million and the revenue worth 1,644 billion vnd. Over the past 8 months in 2016, there have been 969 declarations with the turn-over of $US 101.7 million and the collected duties worth 702.4 billion dong.

Till now, 319 traders have gone to the Northern Ha Noi Customs Branch for doing border gate shifting procedures. The Customs Supervision and Control Department confirmed the mechanism applied to enterprises located in Ha Noi, having operated for at least 365 days and only for consumable goods transferred from Hai Phong to My Dinh ICD, which facilitated business activities, reducing time of movement, bringing about business efficiency and meeting the traders’ needs in doing procedures for consumable goods at My Dinh ICD.

Showing high appreciation at the meeting, traders shared that the pilot mechanism of undertaking border gate shifting procedures at My Dinh ICD has brought benefits to them over the last two years.

According to Truong Hai Company’s representatives, the biggest benefit gained by the company was not only reduction in costs of movement between Ha Noi and Hai Phong for procedures but also decrease in time. In the past, the company had to spend 01 day travelling between the two places for doing Customs procedures. So they costed time and failed to do other things. At present, it takes them several hours to undertake Customs procedures in Ha Noi. Then, they can save time to do other work with high opportunity costs.

A manager in charge of import and export for the FPT company also confirmed that the importation of computers, products of high technology were facilitated. Especially, thanks to rapid and simplified procedures at My Dinh ICD, the company has cut a big amount of cost for import and export staff. Many import and export staff have been rotated to other sections, reducing costs and burdens for the company.

Most enterprises joining the meeting shared their difficulties in transporting goods while means of transport are banned to run to My Dinh ICD from 6.00 am to 9.00 pm, arising cost of extra working hours and problems in circulation of goods.

Ha Noi Customs Department, Hai Phong Customs Department and traders proposed to officially apply the mechanism of shifting border gates for consumable goods at My Dinh ICD.

Assessing the scheme, the enterprises said they would feel more convenient to do Customs procedures at a Customs office they chose if the mechanism was officially applied. The participants agreed to propose the extension of the list of participating ports in the scheme, not only Hai Phong ports but also others in Quang Ninh province and border gates in Lang Son, Quang Ninh.

With regard to conditions for enterprises, Ha Noi Customs Department proposed not to give the conditions in terms of the minimum time of traders’ operation (365 days till the date of import declaration lodgment) and traders’ location in Ha Noi. Enterprise management should be performed under the principles of risk management and in the light of the Law on Customs 2014.

Deputy Director General of Customs, Mr. Vu Ngoc Anh attended the meeting, addressing there. He revealed the General Department of Customs would gather all opinions raised in the meeting and report to the Ministry of Finance for proposal to the Prime Minister for 2-year achievements in the pilot mechanism and a plan of further implementation and extension at My Dinh ICD, contributing to the Capital development.

In the orientations for the next period, the Deputy Director of Customs Supervision and Control Department, Mr. Au Anh Tuan said the scope of application and conditions for enterprises should be taken into consideration by Customs administration for further facilitation.

Concerning Customs procedures, supervision should be conducted in accordance with Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC issued by the Ministry of Finance and Decision No.1966/QĐ-TCHQ by the General Department of Customs. In details, Customs sealing and making documents to hand over consignments shall only be done in case the consignments are subjected to physical inspection at My Dinh ICD under Ha Noi Customs City Department, which enables the procedures for shifting border gates to be rapidly performed.

For further facilitation, Customs intended to abolish requirements of registering quantities and number panels of means of transport with the aim of creating fair competition in transportation and avoiding business monopoly.

In addition, there would be detailed regulations to prevent forwarders, transporters or warehouse owners from making use of their monopoly to raise service fees, leading to unfair competition.

On the basis of traders’ proposals, Customs would propose Ha Noi City People’s Committee to allow means of transporting goods to My Dinh ICD to run in the timeframe from 6 am to 9 pm, contributing to accelerate goods clearance.