CITES licensing under the National Single Window: No evolution

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Confusion is one of the reasons that companies do not apply CITES licensing procedures under the National Single Window. Photo: Nguyen Thanh.

Clear benefits

Christian Dior Vietnam Co., Ltd (specializing in leather wallets and handbags with high-quality leather materials from France, consumed in the domestic market) is one of the 5 companies involved in the issue of procedures of CITES under the National Single Window right from the beginning. According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Thuan, the import and export specialist of the company, Christian Dior Vietnam Co., Ltd monthly imports 3 shipments, equal to 3 times of procedures for licensing CITES. "Compared to previous paperwork, the application of the National Single Window really brings many benefits for businesses. Instead of 10-15 days to receive the license as the paperwork, the current license time is only about 5 days. In addition, enterprises also save a lot of time in running between the company’s headquarters and CITES agency. Whenever there is a need to apply for a license, enterprises only need to transfer full records through electronic systems and wait for feedback from CITES. If the records have any mistakes, enterprises also immediately receive information in a timely fashion", said Mr. Thuan.

Representatives of some other companies which have participated in CITES licensing procedures under the National Single Window said that initially, businesses had trouble, however, when they had done many times, they were familiar with the National Single Window smoothly and conveniently. In this regard, Mrs. Phan Thi Nguyet, CITES Management Authority of Vietnam (the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said that CITES is always trying to complete CITES licensing after 3-5 days. In addition, the unit is also willing to support businesses, answer any questions at request of businesses.

Still hesitating

The benefits from the application of the National Single Window are quite clear, but sadly, the number of enterprises participating in CITES licensing procedures under the National Single Window is quite modest. Accordingly, in early July 2016, speaking to a reporter of the Customs Newspaper, Mrs. Nguyet said that there were only 5 enterprises involved in the application of the National Single Window to the above procedures, so far, this figure has not still changed. Even among the 5 participating companies, Tram Huong Manufacturing and Services Joint Stock Company applied CITES licensing procedures under NSW once and postponed indefinitely.

"The company specialized in agate wooden products, mainly in the domestic market. Normally, the company has an export order each year, even in a few years, it has an order, so the frequency of CITES licensing is quite small. Therefore, after the training on CITES licensing procedures under the National Single Window, despite the successful implementation, these enterprises do not want to continue" said Mr. Dang Dinh Hien, the representative of Tram Huong Manufacturing and Services Joint Stock Company.

When exchanging with companies participating CITES licensing training that have never applied, the reporter of the Customs Newspaper found that the number of applications for CITES licensing was not really high, and enterprises are familiar with the old ways, hesitant to change. If the number of applications for CITES licenses increases in the future, or if the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issues a regulation requiring the CITES application process to be completed by electronic method, enterprises shall implement.

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In this regard, Mrs. Nguyet added: In the past, many businesses hesitated not to apply CITES licensing procedures under the National Single Window because there were many errors or the size of attachments, causing much difficulty for businesses. At present, these obstacles are almost tackled by the related units (the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the General Department of Vietnam Customs, and Viettel Group). CITES is always ready to support and expect the business community to actively apply the National Single Window procedures. Currently, CITES has also proposed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide funding so that in the coming time, more propaganda sessions could be organized for businesses on the practical benefits of applying National Single Window when implementing the CITES licensing procedures.