Deputy Minister Vu Thi Mai: Overcoming difficulties due to Covid-19 pandemic, Customs sector successfully performs tasks

	10 outstanding events of Customs sector in 2020
	Promulgate two sets of testing on the assessment of capacity of customs officials
	Customs sector strengthens revenue collection in last months of year

Deputy Minister of Finance Vu Thi Mai speaking at the conference. Photo: Thai Binh

Effectively prevent smuggling and drug cases

That is the trust and affirmation of Deputy Minister of Finance Vu Thi Mai at the online conference summarizing the performance in 2020 and implementing the tasks for 2021 of the General Department of Customs held on the morning of December 24.

Appreciating the achievements in 2020 of the General Department of Customs, Deputy Minister Vu Thi Mai said that the overall achievements of the Finance sector had an important contribution from the General Department of Customs.

In particular, the General Department of Customs synchronously caried out many positive and drastic solutions; customs inspection and supervision were reformed and achieved positive results; risk management, post-customs clearance inspection, management of budget revenue and tax debt collection were strongly conducted.

As a result, the state budget revenue is estimated at VND315,000 billion, VND15,000 billion higher than the figure reported to the National Assembly. This is an effort of the General Department of Customs to contribute to the national budget balance amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Administrative reform, customs modernization, trade facilitation and import-export activities have been further strengthened by the General Department of Customs. That effort is proved by the result of five consecutive years that the General Department of Customs has been ranked first among agencies under the Ministry of Finance in reform, modernization and IT application.

As the Standing Body of the National Steering Committee for the National Single Window, ASEAN Single Window and Trade Facilitation, the General Department of Customs has actively advised the Ministry of Finance and the Government in the implementation of the National Single Window and the ASEAN Single Window. So far, the number of procedures implemented on the National Single Window are significant. Regarding the ASEAN Single Window, Vietnam is one of the most active countries.

“Especially this year, the General Department of Customs advised the Ministry of Finance to develop a scheme on reforming the model of quality inspection and food safety inspection for imported goods towards Customs as a leading agency under Resolution 99 / NQ-CP and Resolution 02 / NQ-CP. This scheme is an important reform that fundamentally renovates specialized inspection work and will bring many benefits to businesses,” said the Deputy Minister.

Among the outstanding achievements of the Customs sector, the Deputy Minister of Finance highly appreciated the fight against smuggling and trade fraud. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the smuggling and trade fraud activities in 2020, especially the illegal transport of narcotics, were very complicated. The Customs force presided over and coordinated with other forces to successfully handle many cases, including many big drug cases.

In particular, the inspection to combat origin fraud and illicit transhipment has been conducted very successfully. This result is extremely meaningful in the context of Vietnam signing many new free trade agreements and promoting trade relations with the United States.

In addition to the above results, Deputy Minister Vu Thi Mai also highly appreciated the implementation of schemes, policies and customs management. The General Department of Customs has basically completed policy making projects. In addition, she also recognized results of risk management, inspection, human resource development, and staff training for management and internal management.

Consensus to overcome difficulties

According to Deputy Minister Vu Thi Mai, the results of the Customs sector achieved in 2020 come from the close directions and the drastic, synchronous, timely and effective implementation of Resolutions, conclusions and directions of leaders at all levels in the entire Finance sector.

In addition, the support and participation in the political system, party committees, local authorities, the effective coordination of all levels and agencies; and the sharing and cooperation of the business community have helped the General Department of Customs in particular and the Ministry of Finance in general fulfil their political tasks in 2020.

In addition, there is the regular and continuous concentration in the leadership and direction of the Party Committee, leaders of the Ministry of Finance and the implementation of the tasks of the General Department of Customs and the Customs units at all levels from the first days of the year.

Thereby, the Customs sector has turned the assigned objectives, requirements and tasks into specific action programs and tasks for each unit and officer and assessed progress and results to have appropriate solutions.

In particular, the results achieved in 2020 are because of solidarity, consensus and mutual efforts to overcome difficulties and challenges of the entire Finance sector in general and of the Customs sector in particular.

Strive to exceed 5% of budget revenue target in 2021

Entering 2021, Deputy Minister Vu Thi Mai emphasized a number of tasks and solutions that require the General Department of Customs to perform synchronously.

First, to effectively achieve the task of State budget revenue of VND315,000 billion in 2021 assigned by the National Assembly. The Ministry of Finance assigns the General Department of Customs to strive to exceed at least 5% of the target. To do this, the General Department of Customs needs to follow the assigned tasks and solutions in the Government's Resolution No. 01/2021 / NQ-CP and the action program of the Ministry of Finance to develop an implementation plan from the beginning of the year and continue to carry out customs management solutions and control state budget collection in an effective, timely and comprehensive manner.

Second, to conduct administrative procedure reform, customs modernization and trade facilitation to shorten customs clearance time and costs. In which, to continue to advise, urge and effectively coordinate ministries and agencies in the implementation of the action plan to promote the National Single Window and ASEAN Single Window, specialized inspection reform and trade facilitation in accordance with Decision 1254 / QD-TTg and Decision 1258 / QD-TTg of the Prime Minister; to expand the implementation of the scheme on reforming the model of quality inspection and food safety inspection for imported goods to contribute to facilitating trade, improving national competitiveness and attracting investment.

In addition, to enhance the IT application in customs management, urgently carry out the project on redesigning the information technology system of the Customs sector towards digital customs, and put the system into official operation. At the same time, to expand the automated system for customs management at seaports and airports; and expand the connection with commercial banks to perform tax collection and payment 24/7.

Third, to improve the combat against smuggling and trade fraud especially before, during and after the Lunar New Year. Accordingly, to further analyse risks to develop targeted plans that focus on risky areas and goods; to develop specialized projects of fighting drugs, smuggling and trade fraud. To strengthen the inspection of origin fraud, illicit transhipment and cooperation with the customs agencies of the US and other countries for information sharing and close coordination; and to perform tasks assigned by the Standing Agency of the National Steering Committee 389.

Also, to strengthen information on customs management and supervision and encourage people to coordinate with Customs in the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods; to improve effectiveness of coordination with interdisciplinary forces, especially local authorities of the Steering Committee 389.

Fourth, to continue to build a clean and strong customs force, to improve qualifications of customs officers to meet the requirements of new tasks and strictly follow conclusions and recommendations of inspection and audit agencies and the Central Inspection Commission.