Dong Nai Customs: Effectively control import – export goods using risk management

The operation of container scanning machine helps Dong Nai Customs to improve the effectiveness of risk control but still ensure businesses facilitation. Photo: N.H

Detecting many violations

With the characteristics of an area with many Export Processing Zones (EPZs) and Industrial Parks (IPs), firms registering to implement procedures at Dong Nai Customs Department are mainly foreign-invested firms operating in the fields of business investment, processing, and export production and export processing. Import-export products are mostly raw materials serving for garment, footwear and leather industries; components and spare parts for motorcycles, wood products, import and export of agricultural products, production of animal feed; import and export of chemicals, precursors, steel scrap and plastic scrap for export processing and production activities.

To ensure customs control in the area but still create favourable conditions for import and export firms, Dong Nai Customs Department has applied risky measures to identify the key objects and key commodities and levels of risk based on an analysis of frequency, signs of risks and violations to take appropriate control measures for each method and trick.

The unit has focused on solutions to improve the efficiency of applying risk criteria and classifying channel for goods declarations. At the same time, focusing on assessing the risk criteria and legal compliance of group of firms engaged in import-export activities under 365 days, firms that have a small number of declarations, irregular declarations, opening import declarations, and not opening export declarations.

Along with that, the unit also applies modern equipment in customs operations such as container scanning machines, electronic positioning seals and online closed circuit television (CCTV) systems to reduce cargo clearance time at the same time improve the efficiency of State management of Customs amid complex pandemic developments.

From the beginning of the year until now, Dong Nai Customs Department has used channel classification to issue customs inspection decisions for more than 500,000 declarations. The Green channel accounts for nearly 73%, the Yellow channel 24% and the Red channel 3%. The unit has processed nearly 700 pieces of risk management information and collected information about 170 firms; simultaneously applying 368 analytical criteria. Through risk management, Dong Nai Customs Department has detected nearly 40 violations with a total value of nearly VND 17 billion of infringing goods. The main risks are recorded as risks in depositing goods in bonded warehouses, managing goods temporarily imported and re-export; risks in the operation of cancelling or correcting customs declarations and making additional declarations; risks of origin of exported and imported goods and risks of value, quantity and weight.

For example, Company B. violated the regulation on not presenting goods under customs supervision for an inspection by customs authorities and intentionally consumed goods subject to customs supervision. Accordingly, Dong Nai Customs Department issued a decision to sanction this firm to the tune of VND 42 million. Dong Nai Customs Department also discovered that S.M VN Co., Ltd. violated regulations on raw material management, leading to inventories being short compared to accounting documents, accounting books, and dossier of exported and imported goods; at the same time, making incorrect declarations of goods codes and import tariff rates, leading to a lack of payable tax. Therefore, the firm was sanctioned VND 142 million.

Continue to upgrade the "filter" of risk management

Based on the socio-economic situation in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dong Nai Customs Department forecasted that in the last six months of the year, the acts of fraud of origin and illegal transshipment of goods originating from China through Vietnam to export to the US and European markets, including wood products, textiles, iron and steel, aluminum and household electrical appliances. Along with that, importing used equipment and technological lines ineligible to the standard as specified in Decision 18/2019/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister dated April 19, 2019.

Dong Nai Customs Department also put firms on watch lists that import machinery, equipment, raw materials for export processing and production, but beyond the production cycle, there is no export product; firms import alcohol, beer, tobacco, cosmetics, supplementary foods, household appliances and imported electronics and deposited into bonded warehouses for export to China and Cambodia.

Based on those observations, Dong Nai Customs Department plans to continue to implement Decision No. 623/QD-TCHQ on promulgating a set of risk management indicators in customs operations; Circular 81/2019/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2019 of the Ministry of Finance on risk management in customs operations, Decision 2218/QD-TCHQ dated August 26, 2020 of the General Department of Vietnam Customs guiding the implementation Circular 81/2019/TT-BTC.

The unit will strengthen the collection and processing of information; building, managing, and applying key firm dossiers; promoting communication; and encouraging firms to voluntarily comply with regulations on origin, labelling of goods, and intellectual property rights in import and export activities. At the same time, Dong Nai Customs Department will also focus on effectively using resources, equipment, facilities and improving the detection rate of violations.