How will import and export goods be cleared when HCM City implements social distancing under Directive 16?

The waiting room at Saigon port area 1 Customs Branch was arranged to ensure social distancing complied with the regulations (photo taken on July 8, 2021). Photo: T.X

According to HCM City Customs, customs units at seaports, airports, industrial parks, export processing zones and high-tech parks will coordinate with warehouse and port units to arrange areas for receiving dossiers of enterprises outside the area of implementing customs procedures and arrange equipment to notify enterprises, avoiding direct contact.

For import-export goods via air, due to certain characteristics of the pandemic, the flight on exit and entry country were mainly take off at night, so Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Branch has solutions to support businesses.

Bui Le Hung, Manager of Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Branch, said that the unit has implemented the direction of leaders at all levels in pandemic prevention and cargo clearance in the current context. However, the characteristics of import and export goods by air depend on flights, especially export goods. So that the Customs branch would be flexible in arranging officials to work directly and remotely to ensure health and safety of officials performing their duties, as well as to create favourable conditions for businesses. Firms that have goods cleared outside office hours, need to notify in advance following regulations to receive the best support.

For customs officers residing outside HCM City who are facing local regulations on testing, medical isolation, etc., the Customs branch has encouraged and arranged for them to stay in HCM City during social distancing to ensure health and safety, as well as to ensure the number of officers at work.

At Cat Lai port, where the volume of import and export goods is very large, Saigon port area 1 Customs Branch carries out clearance procedures from 1,000 to more than 2,000 declarations daily. To ensure a large volume of goods is cleared in time, the branch has applied specific scenarios to perform the task.

Talking to us, the Manager of the Saigon port area 1 Customs Branch Tran Viet Thang said the unit arranged officials to work directly and remotely at each division inappropriate with the job. The inspection area is arranged with a waiting area with distanced seats for enterprises to wait at the procedure teams. However, all procedures have limited direct contact with businesses to ensure pandemic prevention. Communication with businesses is done via phone and email.

For the Hi-tech Park Customs Branch, where a foreign-invested firm has stopped operating due to more than 100 cases of infection, the clearance of goods in the past few days is guaranteed to operate normally.

According to Vu Viet Chau, Manager of High-Tech Park Customs Branch, the number of enterprises in the high-tech park was not much. Among nearly 50 enterprises engaging in import-export activities that regularly carry out procedures at the branch, there were four authorised economic operators (AEOs). The volume of goods carrying out customs procedures at the High-Tech Park Customs of AOEs accounted for more than 90% of the volume of import and export goods at the branch, so the unit always determined to facilitate maximum benefits for businesses, especially amid social distancing.

At the customs units outside the border gate, the division always ensures the support of cargo clearance, receives and answers promptly arising problems of enterprises.