Is it possibile to attach Chinese digital license plates to Vietnamese cars when crossing the border?

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According to Dong Dang Border Gate Economic Zone Authoritiy - Lang Son, in early July, the unit received a letter from the Pingxiang General Tax suspension zone authority (China)

on the comprehensive activation of the digital license plate identification system when crossing through Huu Nghi international border gate.

According to China, the attachment of digital license plates for cars moving to China was aimed to improve the efficiency of cargo clearance at Huu Nghi Quan border gate, serving the development of China - Vietnam trade.

Hoang Dinh Tue, Deputy Director of Dong Dang Border Gate Economic Zone Authority - Lang Son said after receiving the letter from China, the unit organised meetings with relevant authorities and competent forces at the border gate and representative of import-export enterprises at Huu Nghi international border gate. At the same time, discussing with Pingxiang General Tax suspension zone authority about the comprehensive activation of digital license plates identification system.

Huu Nghi International border gate

Through the exchange, the representatives of the Pingxiang General Tax suspension zone authority said the purpose of activating the digital license plate system aimed to replace the optical recognition system that is being applied and used radio frequency identification (FRIS) technique, increasing the the efficiency of recognition performance at the highest level which was 95 per cent up to 100 per cent. Currently, the digital license plate is only applied at Huu Nghi Quan border gate, it has not been implemented at other Chinese border gates yet. At other border gates, normal vehicles would be cleared as usual.

Besides that, Pingxiang General Tax suspension zone authority required the digital license plate must be affixed to the glass in front of the vehicle to facilitate capturing images for the recognisation of the plate which was applied at the border gate as well as when travelling on the highway in China. The electronic system can shoot automatically at the position fixed on the car glass. It also prevents the driver from moving or swapping the license plates of the vehicles causing misleading vehicle information.

Accordingly, the driver only needed to prepare a driver's license and bring it to the Card Issuing Centre at the control gate No. 1 of the Pingxiang General Tax suspension zone to make a dossier for issuance of digital license plate. The number written in the dossier and number of license plates must be identical; the Pingxiang General Tax suspension zone authority also recommended the driver not arbitrarily remove the license plate or cause damage, making it difficult to identify.

The Chinese side also encouraged the driver to do the procedure for granting digital license plates because it will not be charged for the first time and digital license plate will be affixed by the technical staff of the Pingxiang General Tax suspension zone authority it would be only about 5 minutes for each plate.

The Pingxiang General Tax suspension zone authority built a digital car license plate system at the control gate No. 1 (Vietnam border gate) and control gate No. 2 (Chinese gate) at Huu Nghi border gate in June 2019. At present, the means of transport in the Chinese side have basically completed the installation of digital plate and proposed the Dong Dang Economic Zone Authority - Lang Son border gate coordinate for implementation.

Worries about security

Dealing with the request of the Chinese side, Dong Dang Economic Zone Authority- Lang Son said that with the characteristics of international border gates and a large traffic volume, the application of science and technology into vehicle management is necessary job to improve the capacity and efficiency of clearance.

However, vehicles crossing the border gate were very diverse. Of that, some vehicles crossing the territory of other countries such as Laos and Thailand then go through Vietnam to go to China. There are occasional cars transporting import and export goods through Lang Son and Huu Nghi international border gates in particular. Therefore, the affixture of digital plate will be difficult when implementing and it need to have a roadmap to propagate and mobilise for the implementation.

Truck transported goods through Huu Nghi International Border Gate. Photo: H.Nụ

According to Tue, the digital license plate must be affixed to the glass in front of the vehicle to make it easier for the electronic system to recognise the car plates which was applying at the border as well as moving on the highway of China, however, when entering into the territory of Vietnam and some other countries, it may be related to security problems according to each country's regulations.

Dong Dang Economic Zone Authority- Lang Son also said it is necessary to have a specialised inspection agency to verify the digital license number plate affecting the non-stop toll collection, the operation of surveillance equipment transport journey as stipulated in Article 14 of Decree No. 84/2014/ND-CP dated September 10, 2014 of the Government regulating business and business conditions for transport operation.

Also, according to Tue, in an interview with the Pingxiang General Tax suspension zone authority on July 24, the Dong Dang Economic Zone Authority - Lang Son proposed the Chinese side consider not applying identification cards at one place like this. They could use a removable license plate when moving to the screening area, driver just take it in front of the windshield for identification. However, this proposal has not received consensus from China.

From the proposal of the Chinese side and the Dong Dang Economic Zone Authority - Lang Son, Lang Son Provincial People's Committee agreed to adopt the digital license plate per the request of the Pingxiang General Tax suspension zone authority. However, the application needed a specific and immediate implementation schedule until the end of 2019, and it was requested that the Pingxiang General Tax suspension zone authority still carry out identification of license plates as currently.

At the same time, assigning to Lang Son Department of Transport to advise Lang Son Provincial People's Committee to issue a document for collecting opinions of the Ministry of Transport and related ministries and agencies about the proposal.