Lao Cai Customs earns about VND200 billion in revenue

	Lao Cai customs clears more than 30,000 tons of exported watermelon, dragon fruit
	180,000 tablets of synthetic drugs seized by Lao Cai Customs
	576 enterprises engage in import – export activities at Lao Cai Customs

Officers of Lao Cai International Border Gate Customs Branch inspect exported dragon fruits. Photo: T.Binh.

Lao Cai Customs Department is assigned a revenue target of VND1,540 billion by the Ministry of Finance and VND1,800 billion by Lao Provincial People's Council in 2022.

According to the local customs department, from early year to February 15, the department’s revenue saw a year-on-year increase of 4.2% to VND196.5 billion, meeting 12.7% of the target assigned by the Ministry of Finance and 6.34% of the target set by the local government.

The number of enterprises that carried out import and export procedures at the department rose by 38 compared with the same period in the previous year to 330 enterprises.

The total number of processed declaration forms decreased by 700 to 5,867 declaration forms. The total trade dropped by 7.5% year-on-year. Of which, export turnover rose 3.3% to US$155 million and import turnover fell by 19.6% to US$89.5 million.

Items that were mainly exported across the area include agricultural products, yellow phosphorus, and peeled wood; imported items were fertilizers, chemicals, coke, iron and steel of all kinds, machinery and equipment.

Notably, the export of dragon fruit has resumed. However, the quantity is still limited due to strict inspection, testing and supervision by the Chinese side to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic.

Regarding the export of agricultural products, Lao Cai International Border Gate Customs Branch implemented customs clearance for 10,367 tons of dragon fruit, 23,538 tons of watermelon; 39,316 tons of cassava and 4,824 tons of bananas in January.

Meanwhile, the branch carried out customs clearance procedures for about 400,000 tons of dragon fruit, about 80,000 tons of watermelon, nearly 70,000 tons of bananas and more than 106,000 tons of cassava in 2021.