Ministry of Finance strives to implement directions on specialised inspection reform

Customs officials of Tinh Bien Customs Branch checked imported goods. Photo: T.H

According to the Ministry of Finance, in the process of formulating a draft Decree stipulating the management mechanism, methods, order and procedures for quality and food safety inspection for imported goods, it has fully implemented steps in accordance with the order of legal documents.

The Ministry of Finance issued Decision No. 169/QD-BTC dated February 18, 2021 promulgating the Action Plan of the Ministry of Finance to implement Decision No. 38/QD-TTg dated January 12, 2021 of the Prime Minister on the approval of the Scheme on reform of quality and food safety inspection model for imported goods in the 2021-2023 period.

Issuing Decision No. 923/QD-BTC dated May 5, 2021 on the establishment of the Deployment Team for the Project on reform of quality inspection and food safety inspection model for imported goods.

Issuing Decision No. 922/QD-BTC dated May 5, 2021 on the establishment of a Drafting Board and an Editorial Team of the Decree stipulating the management mechanism, methods, order and procedures for quality inspection and food safety inspection for imported goods.

In the process of finalizing the draft decree, the Ministry of Finance held many face-to-face and online meetings to collect comments on the draft Decree with the participation of the Drafting Board and Editorial Team, representatives the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Office of the Government, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), associations, business communities in the North and South, and some provincial and municipal customs departments.

Especially, the Ministry has directly discussed with a number of specialised management ministries on the draft Decree, such as: Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade; discussing with each group of enterprises engaging in import goods under the scope of the regulations of the Decree.

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance has sent an official dispatch to collect opinions from ministries, ministerial-level agencies, People's Committees of provinces and cities, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Business Associations, and Conformity assessment body and related units on the draft Decree and post it on the portal of the Government and the Ministry of Finance for public comments.

The Ministry of Finance together with the Editorial Team had summed up and analyzed the comments and also explained the comments in detail to amend the Decree through many draft rounds.

The Ministry of Finance has received comments from units and organisations, most of the opinions expressed high agreement with the Government's reform requirements; through discussions with VCCI, up to 92% of enterprises agreed with the draft Decree.

According to the assessment of the Ministry of Finance, basically, the opinions of line ministries, sectors, international organisations, industry associations and enterprises at face-to-face seminars or sent in documents and emails all have specific explanations.

Currently, the draft Decree stipulating the management mechanism, methods, order and procedures for quality inspection and food safety inspection for imported goods has been posted twice on the web portal of the Government, the website of the Ministry of Finance, the General Department of Vietnam Customs to collect opinions from agencies, organisations, businesses and a large number of people in the country and abroad, especially those that are direct affected by the draft Decree.