Pace of life at Cau Treo International Border Gate

	Ha Tinh Customs in collaboration to seize 574 synthetic drug tablets
	Seized 20 kg of wildlife from Laos to Vietnam
	Ha Tinh Customs collaborated to seize 300kg of smuggled firecrackers

Cau Treo border gate is packed with trucks. Picture: H.NU

Exciting at the border region

Having the opportunity to return to the Cau Treo international border gate, we realize that the export and import activities and entrance and exit activities are not as bleak as before. By June 1st, 2018, the situation at Customs Sub-Department of Cau Treo International Border Gate has been restored, many enterprises moved to carry out the customs procedures and clearance at Customs Department of Cau Treo International Border Gate, which made this place exciting and busy for passengers and the enterprises doing the procedures for imports and exports, transit shipments. These are happy signals, signaling the period of prosperity of import and export activities through the Cau Treo international border gate.

In the first few months of 2018, the number of people making the immigration procedures, import and export procedures and trading activities for goods was relatively modest.

Pointing to the line of trucks waiting for the customs clearance at the border gate, Mr. Le Dung, head of Customs Sub-Department of Cau Treo International Border Gate, said that the number of trucks flowing through the border each day has doubled compared to the first months of the year, reaching 100-120 vehicles. It was forecasted that the number of trucks carrying the export-import goods and immigration passengers would increase suddenly from now until Tet holiday.

Along with the number of vehicles crossing the border, the number of enterprises opening declarations at the border gate also increased significantly. In 2018, the border gate has cleared customs procedures for nearly 383 enterprises, opened 5,169 declarations of all kinds with total turnover of US$ 285.29 million, an increase of 48,675 over the same period. As a result, up to now, the budget revenue at Cau Treo International Border Gate has reached 122.9 billion VND, up 145.8% compared to the target.

Mr. Le Dung said that although there were no new items, the structure of traditional export and import goods clearly changed. The items enhancing exports included building materials, confectionery, seafood... In addition, import goods that usually have large turnovers such as wood, electronics and refrigeration fell sharply, but instead of them, some items enhanced and increased import turnover including confectionery, liquefied gas, longan, energy drinks...

Visually around the customs clearance area, although the front yard has been used as a waiting area, but the bustling scene is still in place. On the way to Gate A, transport vehicles are in line with each other, the hustling and bustling sounds of machines and people creates an exciting atmosphere in the border region, where people once said to each other it was an “unwholesome environment”

The positive signals of the Cau Treo trading activities have helped to boost the State budget revenues, but it has also put tremendous pressure on the Customs officers here. For goods transported conveniently through the border gates, the Customs officers often work outside working hours in order to facilitate and clear quickly the goods for enterprises. According to Mr. Le Dung, often overtime is also the way in which the Cau Treo Customs officials share with the enterprises, with people working away. Because the goods through the border are mainly seafood and food products, if the customs clearance is late, it will affect the quality of goods, activities of enteprises and export-import turnover of Vietnam.

Diligent fight against smuggling

Along with bustling activities at the border gate, the number of people crossing the border gate also increased sharply, leading to the risk of trade fraud and smuggling in the area. Particularly, the sensitive and valuable commodities such as firecrackers, foreign wine, beer, cigarettes, soft drinks, sugar, cosmetics, wildlife, petrol, wood… are chosen preferentially by the smuggling and trade fraud objects.

Mr. Le Dung added that over the past time, the unit took many positive measures for solutions to create the most favorable conditions for the business community. At the same time, they coordinated well with the functional agencies and forces in border areas such as with the Border Guard, Police, and local authorities in the fight against smuggling for border management; enhancing the control of trails, shortcuts on border lines, 2 back regions near the border gate, minimizing the smugglers’ border crossings into the inland.

As a result, the smuggled goods entering the inland through border gates, trails, shortcuts were controlled well, in the area there were no large smuggling places. Many cases of smuggled goods across borders were arrested in time, and many illegal transportations of narcotics, trade frauds were also discovered, contributing to transparency of import and export activities.

In the days leading up to Tet, the border trade at border gates increased sharply, leading to many risks of trade fraud, smuggling and illegal trade. Therefore, the strengthening of inspection, control and supervision measures in the Cau Treo border gate area would be extremely necessary... and is being implemented by the unit persistently, Mr. Le Dung emphasized.

Ha Tinh Customs arrested 2 perpetrators transporting wild animals VCN- According to the Ha Tinh Customs Department, the Customs Branch of Cau Treo international border gate ...

Farewell to the Cau Treo International Border Gate, we realize that the Customs officers have to forget the cold in the border to complete the assigned tasks, to carry out the customs clearances conveniently for the line of trucks and containers connected to each other, and to control the illegal goods so as to not enter the inland.