Reducing import and export costs for businesses needs the cooperation of ministries and agencies

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Deputy Director of the Customs Supervision and Administration Department Dao Duy Tam, speaks at the seminar. Photo: CL

Applying IT to facilitate businesses

Speaking at the seminar, Mr. Dao Duy Tam, Deputy Director of the Customs Supervision and Administration Department under the General Department of Customsm said in addition to improving the institutional system and legal documents, the General Department of Customs has developed solutions on information technology (IT) application such as online customs procedures, electronic payment (E-Payment); and automatic customs supervision management.

Accordingly, all basic customs procedures are now completely automated through the VNACCS/VCIS at a very high level at 100% of Customs units nationwide with more than 99 enterprises and customs clearance time for Green channel declaration of only 1-3 seconds.

By the end of 2021, customs coordinated with 44 banks to conduct e-payment, of which 38 banks deployed e- tax payment and 24/7 customs clearance. Tax revenue from import-export activities through banks reached 99.8% of the total revenue.

Customs has also implemented automatic customs supervision management; replacing administrative procedures with electronic information exchange, thereby abolishing a number of administrative procedures, contributing to reducing man-hours and saving human resources for management agencies and saving costs for businesses.

Notably, in order to further facilitate businesses and help them overcome difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the General Department of Customs has officially provided free customs declaration software for enterprises engaging in import and export from December 29, 2021.

According to Customs, this free software will help 92,000 importers and exporters save about VND432 billion.

In the near future, Vietnam Customs will continue to promote administrative reform in an extensive and comprehensive way in order to reduce the time for customs clearance of goods and create favorable conditions for businesses. In particular, customs will comprehensively redesign the Customs IT system, towards Digital Customs, Smart Customs.

Cooperation is a must

As a customs unit in charge of an area with a large flow of import-export goods in the whole country, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has offered many solutions to support and facilitate import-export activities.

Deputy Head of Management Supervision Division under Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department Dang Thai Thien said to reduce 70% of the time to receive and check customs documents as well as reduce 70% of the time for physical inspection of goods, Ho Chi Minh City Customs issued Decision 2318, promulgating the "Project on Trade Facilitation: Customs Procedures in Logistics and anti-congestion of import-export goods at Cat Lai Port" with three solutions.

The first solution is to build a centralised working model, implementing customs procedures 24/7 based on establishing a separate information exchange channel between Customs authorities, Saigon Newport Corporation and enterprises.

The second solution is to arrange a separate cargo loading area with a plan for goods delivery at the wharf and separate channels for container trucks of enterprises. The third solution is to apply IT to build an online monitoring system for the custom process, goods delivery and assessment of customer satisfaction for customs officers and customs authorities.

However, according to Mr. Dao Duy Tam, to clear a shipment involving many units such as specialized inspection, we want to cut costs for businesses, and we need the cooperation of all relevant agencies.

Though ministries and agencies related to licensing and specialized inspection have conducted administrative reform this has not been unified, while legal documents on specialized management still overlap.

In addition, according to Mr. Dao Duy Tam, the system of legal documents of ministries and agencies covering import-export is very large with over 50 laws, over 200 decrees and circulars, which requires standardization from Customs as well as from the business side during implementation.

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If businesses do not understand, the implementation will face many difficulties. Therefore, if businesses do not often carry out import-export procedures, they can use reputable customs agents and actively develop business and production plans, the customs authority allows businesses to open declarations before the goods arrive at the port. Businesses should take advantage of the determination of goods, code, value before carrying out procedures and make effective use of free trade agreements to improve competitiveness and meet the requirements of importing markets.