Risk management to enhance resources on high-risk shipments

	Risk management – mandatory requirement in specialized inspection reform
	Support businesses in assessing and measuring compliance
	Introduce new model on quality and food safety inspection

Deputy Director General of the General Department of Vietnam Customs made a statement at the workshop. Photo: Q.H

More than 200 representatives from 180 enterprises attended the workshop on dissemination of new regulations on risk management in customs operations held by the General Department of Vietnam Customs in coordination with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), on November 12, in Hanoi.

Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Director General of General Department of Vietnam Customs Hoang Viet Cuong expressed his thanks to USAID for its cooperation with the General Department of Vietnam Customs to hold the workshop as well as technical support through the project.

Deputy Director General Hoang Viet Cuong said that following Resolution 19 and Resolution 02 on improving the business environment and enhancing national competitiveness of enterprises and Resolution 35 on enterprise support and development by 2020, over the past years, the General Department of Vietnam Customs has gradually developed and completed a compliance assessment mechanism for four groups of customs declarants and warehouse, yard and port operators; publicizedthe compliance assessment criteria and regulations applicable to risk management in customs operations.

In November 2019, the General Department of Vietnam Customs advised and proposed the Ministry of Finance to issue Circular 81 regulating risk management in customs operations, which provides many key contents related to enterprise operations.

USAID and Vietnam Deputy Mission Director Bradley Bessire said that to support Vietnam, USAID has funded a five-year Trade Facilitation Project worth US$21.7 million which aims to reform the specialised inspection and help Vietnam accelerate the implementation of the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement through simplification, modernization and harmonization of customs processes.

“Circular 81 is the first legal document on risk management in Vietnam. The application of risk management not only ensures trade security and trade facilitation, thereby creating a more attractive and predictable trade and investment environment, but also allows the General Department of Customs to enhance its resources on high-risk shipments,”Mr. Bradley Bessire said.

The workshop. Photo: Q.H

At the workshop, the representative of the Risk Management Department (General Department of Vietnam Customs) disseminated many new regulations to the business community.

Specifically, the first and important new point is to add the object of law compliance assessment,as well as compliance assessment for customs declarants. Previously, the object was only enterprises engaged in import, export and transit. Currently, in order to be consistent with the provisions of the Customs Law, Circular 81 supplements the object as the customs declarants, including four t groups: enterprises engaged in import, export and transit; customs broker; international postal service providers; international express delivery service providers; the owner of the vehicles, the person authorized by the owner of the vehicles of exit, entry or in transit (land, sea, air, railway); warehouse, yard and port operators.

On the other hand, the customs agency publicizes the assessment criteria for compliance, risk level of the customs declarant and the assessment results of compliance level of the customs declarant for enterprises to grasp, implement and avoid errors and violations in the customs clearance.

Besides, the compliance level assessment is classified into five levels; each customs declarant is assessed and classified according to a unique compliance level which is published for enterprises to know and follow.