Speeding up cargo clearance via Dong Dang international railway

Lang Son Customs Department said that, in recent days, Dong Dang international railway station Customs Branch has implemented clearance procedures for thousands of tonnes of import – export goods everyday. Goods were implemented directly at the Customs Branch, including transit goods, transhipments, re-exported goods. The goods items were mainly dragon fruit, ore, steel, round bars, electrode carbon.

On February 21, more than 1,578 tonnes of imported steel with turnover of $823,404.65 was cleared. Previously, on February 20, Dong Dang Customs also implemented procedures for 18 railroad cars with nearly 1,000 tonnes of goods cleared; nearly 500 tonnes of ore with the turnover reaching $6,062 was cleared on February 22.

Customs official of Dong Dang International Railway Station Customs Branch checked imported steels. Photo: H.Nụ

Along with Dong Dang international railway station Customs Branch, Huu Nghi Customs Branch continued remaining the stable situation of cargo clearance via road through Huu Nghi International border gate. The statistics showed that, on February 21, Huu Nghi Customs implemented clearance procedures for 347 cargo trucks. Of that, 132 trucks transporting exported goods including agricultural products, fruits, electronic components, ceramics, crystal, plastic products, gauze masks and 215 trucks transporting imported goods including electronic components, machines, equipments and agricultural products. Huu Nghi Customs also implemented procedures for 260 cargo trucks of agricultural products, fruits, electronic components, plastics, gauze masks with the quantity of nearly 4,000 tonnes of goods on February 22.

At Tan Thanh border gate, on February 22, Tan Thanh Customs Branch implemented procedures for 14 cargo trucks of exported agricultural products, 18 trucks of imported goods. There were also 70 trucks of exported agricultural products backlogged at the border area with nearly 800 tonnes of goods cleared and turnover reached over $200,000.

Until now, with the great effort of competent authorities in Lang Son province on information exchange and meeting with Chinese competent authorities, it has recovered the import – export activities at Huu Nghi International Border Gate, Tan Thanh Border Gate and Dong Dang International Railway Station. Those border gates have re-operated stably.

Cargo clearance activities at Huu Nghi International Border Gate tended to increase day by day.

However, since February 8 – the official time for starting the opration of cargo clearance after the interruption of the Covid-19 epidemic – the cargo clearance at those border gates has not improved. The reason was that the human resources for loading goods was seriously in shortage, so it leads to slow process of cargo clearance.

Meanwhile, the Chinese side said that the trade in the border markets was a specific type while the form of exchanging residents at border markets was very crowded, thus it could make the disease spread more quickly and cause difficulties in controlling the disease. Currently, the Guangxi Province (China) was completing equipment, after the assessment and forcasting the situation of the disease, the would recover the operation of border market with Lang Son (Vietnam).

However, in order to enhance the capacity of cargo clearance as well as to limit the number of people in transactions, avoiding the transmission of Covid-19, the Chinese side suggested that businesses and the authorities of the two countries promote and implement import and export goods via Dong Dang international railway.