After 66 years of development, the customs sector of Vietnam has sustained impressive growth. The Customs Development Strategy towards 2020 determines overall objectives of building a modern customs sector with comprehensive and transparent mechanisms and policies, and simple procedures in harmony with international standards, based on the platform of information technology application and centralised data processing, and extensively applying risk management methods on par with advanced Southeast Asian countries.
Most outstanding operations of the Vietnamese customs sector in the recent time are the effort to pilot electronic customs procedures. By the end of July 2011, e-customs is applied to 13 customs units, serving over 42,000 enterprises. In 2011, e-customs is planned to be deployed in seven new provinces, including Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Thua Thien - Hue, Binh Dinh, Dak Lak, Tay Ninh and Long An. In the first eight months in 2011, a total of over 1.2 million customs forms were done by means of e-customs. E-customs procedures generated total revenue of US$85 million in the period. To date, nine provinces and cities have applied e-customs procedures to all customs offices and 10 localities have deployed to over 60 percent of their customs subordinates. In order to gradually modernise facilities to improve the effectiveness of supervision and management of imported and exported goods, the customs sector has so far put into operation Japan-funded container scanning systems at Cat Lai Port (Ho Chi Minh City) and Hai Phong Port (Hai Phong City) and prepared a similar scanning system at Lao Bao Border Gate (Quang Tri province).
In response to the Government’s Project 30 on simplifying administrative procedures, the customs process has been reformed to facilitate trade. The sector is actively preparing and mapping out plans for the launch of national single-window mechanism and ASEAN single-window mechanism by 2015.
In its reform process, the customs sector has been actively carrying out the "Post-clearance Check Year", collecting budgets, supervising management, managing risks, controlling customs operations, and building workforces. The sector has also issued the customs operation evaluation index system - an instrument to determine operating results and effects of customs units, assess the progress, and envisage short-, medium- and long-term visions and objectives of customs units.
To continue the construction of clean and strong customs forces, enhance reputation, and improve its image of customs in the eyes of business community and the society, on February 9, 2011, the customs sector pronounced the “Declaration of Customer Service” with the slogan of “Professionalism - Transparency - Efficiency.”
To concretise the above points, the customs sector regards businesses as partners and companions. On this direction, the sector has actively deployed a pilot programme offering customs clearance priorities to selected companies. Certificates of customs clearance priority were handed to nine companies in the first phase. This self-declared customs approach has been applauded for its initiative and benefits for companies. This is also believed to create a community of law-abiding and exemplary companies.
Mr Nguyen Ngoc Tuc, General Director of the General Department of Customs, stressed that a lot needs to be done drastically to "Build a modern Vietnamese customs" by 2020. The pilot e-customs programme will be applied on a larger scale to realise the objective that 70 percent of customs offices and 65 percent of declaration documents and turnovers are electronic. The outcome of the pilot e-customs programme is an important groundwork to conclude the pilot programme and start another pilot programme called Vietnam Automated Cargo and Port Consolidated System (VNACCS). Last but not least, the sector will train human resources to master new practices.
Vietnamese
