VCCI - Customs Sector Cooperation: For Development of Business Community

In 2012, the General Department of Customs signed an agreement with VCCI and USAID STAR Plus Project to jointly survey businesses in the year. The survey focused on assessing customs activities in three fields of the service slogan: Professionalism, transparency and efficiency. This breakthrough move was seen as the dogged resolution and attitude of the customs sector. The survey also showed determination to change the sector’s approach to businesses - the customers and important partners of the customs sector - a public service provider. This is the general trend of administrative reform being implemented by the Government of Vietnam in general and the customs sector in particular.

Under the agreement, VCCI supported and took part in building survey plans and survey forms, collecting feedback from surveyed businesses, generalising and analysing data, and making reports. The General Department of Customs always received active cooperation from VCCI during the survey process and kept up scheduled progress. Experts from VCCI and USAID STAR Plus Projects together with the staff of General Department of Customs analysed data and wrote the report. Survey results helped the General Department of Customs and its local subordinates to know pluses and minuses in customs service in order to improve the enforcement of customs laws. This cooperation will be made annual.

 

The law propagation and support to the business community is carried out in various forms and in a high frequency by the General Department of Customs. One very effective activity is the cooperation with VCCI in organising business dialogues and investigations to learn about the acquisition of new laws and collect complaints and proposals from businesses. VCCI also actively participates in drafting customs laws. This will make new laws more practicable after being enforced.

 

The law propagation and support basically meets expectations of businesses. The customs sector helps enterprises carry out customs procedures rapidly and conveniently. This is also the target of the sector in reforming its administrative procedures. The law propagation and support also strengthens the relationship between the sector and businesses in executing customs laws.

 

When Vietnam enters more deeply into the world economy, it joins many international and regional organizations, and more signs bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements. While this helps take advantage of the country’s huge potential, increase competitiveness, expand markets and improve the efficiency of economic, commercial and investment cooperation, it also places more pressure on authorities in balancing management functions and trade facilitation and creating a level playing field for importers and exporters. One of the gravest difficulties that not only Vietnam but also other countries experience is to prevent fraudulence in origin of goods in the process of international integration.

 

 VCCI and the Vietnamese customs sector have long cooperated closely to detect and thwart origin fraud. This relation has developed in both dimension and in depth through joint efforts in tracing origins to prevent deceit at the request of international organisations such as the European Commission or providing information about regular and irregular import and export turnover, providing customs documents about shipments suspected of origin violations.

 

Apart from cooperation arising from specific work requirements, the General Department of Customs and VCCI also join hands to organise training courses, conferences and programmes on rules of origin and origin checking procedures for customs officers and businesses, raise the law knowledge for the business community to avoid damaging the country’s competitiveness, and strengthen professional skills of customs officers to provide best services for businesses. To enhance cooperation in origin tracing, the General Department of Customs joined the Trade Fraud Warning Council led by VCCI or signed a cooperation agreement on CO fraud detection and prevention with VCCI.

 

As the representative of the business community in Vietnam, VCCI has cooperated closely with the customs sector to build customs legal document system in general and origin regulations system in particular. Besides, VCCI’s findings and contributions to C/O management and granting, collected from enterprises, also helped the General Department of Customs to manage C/O procedures and service. Thus, the close collaboration between VCCI and the Vietnamese custom authorities has effectively prevented trade fraud by tracing the origin of goods and protected domestic production. This helps create a healthy business environment and improves the competitiveness of the economy.

 

On the occasion of 50th anniversary of VCCI (April 27, 1963 - 2013), the General Department of Customs would like to send best wishes to VCCI and expects that the two-side cooperation will increasingly develop and VCCI and the General Department of Customs will become mutually trusted partners to work with the business community on the road to national industrialisation and modernisation.