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Leaders of the General Department of Customs awarded medals to representatives of 10 outstanding businesses that actively participated in the "Pilot program to support and encourage businesses to voluntarily comply with customs laws". Photo: Thai Binh

Customs clearance of goods is quick and convenient

Vietnam Union Science and Technology Co., Ltd. is one of 10 businesses recently honored by the General Department of Customs for participating in the "Pilot program to support and encourage businesses to voluntarily comply with customs laws" , at the 2023 Customs - Business Forum held on September 6, 2023.

This is a foreign direct investment enterprise, granted an investment certificate for the first time by the Quang Ninh Economic Zone Management Board in 2018; Total investment capital is nearly 31 million USD, factory area is nearly 27 hectares. The Company's main products are nonwoven fabrics, goods are mainly for export to main markets such as China, Korea, Japan, etc.

With the desire to do stable, long-term business in Vietnam, businesses are always conscious of complying with legal regulations. "For businesses to comply well with the law, it is impossible not to mention the role of Quang Ninh Customs Department and Mong Cai Border Gate Customs Sub-department in accompanying and supporting us", Mr. Zhou Xiu Quan, Assistant General Director of Vietnam Union Science and Technology Company Limited expressed.

Mr. Zhou Xiu Quan cited: The companionship of the Customs agency from the time the enterprise imports machinery and equipment to build the factory to the process of going into production. Due to the large quantity of imported machinery, many legal regulations must be applied. However, Mong Cai Border Gate Customs Sub-department has accompanied and guided the Company to properly comply with relevant regulations. Thanks to that, the factory construction was carried out quickly and went into operation in January 2020. When in operation and exporting products, the Customs Sub-Department continues to support and guide the Company in implementing procedures for goods origin and assisting in the process of carrying out customs procedures.

Currently, on average each month the Company carries out about 200 import and export declarations, the turnover in the first 8 months of 2023 reaches about 8.5 million USD and customs clearance time is quick.

Talking about the companionship and support of the Customs agency, Mr. Zhou Xiu Quan added: 2022 is a year when businesses face many difficulties. Due to the epidemic, the impact on the number of orders, moreover, the world political and economic situation has many fluctuations and instability; Increased input material prices lead to increased costs and decreased profits. During such difficult times, to support and accompany businesses, Mong Cai Border Gate Customs Sub-department has arranged officers and civil servants to work overtime, regardless of holidays and holidays to ensure customs clearance of goods. quickly, thereby helping businesses reduce costs incurred. Along with that, the leaders of the Sub-department also went directly to the business headquarters to learn about difficulties and problems and provide timely guidance, etc.

In particular, since the Company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Quang Ninh Customs Department to participate in the Pilot Program to support and encourage businesses to voluntarily comply with customs laws (September 2022), the Customs authorities continue to have closer links in accompanying and supporting businesses in understanding and complying with legal regulations, especially new regulations, thereby helping import and export activities of the company go smoothly.

Propaganda and promotion spread strongly

Regarding the overall implementation of the Pilot Program to support and encourage businesses to voluntarily comply with customs laws at Quang Ninh Customs Department, after 1 year of implementation, the unit has had many initiatives to implement effectively.

For example, proposing to issue membership cards to businesses or implementing a "specialized" civil servant model to support businesses most effectively and quickly. The unit also organizes regular and widespread propaganda activities on many types of media (newspapers, social networks, fan pages, business dialogue conferences, etc) to create a positive spreading effect of the Program to the business community. Enterprises participating in the Program have given positive feedback about the support of the Customs agency through activities such as exchange, guidance, warning of limited risks, promptly overcoming some difficulties, problems in the process of carrying out customs procedures, gradually raising awareness, responsibility and compliance with customs laws.

In fact, Quang Ninh Customs Department and its affiliated units have always proactively and actively participated in implementing the Program with the entire Industry, especially strongly propagandizing and promoting the Program with content and activities related to the unit's work of supporting, accompanying and attracting businesses, focusing on leaders and business owners and evaluating the level of companies’ positivity and willingness to cooperate, etc.

By September 2023, Quang Ninh Customs Department has completed the signing of a memorandum of understanding and issued an Action Plan to improve compliance levels for 14 businesses participating in the Program. In addition, update membership records in the Risk Management Information System (CRMS) according to regulations, and send full notifications to member businesses about analysis of violations that the business has committed, the impact of that violation on the business's compliance rating, and from there, propose a support plan to prevent the businesses from violating.