Customs’ Online Public Service toward “Anywhere – Anytime – Any device”

Implementing online public service helps traders reduce goods clearance time. Photo: Đ.N.

According to a survey’s findings announced at the recent meeting on Customs information technology and statistics, most city and provincial Departments of Customs’ websites are publicising sets of administrative formalities and providing documents. The units have set up edition groups and assigned staff in charge and maintained expenditures for annual operation.

In general, websites have met the regulations on information dissemination. Many units have performed their duty well. Some such as Ha Noi Customs, Ho Chi Minh City Customs, Binh Duong Customs, and Dong Nai Customs have already deployed versions in foreign languages. Furthermore, some provincial Departments of Customs in Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ha Noi, Quang Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City have been successful in providing legal consultation to traders through their websites. Others such as Binh Duong Customs, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Customs, Da Nang Customs, Dong Nai Customs and Ho Chi Minh City Customs have been proactive in developing their own online public service.

Binh Duong Department of Customs’ experience shows that the department chose one unit to conduct the pilot, and then they reviewed, learnt lessons, adjusted and completed their deliverables before introducing in the whole department. Besides, Binh Duong Customs gave priorities to training and promotional activities. The department extended various training courses to their officials and traders in the province as well. Therefore, traders could understand the advantages and disadvantages in implementing the online public service. In addition to direct dissemination of the online public service in the dialogues with traders, Binh Duong Department of Customs conducted other methods of publicity such as delivering leaflets and coordinating with communication agencies to provide information about advantages of the usage of the online public service. Up till now, the system has been deployed for 4 months with over 600 traders getting involved and more than 2,600 Customs dossiers having been received and processed online. The system has contributed to trade facilitation for traders in the province, especially contributing a great deal to reduce imports and exports clearance and release time. In response to the survey, most traders found the usage of the online public service more advantageous than manual work. Via websites, traders benefit from faster support by Customs officials when they meet difficulties.

Mr. Dang Nam Phong, Head of the Customs Portal Management Division under the Information Technology and Statistics Department revealed the General Department of Customs has two groups of administrative formalities relating to means of transport and drawback to be performed through the 3-level online public service for the purpose of implementing the Government’s Plan for Online Public Service in 2016. By the end of 2016, the General Department of Customs will have carried out 70% of online public service at level 3 and 50% of the core online public service at level 4.

On the basis of the Plan of Development and Deployment of the Customs Portal for the period 2016 – 2020, the General Department of Customs’ portal and local Customs’ portals will run in a concentrated, uniform manner in terms of IT infrastructure and applications, striving to reach the international standards of an advanced portal “Anywhere-Anytime-Any device” by the year 2020. The targets are that 100% of public service will have been online at level 3, the sorts of popular and important public service will have been provided at level 4; information dissemination should be public, transparent, uniform, effective, sufficient, timely, forming Vietnam Customs’ portal’s features.