Customs supervises imports and exports by various means

Online Customs supervision division (under the Investigation and Anti-smuggling Department). Photo: Huu Linh.

Three means of supervision

In exchange with Customs News reporters in terms of Customs supervision, one official from the Customs Supervision and Control Department (under the General Department of Customs) revealed that in the light of the item No. 2, Article No. 38 of the Law on Customs, “Customs supervision is conducted by means such as Customs seals, direct supervision done by Customs officials and usage of technical equipment and facilities” Supervision shall be implemented strictly in accordance with the above mentioned regulations by Customs.

With regard to Customs supervision, in one recent report to the Government Office in the field of temporary admission management (Temporary admission is a complex issue to Customs management in general and to Customs supervision in particular – commented by the reporter), the Ministry of Finance confirmed that according to the prevailing regulations, all the temporary admitted goods were supervised by Customs from the time of temporary importation to the time of re-exportation from Viet Nam territory

Customs supervision is carried out in conformity with the methods and means regulated in legal documents and imports/ exports and border gate shifted goods supervision process by the General Department of Customs. Customs may conduct supervision of goods by the following means: direct supervision conducted by Customs officials, seals, other technical facilities (commodity description, photos of goods and means of transport, checking goods and means of transportation’s weight …)

Besides, Customs has also equipped monitoring cameras in Customs operational areas, especially in warehouses, container gathering sites, and places for doing Customs procedures in order to ensure managerial requirements as well as prevent and fight against internal negative acts.

Remarkably, the General Department of Customs officially put the online Customs supervision division (under the Investigation and Anti-smuggling Department) located in the General Department of Customs into operation in October 2015. This unit is in charge of connecting and integrating monitoring systems and facilities, providing online data and information and pictures for the General Department of Customs. Then, supervising channels have been set up efficiently at levels in undertaking operational procedures at places for doing Customs formalities; and ensuring regulation compliance in a transparent manner.

It can be said that Customs supervision has been completed in terms of legal framework and implementation, being conducted in a strict way, ensuring effectiveness and efficiency in State management and trade facilitation.

How to supervise independent transportation declarations and combined ones?

Recently, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has reported to the General Department of Customs on the obstacles arising in Customs supervision.

Sharing the aforesaid issue with Customs News reporters, one official from the Customs Supervision and Control Department said that Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department’s difficulties related to independent transportation declarations and combined ones. Those were two out of various patterns of Customs formalities. As regulated in Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BTC, the making of declarations and the monitoring of the two patterns are conducted on the VNACCS/VCIS. Manual supervision is only performed in case of the system’s problems.

The system has been designed with the functions of Customs supervision for such kinds of procedures. According to a leader of the Customs Information Technology System Management Center (under the IT & Statistics Department of the General Department of Customs), the VNACCS/VCIS offers sufficient functions for traders to make declarations and for Customs to conduct supervision of goods which undergo the formalities of independent transportation and combined ones”

Of these, the system has individual functions for Customs branches ‘leaders and officials in charge to monitor and track goods under the above mentioned patterns. Customs officials use the function ITF for goods supervision.

Notably, Customs officials in charge would also monitor and supervise the process of doing the independent transportation declarations and combined ones at the Customs Information Technology System Management Center (located in the General Department of Customs). For demonstration, Mr. Pham Thanh Trung, Deputy Director of the Customs Information Technology System Management Center directly accessed the system and checked one declaration.

By doing some actions, Mr. Trung used the function ITF and showed the transportation declaration 500 xxxxx on the screen with sufficient information such as the code of the Express Customs Branch under Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department which received declarations (for goods to be sent) and the code of Tan Son Nhat border checkpoint Customs branch (under Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department) as the destination Customs Branch (where goods were to be received). Other related information of the transporter, schedules for carrying and receiving goods (with the blanks for Customs officials to fill in and certify when goods actually arrive)…