Customs: Takes the initiative to propogate changes to law

An questioner from an enterprise asking about the policy during dissemination of legal documents. Photo: Huu Linh.

Receive and settle 11,439 requests for providing information

A representative of the Legal Department of the General Department of Customs identified that the legal propagation, dissemination, and education was central work, which could be implemented in various forms, using different methods such as: Organizing training conferences, dialogue conferences; Guiding and answering questions directly or indirectly via texts, phones, the Electronic Portal, through Customs News; and Guiding directly through the settlement, implementation of administrative procedures. Since then, the Customs agency has conveyed, disseminated, and guided enterprises, Customs declarants and taxpayers on many specific provisions of the law in the Customs field and related fields.

In 2016, Customs authorities have continued to propagate the provisions of the Customs Act 2014, the legal guiding documents, especially new legal documents issued in 2016; propagate the new provisions of the Law on Export - Import duty (as amended) and Decree on guiding and implementing this law; propagate the results and efforts of Customs in administrative reform to the business community, especially, the efforts on the simplification of administrative procedures, the implementation of e-Customs declaration, e-tax collection, the deployment of the central inspection locations, and the National One-stop Information Portal.

Statistics from the Legal Department showed that Customs has received and resolved 11,439 requests for information from enterprises, Customs declarants and taxpayers in Customs offices in 2016. Customs units have also received and resolved 30,004 phone calls from enterprises, Customs declarants and taxpayers requesting guidance and support on Customs regulations; received and resolved 2,629 cases which requested guidance and answers in writing; received, guided and answered 110 cases at the headquarters of enterprises, Customs declarants and taxpayers under the regulated process. Customs has held 90 conferences and training workshops for enterprises, Customs declarants and taxpayers; has held 94 regular dialogues with the Customs declarants and taxpayers; has published 5,196 legal documents in the electronic information pages; has answered 909 complaints from enterprises through the websites; has transferred to competent authorities to solve 39 problems beyond their competence; held 2,018 surveys and launched survey forms on information propaganda to support the needs of Customs declarants and taxpayers; has implemented actively or in coordination 12,353 news items and articles; coordinated to implement 388 television reports; has edited, printed, distributed 9,297 brochures and leaflets on Customs legislation. Statistics showed that more than 3,500 news items and articles about Customs were published, reflected by many types of press which the Customs authorities cooperated with to provide information or provided actively.

In addition, the General Department of Customs has organized intensive training on Customs Law 2014 and the system of guiding documents; the Law on Export-Import Duty (revised) and the Decree on guiding implementation. Customs has continued to propagate, grasp thoroughly, and train about the Customs Development Strategy to 2020; the automatic electronic clearance system VNACCS/VCIS; the National Single Window mechanism and the ASEAN Single Window mechanism. Customs has organized to implement the Vietnam Legislation Day 2016 in all Customs.

Diversified in forms and content

According to the assessment of the General Administration of Customs, in recent times, Customs units have focused on the legal propagation, dissemination, and education, mainly, and have organized inspections in integration with other professional activities. The propaganda forms were conducted variously to match the propagated objects. Thereby, Customs officers had a thorough grasp of Customs legislation and related legislation, implemented and settled the assigned work well and solved procedures for citizens, and businesses accurately and efficiently. Businesses and the customs declarants had more and more opportunities to be accessed, guided and answered about Customs law. So, they executed and implemented basically the provisions of the law, and coordinated with Customs agencies and officials in the implementation of relevant procedures. Thanks to that, complaints, petitions and denunciations, reflections on the activities of Customs officials and authorities have declined.

However, the representative of the Legal Department said that sometimes, some units have not implemented legal propagation frequently and timely. The deployment and implementation have not been active, and have not met requirements, particularly, legal propagations under thematic content and in details.

One cause of low efficiency was the system of the current documents, regulations, policies and mechanisms enacted in recent years had large numbers, and many changes. That affected certainly on the propagation of information. The initiative of enterprises and Customs declarants for studying Customs legislation, participating in law propaganda courses organized by Customs authorities has been limited. The officers having qualification and competence have not been trained adequately, systematically, methodically, in particular about propaganda skills. The rotation and change of position of officers also affected the stability and expertise of the work.

In order to promote further the achieved results and overcome existing limitations, according to the General Administration of Customs, units need to raise the awareness of Customs staff on the role, significance, the importance of legal propagation, dissemination, and education, on performance skills and professionalism; encourage Customs declarants, taxpayers, and enterprises to study Customs legislation actively. At the same time, units must continue to focus on propagating the Customs Act 2014 and documents guiding the implementation; the Law on Export-Import Tax Duty (as amended) and the documents guiding the implementation; the new laws adopted in the 2nd Session of the National Assembly XIV; focus on propagating the results of administrative reform and Customs administrative procedure reform. The units must strengthen inspection of the implementation of legal propagation, dissemination, and education at all levels, especially at the branch level or equivalent, in which, inspection must follow the plans from the beginning of the year, the inspection must integrate with other professional activities to ensure savings, responsibilities, the role of the head of the Customs units for legal propagation, dissemination, and education. The units research to innovate methods, forms and measures of legal propagation, dissemination, and education to ensure diversity, abundance, practice; research to select the propagation contents and forms appropriate with specific object groups.