Da Nang Customs facilitates and supports enterprises to comply with customs law

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Da Nang Customs clears goods while ensuring pandemic prevention. Photo: Hong Vi.

Facilitating customs clearance

Many solutions to facilitate customs procedures, customs inspection and supervision for imports and exports have been have been implemented to support businesses such as instructing customs declarants to declare and submit customs dossier via e-Customs Data Processing System; not requiring customs declarants to print and submit customs declaration and other documents in the customs dossier. Enterprises are allowed to convert paper documents as the originals or copies to e-documents, and are allowed to submit the scanned permit attached with the declaration on the system.

In addition, enterprises are allowed to submit additional paper documents to Customs within 30 days from the date of customs declaration registration. If the enterprise cannot submit the dossiers in line with the deadline as the enterprise and customs branch is in an isolation area as directed by the Government or local government, the deadline for submission will be extended for another five working days from the end of the social distancing period as notified by the competent authority.

The department has checked and received e- certificates of origin, applied new regulations on the submission deadline and form of certificates of origin for imports amid the Covid-19 pandemic contributing to shortening customs clearance time and reforming administrative procedures; granted the import permit for non-commercial cars via the Online public service system.

The municipal customs department has also proposed the General Department of Vietnam Customs to reduce the rate of goods classified into the Red and Yellow channel to facilitate the import and export activities in the city. It has asked the country’s top customs agency to instruct the physical inspection for goods and customs supervision amid the lockdown period.

In 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic has seriously affected import and export activities. Many shipments could not go through customs procedures in a timely fashion due to the application of social distancing and pandemic prevention measures of the Government. In order to support and create favorable conditions for businesses, Da Nang Customs Department has requested the units not to fine cases affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and to apply the Government's social distancing and pandemic prevention measures.

For example, goods are subject to quality inspection, but foreign experts cannot arrive in Vietnam to assemble accessories for the inspection; goods (chemicals) are imported to Vietnam but do not have tanks and cannot be consumed, so they must be stored at the port and cannot be declared on time; the enterprise fails to submit the final settlement report, submits the report on the use of tax-free goods late due to social distancing and lack of employees.

The enterprise cannot pay taxes for all consignments that have arrived in Vietnam within 30 days from the date of arrival at the border gate; the enterprise cannot register the declaration and receive the goods within 30 days from the date of arrival at the border gate due to the operation in the lockdown area; enterprises cannot carry out re-export and re-import of goods on time due to social distancing and the impact of the public health crisis.

Supporting businesses to comply with customs laws

Da Nang Customs Department has launched a program on “Facilitating and supporting businesses to comply with Customs law in 2021” in the area.

Accordingly, the department has supported 39 participating enterprises in phase 1. Before the 10th of every month, it has provided information on the level of law compliance; announced common errors for businesses to understand and remove them in a timely fashion.

The program has brought benefits for businesses, maintained a high level of compliance for 21 businesses participating in the program and raised the level of compliance from medium to high level for three businesses, contributing to a significant improvement in goods classification rate.

The rate of goods classified into the Green channel increased more than 20% on average (the rate of Green channel of 39 enterprises participating in the phase 1 program in 2020 rose from 59.57% to 80.52%), the rate of Yellow channel decreased about 20% (from 37.65% in 2020 to only 17.70% in 2021), Red channel fell 1% (from 2.78% in 2020 to 1.78% in 2021).

Currently, the Department is launching the program for the second phase of 2021, expanding to 35 new businesses and increasing the number of businesses participating in the program to 74, helping to quickly clear import and export goods, promote production and business activities, and improve benefits for businesses to attract investment in the area.

The department’s drastic direction and innovation in business support has promoted efficiency and has been appreciated by the business community. According to data on assessment of the quality of public administrative services on the Single Window system in Da Nang city, the satisfaction level of businesses between January and November 2, 2021 was 574 of 574 reviews (accounting for 100%) on satisfaction level of the handling of administrative procedures of Da Nang Customs Department.