Danang customs supervise online to manage, prevent smuggled goods

Deputy Director of Danang Customs Department Nguyen Huong directed at the online customs supervision office located at the headquarters of the Department. Photo: N.Linh.

The strict control of airport operations

Talking with the the Customs Newspaper’s correspondent, the Deputy Director of Customs Department Da Nang, Nguyen Huong said with the installation of equipment in the Online Customs Supervision Office at the headquarters, the entire import and export activities as well as professional activities of customs officers in the area of customs management are strictly monitored, public, transparent 24/24hrs.

At the Customs Online Observatory office the system is fully connected, seamlessly displaying images from 150 cameras installed in the whole area of customs operation. In particular, the areas in which customs officers are directly responsible for operations such as: procedure areas for passengers’s luggage, luggage storage, luggage conveyors, parking lots, scanners’ area, duty free shops ... The camera system at Da Nang International Airport is not only connected to the surveillance system located at Da Nang Customs Department, but also directly connected to the surveillance system located at the General Department of Customs.

According to Deputy Director General Nguyen Huong, the on-line supervision and online supervision at the Department is carried out continuously and smoothly for the prompt surveillance of situations, process of information and situations arising in the process of marine operations. All content, information, instructions and results are recorded fully and honestly on the dashboard by online monitoring, enabling tracking for the handovers between the work shifts.

According to the Director of Customs Department of Da Nang International Airport Nguyen Duy Nhat, with the synchronous installation of online monitoring system at the Department, the General Department not only ensures comprehensive management, but also enables assistance for the unit in supervising the participants in immigration. At the same time, it also shows the transparency in the process of customs clearance by customs officers (avoiding the misunderstanding by a tour guide of the airport customs officers charging 10 Yuan each time for entry or exit to passengers carrying a camera. The evidence shows this is impossible because the exit area is a prohibited area for using cameras.)

According to Mr. Nhat, through the online monitoring, the customs officers have to perform their work well and morally.

"This is a way for customs officers to train themselves because each one knows that its forces are monitoring them in the process of performing their duties. Through surveillance cameras, if the officer is not properly implementing procedures, leaders can call directly for immediate correction. At the same time, if there are any signs of suspect passengers and import-export goods detected, officials will immediately receive an instruction to stop violations in the control area," said Mr Nhat.

The airport customs authorities plan actively to control

However, in Da Nang International Airport, it is not enough to supervise and direct through the online customs supervision system at Customs Sub-Department of Da Nang International Airport. The inspection and supervision plans must be set up every year, quarterly, and from time to time, with specific content.

According to Director Nguyen Duy Nhat, with the number of flights and passengers growing year by year, the number of flights has increased more than 40%, the number of passengers increased by 50% over the previous year. Therefore, the higher the risk, stricter control requirements must be provided.

According to Mr Nhat, in 2018, export and import goods, means of transport and passengers in the area will increase compared to last year, especially the number of international air routes. In particular, there are routes to and from high risk areas such as Hong Kong, Macao, China, Korea, Singapore ... With Da Nang International Airport’s geographically important position and the fast pace of development, the increase in number of smuggling crimes, trade frauds and illegal cross-border goods transportation is an inevitability.

Since the beginning of the year, the Department has detected about 36 violations, in which there were 5 violations of banned weapons; 9 cases of cultural materials violation; 4 cases of drug violations... According to the analysis of the unit, the violations were discovered mainly in the form of gifts through the mail. Generally, when detained by the security forces the person whose name was on the parcel refused to receive the goods. According to regulations, when the goods consignees can not be identified, the customs offices shall notify the owners, in these cases, if nobody comes to receive the goods, the customs office shall handle the goods without the owner. This is also a problem for customs authorities when dealing with violations.

"Particularly for drugs, the customs authorities have detected a number of cases, however, the weights were very small, probably these were sent as an exploration. Through strict control, violations were detected in time by Customs authorities,” said Mr Nhat.

In addition to the support from the online supervision of the General Department, the Department and the Customs Sub-Department of Da Nang International Border Gate take the initiative in issuing patrols and control plans in the area, identify the key areas, risk objects and high risk routes. At the same time, the officers coordinate closely with other units operating in the localities for management and supervision.