Director General of Customs Nguyen Van Can: Developing Vietnam Customs in digital era

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Director General of General Department of Vietnam Customs

Vietnam Customs pioneers in trade facilitation

Experiencing 78 years of construction and growth (September 10, 1945 - September 10, 2023), Vietnam Customs has grown and matured in all aspects. Could you point out the Customs' outstanding results and important contributions to the country's social-economic development?

Director General Nguyen Van Can:

Over the past 78 years, generations of civil servants, officials and employees in the Customs sector have made many efforts to complete assigned tasks well, building Vietnam Customs to be strong and mature in all aspects, making important contributions to the annual results of the Finance sector, to the cause of building, protecting and developing the country.

In recent years, the country's deep international integration, with the world's complex and unpredictable changes, the US-China trade war, and geopolitical conflicts have affected the world and domestic economies. The Customs sector has always strictly followed the direction of leaders at all levels, especially implementing the Resolution of the 13th National Congress of the Party to focus on perfecting the institution and organizational structure, improve the quality of human resources to perform assigned tasks well and gain many achievements and outstanding results in all aspects, making an important contribution to promoting the country's socio-economic development and deeper international integration.

Typically, maintaining the process of reforming administrative procedures, modernizing customs, facilitating trade, promoting the growth of import and export turnover, strengthening the control of smuggling, ensuring State budget revenue, contributing to stabilizing national financial potential, improving the role, position, and international reputation of Vietnam Customs.

Customs - Business Forum 2023 with the theme: "Vietnam Customs: Providing fresh impetus for businesses to recover and thrive" held by Customs Magazine on September 6. Photo: T. Binh

The Customs sector is recognized and highly appreciated by leaders at all levels, people, and the business community for facilitating trade. Could you share more about outstanding results in this field and directions and solutions to promote trade facilitation in the coming time?

Director General Nguyen Van Can:

The Customs sector has identified customs reform, modernization, and trade facilitation as critical tasks for many years.

Especially in recent years, the Customs has promoted the IT application and the application of modern equipment such as container scanners, surveillance cameras, and electronic positioning seals to reduce customs clearance time and costs for the business community, easing trade flows, promoting growth in import-export turnover, in which Vietnam for the first time achieved US$700 billion in trade in 2022.

In the context that businesses face many difficulties due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-pandemic time, the Customs sector has been developing drastic and synchronous solutions to trade facilitation, such as improving the customs legal system, simplifying and automating customs procedures. Strengthening the customs management and supervision at all stages, promptly proposing amendments, supplements, and guidance on implementing legal documents, strongly applying IT and using modern equipment.

In addition, as the Standing Agency of the National Steering Committee on ASEAN Single Window (ASW), National Single Window (NSW) and trade facilitation, the GDVC strongly coordinated with ministries and other agencies to implement single-window mechanisms and trade facilitation. As of August 15, 2023, 250 administrative procedures of 13 ministries and agencies have been updated on the NSW, and nearly 6.67 million applications of more than 64,700 enterprises have been processed through the NSW. Regarding ASW, Vietnam maintains an official connection to exchange electronic certificates of origin from D with all 9 ASEAN member countries and is actively expanding this connection with some non-ASEAN member countries.

In the coming time, Customs will continue to offer unified trade facilitation solutions such as centralizing, modernizing and automating customs inspection, supervision and control, and promoting pre- and post-customs clearance inspections. Reducing inspection rates during customs procedures; deploying smart border and green customs models according to WCO recommendations; strengthening IT applications and using modern equipment in customs inspection, supervision and control.

Along with that, the sector will strengthen coordination with ministries and other agencies to reform and simplify administrative procedures in import and export, continue to cut customs clearance time, and reduce business costs.

The task and role of the master on the anti-smuggling front of the Customs sector has been increasingly improved, promoted and expressed more clearly. Could you tell the outstanding changes to continue affirming the position of the Customs sector on the anti-smuggling front in the face of the increasingly complicated situation?

Director General Nguyen Van Can:

Globalization, smuggling, trade fraud, and illegal cross-border transportation of goods have been increasing complicatedly with unpredictable sophisticated methods and tricks. In addition to traditional methods and tricks, criminals have taken advantage of the achievements of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 to exchange information, transactions, trade goods, and make online payments. In particular, drug crimes in customs operations have been increasingly complicated. Meanwhile, the whole sector has to perform two tasks at the same time, which is to both facilitate trade and improve the efficiency of state management of customs.

Facing that situation, the Customs soon identified the risks of criminal activities in the new situation and actively developed measures. To prevent and fight crime smuggling effectively, the Customs sector has implemented drastic solutions mobilized the participation of core forces such as Customs control, Post-clearance Audit, and Inspectorate.

Therefore, Customs has achieved positive results in the fight against smuggling and trade fraud, quickly detecting and busting cases of transporting banned goods such as drugs, weapons, wild animals and plants. This has affirmed its leading role on the anti-smuggling front, making an essential contribution to protecting the community security and safety.

From December 16, 2022, to August 15, 2023the whole Customs sector handled 11,329 cases with the amount of infringing goods estimated at VND 4,435 billion, prosecuted 22 cases and transferred to other agencies 78 cases; collected VND363 billion to the State budget.

Typically, in the first quarter of 2023, Hai Phong Customs Department presided over three seizures, confiscating more than eight tons of smuggled ivory from Africa; In April 2023, Hanoi Customs Department coordinated with competent forces to seize 16 kg of rhino horn and ivory smuggled by air; In June 2023, the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department (General Department of Customs) coordinated with the Hanoi Customs Department to arrest five entry passengers illegal carrying US$352,000 and EUR245,900 EUR.

In addition, the GDVC continues to perform well as Standing Agency 389 of the Ministry of Finance.

Results on the anti-smuggling front also contribute to enhancing the reputation and position of Vietnam Customs in the region and the world, including its role as a co-initiative in implementing the ongoing Mekong Dragon Campaign, which is effective in the fight against drug crime and illegal transportation of wild flora and fauna.

A typical example demonstrating the vital role of the Customs sector in protecting community security and safety is the fight against drug crimes. Could you please share more about the outstanding results on this dangerous and arduous battlefront?

Director General Nguyen Van Can:

Illegal trading and transportation of narcotics across borders has surged in recent years both by road, air and sea, with increasingly sophisticated methods and tricks such as hiding and disguising drug pages into goods, ordinary luggage carried with passengers, concealed in means of transport on entry and exit.

The results of the authorities' struggle show that Vietnam is under great pressure from the transnational drug trafficking lines from the Golden Triangle to countries sharing a border. Especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, drug crimes concentrated at air routes post offices, mainly through international airports: Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, and Da Nang, including the shifting from Tan Son Nhat airport to Noi Bai airport, then transported by road, rail to the South ...

Facing that situation, the guiding viewpoint of the GDVC's leaders is that in all cases of smuggling and illegal transportation of drugs within the area of customs operations, the Customs force must be a leader and outside the area, the customs must coordinate with functional forces, especially the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department, the Ministry of Public Security. Following the instructions of leaders at all levels, the Customs coordinated with the Police to not only capture exhibits but also arrest many suspects. This is an arduous task.

In addition, determining that fighting transnational drug crimes requires close international cooperation, in 2018, the Mekong Dragon Campaign jointly initiated by Vietnam Customs and China Customs was launched and received extensive technical support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Organization's Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Asia and the Pacific (RILO AP) of the World Customs Organization (WCO) as well as the consensus of participation of the Customs administrations of six countries in the Mekong sub-region. So far, the Campaign has become increasingly effective and continues to expand with the participation of many countries and territories.

With the efforts of the entire sector, from December 16, 2022, to August 15, 2023, the Customs Sector has presided over and coordinated with the Police and Border Guard, seized 182 cases, and arrested 194 suspects, of which the Customs presided over 83 cases, seized over 1.4 tons of drugs of all kinds (opium, marijuana, heroin, cocaine, ketamine, synthetic drugs.).

Of which, there are many large cases such as the HP323 case chaired by the Hanoi Customs Department in coordination with PC04 (Hanoi City Police) to arrest one suspect, confiscated 108 kg of drugs of all kinds on February 20, 2023, at terminal T2, Noi Bai International Airport.

In addition, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, Quang Tri Customs Department, Dien Bien Customs Department, Hai Phong Customs Department, and Ha Tinh Customs Department. have presided over and coordinated with other forces to destroy many large drug cases.

Determined to build regular and modern Customs

The prioritized goal set in the Customs Development Strategy by 2030 is to build regular and modern Customs. What solutions does the Customs have to focus on to achieve this goal?

Director General Nguyen Van Can:

In addition to institutional solutions investment in equipment and facilities, the most important factor is to build a contingent of professional and specialized Customs officials who are capable, qualified and politically brave to meet the requirements in the new situation.

Identifying human issues is always the key factor, so the Customs sector will focus on building and developing a contingent of customs officials with deep expertise, integrity, and professional working style, mastering modern technology and equipment, sufficient in quantity, appropriate structure, organized and managed scientifically, associated with the practical needs of the job position with the capacity of each official, meeting the modern customs management model.

In capacity building, the issue of public service discipline is always considered the top priority task. Could you tell drastic solutions which have been being taken by the Customs sector to perform this work?

Director General Nguyen Van Can:

To strictly implement the issue of discipline in the performance of official duties, , the Customs sector has offered many solutions to combine prevention and combat.

To continue to effectively implement this task, in 2023, the GDVC's Party Committee issued Resolution No. 11-NQ/DU on continuing to strengthen administrative discipline in the public duty performance; rotate, mobilize and change working positions; control the power, and responsibility of the head in the management of cadres, responsibility to set an example; fight against corruption in the GDVC's Party Committee.

The Director General of Customs signed Decision No. 799/QD-TCHQ promulgating the Regulation on Inspection of Official Duties and handling of violations against civil servants and public employees in the Customs sector. The Regulation clearly states 12 groups of violations or other violations of the law such as: violations in the field of abiding by disciplines; violations in; leadership, management, administration and personnel organization; violations in the field of customs management supervision; violations in the field of import and export tax; violations in the field of customs control and anti-smuggling and investigation; and violations in the field of Inspection.

Thank you very much,