Extending the opening time of Kim Thanh border gate up to 22 hours to reducing congestion

On January 28, talking to reporters of Customs News, Deputy Head of Lao Cai Economic Zone Authority Ha Duc Thuan said that, normally, every day at Kim Thanh International Road No. II border gate, there were only more than 400 import and export goods. However, at present, the volume of imported and exported vehicles has increased sharply by about 500 to 600 vehicles per day.

"In particular, dragon fruit was at the peak of export, while the capacity of picking up from China side was only more than 100 vehicles/day, so there were about 500 vehicles backlogged at the Kim Thanh International Road Border Gate No. II. On the other hand, vegetables and fruits imported from China for Tet also increased sharply, so the situation of congestion had happened at the border gate in recent days,” Thuan said.

To soon release backlogged goods and vehicles, Lao Cai province authorities discussed with the Chinese government to agree on extending the opening time to 22 hours (normally open to 19 hours) to return the empty (fully return goods) vehicles to China.

"With the efforts of the two sides' authorities, the situation has had many positive changes, hopefully in the next few days, all backlogged goods would be handled," Thuan said.

Talking more with reporters, the leader of the Lao Cai Customs Branch (Lao Cai Customs Department) said the unit had ensured 100% customs officials perform duty and cooperate closely with competent authorities to process cargo clearance quickly. At the same time, ensuring the requirement of State management on customs field, preventing and combating smuggling and pandemic prevention.

Here are some pictures of the congestion in Kim Thanh international border gate area No. II on January 27.