General Department of Customs issues a plan to improve Cross-border Trade Index

	Inter-agencies conduct a survey to improve Cross-Border Trade Index
	Customs determines improving the Cross-Border Trade Index
	Upgrade the Cross-Border Trade Index

Civil officials of Thua Thien Hue Customs Department performs duties at Chan May port. Photo: N.Linh

According to the plan, the General Department of Customs will focus on five groups of tasks: improving the operational efficiency of Customs; continue to implement comprehensive reforms of management, specialized inspection and connection of the National Single Window Portal; improving the quality, reducing the time and cost of loading and unloading and circulating goods at warehouses, yards and ports; promoting support activities for the implementation of import and export procedures; improving and effectively using human resources.

In the group of solutions to improve operational efficiency, the General Department of Customs will improve the system of documents detailing the Customs Law, Law on Import and Export Duties, Law on Tax Administration; promote electronic tax payment; complete the mechanism of channel classification towards centralized and unified inspection in the whole sector, connecting pre-, during and post-clearance stages and ensuring the role and responsibility of customs units at all levels.

Improving the capacity and effectiveness of risk management and business compliance management. Strengthening risk analysis and assessment, selecting and applying the criteria of channel classification for inspection for enterprises and shipment with high-risk level. Implementing the program of compliance assessment, compliance management for customs declarants in import activities; and publicizing criteria for compliance assessment, propagating, supporting and encouraging enterprises to voluntarily comply with the law and facilitating them in import and export activities. Implementing solutions to reduce the physical inspection rate.

Reviewing obstacles and shortcomings in the implementation of Circular 38/2015/TT-BTC and Circular 39/2018/TT-BTC to propose amendments and supplements in the direction of facilitating import and export activities such as: supplementing regulations on household business control, handling problems related to customs procedures for goods subject to customs supervision from Cat Lai port to Cai Mep port, decentralizing to handle errors in the system for local Customs units.

Regarding comprehensive reform solutions for specialized management and inspection and connection of the National Single Window, the General Department of Customs reviews the list of goods subject to specialized inspection and propose a list of goods free of specialized inspection according to the roadmap, standardizes contents related to goods in the customs declaration, accordingly, unit price must be consistent with the permits and specialized inspection results must be carried out through the national single window mechanism; complete functions of the National Single Window Portal; coordinates with ministries and sectors to review, finalize and issue technical standards and regulations for specialized inspection.

Regarding solutions to improve quality, reduce time and cost of loading and unloading and circulating goods at warehouses, yards and ports, the General Department of Customs improves IT system of Customs, VASSCM system, National Single Window Portal, to ensure the connection between customs and port, warehouse operators, management agencies, specialized inspection agencies and shipping companies; works with related parties to deal with goods backlogged at ports.

Coordinating with relevant units (port authorities, warehouse, port, yard operators, shipping companies, logistics companies and People's Committees of provinces and cities) to remove obstacles for enterprises, ensure import and export procedures and transportation of goods; build and implement the Scheme on development of logistics and anti-jamming system at Cat Lai port.

The General Department of Customs has promoted activities to support the import and export procedures through the strengthening of customs-business partnerships; promptly disseminated, introduced and guided legal regulations related to import and export procedures; conducting surveys and assessment of the cross-border trade index in Vietnam according to the World Bank’s method.

Regarding the improvement and effective use of human resources, the solutions are to build and implement solutions in administrative reform and apply IT to management and operation to avoid problems and reduce time and costs for the business community; review the implementation of all procedures; assign qualified civil servants to check dossiers and inspect goods; and checking goods; arrange priority areas for customs procedures for authorized economic operators and enterprises with large turnover and budget remittances and enterprises abiding by the law.

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The Decision No. 1552/QD-TCHQ of the General Department of Customs was issued after the Ministry of Finance’s Decision 876/QD-BTC dated May 27, 2019 to implement this issue. Accordingly, to achieve the target that the cross-border trade index shall increase by 10-15 places by 2021 compared to 2018; and by 3-5 in 2019, the Ministry of Finance said that there should be active participation, and efforts of relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Finance (Customs agency); specialized management and inspection agencies; People's Committees of provinces and cities; import-export business community, warehouse, yard and port operators, shipping and logistics companies.

Therefore, in the Decision, the Ministry of Finance is assigned to chair and propose other ministries and agencies in the implementation.