General Department of Customs leads in administrative reform index

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A customs official of Cai Mep Customs Branch (Ba Ria Vung Tau Customs Department) guide procedures for a business. Photo: Nguyen Hien

The achieved results show the determination of the Customs sector in administrative reform to create a favorable, open, transparent business environment, reduce costs, and create maximum conditions for people and businesses.

The Administrative Reform Index has been deployed annually by the Ministry of Finance to evaluate the administrative reform results of units in seven areas (administration and direction work; institutional reform; administrative procedure reform; reform of organizational structure; capacity building, public finance reform; administrative modernization). In which the General Department and equivalent level are evaluated on the seven areas with a point grade of 100 points.

To achieve this result, the General Department of Customs has promoted the implementation of the Master Programme on State Administration Reform under Government’s Resolution 76/NQ-CP and actively directed the implementation of guiding documents of the Government, the Prime Minister, and the Ministry of Finance to act as a guideline for comprehensive implementation of administrative reform work in the entire sector.

With the goal of supporting and facilitating trade activities and customs clearance of import and export goods, the Customs sector continues to deploy specific solutions to support businesses in the customs clearance.

Some outstanding solutions in recent times include: allowing businesses to submit e-customs documents; launching the 24/7 e-tax payment and customs clearance program, through signing with 45 banks in authorized collection; implementing the project "Pilot e-tax payment for imported and exported goods through payment intermediary service providers"; deploying online public services at a full-level reaching 61.8%; Coordinating with other agencies to connect 250 administrative procedures of 13 ministries and agencies to the National Single Window Mechanism, connecting the ASEAN Single Window Mechanism to exchange e-certificate of origin form D with nine ASEAN member countries; continue to research and propose to reduce and simplify regulations related to customs business activities in the period of 2020 - 2025 to reach 8%, cutting costs of compliance with regulations related to business activities reaching 10.2 billion VND/year; reporting to the Ministry of Finance to submit to the Prime Minister for approval to deploy decentralization of authority to handle a number of administrative procedures from the General Department of Customs to the Provincial/municipal Customs Departments; amending and supplementing legal documents including regulations on submitting paper household registration books in the direction of replacing paper documents by exploiting personal information on the National Population Database; …

To complete assigned political tasks, the General Department of Customs continues to consolidate and perfect the apparatus, meeting task requirements; regularly review and strictly handle cadres, civil servants, and public employees who avoid, push, fear responsibility, and are afraid of making mistakes according to the Party's regulations and state laws; motivate and encourage cadres, civil servants and public employees who dare to think, know how to do, and dare to take responsibility for the common benefits. In addition, the customs has implemented solutions to prevent revenue loss; promoted the modernization of 24/7e-tax payment and customs clearance; tightened financial discipline, managed state budget expenditures closely, economically, effectively, according to assigned estimates; strengthened spending control, ensure correct, sufficient and effective payments; and strengthened thrift practice and anti-waste.

Deputy PM urges prioritising administrative reform in business

The administrative reform work of the General Department of Customs has had outstanding development, thereby contributing to creating a favorable, transparent, open business environment and cutting costs for businesses. To contribute to building a facilitating, integrity, actionable and serving Government, in the period 2021 - 2030, the General Department of Customs continues to implement the policy of strengthening international integration, harmonizing the goal of trade facilitation and state management requirements on customs, creating a transparent and fair import-export environment, contributing to improving national competitiveness. To achieve that goal, administrative reform is identified by the General Department of Customs as a key political task, that must be implemented synchronously, regularly and continuously, taking the satisfaction of people and businesses as the goal.