Hai Phong Customs launches series of solutions for import-export facilitation

Mrs. Truong Binh An, Deputy Director of Hai Phong Customs Department. Photo: Thái Bình

Accordingly, the Department has promoted the development of the Customs-Enterprise partnership; drastically implement solutions to facilitate and reduce clearance time; developed a mechanism to inspect and control performance of customs officers and employees, paying special attention to solving problems of people and businesses.

Besides that, organizing business dialogue conferences, organizing training courses, disseminating legal provisions related to customs; exchanging and listening to the suggestions of the business community; setting up problem-solving teams at units under the Department, directly guiding, answering questions and disseminating new documents.

The Department also actively contacted and received email addresses of businesses carrying out customs procedures to regularly send relevant legal documents and attached documents for businesses to catch up with policy changes, voluntarily complying with the law, supporting and removing difficulties for businesses, especially during the pandemic.

At the same time, publicly posting and announcing new documents related to the customs field at places where customs procedures are carried out and on the website of the Department. Up to now, Hai Phong Customs Department has signed over 23,000 Memorandums of Understanding with enterprises and business associations.

Regarding customs procedures, customs inspection and supervision for exported and imported goods, Mrs. Truong Binh An stressed that Hai Phong Customs Department accepted businesses to submit documents in electronic form (scanned and certified by a digital signature) in the customs dossiers to clear the goods and establish support teams to deal with problems related to customs procedures for imported and exported goods.

Furthermore, giving guidelines on considering sanctions of administrative violations in the customs field for violations on the time limit for carrying out customs procedures due to force majeure situations; temporarily not conducting inspections for the preservation of goods at the storage locations in blocked areas until these areas are lifted; suspend the organization of compliance assessment and inspection for enterprises with no signs of violations.

“In order to facilitate people and businesses to fulfill their tax obligations to the State while still ensuring pandemic prevention, promoting the implementation of the 24/7 tax payment program, the electronic tax payment program for enterprises asking for collection, up to now, the Department signed agreements and implemented electronic tax payments with 44 banks to coordinate for collection," the leader of Hai Phong Customs Department said.

Guest speakers participate in the second panel discussion. Photo: Thái Bình

Notably, the Department has accelerated the screening of goods. The customs branches coordinated and worked directly with port businesses on agreeing to coordinate to monitor and promptly update scanned/unscanned containers in order to urge, as well as update screening results for supervision, ensuring clearance time for businesses in accordance with the regulations.

As for the inspection of origin of goods (C/O), in order to unify the inspection and determination of the origin of imported goods, the Department issued Official Dispatch No. 9626/HQHP-GSQL gathering documents on certificates of origin during the Covid-19 pandemic and Official Letter No. 10982/HQHP-GSQL dated November 10, 2021 supplementing the Handbook for checking Certificates of Origin.

The additional content includes instructions for checking certificates of origin of goods of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA).

“The collection of guiding documents and the addition of the handbook have updated the content of new agreements, supported customs officers and employees in the process of checking customs dossiers, speeding up the cargo clearance and facilitating businesses," An said.