Ho Chi Minh City: Collaborating to supervise import and export goods between Customs and port operators

The Deputy Director General Hoang Viet Cuong chaired the conference

The Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department Dinh Ngoc Thang said, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has many changes in the management and application of the law in professional process, in which Customs supervision is stipulated under Articles 41 of Customs Law 2014.

In order to implement Articles 41 of Customs Law 2014, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has collaborated with relevant units recently. However, currently there are only 3 of 15 port operators which have built the software to connect with Customs.

According to Mr.Thang, the cause of enterprises’ participating is still low due to enterprises hesitating on the legal framework and the cost of purchasing the hardware, the improvement of the software and the human resource do not meet the requirements.

Mr Nguyen Thanh Long, the Deputy Head of the Customs Control and Supervision Division-the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department said, port operators also have the management systems for the containers that exit or enter the port and are connected with te Customs; there are some ports which have modern management software such as: Cat Lai port, SPCT Port.

However, there have been some specific characteristics of the ports which affect the implementation of Article 41 of the Customs Law 2014 such as: the infrastructure in some ports is downgraded and the equipment does not meet Customs’ management requirements. Some ports prepare to move and equipments are restricted that cannot deploy; the container management in ports is not unified and synchronous. There are some ports that only have bulk cargo without container cargo; some ports have container cargo and bulk cargo, in which the regulations only apply for the container cargo.

According to the roadmap, by January 1, 2017, the Ho Chi Minh City Custom Department will officially launch in the Customs Branch of Sai Gon Port Zone 1 and the Customs Branch of Sai Gon Port Zone 3. The remaining Customs Branches will deploy by January 3, 2017.

The Deputy Director General Hoang Viet Cuong said the policy of deployment of Article 41 of Customs Law on Custom supervision which is directed by the General Department of Vietnam Customs is to be implemented nationwide simultaneously.

Currently, this content has been organized in 9 ports. Thereby, affirming that the implementation has achieved the effectiveness to create the belief for enterprises which have not yet implemented the policy, and publicized for the business community to see the results of the program. A number of port operators have been actively building the software by themselves to connect with Customs and the others business are studying in using the software.

At the conference, the leaders of port operators expressed their agreed opinions in the deployment of Article 41 of the Customs Law as well as Decision No.1500/QD-TCHQ of the General Department of Customs on the implementation of this Article. However, a number of ICD ports proposed that the application of the regulation in the Sea port border gates where is the first arrival of goods, if the ICD must implement compulsorily, the Customs authority should offer a specific roadmap by the end of 2017 for the business to prepare for the implementation. The representatives of Customs Control and Supervision Department and the Customs IT and Statistics Department under the General Department of Vietnam Customs answered the obstacles of the businesses related to the software and the process of exchange of information.

Concluding the conference, the Deputy Director General Hoang Viet Cuong said, the conference showed that the port operators agreed that this is a breakthrough in changing the management method and Customs supervision consistent with international standards. If the regulations are implemented well, they will facilitate the import and export business community and port operators and Customs. This is also a good implementation step for the policies of the Party and the State in supporting import and export enterprises and reducing clearance time of goods and increasing competitiveness for enterprises.

The Deputy Director General Hoang Viet Cuong proposed that businesses need to spread out this united awareness for whole units to collaborate with Customs and the business community to implement soon and bring profit for the business community and the society, and determine to deploy for reducing clearance time of goods and the manual documents and the cost for all parties: Customs, import and export enterprises, port operators.

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According to the Deputy Director General Hoang Viet Cuong, the number of containers through Ho Chi Minh City is very huge, account for 60% of the country, so in order to avoid the obstacles when officially applying the program and affect the business’s clearance of goods. It is necessary to focus on the human resource to review the programs to implement the pilot prior to officially apply.

The Deputy Director General also requires Customs units need to review and propose to supplement the legal normative documents to implement closely Article 41 and avoid the owners of goods and the enterprises taking advantage of legal violation. The Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department committed together with the businesses to implement in a timely fashion and effectively article 41 of Customs Law.