Initiative to manage means of transport across La Lay Border Gate

Smuggled precious wood shipment seized by Customs at La Lay Border Gate

Register declaration of means of transport by using barcode scanner.

Management pressure on the Customs

In 2023, the volume of vehicles across La Lay International Border Gate surges, mainly vehicles carrying imported coal.

As of June 30, La Lay Border Gate Customs Branch (Quang Tri Customs Department) processed 64,967 vehicles on exit and entry. On average per day about 450-500 vehicles carry imported coal across the border and it is expected to soar in the near future.

Currently, it takes 3-5 minutes to register customs procedures for vehicles for temporary import or temporary export, or 1-2 minutes for re-import or re-export. It even takes about 7-10 minutes for vehicles registering for the first time without information on the system.

The huge volume of vehicles has put pressure on the Customs and enterprises, slowing down the release process of goods across border gate. In addition, La Lay International Border Gate does not have yard for gathering and transshipping goods. About 12 km of National Highway 15D is a small road with many steep curves, causing congestion and reducing customs clearance capacity at La Lay International Border Gate.

According to Quang Tri Customs Department, currently, Hoanh Son Company (in Duc Thuan ward, Hong Linh town, Ha Tinh province) implements an economic contract to import and transport coal from Kalum (Sekong, Laos) to Vietnam across La Lay International Border Gate. About 3-5 million tons of coal are expected to be imported per year within 10 years. Currently, the company uses 650 tractor trucks, including 260 vehicles with Lao license plates and 390 vehicles with Vietnamese license plates. the Company uses over 150 vehicles on average per day to transport imported coal across La Lay International Border Gate to Thang Loi/Hon La port, Quang Binh province.

To reduce customs clearance time for goods and vehicles, the company proposes to carry out customs procedures for vehicles transporting coal imported from Laos to Vietnam across La Lay International Border Gate as per provisions in Clause 1 Article 69 of the Customs Law.

After considering the proposal of Hoanh Son Company, Quang Tri Customs Department recognized that the company’s vehicles transport imported coal for the same company and the same export partner (Se Kong). On the other hand, the vehicles transport goods under a fixed route from Thang Loi /Hon La port (Quang Binh) across La Lay International Border Gate (Quang Tri) to Ma Ka Lam (Laos) for loading and unloading goods, then entering the country across La Lay International Border Gate to unload goods at Thang Loi/Hon La port (Quang Binh).

Clause 1, Article 69 of the Customs Law stipulates says that “If the relevant documents meet the requirements of customs inspection, the vehicle owner, the vehicle operator or the person authorized by the vehicle owner is not required to declare customs, except for luggage and imported and exported goods of people entering or exiting the country.

If the vehicle has been declared information on the system, the information has been updated, and there is no change compared to previous times of entry and exit, the declaration is not required. The Customs will supervise each entry and exit of the vehicle.

Building management software

Quang Tri Customs Department has established research groups and reported to the General Department of Vietnam Customs on solutions on customs management for vehicles for carrying imported coal of the company, including process and e-ledger software. After the General Department of Vietnam agreed with the proposal, Director of Quang Tri Customs Department has directed the development of customs management processes and software in line with current legal regulations, network security and safety and management practices at border gates.

According to the department, in order to meet management requirements, the department has built customs management processes and software in accordance with current legal regulations, network security and safety and management practices at border gates.

Through applying e-ledger software, Customs officers only receive customs dossier within 30 days for one vehicle and enter data and print card with management code.

Customs officers inspect and supervise for vehicle registering for the first time by using a barcode scanner to scan the card, and information to serve customs control will be automatically integrated into the general data, thereby meeting management requirement, shortening data import time and customs clearance time and facilitating trade. In addition, the system also provides warnings customs officers on customs declaration which are overdue, almost expired and need to be liquidated to request businesses to open new declarations.

La Lay Border Gate Customs Branch has piloted the management software which is operated stably. Quang Tri Customs Department will report the Customs IT and Statistics Department to assess network security and officially apply management software system for means of transport on exit and entry. Motivated by great effort of the Customs, the customs clearance is carried out smoothly and quickly, contributing to the development of the business activities.