Quang Ninh Customs: Accompanying, sharing, attracting many enterprises to carry out procedures through the area

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The Quang Ninh Customs Department strives to reform administrative procedures to shorten the time for goods clearance. In the photo: Professional activities at Cai Lan Border Gate Customs Branch, Quang Ninh Customs Department. Photo: Quang Hung

Correct checking, solving problems drastically

In 2018, the Quang Ninh Customs Department has made great efforts to widely implement reform activities, review and improve the system of legal documents, propose to remove 6 groups of specialized inspection items.

Thanks to the synchronous implementation of IT reform and application activities, the Quang Ninh Customs Department has changed the perception and thinking in professional activities of civil servants, directly impacting on the efficiency of handling administrative procedures, thus the time for goods clearance is shortened to within 24 hours and 29 seconds for imported goods; 4 hours and 12 minutes and 11 seconds for export goods (imported goods fell by 10 hours and exported goods fell by 6 hours compared to 2017). Not only the reforms in customs clearance, the post-customs clearance inspection also changed the way of inspection in the direction of "correct check", thereby increasing the rate of detecting violations after checking at the customs office is over 75.2%, the time for post-customs clearance inspection is only 6.5 days at the head office, decreasing by 3.5 days compared to 2017.

With the spirit of initiative, wholeheartedly listenning, accompanying to help solve immediately the difficulties and obstacles of enterprises, it has created a favorable business environment, through which the Quang Ninh Customs Department has attracted 344 businesses participating in import and export in the area. Many enterprises have increased their shipments and goods volume, have expanded commodity lines to carry out import and export procedures through border gates and seaports in the province with a total turnover of $US 10,191 million, of which import and export turnover (excluding goods temporarily imported for re-export, bonded warehouse) reached $US 8,071 million, up 14% compared to the same period in 2017.

Prosecuting many smuggling cases

In addition to drastic reforms of administrative procedures to facilitate trade activities, the Quang Ninh Customs has also drastically implemented the fight against smuggling and trade fraud. Because Quang Ninh province has long border roads and sea access that are favorable conditions to hire and carry illegal goods across the border.

According to the Quang Ninh Customs Department, when it tightly controls the National Highway 18A, the violators seek to transport illegal goods through the chicken wings of the Integrated Control Station of Km15 Dan Tien Pier, in the territory of Hai Tien commune, Mong Cai City (Quang Ninh). Illegal goods are then gathered from the area of Km16 of Mong Cai City to Hai Ha and Dam Ha districts (Quang Ninh), the traffickers continued to take advantage of passenger cars, container trucks, closed trucks to hide illegal goods to avoid inspection and control of the authorities, then transport into the inland for consumption.

Not only that, there are also violators that use 2 or 3 vehicles sharing a license plate to transport smuggled goods for inland consumption. At each stage of transportation, the violators often arrange motorbike users to go ahead of the road, watch the road, closely monitor the functional forces to avoid or disperse the goods when being inspected and arrested. When being inspected by functional forces, the violators also buy sales invoices from individual business households to legalize smuggled goods.

Being a permanent unit of the Steering Committee of 389 Quang Ninh province, the Quang Ninh Customs Department has advised to build the overall fight with the close coordination of functional forces. Particularly, anti-smuggling forces of Quang Ninh Customs Department have made breakthroughs in the construction of special projects, and the combat that focuses on high-value items.

Notably, seized goods include many prohibited goods (such as drugs, cigarettes, firecrackers...), counterfeit goods, intellectual property infringing goods (all kinds of cosmetics, mobile phones...). The complex nature of the cases detected by the Quang Ninh Customs Department is increasing, reflected by the number of smuggling cases that have been investigated and criminally handled by the Customs, with 22 prosecution cases that have been transferred to the investigation agency to prosecute. Among these cases, some enterprises have deliberately misrepresented the quantity, the name of imported goods has been detected by the Customs force, the value of infringing goods has reached more than 7 billion VND.

Quang Ninh Customs strengthens the management of imported scraps

Entering 2019, the Quang Ninh Customs Department sets a target to continue administrative reform and modernization of customs to shorten the time for customs clearance of goods within 20 hours for imported goods, 3 hours for export goods; striving for 2019 state budget revenue to reach and exceed 8,000 billion VND. At the same time, managing the situation, controlling the area and the smuggling, trade frauds, resolutely not allowing to form lines, groups and hotspots about smuggling, trade frauds in its management area, creating a healthy business environment. In addition, restructuring and consolidating a streamlined, effective and efficient apparatus; improving capacity and quality of civil servants towards high quality human resources in accordance with professional, modern, transparent and honest management requirements for people and businesses.