"Single Window" in agriculture: Collaboration with Customs is effective

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Enterprises appreciate the support of the authorities in the implementation of procedures through the National Single Window.

Exceed the limitation of 2Mb

In the procedures of agriculture applied through the National Single Window, "issuing fertilizers import license beyond the list of those permitted for production and trading" makes enterprises more reluctant to implement, because the maximum size of attachments through the National Single Window is only 2Mb.

Speaking to a reporter of the Customs Newspaper, Mr. Vu Viet Hai, an expert of the Single Window Division, Department of Crops Production said: Enterprises importing fertilizers have had to conduct electronic records instead of paper records from April 1, 2014. Normally, attachments to an electronic record have a capacity of up to 10 Mb or even 20 Mb. Therefore, the limitation of 2Mb not only makes it difficult for enterprises to declare by compressing the file, but it also negatively affects the appraisal of the Department of Crops Production.

One month earlier, the technical team of Viettel Corporation in collaboration with the Department of Information Technology and Customs Statistics worked to improve the capacity of electronic documents through the National Single Window portal, step by step meeting the requirements of State management. Currently, the maximum capacity of attachments is 30Mb. Declarants can upload only 1 file at a time, irrespective of the number of upload times.

Hai said that this innovation would help enterprises remove "burdens" when declaring and handling records through the National Single Window. Until September 19, 2016, the Department of Crops Production had received 163 records for "issuing fertilizers import license beyond the list of those permitted for production and trading" through the National Single Window, with 42 processed electronic records and 121 electronic records waiting for the process.

In addition to fertilizers, procedures for issuing CITES permit frustrate many enterprises a lot because the capacity of attachments is only 2Mb. Mr. Nguyen Truong Thi, an officer of Juno Collection Import and Export Company (a company specializing in leather imported from Korea through Cat Lai port and Tan Son Nhat airport, then exporting the products such as bags and wallets to the Japanese market) said: “Every month, we must apply for 40-50 CITES permits. Earlier, we implemented records through the National Single Window, but because of technical problems, including capacity limitation, we had to stop conducting records through the National Single Window and returned to making paper records. Normally, 4Mb - 5Mb is suitable with the capacity of enterprises. Currently, the maximum capacity is increased to 30Mb, which is quite convenient, meeting the demand of enterprises", Mr. Thi said.

Further improvements to transmission

In addition to exceeding the capacity limitation of 2Mb, in order to improve the system, facilitate enterprises and improve the efficiency of the National Single Window, recently, the Information Technology and Statistics Centre has continued to accomplish the technical and the infrastructure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to connect with the National Single Window, including: Investing firewall equipment and storage systems, equipping with 154 sets of PC for the pilot and converting the old infrastructure to the new one with the safety information system. Recently, the new server system has run smoothly to ensure information security and improve business conditions. In addition, the General Department of Vietnam Customs has replaced the 10Mb transmission line from the National Single Window portal to the host of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Currently, representatives of enterprises are quite satisfied with the above changes. According to enterprises in various areas such as animals, plant protection or animal health, the technical problems and transmission have almost been resolved. Thus, enterprises find it easy to implement declarations, which makes the process of State units faster, contributing to reducing Customs clearance time.

Related to this issue, Mr. Thi said: “Although his company still makes paper records, it takes too much time for his company to implement procedures due to long distance (about 50km) from the company’s headquarters in Long An to the CITES office in Ho Chi Minh City. "As a declarant applying electronic procedures, I feel very comfortable with the National Single Window, which brings many advantages and saves time. Currently, if the technical problems are resolved, we will promptly consider the application of conducting procedures through the National Single Window again", Mr. Thi said.

Vietnam Customs and MARD review work relating to the NSW and specialized inspections On September 7th, 2016 at the meeting between Mr. Ha Cong Tuan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry ...

Although the current transmission system has basically met the requirements of enterprises, in the near future the system may be overloaded with an increasing number of enterprises. Therefore, enterprises desire relevant State agencies, especially the General Department of Vietnam Customs to pay more attention to this issue. Even, several enterprises have proposed that the General Department of Vietnam Customs should build an additional 1-2 transmission lines from the National Single Window Portal to the server system of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for storage ensuring stability for implementing procedures through the National Single Window.