The DG of Vietnam Customs, Mr. Nguyen Van Can had a working session with the Customs Branches of the HCM City

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The Director General of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Mr. Nguyen Van Can had a working session with the Customs Branch of Tan Son Nhat international airport.

The leaders of departments under the General Department of Customs and the HCM City Department of Customs were in attendance at the meeting.

Regarding Customs operations at the Customs Branch of Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the Head of the Customs Branch, Mr. Do Thanh Quang said, from the beginning of 2016, the Customs Branch has implemented Customs procedures for exported and imported goods with turnover of 6.3 billion vnd, an increase of 11% compared to the same period in 2015; an increase of 6% in the number of immigration tourists with more than 900 transit declarations, with a weight of more than 600 tons mainly from garments, functional foods, grocery and etc.

In order to manage transit goods, the Customs Branch of Tan Son Nhat International Airport has established a working group, coordinated with functional forces to monitor transit goods and detected three violated cases.

For goods transferred from a border gate to another from the beginning of 2016 to date, the Customs Branch of Tan Son Nhat International Airport has implemented more than 6,200 declarations, with a weight of more than 1,800 tons mainly raw materials for export production and processing. Recently, through inspections, the Customs Branch has detected violated shipments from Dong Nai border gate declared as plastic beads, but in fact, are oats.

According to the Customs Branch of Tan Son Nhat International Airport, there are currently a series of smuggling and trade fraud cases related to transit goods. However, in order to effectively manage this type of transport, there is a need for close coordination between Customs forces and other relevant forces.

At the working session, representatives of the department said that currently, the levels of sanctions imposed for violations of transit goods were not heavy enough to prevent violated cases. Therefore, it is necessary for competent authorities to increase sanctions for violations.

For supervision and management of exported and imported goods and immigration passengers, there is currently no connection with the air transport firms and warehouses under the Ministry of Transport. While waiting for the results, the Branch shall require relevant units to provide information. The surveillance and management of luggage and immigration passengers should be implemented strictly but ensuring convenience for passengers.

At the meeting, the Director General of the General Department of Vietnam Customs and representatives of some departments have answered some concerns of Customs Branches on work procedures and the implementation of the Law on Export and Import Tax 2016 for samples not for commercial purpose or specialized inspections.

Regarding the proposals related to organizational structure, the Director General has requested the Customs Branch of Tan Son Nhat International Airport to review and determine the number of operational teams, functions and responsibilities of each team and the connection among the teams. For example, the Surveillance Team should connect with all the teams managing information to have effective management solutions.

The anti-smuggling operations team has achieved good results, but the functional units should complete procedures to prosecute criminal cases for violations with full conditions. In October 2016, the General Department of Vietnam Customs will issue the organizational model for each department, the relationship between the working teams and specific examples for the implementation of Customs operations.

At the meeting, the Director General of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Mr. Nguyen Van Can awarded the Compliment Letter of the Deputy Prime Minister - Head of the National Steering Committee 389, Mr. Truong Hoa Binh to the Customs Branch of Tan Son Nhat International Airport for its achievements, anti-smuggling and anti-drugs activities by air.

Earlier, working with the Customs Branch of Saigon port, Zone 1, the Director General, Mr. Nguyen Van Can said that, with a great number of exported and imported goods, the Customs Branch of Saigon port, Zone 1 faces many challenges. Therefore, it should actively manage the quantity of exported and imported goods through Cat Lai port for efficient management.

Civil servants of the Customs Branch should improve professional capacity, vigilance and responsibilities to prevent violations, anti-smuggling, and anti-commercial fraud; which does not affect the operations of the business community.

The Director General stated that recently, complaints of enterprises about the Customs Branch of Saigon port, Zone 1 and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Customs had reduced, but some still remained. Therefore, there is a need for synchronization solutions for effective connection among the units. The Director General also said that surveillance for exported and imported goods at the border gates was still weak and not really effective.

Thus, the Director General directed the Customs Supervision and Management Department, the Information Technology Department and the HCM City Department of Customs to have specific plans and exchange information with Tan Cang Sai Gon Corporation to closely monitor exported and imported goods through Cat Lai port.

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The Director General requested: By September 30, 2016, the Customs Branch of Saigon port, Zone 1 must report the number of goods in Cat Lai port. In addition, the Director General requested the Customs Branch to boost budget revenues collection, reduce tax arrears and implement better control of the import price and tariff classification, and not to cause tax revenue losses.