The National Single Window in Agriculture: Do not just "computerize" procedures

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There will be an additional 26 administrative procedures in agriculture implemented through the National Single Window for 2016-2020. Photo: Nguyen Thanh.

Enterprises save 400 million vnd thanks to the National Single Window

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, with 7 units under the Ministry, including 5 Departments (Livestock, Animal Health, Plant Protection, Quality Management on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) and 2 General Departments (Fisheries and Forestry) participating in the National Single Window, to October 20, 2016, the total records in the system of the National Single Window were up to 32,833 records.

Many State units applied the National Single Window drastically, bringing many benefits for the business community such as saving the time of implementing procedures and reducing the clearance time of goods. Typically, the Department of Livestock applied the National Single Window in an intuitive and creative way. Specifically, procedures for "Registration for verification of food quality" started the pilot from September 2015, and until now, the Department of Livestock has received more than 27,000 records, equivalent to 99% of total records through the National Single Window.

Mr. Hoang Thanh Van, the Director of the Department of Livestock said: “The implementation of the National Single Window helped reduce 50% of registration time by 50%. "When we do not apply the electronic system, it takes enterprises approximately 20,000 vnd of express charges to register a record of verification of food quality. In addition, companies also paid extra costs such as paper, ink and labour, etc. Thanks to the National Single Window, in recent times, enterprises have saved about 400 million vnd from express charges", Mr. Van said.

Regarding experience of the Department of Livestock in the smooth application of the National Single Window, Mr Van said: “The key is to focus on training because the system involves hundreds of officers and businesses. Although the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development only requested the Department of Livestock to organize two training courses, the Department still organized 6-7 training courses for people directly participating in the system, not inviting the leaders. Especially, at the beginning of operating the system, when the transmission was limited and congested, the Department of Livestock actively proposed to build a separate transmission line to serve the application of the National Single Window.

Need more actual operations

Although the application of the National Single Window of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has achieved positive results, Mr. Ngo Hong Giang, The Deputy Director of the Department of Organization and Personnel (under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said that there were still many difficulties to be solved. Typically, the charges for enterprises when implementing procedures have still not been applied in the system. Due to the requirements of some importing countries, in fact a number of Departments and General Departments (specialized authorities) still issue paper certificates (due to the lack of mutual recognition).

"Besides, some companies do not really want to apply the National Single Window system due to a very few imported goods. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also has no regulations on management and operation of the National Single Window in ministries and agencies. Although we target to implement the whole procedures through the National Single Window from October 1, 2016, there are only some Departments successfully implementing the National Single Window such as the Department of Livestock, the Plant Quarantine Station at Noi Bai, the Animal Health Agency, Region II in Haiphong and 3K Center" Mr. Giang said.

Although Mr. Pham Duyen Phuong, the Deputy Director of the Information Technology and Customs Statistics Department (under the General Department of Vietnam Customs) appreciated the results that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development achieved in the implementation of the National Single Window, he still added: “In the last period, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has only focused on "computerization" of administrative procedures rather than the reform and simplification of procedures according to international practices. Specifically, the administrative procedures and steps of implementing procedures have not been changed much. There are only changes on the step of initial report and results return.

"In the coming period, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should review and assess the administrative procedures in order to reduce procedures. The Ministry should consider using the eletronic records, scan of record or paper records appropriately", Mr. Phuong said.

He also added that during the implementation of the National Single Window, there were administrative procedures which should be gathered for only a Department to resolve, creating more favourable conditions for businesses. For example, when enterprises import animal feeds, there are up to 2 Departments managing the import, including the Department of Livestock and the Department of Plant Protection, which is very complicated and takes too much time.

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One of the important issues that Mr. Phuong proposed to resolve is the mutual recognition of electronic documents among countries. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should propose to the Government to conduct negotiations with other countries to submit electronic records, which saves time and efforts of businesses.