Trade facilitatation - the main solution to enhance the revenues of HCM City Customs

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Customs officers at Hiep Phuoc port check imported cars. Photo: Thu Hoa.

Trade facilitation

At the meeting with the delegation of HCM City People's Council on 7 March 2018, the Deputy Director of HCM City Customs Department, Mr. Dinh Ngoc Thang reported many impacts from the new policy affecting the budget revenues. According to initial calculations due to the impact of tax policy, in 2018, HCM City Customs Department will lose revenues of VND 700-1,000 billion from tax bill each month, equal to more than VND 10,000 billion for the whole year. According to Mr. Thang, the draft ordinance in 2018 is VND 108,000 billion, so State budget revenues from import and export activities reached a maximum of about VND 100 trillion, reaching92.6% compared to the target and 91.7% of the actual State budget revenues in 2017.

In the context of budget deficit of more than VND 10 trillion compared to 2017, the HCM City Customs Department has deployed many drastic measures right from the beginning of 2018 to raise revenue for State budget. In particular, the trade facilitation group is identified as the main source of income. Pursuant to Resolution No. 35 / NQ-CP dated 16 May 2016 and Government Resolution No. 19/2017 / NQ-CP dated 6 February 2017, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department continued to improve to implement the Plan,"The business community and the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department are reliable partners which will grow together in 2018". This plan aims to support the business community to fully observe the Customs law, with a large amount of tax paid to the State budget for the most favourable activities in Customs clearance; support the business community based in Ho Chi Minh City but have factories and warehouses in the neighboring provinces to carry out procedures as well as creating a healthy competition under the market mechanism.

Continue to coordinate and organize annual dialogues with associations, such as: Amcham, Korcham, and Eurocham. Guide enterprises to understand rights and obligations in compliance with the Customs Law and improve compliance in the areas of management responsibility, as well as providing information to the Customs authorities to ensure the development of a fair and healthy business environment.

Create a fair business environment

In the first days of 2018, the HCM City Customs Department organized a conference to honor and commend the 200 outstanding enterprises contributing large amounts to the State budget. Shortly thereafter, the dialogue conference with American businesses through Amcham Association was organized and received the appreciation of enterprises for the cooperation and support of the Customs.

Through the conferences, HCM City Customs Department wants to listen to the enterprises presenting the production and import-export plan and forecast the advantages and difficulties to calculate and estimate the State budget revenue in 2018. On that basis, solutions are proposed to the Government, the Ministry of Finance, the ministries, branches and the city to remove difficulties and create favourable conditions for production and business activities for sustainable economic development. In addition, the Customs authorities want to propagate so that enterprises can see the rights and obligations in compliance with the Customs Law and step by step improve the compliance under management of the shipping agency, as well as providing information to the customs authorities to ensure a fair and healthy business environment in accordance with the Law.

At the same time, the HCM City Customs Department has developed a scheme to apply the taxable price policy to 200 enterprises which have complied with the Customs law in accordance with the Plan "The business community and the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department are reliable partners which will grow together in 2018". Accordingly, the Department will focus on inspecting and controlling the "Green Channel" Customs clearance in order to prevent enterprises from taking advantage of the law's loopholes to smuggle and trade. Concentrating on inspecting and controlling key enterprises, and newly established high risk exporters. Strengthening and raising the sense of responsibility for each executing official in the determination of dutiable value. At the same time, arranging qualified staff to check and review the code. The goal is to achieve "one item with only one HS code".

Regarding solutions of the HCM City Customs Department, Chairman of the HCM City People's Council, Ms. Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam said that the leaders of the HCM City Customs Department analyzed and thoroughly studied the work of the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department. The Department has had a lot of innovations in Customs procedure reform, creating the most favourable conditions for commercial activities, creating an environment and mechanisms for enterprises to make more convenient contribution to the State budget. However, Ms. Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam also noted that the HCM City Customs Department's reform work needs to be implemented uniformly, and smoothly throughout the system.

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Chairman of the HCM City People's Council, Ms. Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam said that the People's Councils would together with the HCM City Customs Department remove the obstacles to create more favourable conditions for the unit to complete its tasks as well as for the production and business activities of enterprises, aimed at raising the source of State budget.