Waiting for changes in specialized inspections

	The list of import and export goods subject to the specialized inspections late promulgated
	Plant quarantine of export-import goods: check 100%
	Forms of information about NSW and specialized inspections to be diversified

The production of fresh milk at TH factory in Nghia Dan, Nghe An province. Photo: H. Nu.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, the rate of specialized inspection was quite hight, but there were very few cases of violations. In 2016, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department detected 30 violated cases out of 67,224 cases (accounting for 0.04%) for not meeting requirements for food safety inspection, causing huge waste for enterprises.

From the practical obstacles, enterprises have proposed that the specialized inspections should be implemented by only one State agency to avoid overlapping. At the same time, the authorities should consider accepting the quarantine results of advanced export countries. Because for imported goods from advanced countries, before they were exported to Vietnam, foreign companies have checked them carefully and granted Health cert quarantine certificate. Therefore, procedures for quality inspections and quarantine should be classified based on risk management, such as Customs clearance procedures that Customs agencies are applying, which is very convenient and transparent.

The fact has shown that only a few small changes in State management and specialized inspections have had a great impact on business activities. For example, the Ministry of Health has removed obstacles and inadequacies for seafood processing enterprises in State inspections and declaration of food safety compliance with materials, imported additives for packaging production and exports; and the Ministry of Industry and Trade abolished formaldehyde testing for textiles and garments, which has saved a lot of money and time.

According to Ms. Pham Kieu Oanh, the Deputy Director General of Nha Be Garment Joint Stock Company, Circular 37 which stipulates aromatic amine and formaldehyde testing in imported fabrics instead of Circular 32 has created distractions and caused difficulties for enterprises for more than 7 years; not only takes time of enterprises but also cost a great deal of expertise. In addition, there are costs incurring from warehousing during the time the enterprises have to wait for results and Customs clearance. Therefore, the abolition of Circular 37 by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has motivated enterprises a lot, removing the burden in the past 7 years. This not only creates favorable conditions for domestic enterprises, but it also supports FDI enterprises through the abolition of Circular 37.

Mr. Pham Van Hiep working at Import-Export Office of Fashion Garment Company said his company was a 100% foreign direct investment company specializing in processing and exporting textiles and garments. In particular, each month, the company opens 1,000 Customs declarations on imports and exports, with 100 lots of imported samples and each lot costs about 1 million vnd to perform the formaldehyde test on the products. This change not only saves a billion vnd a year, but it also saves human resources, waiting time, the cost of goods at the border gate awaiting results of specialized inspections.

However, these above changes are quite small compared to the burden of management requirements and specialized inspections that businesses are suffering. Currently, the proportion of goods subject to specialized inspections before Customs clearance is very high (about 30%), while the unsatisfactory rate is very low, less than 1% and Resolution 19 has requested to reduce "the proportion of imported goods subject to specialized inspections at the Customs clearance period from 30-35% to 15% by the end of 2016". In addition, Ministries and branches have not fully applied modern risk management principles and specialized inspections for 100% of shipments.

Enterprises complain about specialized inspections VCN- At a meeting with the delegation of the HCM City Customs Department in March 2017, most ...

Notably, a type of product may be subject to the management and control of several Ministries, departments or different units in the same Ministries with different management practices. In fact, many Ministries and departments have not coordinated each other to simplify procedures and shorten the time of businesses.