What are the secrets to customs brokers' success?

Professional activities at Mong Cai Border Gate Customs Branch (Quang Ninh Customs Department).

Challenges for customs broker agent

A customs broker agent is a business entity meeting the criteria specified in Clause 1, Article 20 of the 2014 Customs Law. They represent exporters and importers (collectively referred to as "consignors") in carrying out customs declarations, submitting and presenting relevant customs documents for export and import shipments as prescribed, and performing all or part of the customs procedures as agreed upon in the contract with the consignor.

According to the Customs Control and Supervision Department of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, in practice, many businesses and consignors have encountered difficulties in carrying out customs procedures, such as declarations, tax payments, and fees. Consequently, they have sought assistance from individuals with expertise in import-export laws, customs laws, and procedures. These individuals represent consignors in performing electronic system operations and physically attending customs clearance locations.

From 2015 to July 2024, the Customs Control and Supervision Department has advised the General Department of Vietnam Customs on managing customs broker agents and their staff. Specifically, there are currently 1,099 active customs broker agents (the General Department of Vietnam Customs has recognized 1,615 customs broker agents; 664 have been temporarily suspended, and 507 have ceased operations).

According to data from the Customs Information Technology and Statistics Department (General Department of Vietnam Customs), in the first six months of 2024, 156 customs broker agents nationwide declared on behalf of consignors for import and export activities, accounting for nearly 14.2% of the total number of active customs broker agents. These agents handled 503,734 import and export declarations, representing 6.11% of the total 8,241,170 declarations, with a total import-export value of US$26.54 million, accounting for 5.81% of the total import-export value of the sector. Thus, the number of customs broker agents remains relatively modest.

According to the assessment of the Public Finance Policy Board of the Institute of Strategy and Finance Policy, the operation of customs broker agents has not developed as expected and still faces several challenges such as: the number of customs broker agents in some localities is still modest compared to the locality's potential and advantages; there are still cases of agents being temporarily suspended or ceased operations, partly due to businesses changing their business activities, but mainly due to failing to meet the conditions specified in legal documents; many customs agents do not submit reports on the agent's operations on time.

Notably, customs broker agents have to compete with individuals operating independently and spontaneously; the number of employees per customs broker agent is low (approximately 1.4 employees per agent), which is only slightly higher than the regulation requiring each agent to have at least 1 customs broker agent employee.

In reality, many consignors and import-export businesses do not fully understand the long-term benefits of customs broker agents and are hesitant to sign contracts with agents due to more complex procedures and additional costs. Therefore, many businesses still choose to use the services of customs declaration agents, which carry more risks.

Highlighting the current operating situation, representatives of the Customs Control and Supervision Department stated that there is currently no mechanism to encourage, compel, or penalize customs broker agents and their staff to use their own user IDs to declare declarations and perform procedures relating to cargo clearance.

In customs clearance activities, there are still many cases of using the digital signature and ID of the consignor for declarations. Therefore, when debts arise, penalties are imposed, or forced execution occurs due to undeclared or incorrectly declared goods, the responsibility is attributed to the consignor due to the lack of a contract or an insufficiently robust contract, leading to prolonged legal disputes affecting many parties involved

Research on facilitation and compliance mechanisms

According to the representative of the Customs Control and Supervision Department, the operations of customs broker agents have not yet met the expectation of becoming an 'extended arm of the customs authorities.'

Therefore, solutions are needed to develop this sector, which also aims to facilitate the development of logistics services, help businesses carry out customs procedures more professionally, shorten clearance time, and reduce violations due to a lack of adequate knowledge of customs law and goods management policies.

Consequently, it is necessary to study the management of customs declarants through facial recognition or biometrics, and the management of citizen identification numbers linked to personal information on the electronic customs system.

Establish criteria for recognizing preferred customs broker agents and preferred customs broker agents' staff that are closer to actual operating conditions; develop preferential policies for customs clearance activities for recognized preferred customs broker agents and their staff, specifically, clearly, publicly, and transparently.

At the same time, establish criteria for evaluating compliance and compliance rankings for customs agents; publicly disclose information about customs broker agents and customs broker agents' staff.

Additionally, build a database to support customs agents, importing and exporting businesses, and customs authorities in conveniently, quickly, and accurately searching for information about agents and agent staff; warn and support agents and customs authorities regarding cases related to administrative procedures, ensuring that dossiers are provided in a timely and complete manner as prescribed...