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ICHAM and Press: “Electronic customs clearance is a big step forward for Vietnam Customs”
(VFT) - In his interview with a reporter from Vietnam Financial Times (VFT), Mr. Pham Hoang Hai - Executive Director of The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (ICHAM) highly appreciated the recent trade facilitation reforms of the customs department.
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- Mr. Hai: In recent period, Vietnam Custom have had many reforms aiming at facilitating trade and we highly appreciated this effort. The most important and satisfied reform is the electronic customs clearance procedure put in practice recently. This truly is a big step, helping businesses save time and costs. At the same time, this change also simplifies and increases transparency within the clearance procedure of Vietnam Customs Department. In the past, tasks involving preparing papers, goods cost businesses tremendous time and effort. This cost is required not only from the party sending the customs clearance application, but also from the party completing the customs clearance (customs office). In our opinion, this e-customs clearance procedure is a huge step that makes us feel the most efficient and satisfied. In addition, with the Ministry of Finance issueing Circular 81/2019/ TT-BTC regulating risk management in customs operations and additional data that the customs authority has compiled for risk assessment, we hope the goods clearance time will be significantly shortened in the near future.
- Mr. Hai: Within the last 3 years, Vietnam market has been receiving great attention from Italian businesses community. In fact, there are over 6,000 Italian businesses doing trade with the Vietnamese market, making Vietnam the biggest trade partner of Italy in the South East Asia region. It could be said that Vietnam is a very promising market for the Italian businesses. When EVFTA comes into effect on 1st August, the trade influx of Italian goods in particular and of EU in general will increase even more. This is why Italian businesses are paying more attention and effort in approaching Vietnam market.
In the modern economic model, trade and investment always go hand in hand, so if Italy’s trade value in Vietnam develops, it means that Italian FDI in Vietnam will increase in time. next. In particular, with the current complicated situation of the Covid-19 epidemic, many Italian companies find there is a major disadvantage in concentrating the entire supply chain at one point (for example in China). Therefore, diversifying the supply market will turn Vietnam into an ideal destination for Italian businesses.
- Mr. Hai: Actually, many Italian companies wonder whether the General Department of Customs (GDC) will promptly update all the database of goods and customs codes to apply new import duties from August 1st or not? Many businesses wonder that if by the time Italian goods are exported to Vietnam and gone through customs clearance, the new tariff schedule has not yet been updated, it will cause economic impacts on businesses. Therefore, we strongly urge GDC to promptly update the new tariff schedule for all goods eligible to EVFTA’s preferential tariffs from August 1st.
With the aim to simplify the work of GDC in the customs clearance process, as well as to help Italian businesses prepare their documents more thoroughly and fully before their goods arrive in Vietnam..., in our second proposal, we are looking to open a hotline to GDC to support businesses in the export process. At the same time, if permitted by GDC, we would publish on the website of ICHAM Vietnam a separate section on customs clearance procedures in Vietnam. In this section, all industries that Italy is exporting to Vietnam such as machinery, food, mechanics... will be covered. All the documents that GDC requires businesses to hand in for customs clearance will be updated on ICHAM’s website so that Italian enterprises can use it as an information channel for them to prepare the documents when they exports Vietnamese goods. If this is possible, the implementation of EVFTA will be very effective, bringing benefits to both businesses and the Customs Department in saving time, simplifying and increasing transparency of the process.
- Mr. Hai: We agree entirely on this proposal, especially with the enforcement of EVFTA in context. Many products are currently under the management of two or more than two ministries. This will lead to time and resources dilapidation for both businesses and the authority. When we join in the wave of globalization and FTAs increase in integration and diversion, having too many managing agencies supervising one sector of product will cost stagnation within working procedure. Therefore, it is our thought that the Customs Agency, be the first body to inspect certain criteria of goods, should also implement specialized inspection function, except for sector relating to national security and sensitive goods that required more meticulous inspection process.
However, accomplishing such task requires synchronization between levels of govern bodies for a certain inspection process, using a certain set of documents to secure Customs role as the only focal unit performing specialized inspection functions.
However, to be able to do this, the government needs to synchronize inspection process between agencies and departments, using a certain set of documents so that Customs becomes the only focal unit performing specialized inspection functions, becomes the only focal point for enterprises to work as well as to simplify the process. Once we achieve synchronization of processes, papers, records as well as all technical requirements, it will be is an important and very effective progress in promoting commercialization, globalization as well as promoting e-Government.
