Trouble-shooting Recommendations for Specialised Checks

After measuring the time required for releasing cargo, the General Department of Vietnam Customs pointed out that the time with customs authorities only accounts for some 30 percent of total time of export and import clearance. The clearance of goods at border gates until the delivery to companies depends significantly on other agencies such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Thus, to reduce clearance duration, the General Department proposed 11 ministries join hands to diminish export and import procedures, including those for specialised items.

According to the Department of Customs of Ho Chi Minh City, although specialised goods are in a great number (over 20 percent), the percentage of disqualifications is low. To shorten the clearance time, the department proposed starting from specialised goods.

Currently, the volume of goods placed under specialised checks at border gates is on the increase. The Customs Area No. 1 of Saigon Port reported that the volume of cargo imposed specialised checks accounted for 15.2 percent of declaration papers in 2014 and disqualified declaration documents accounted for just 0.029 percent. Similarly, in the Customs Area No. 2 of Saigon Port, cargo subjected to specialised checks accounted for 27.27 percent but the rate of disqualifications is zero percent. This means that no import shipments violate quality requirements.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, as for declaration papers filed in 2013, not many were left over to 2014. The backlogs were primarily caused by specialised checks at competent authorities. Due to a very low rate of disqualified goods subjected to specialised checks, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department asked for more reasonable solutions to reduce clearance duration.

The department suggested stringent inspections into quarantined goods and pre-import checks on goods required quality and food safety. Importers will send samples for examinations.

Specialised inspection agencies and customs agencies will inspect regularly or irregularly to assess the law compliance of enterprises. The application of pre-import checks should be piloted with law-abiding companies first. Specialized inspection agencies are suggested applying risk management principles to examine exported and imported goods, exporters and importers subjected to specialised checks. Authorities may perform deep checks or shallow checks on every batch of shipment. As for goods that may use human senses or simple checks, authorities should make immediate decisions on checked items so as to quicken flows of cargo cleared at border gates.

Besides, it is necessary to build regulations on coordination for customs authorities and specialised inspection agencies to improve the accountability of all parties to ensure legal compliance. Specialised inspection agencies will classify imports to make decisions on pre-import checks or pre-circulation checks to ease up pressures at border gates.

A list of commodities subjected to quality, safety and quarantine checks should be created for relevant units to refer to when they perform inspections. Then, the process of handling clearance procedures will be simplified and the time for this process will be shortened.

Le Hien

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