Dong Nai Customs Department: Continuously Strengthening Professional Training

Dong Nai Customs Department: Continuously Strengthening Professional Training

To promote its glorious tradition, the Customs Department of Dong Nai is working hard to overcome difficulties and to build a stronger customs sector, better meeting the demand of innovation and integration of the country in the new era. Vietnam Business Forum interviewed Mr Le Van Danh, Director of Dong Nai Customs Department, on its recent achievements. Van Luong reports.Could you brief us on some outstanding results of Dong Nai Customs Department recently?

The administrative reform and the work of removing difficulties for enterprises have been accelerated and achieved high efficiency, creating favourable conditions for import and export activities of businesses in the area, thereby contributing to economic development and assisting Dong Nai Customs Department in completing the assigned tasks of tax collection. In 2014, the Dong Nai Customs Department was entrusted by the Ministry of Finance with the mission of estimating the state budget revenues, ranking 6th in the customs sector and collecting 102 percent of the year’s target.

Professional activities of the unit continued to grow, and it was considered one of the leading units in the sector, gaining confidence from the leadership and being widely approved by the business community;

By applying information technology into operational processes and publicising the processing timeline of the staff, Dong Nai Customs Department has helped prevent and terminate the problem of harassment and corruption.

After a period of testing the Vietnam Automated Cargo Clearance System VNACCS/VCIS, what are the results so far for the Dong Nai Customs Department?

Dong Nai Customs Department was one of the pioneers of the customs sector in deploying the VNACCS/VCIS system since April 2014; now all of its affiliates have adopted this system.

The Vietnam Automated Cargo Clearance System (VNACCS/VCIS), funded by Japan, aims to help reduce customs clearance time for businesses once implemented. However, being a modern system of the Japanese customs, it can’t be helped that businesses would encounter certain initial difficulties, so before fully implementing this system, Dong Nai Customs Department organised training courses for businesses in the area, including brokerage firms and customs agents. We also established advisory groups at department and branch office levels to support businesses from the set-up stage throughout the implementation process; currently, local businesses’ feedback on the VNACCS/VCIS is getting stable.

The Prime Minister has directed the customs sector to further promote administrative reform, better facilitating import and export activities of enterprises, strengthening inspection and supervision in the form of post-inspection, building a modern Vietnam customs meeting international standards. How has Dong Nai Customs Department acted on those directions?

The Customs Department of Dong Nai has applied the VNACCS/VCIS system and implemented budget revenues collection through data connection among Customs – Treasury – Bank to help make tax payment easier, reducing customs clearance time, facilitating import-export activities of enterprises, creating a favourable environment for investment. We also have signed the coordination mechanism on checking food safety and quarantine for imported goods to reduce clearance time for businesses whose imported goods need to go through quality checks.

Dong Nai Customs Department has held some dialogue conferences with businesses from Taiwan, Japan and Korea, and local logistic associations to inform foreign businesses of new policies and help them solve problems as well as take notes on difficulties to make a timely report to the leadership.

Besides, Dong Nai Customs Department also has strengthened post-clearance checks, organising internal inspection teams on combating commercial fraud and tax losses.

We have implemented the VNACCS/VCIS system and strengthened risk management to increase the efficiency of e-customs procedures, thereby reducing the rate of record inspection and shortening customs clearance, while guaranteeing there is enough information to prevent smuggling and trade fraud.

The Customs Department of Dong Nai also has implemented and expanded the project of modernizing and collecting electronic budget among Tax agencies – Treasury – Customs – Finance chaired by the Direction Board of modernizing state revenues collection, a unit under the Ministry of Finance, with commercial banks and organisations; we also have continued to synchronize budget collection data with the VNACCS system.

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