Director General Nguyen Van Can said the customs sector has been making determined efforts to achieve the revenue target of VND335 trillion in 2021.

Speaking at the conclusion of the virtual meeting to hand over work of the third quarter and the work program of the fourth quarter of the General Department of Customs on September 29, Director General Nguyen Van Can requested the whole customs sector to effectively follow the direction of Deputy Minister of Finance Vu Thi Mai and the goals and solutions set out in the report of the General Department of Customs.

In particular, the Director General noted that the whole sector needs to focus on performing a number of key tasks.

The customs sector must make efforts to complete and exceed the budget revenue target for the whole of 2021.

According to the Director General, the revenue in the third quarter plunged due to impacts of Covid-19 pandemic. In the fourth quarter, the pandemic is seemed to be controlled but there are many potential risks affecting customs operations.

Therefore, the whole sector needs to make efforts to facilitate trade and prevent budget loss to collect VND335 trillion (exceeding the year’s target by VND20 trillion) to fund socio-economic development goals and tasks and anti-pandemic work.

"The whole sector must always effectively implement two tasks at the same time: trade facilitation and the efficiency of state management of customs and anti-budget loss," the Director General said.

Regarding anti-smuggling, it is necessary to continue to effectively implement programs and plans related to the fight against transnational drug crimes and focus on effective control of goods, fields and areas with potential risks of smuggling and tax evasion.

For sugar products, the Ministry of Industry and Trade decided to officially apply anti-dumping measures and anti-subsidy taxes on a number of cane sugar products originated from Thailand from June 16, 2021.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has recently applied countermeasures against circumvention of trade remedies for cane sugar products originating from Thailand through five countries, including: Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar.

Therefore, Director General Nguyen Van Can requests competent units, especially the Customs Departments of the Southwest region, to take the initiative in plans to grasp the situation and promptly detect, investigate and handle violations in a timely fashion.

Along with that, the Customs sector will continue to strengthen and improve the efficiency of international cooperation, especially in the field of anti-smuggling.

The Director General requests each branch and each local customs department to always uphold the sense of responsibility, effectively apply professional measures, associated with the use of equipment from the customs clearance stage, post-clearance inspection and risk management.

Furthermore, in the fourth quarter, the customs units must proactively join building and implementing the digital customs system and the smart customs model; strengthen disciplines and strictly follow regulations on the prevention of the pandemic.