Customs officers of the Lang Son Customs Department guide procedures for enterprises. Photo: H.Nu

After each annual business dialogue conference, the General Department of Customs has continued to answer arising problems, thereby helping remove difficulties and obstacles in customs clearance, ensuring enterprises comply with the relevant policies and laws.

To facilitate the exchange of information between the Customs and the business community, the Customs Authority always comprehensively reforms management methods and import-export tax policies, in line with the economic integration towards stability, publicity and transparency. This creates a healthy economic environment in accordance with international treaties and other relevant laws.

From the start of 2021, the General Department of Customs issued Decision 29/QD-TCHQ, dated January 9, 2021 regarding the plan to develop the Customs/ Business partnership in 2021. The plan sets out four main requirements for Customs: Creating conditions for businesses to easily access the Customs' support measures for businesses during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, organizing dialogue and consultation activities to listen, answering problems for enterprises and strengthening supervision of law enforcement to ensure that customs laws are implemented in a transparent and fair manner.

The results are proven by the fact that the General Department of Customs has actively promoted the reform of customs policies and laws. Accordingly, from the beginning of 2020, the Customs Authority has presided over the Ministry of Finance to issue 18 Customs legal documents (six decrees, two decisions and ten circulars).

The typical activities are, issuing Decree 67/2020/ND-CP to cut 19 of 29 customs business conditions, issuing Decree 18/2021/ND-CP to solve tax management for imported and exported goods and issuing Circular 47/2020/TT-BTC, stipulating the submission time limit and form of C/O for imported goods during the Covid-19 pandemic period. As well as this, activities also include, connecting 235 administrative procedures of 13 ministries and agencies to the National Single Window; exchanging C/O electronic form D with nine ASEAN countries, signing electronic tax collections with 44 banks, implementing 94 administrative procedures on the National Public Service Portal and deploying online public services at levels 3 and 4.

In addition, the Customs Authority regularly works with other ministries and agencies to reform specialized inspection activities. So far, ministries and government agencies have amended 29 of 38 documents as planned and issued 48 of 60 lists of goods with HS codes. They’ve also issued regulations and standards for all 22 commodities and deployed electronic customs with the participation of more than 99.65% of businesses at 100% of customs units nationwide, thereby shortening the time for customs clearance for businesses; strengthening the implementation of electronic tax payment.