Director General of Vietnam Customs Nguyen Van Can and Commissioner of U.S Customs and Border Protection Chris Magnus sign a Memorandum of Understanding on promoting mutual cooperation between the GDVC and CBP. Photo: Dao Hai

Within framework of working session on June 8, the GDVC’s Director General Nguyen Van Can had a meeting with the CBP’s Commissioner Chris Magnus.

Bilateral trade between Vietnam and the US exceeded the record of US$ 100 billion in 2021, making the US Vietnam’s largest export market and Vietnam become the US’s 9th largest trading partner.

The role of the two customs administrations has contributed to the growth, especially through the signing and implementing the agreement on customs cooperation between the two countries with contents such as intelligence exchange, supporting in information verification and investigation to prevent customs offences, origin fraud, illicit transshipment, tax avoidance and trade remedies, and technical assistance to strengthen the customs enforcement capacity of each party.

The delegation of Vietnam Customs led by Director General Nguyen Van Can takes photos with the CBP's officials. Photo: Hien Nguyen

At the meeting, the two sides discussed and assessed frankly the running of the agreement over the past time. Accordingly, the US Customs highly appreciated great efforts of Vietnam Customs in investigating, detecting, handling and providing information to prevent illicit transshipment of goods to the US, including cases related to wood, aluminum, and waste products.

These efforts helped the US make objective assessments in the investigation related to currency devaluation in Vietnam and helped Vietnam avoid trade sanctions from the US.

Motivated by the desire to strengthen efficiency in implementing the agreement and deepen the cooperation relationship between the two Customs administrations, contributing to facilitating legal trade, ensuring trade and national security, and strengthening the capacity of Customs authorities in detecting and preventing customs offences, the leaders of the two customs administrations set out key tasks for cooperation in the near future.

Accordingly, the key tasks as follows:

Firstly, connecting and exchanging information of goods and passengers via the National Single Window.

The second, supporting to strengthen law enforcement capacity for Vietnamese Customs officers through exchange of expert delegations, surveys and learning experiences between the two sides.

The third, improving the efficiency of busting crimes related to smuggling, trade fraud, illicit transshipment, tax evasion, including connecting and sharing intelligence in a timely fashion to prevent customs offences.

GDVC’s Director General and CBP’s Commissioner agreed on the policy of appointing a focal contact point of the two administrations, and exchanging and sharing information in effective and regular manner between the two sides through the communication channel of the US regional Customs Attaché and the Deputy Customs Attaché to Vietnam.

The Director General and the Commissioner also expected effective multilateral customs cooperation forums of the World Customs Organization and in the region to which Vietnam and the US are acceded.

To mark the first high-level working between the two customs administrations after signing the agreement, the Director General and the Commissioner signed a Memorandum of Understanding on promoting mutual cooperation between the GDVC and CBP. The Memorandum of Understanding shows the two parties' interest in building an effective long-term cooperative relationship and focuses on in-depth customs operations which will be performed by the two sides after the signing date within framework of the agreement and regulations of each party.

The delegation of Vietnam Customs worked with the CBP's National Targeting Center and the Commercial Office to gain experience in risk management, automated targeting assessment for goods and passengers and trade enforcement initiatives to effectively facilitate legitimate trade while controlling trade fraud, tax avoidance and illicit transshipment. The delegation also visited the CBP’s customs control process at Boston Airport and Seaport, thereby, getting experience and appropriately applying it in customs management in Vietnam.

The visit by the Director General Nguyen Van Can recorded a new achievement in the cooperation relationship between the GDVC and the CBP, showing the strong commitment of Vietnam Customs in effective customs management to prevent customs offences and facilitate legitimate trade between the two countries, contributing to strengthening the comprehensive partnership between the two governments.