General Department of Vietnam Customs has directed Customs authorities at all levels to establish teams to support and handle customs procedures for imported and exported goods, especially goods for Covid-19 prevention such as: medical supplies and equipment, foreign medicine, vaccines, in vitro diagnostic devices (IVD), etc.

HCM City Customs officials implement procedures for import –
export goods through Cat Lai. Photo: N.Linh

This aims to facilitate customs declarants in handling cargo clearance, ensuring the dual target of effective anti-pandemic and smooth operation of import and export activities.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs requested branches to set up teams for supporting and dealing with problems related to customs procedures for import and export goods led by the leader of the branch and immediately deploy some tasks such as: receiving, checking dossiers and immediately carrying out customs procedures for import and export shipments.

The time limit for completing dossiers inspection and physical inspection of goods must not exceed the time limit specified at Points a and b, Clause 2, Article 23 of the Law on Customs (no more than two hours for checking dossiers and no more than eight hours for conducting a physical inspection).

Within the time limit, if any problems arise beyond the competence, the manager of Customs branch should immediately report it to the department's leader for instructions.

The support and handling team at the Sub-Department level will receive and handle problems of customs declarants related to customs procedures 24/7 to ensure quick cargo clearance.

For the border gate customs branch, they should regularly review information on the goods manifest, if the information of imported consignments is about medical supplies, equipment, foreign medicines, vaccines, or IVD devices, then notify and instruct customs declarants to implement the procedures for cargo clearance.

They must post the list and phone numbers of customs officials supporting clearance procedures at the Customs branch and the department's website, including the leaders of the branch, three to five officials and employees operating in professional fields: customs procedures, origin, valuation, HS code and specialised inspection.

At the customs department level, establish a team on supporting and handling problems related to customs procedures for import and export goods of firms, the customs branch that is led by the leader of the department.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs requested to immediately implement some tasks, such as the provincial/municipal Customs Departments must guide and handle arising problems within three hours of receiving information about problems reported by the customs branch.

In case of excess jurisdiction, they must immediately report to the leaders of the General Department (through the General Department's Problem Solving Team) for instructions.

At the same time, publicly post the list and phone numbers of customs officials working in the supporting team on the website of the department and report to the General Department of Vietnam Customs before August 14.

At the level of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, a supporting and handling team on problems related to customs procedures for import and export goods is also being established, led by Deputy Director General Mai Xuan Thanh, while the team members are representatives of leaders, specialists of a number of professional units.

The General Department's working group is responsible for receiving and handling problems in the customs clearance process reported by the customs department within three working hours of receiving information about problems.

In case of excess jurisdiction, the General Department should submit a written report to the competent authority or discuss with ministries for guidance.

The General Department's working group also regularly reviews and controls customs procedures for imported shipments of medical equipment, supplies, medicines, vaccines and IVD devices. If detecting that the customs official has not handled the customs procedures within the prescribed time limit, they will be reminded or reported to the Director of the General Department for handling.

Regarding information exchange, reporting and handling of problems between the Working Groups from the branch level to the General Department level, it is done via phone (directly or via smart mobile applications) or email (through the focal points of the units).

Previously, the General Department of Vietnam Customs offered a series of instructions for customs units to implement solutions to support cargo clearance, creating favourable conditions for businesses.