If the reform, modernisation and trade facilitation need a warm heart and inspiration, the fight against smuggling and trade fraud need a cool head, skill and bravery. That was said by the Director of Ho Chi Minh City (HCM City) Customs Department Dinh Ngoc Thang when discussing the two important tasks in the area.

Dialogue Conference between HCM City Customs Department and British
Business Group Vietnam held on September 26, 2019. Photo: Thu Hoa

Try their best to create trust

Managing a unit with a large workload, a wide area and complex nature, it is both a responsibility and a great pressure on the head. Director Dinh Ngoc Thang said the leader must have the spirit of daring to think and daring to do and love the job to sail the boat through big waves. In fact, to realisethe programmes and actions of the Government, the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Customs, HCM City Customs Department haslaunched many programmes, in which there were two breakthrough programs in 2019 namely: the project "Building the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Administration System - HCAS" and the project “Customs procedures in Logistics activities and anti-cargo”.

The two above projects are all aimed at strongly applying information technology to political tasks, improving management and administration, shortening time and reducing costs for businesses. The project "Building the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Administration System - HCAS" has improved the management of HCM City Customs Department based on the application of information technology in all operations and administrative management activities and improved the effectiveness of work management. This project is not separate but connects with the Edoc system of the General Department of Customs. The system has programmes to support and share information between the Customs agency with departments and agencies in the area and connect professional activities, provide information for import-export businesses to make transactions transparent and public via electronic information technology systems.

The project "Customs procedures in logistics activities and anti-cargo congestion at Cat Lai port" has helped improve the efficiency of logistics activities at Cat Lai port through streamlining procedures for goods delivery. This will save more than two hours of clearance time for each container, save loading and unloading costs and storage costs from VND 1 million to VND1.5 million percontainer because the goods can be cleared as soon as the ship arrives at the port. If multiplied by the number of thousands of containers per day of businesses joining the project, the value will be remarkable, which is really a lever to improve the competitiveness of businesses.

Dinh Ngoc Thang said that to succeed in modernisation and reform plans in the area, an important factor was the consent and support of businesses. HCM City Customs Department has paid special attention to trade facilitation, considering businesses not a subject of management but as a companion; proactively contacted with them to understand their production and business activities; organised many talks and dialogues between the Customs and businesses to recognise difficulties and problems regarding regulations, policies and service attitude of customs officers to share and remove and support them. That is the experience of HCM City Customs Department to create cohesion, consensus and trust of businesses and it is also a solution for the department to concretise the action plan "The business community and the Customs reliable partners, working together for mutual development” from 2016 to now.

"Our perseverance and efforts have received the consensus and trust of businesses, which is the driving force for us to overcome difficulties and fulfill our tasks,"said Dinh Ngoc Thang.

He added:“The dialogues and meetings with the business community are attended by the leaders of European, American and Asian associations, CEOs of large international corporations or leaders of embassies. That shows the trust of businesses in the Customs because the Customs agency hasdone what they need: always accompanying and sharing with the difficulties of the business community. HCM City Customs has compiled into books, translated into many languages ​​questions and answers with businesses as their commitmentsto businesses, which has been appreciated by the business community.”

According to Thang, to do these things end, the head of the Customs agency must have spread, not oral speaking but practical actions andmust set specific targets and persevere with targets.

In fact, HCM City Customs always receives the companionship of businesses in the most difficult times. In recent years, the world economy has seen many changes; tax rates have been cut under international commitments in a series of free trade agreements; the tax revenue target of the following year is higher than the previous year, thanks to the support andcompanionship of the business community and the determination and efforts of all customs officers, HCM City Customs Department has successfully fulfilled State budget collection tasks.

Persevere with anti-smuggling

Thang said if the reform, modernisation and trade facilitation need a warm heart and inspiration, the fight against smuggling and trade fraud need a cool head, skill and bravery.

With State management characteristics in the area with many international seaports and airports and more than 50, 000 domestic businesses and thousands of foreign-invested enterprises, the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and drug is a top task of HCM City Customs Department.

The department has concretised the directions and plans of the National Steering Committee 389, the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Customs into specific action programmes, building many plans for anti-smuggling, identifying key targets, key goods, key objects, and key routes and listing tricks to have effective response plans. In addition, the department has requested customs officers raise awareness of responsibility, heighten vigilance and enhance to collect information, grasp the situation and carry out professional measures to prevent violations of customs law.

As a result, in the last three years, HCM City Customs Department has arrested and made a record of more than 4000 violations in the field of customs, with infringing goods valued at more than VND 2,500 billion. Fine and additional revenue for the State budget was more thanVND 80 billion. The customs agency issued a decision to prosecute 39 cases, and transferred 98 cases to other authorities including many serious and particularly serious cases.

The results of smuggling and drug seizures by HCM City Customs Department have contributed to maintaining order, safety and social security; and creating a transparent and fair business environment for businesses to feel confidence in production, development and international economic integration.