To respond and support businesses in the pandemic situation, Hanoi Customs Department has established a working group for monitoring the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which is responsible for synthesising and handling difficulties and problems related to relevant professional fields, to ensure there is no stagnation or congestion of work.

Customs officials of Hanoi Customs Department operate automated
customs supervision system. Photo: N.Linh

In the first half of 2021, despite the impact of the complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, business support activities at the Hanoi Customs Department were still implemented in accordance with the actual situation.

Customs branches established a team on trade facilitation, led by the leader of the branch.

The group is responsible for guiding newly established and newly registered firms to carry out customs procedures, organise contact and regularly pay attention to firms with large revenues that are carrying out procedures at units and enterprises and groups with large investment projects and high import-export turnover to grasp the operation situation, forecast revenue collection, consultancy on the implementation of customs and tax procedures; maintaining a direct communication channel between the leaders of the branch, the team leader and manager of the business to smoothly convey information during the implementation of customs procedures.

In addition, strengthening the force for implementing cargo clearance at customs branches; arrange and assign customs officials to perform work to grasp the legal regulations to improve customs inspection efficiency, quickly settle customs procedures, and reduce clearance time; arrange and assign customs officials to work overtime as requested by firms, promptly solve problems related to customs procedures and processes of firms.

Amid the context of complex developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, plans have been applied by Hanoi Customs Department to support businesses.

The Hanoi Customs Department established a working group on monitoring the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which is responsible for synthesising and handling difficulties and problems related to professional fields to ensure that there is no stagnation or congestion of work when the pandemic occurs in the management area.

Leaders of Hanoi Customs Department, customs branches organise to work with businesses in the area to grasp the situation of import-export activities of firms; at the same time, sending documents and working with the Hanoi Industry and Trade Department, Hanoi Department of Planning and Investment, Management Board of Industrial Parks and Export Processing Zones, Hanoi Tax Department to devise plans to respond and support businesses in the context of the complicated pandemic situation.

Develop contingency plans to support businesses to cope with the developments of the Covid-19 pandemic at department and branch levels.

As a result of supporting businesses in the first six months of 2021, Hanoi Customs Department answered about 100 problems of firms in document, by email, by phone and at the Customs - Enterprise Conference.

Organising consultation delegations of the department and branches to receive information and support businesses about problems in the process of customs procedures and the effects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The delegation led by the leaders of the customs department at the branches was contacted 36 times by firms, seven times contacted at the firm headquarters; the delegation of the customs branch met at the firm's headquarters hit 15 times.

Firms' difficulties and problems were resolved quickly and promptly, with no backlog of problems in terms of customs policies, processes or procedures in the first and second quarters of 2021.

With a series of solutions to support businesses, in the first six months of the year, Hanoi Customs Department has attracted about 200 businesses to carry out customs procedures at its branches.

In the coming time, to further enhance partnership activities and support businesses, the Hanoi Customs Department is expected to work with the Department of Planning and Investment, the Management Board of Hanoi Industrial Parks and Export Processing to develop a mechanism to provide information to the Hanoi Customs Department before granting the project investment certificate; business registration for firms for import-export activities to guide firms to carry out customs procedures; organise a Customs-Business dialogue conference.

In addition, on the list of partner firms proposed by the branch, the Hanoi Customs Department will submit to the Hanoi People's Committee to sign partnership deals, information exchange, and business support mechanisms, consulting on policy development and implementation with regular partners of Hanoi Customs Department.