Right after HCM City applied social distancing under Directive 15 of the Prime Minister (except for Go Vap district and Thanh Loc ward of District 12 applying Directive 16), HCM City Customs Department directed its subordinate units to deploy anti-pandemic measures at the highest level to ensure smooth operation of import and export activities as well as State management of customs during social distancing.

Huu Nghi Customs officials checked imported goods. Photo: H.Nụ

Ensuring the continuity of import and export activities

As noted at the border gate and outside border gate customs branches with a large volume of firms carrying out procedures, the leaders of the branches have thoroughly grasped the directions and spirit of leaders at all levels in pandemic prevention with drastic solutions and appropriate with management characteristics of each unit, ensuring safe anti-pandemic, maintaining the flow of import and export goods.

At the Investment Customs Branch, the Manager Nguyen Xuan Binh said that, to carry out import and export procedures for a large volume of FDI firms, right after the issuance of the direction of the People's Committee of HCM City and Director of HCM City Customs Department, the branch reactivated anti-pandemic measures at the highest level, along with applying specific management measures at the branch. Accordingly, the Customs branch has implemented three-layer pandemic prevention: besides screening through medical declarations at the gate, the unit performs body temperature measurement, display hand sanitiser right at the entrance; arrange customs official to directly distribute or number to firms to queue for implementing customs procedure, arrange small groups of firms to ensure distance. Through this screening, it would help the unit manage the businesses that come to carry out the procedures, ensuring pandemic prevention. The branch has applied new methods, such as deploying scanning QR codes for businesses to register for physical inspection of goods; using IT applications to contact, inform them about customs dossier to business to minimise direct contact between Customs and firms.

At Cat Lai port, which has the largest volume of import and export goods nationwide, Saigon port area 1 Customs Branch has well implemented the regulations on cargo clearance amid social distancing. Deputy Manager of Saigon port area 1 Customs Branch Le Nguyen Linh said that besides monitoring and screening through medical declarations, measuring body temperature for enterprises come to carry out customs procedures that is carried out by port businesses. Currently, to both effectively fight against pandemic and clear a large amount of goods for businesses, the Saigon port area 1 Customs Branch strictly adheres to anti-pandemic measures. During the process of carrying out procedures, Customs officials do not directly receive the firm's documents, but they will receive them indirectly after the documents have been disinfected. To ensure clearance of goods for firms in time, depending on the task of each team, the branch assigns customs officials to work at the branch and work from home accordingly, ensuring that about 50-70 customs officials perform tasks at working place to clear goods.

For goods carrying out procedure by air, post, and express delivery, to ensure continuity of import-export activities as well as the State management of customs, the customs units will implement the plan of working from home under the regime of the rotational assignment of 70% of customs officials and employees going to work at the office, 30% of officials and employees working from home.

Many scenarios to respond

According to Deputy Director of HCM City Customs Department Nguyen Huu Nghiep, facing the complex developments of Covid-19 pandemic, along with the drastic direction of leaders from the central to local levels, the HCM City Customs Department follow the direction of leaders at all levels and the Director of Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department with drastic solutions for pandemic prevention, hypothetical situations and specific response plans. Right after HCM City implemented social distancing in accordance with Directive 15 and Directive 16 of the Prime Minister, HCM City Customs Department directed units to deploy anti-pandemic at the highest level to ensure the smooth operation of import and export activities as well as the State management of customs during social distancing.

Following the direction of the Director of HCM City Customs Department, besides well implementing anti-pandemic measures, the Covid-19 Prevention Team of HCM City Customs Department has developed detailed scenarios for four hypothetical situations at different locations that are headquarters of HCM City Customs Department, headquarters and procedures area of ​​affiliated units that interact with customers. Simultaneously, working with subordinate units as well as authorities in the locality to develop contingency plans for a field clearance point and carry out customs procedures if the clearance area is isolated or if the whole area where the customs office is located is isolated.

Besides the hypothetical scenarios, to improve efficiency in pandemic prevention, HCM City Customs Department directed units to strengthen supervision of people and means of transport coming from affected countries at the border gate; request all customs officials, employees, individuals and organisations come to work at the headquarters of the HCM City Customs Department as well as the subordinate units to strictly comply with 5K measures as recommended.

Moreover, besides taking measures of anti-pandemic recommended by the Ministry of Health, in the long term, leaders of HCM City Customs Department proposed to be vaccinated for Customs officers working at the unit to ensure safety for all resources and maintain the import and export activities as well as the State management of customs in the management area.