In order to both effectively prevent and combat the Covid-19 pandemic and ensure quick cargo clearance, avoiding congestion, in the days after the Lunar New Year, Lang Son Customs has been actively coordinating with the border forces, quarantine team, enterprises operating yard, implementing the diversion of means of transporting import and export goods, at the same time strengthening exchanges with the Chinese authorities to facilitate clearance of import and export goods, release of goods, and reducing costs for enterprises.

Huu Nghi Customs officials are arranged to perform duty 24/24 for
guiding enterprises to implement customs procedures.
Photo: H.Nụ

Efforts to perform clearance

According to the assessment of Lang Son Customs Department, at present, there are a large number of trucks transporting goods to the border gates of the province. Mainly transported to Huu Nghi, Tan Thanh and Chi Ma international border gate for carrying out import and export procedures for goods. Particularly, the volume of goods passing through Coc Nam border gate fell sharply. The reason is that the Chinese authorities changed the working time after the Tet holiday and increased the cost of means of transport, so some companies that regularly carry out import and export procedures through Coc Nam border gates have transported goods to other border gates with lower fees such as Tan Thanh, Chi Ma, Ta Lung (Cao Bang).

Lang Son Customs has instructed the border-gate customs branches to actively coordinate with the competent forces and units at the border gate to advise and propose solutions to remove difficulties in order to improve cargo clearance capacity for import and export goods. In particular, coordinate with forces and the business community to deploy pandemic prevention measures when the people and means of transporting goods are too crowded in border areas, ensuring both economic development and effective Covid-19 pandemic prevention.

In particular, Lang Son Customs regularly exchanged and held talks with Pingxiang, Guangxi, China on the provisions of import and export goods and Covid-19 prevention between the two sides, continuing to maintain the inspection and supervision of goods and means of transport of goods in border-gate areas in accordance with regulations.

Since then, increasing information and communication on the situation of import and export goods, the pandemic, coordination and deployment of competent forces at the border gates for the business community to take the initiative before delivering goods to the gate.

At Tan Thanh, Huu Nghi and Chi Ma border gates, the customs units currently arrange officers to perform duties and receive procedures 24/7 in order to reduce cargo clearance time, minimising the time of storage at the border to minimise costs, and avoid congestion at the border. Not only strictly implementing the medical control process, in order to prevent Covid-19 from spreading into Vietnam, Lang Son Customs has closely coordinated with the Border Defence force at the border gate and deployed measures and arranged forces to be on duty 24/7 at posts on the border line, tightly controlling trails, opening paths, and preventing illegal immigration.

Specific solutions

Talking to Customs News, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Tuan, Director of Lang Son Customs Department, said that China's application of safeguard measures for a number of items with high turnover and revenues such as steel and aluminum would continue to reduce in tax collection through border gates in Lang Son province. Especially, the Covid-19 pandemic was under control, mobile phones were expected to be transported by air, so the tax collection of Lang Son Customs Department was forcasted to fall deeply (about VND380 billion).

Facing that situation, in order to perform the assigned tasks, Lang Son Customs has developed a working program and set out eight key tasks, including “Concentrating on implementing synchronous solutions to ensure State revenue collection and exceeding the ordinance targets assigned by the Ministry of Finance, the General Department of Vietnam Customs and the People's Council of Lang Son province in 2021 to reach VND3,450 billion, the striving target is VND4,000 billion”.

To complete the collection, Lang Son Customs Department requested its affiliated units to build and implement action plans on administrative reform and modernisation of customs, improve the business environment, enhance national competitiveness in 2021. Regularly speak with businesses to promptly remove difficulties and problems arising under their jurisdiction.

Reviewing, accurately classifying, handling debt groups, sending monthly reports on the contents of the 2021 revenue collection evaluation; the situation of tax debt collection and settlement. In particular, to strengthen the inspection of goods names, codes, tariff rates at the cargo clearance stage and the post-clearance audit stage in order to detect and handle cases of incorrectly declaring codes, declaring disguised names or unclear names.

Strengthening to fight against revenue loss through supervision and inspection of customs procedures, post-clearance audit, specialised inspection, fighting against smuggling and trade fraud; focusing on inspecting against fraud in terms of quantity, value, code, origin, trademarks, strictly control, promptly detect and prevent illegal transportation and smuggling; importing goods counterfeiting trademarks or infringing intellectual property rights