Imported goods fell sharply

In the early days of March at Tan Thanh, Huu Nghi and Chi Ma border gates, the number of goods registered by enterprises to carry out import and export procedures through the border gates was still very limited. If at the end of 2022, the number of goods that businesses carry out import procedures through a service road at Huu Nghi international border gate was about 200 vehicles/day, at this time, the volume of goods transporting to this border gate was only about more than 100 vehicles/day.

Sharing with reporters about revenue collection through the management area, Deputy Manager of Huu Nghi Customs Branch Hua Thi Hong said that many enterprises operating business, production, import and export activities of cars, semi-trailers, raw materials; spare parts for cars and motorbikes; iron and steel, household appliances used to carry out procedures through Huu Nghi international border gate regularly, but now due to China's trade regulation policy in 2022, some enterprises have switched to carry out procedures in some other localities.

This caused a sharp reduction in revenue collection of Huu Nghi Customs in the first 2 months of 2023. In particular, by the end of February, the unit had collected approximately VND 200 billion, equal to 4% of the assigned target (VND 4,898 billion), decreasing nearly 35% compared to the same period in 2022.

Tan Thanh Customs officer instructs the driver to make a declaration about vehicle transporting exported goods through border gate. Photo: H.Nụ

In the area under the management of Tan Thanh Customs Branch, the state budget collection in the first two months of the year also faced many difficulties. According to the Deputy Manager of Tan Thanh Customs Branch Phung Van Ba, the turnover of import-export goods through the border gate since the beginning of the year has reached about US$9.3 million, an increase of more than 621% compared to the same period in 2022. However, most goods cleared through the border gate were goods with a tax rate of 0%. Besides that, several border gates, such as Na Hinh, Na Nua, and Binh Nghi, have not yet resumed cargo clearance. Therefore, the state revenue in the first two months of the year, under the management of Tan Thanh Customs, was only nearly VND 3.7 billion, equivalent to 1.9% of the assigned target.

Similarly, the amount of goods carrying out customs procedures has decreased sharply through customs management areas such as Dong Dang, Chi Ma, and Coc Nam international railway stations, which are also facing many difficulties. As a result, according to the assessment, in the first two months of the year, the import turnover of goods from China into Vietnam through the provincial border gates decreased by more than 18% compared to the same period in 2022.

Analyzing more deeply revenue collection, Deputy Director of Lang Son Customs Department Nguyen Huu Vuong goods registered by enterprises to carry out customs procedures through Lang Son province have long been very specific. For example, exported goods are mainly agricultural products and fresh fruits have a tax rate of 0%. In the opposite direction, imported goods are mainly spare parts for cars and motorbikes; computer components and electronic products; raw materials for garments, leather and footwear; semi-trailers, iron and steel. Some enterprises have switched to carrying out procedures in some other localities. Therefore, the number of imported goods in the year's first two months decreased sharply.

As of February 28, the whole Department had collected and paid to the state budget VND 527 billion, increasing 43.93% over the same period in 2022, equaling 8.79% of the assigned plan. Deputy Director General Nguyen Huu Vuong said that in 2023, the unit was assigned the target of collecting VND 6,000 billion and striving to collect VND 6,500 billion. Accordingly, to complete the task, on average, Lang Son Customs must collect at least VND 500 billion per month. Although the revenue collection in February increased compared to January, the general results in the first two months of the year showed that the state revenue collection through the area managed by Lang Son Customs Department is facing many difficulties.

Actively follow the production plan of enterprises

Faced with the fact that the number of enterprises operating import-export activities through the area decreased, from February 23, 2023, following the direction of the leaders of Lang Son Customs Department, border gate customs branches held meetings to capture and remove difficulties for enterprises engaging in import-export activities.

Through the conference, the customs branches at the border gate agreed to increase the time for receiving and processing declarations for enterprises, thereby helping to clear goods in the fastest way, especially for agricultural products cleared within the same day. In particular, the customs units at the border gate have agreed to reduce the rate of conducting a direct inspection of dossiers and physical inspection of goods for enterprises that voluntarily comply with goods declaration to shorten the cargo clearance time further.

In addition, to quickly catch up on the production and business plans of enterprises, thereby actively developing appropriate support plans, the border gate customs branch has established a working group to continue to meet and encourage import-export enterprises with high turnover and large tax amounts to carry out procedures through branches.

Accordingly, through working sessions with Customs authorities, nearly 500 enterprises engaged in import-export activities have carried out registration procedures to open customs declarations through border gates in Lang Son province. Typically, for example, Huu Nghi Customs Branch has called for 119 enterprises operating businesses of goods with high tax rates to return to carry out import and export procedures through the branch.

Deputy Director Nguyen Huu Vuong stressed that the unit would focus heavily on revenue collection from now until the end of the year. In particular, the unit would actively apply all professional measures to promptly collect taxes and fees from import-export activities into the state budget. At the same time, continuing to focus on reviewing, inspecting and detecting violations in the classification of goods, determining the value and origin of goods, thereby collecting tax arrears, and tax assessments to prevent loss of revenue.

In parallel with solutions to support businesses, Lang Son Customs will also actively coordinate with units, departments and sectors in the province to exchange and negotiate with the Chinese authority to strengthen the capacity of cargo clearance through the border gates.

It is known that through talks, exchanges and working letters, the two authorities of Lang Son - Guangxi have agreed to increase the working hours at border gates by 1 hour and restore customs clearance activities through Na Nua border gate as planned in March 2023. After that, by June 2023, several other sub-border gates will continue to be restored to create maximum conditions for cargo clearance. These positive signals are assessed to help increase the capacity of cargo clearance through Lang Son province, from which the structure of goods with tax rates will also increase.