Mr. Dao Duy Tam

The Customs News interviewed the Deputy Director of the Customs Supervision and Management Department (General Department of Customs) Dao Duy Tam about the progress of the Decree as well as outstanding issues received the most attention of stakeholders.

Could you tell us about the progress of the draft Decree?

The Ministry of Finance has worked with the Government Office and other ministries and agencies to develop the Decree in accordance with the law and institutionalizing reform contents in Decision 38/QD-TTg.

The draft Decree has been sent to stakeholders for comments. In addition, the Ministry of Finance has repeatedly organized seminars to gather opinions from ministries, government agencies and some domestic and foreign associations. All opinions have been noted and reviewed to complete the draft.

Moreover, the Ministry of Finance (General Department of Customs) has sent a document to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for opinions. To date, WTO members including the United States, Taiwan (China) and the EU have given their comments.

The draft has been reviewed by the Ministry of Justice and on August 16, 2021, the Ministry of Finance submitted Report 144/TTr-BTC to the Government on approval of the construction of the draft Decree.

To ensure consistency of the draft Decree, the Government Office chaired a meeting with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice and other related ministries to discuss a number of controversial issues before submitting the draft to the Government.

Accordingly, on November 1, 2021, the Ministry of Finance completed the dossier for the formulation of a Decree to submit to the Government.

During the drafting of the Decree, which comments did the General Department of Customs receive from relevant ministries, government agencies, businesses and agencies, sir?

The Ministry of Finance (General Department of Customs) received a lot of comments from ministries, government agencies and local agencies, businesses and associations and WTO members. All has actively supported Customs on developing the draft Decree.

The ministries and agencies all affirmed their approval of the Government's policy on reforming quality inspection and food safety inspection in accordance with Resolution 99/NQ-CP of the Government and Decision No. 38/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister.

The associations and businesses appreciated the reform contents in the draft Decree, and hoped the Government would soon issue the Decree to create favorable conditions for them.

The WTO members also expressed high consensus on the draft Decree and made some comments to clarify the provisions and ensure the goal of facilitating businesses.

However, some ministries and agencies disagreed with some contents of the Decree.

All comments were noted by the General Department of Customs to complete the draft or re-explain to stakeholders and report to the Ministry of Finance and the Government for controversial opinions.

What outstanding contents received the most attention, sir?

Ministries and agencies mainly discussed the role of the Customs agency for quality inspection and food safety inspection. They said that the fact that the Customs agency is the focal point for quality inspection and food safety inspection, should be approved by the National Assembly Standing Committee and implemented in the phase 2 when the Law on specialized management is revised.

In addition, the ministries said the contents of the Decree are beyond the scope of the Project approved by the Government in Decision 38/QD-TTg such as goods managed by the Ministry of Transport, goods subject to quarantine and quality inspection and/or food safety inspection, and goods subject to post-clearance inspection. These contents have been supplemented by the Ministry of Finance on the basis of suggestions from associations to ensure consistency.

Businesses acknowledged the reform contents of the draft Decree, especially the application of risk management principles, application of information technology, uniform implementation of procedures on the National Single Window Portal and the Customs agency as the focal point for quality inspection and food safety inspection. These reform contents create favorable conditions for businesses, reduce the time and cost of carrying out quality inspection and food safety inspection procedures, especially reducing contact with state agencies.

How will the conflicting opinions be treated so that the Decree will soon concretize the reform spirit stated in the Prime Minister's Decision 38/QD-TTg and meet the expectations of the business community, sir?

Basically, the comments on the draft Decree have been noted. Conflicting opinions have been repeatedly explained at conferences and seminars by the General Department of Customs but have been approved by the ministries and agencies such as:

The Government's assignment of the Customs authority in charge of quality inspection and food safety inspection for imported goods is inconsistent with the Laws: Plant Protection and Quarantine, Veterinary Medicine, Cultivation, and Animal Husbandry, Farming, Fisheries, Product and commodity quality and food safety. It is necessary to ask for approval by the National Assembly Standing Committee for the regulation that the Customs agency conducts tightened inspection, normal inspection and reduced inspection.

The draft Decree amends that goods declared in conformity under measures 2a, 2b specified in Decree 74/2018/ND-CP (goods inspected for quality after customs clearance) which is not in accordance with Decision 38/QD-TTg.

For the provision on goods subject to both quarantine and quality inspection and/or food safety inspection under the management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that this provision should be removed from the Decree because such provision exceeds the scope of Decision 38/QD-TTg. However, businesses and associations proposed to include the provision in the draft Decree to unify the implementation of these two procedures on the National Single Window (NSW) to remove difficulties for production and business.

For group 2 in the field of transportation, the Ministry of Transport proposes to exclude them from the draft Decree, because quality inspection procedures for this group have been carried out on the National Single Window, meeting reform requirements and complying with international practices and commitments.

The General Department of Customs has given specific explanations and reported to the Ministry of Finance all above contents for submission to the Government for consideration and decision. The General Department of Customs will continue to complete the draft Decree to submit to the Government for promulgation.

Thanh you, sir