Solutions offered by customs and relevant agencies have reduced the risk of cargo congestion at Cat Lai seaport, but it is necessary to introduce more practical solutions to cope with the developments of the pandemic.

Practical solutions are required to avoid cargo congestions at seaports.

Timely solutions to avoid cargo congestion

At the virtual seminar: "Customs accompanies businesses amid the Covid-19 pandemic" organized by Customs News, the representatives of Saigon Newport Corporation as well as HCM City Customs Department said that the congestion at Cat Lai has reduced and the cargo loading and unloading of Saigon Newport Corporation also returned to normal.

Deputy Director of the Customs Control and Supervision Department Dao Duy Tam said, with the close coordination of three Southern Customs Departments: HCM City Customs, Binh Duong Customs, Dong Nai Customs and the initiative of Saigon Newport Corporation, solutions introduced by the General Department of Customs have been really effective.

These solutions not only solve the congestion at Cat Lai port but also create conditions for businesses in Binh Duong and Dong Nai as well as some southern provinces to receive goods at their areas without moving to HCM City. Thereby helping ensure the flow of goods, strictly complying with the Government's instructions on pandemic prevention and control.

According to Tam, from the effectiveness of solutions stated in Official Letter 3847 of the General Department of Customs on solving cargo congestion at Cat Lai port, the Ministry of Finance asked the General Department of Customs to legalize the contents of this letter to create a legal basis for solving cargo congestion at all ports.

Therefore, currently, the General Department of Customs has upgraded the content of Official Letter 3847 to a Circular of the Ministry of Finance. It is expected to be issued this month.

In addition, it is necessary to have practical solutions, said Tam.

Overall coordination

The overall coordination among agencies is also an important solution to deal with the congestion.

Accordingly, the customs agency works with Saigon Newport Corporation to list, classify and settle shipments backlogged at ports; allow the corporation to take goods to other seaports and inland ports in HCM City under the management of the corporation.

For shipments that the shipping line has delivered to the goods owner, the customs agency allows the goods owner to take goods to other seaports and inland ports managed by the corporation for customs clearance.

When there is congestion, it is recommended that the Vietnam Maritime Administration notify the shipping lines/shipping agents so that they can plan to regulate the goods and temporarily store the goods at foreign transit ports or transport goods to other seaports in Vietnam.

At the same time, the Vietnam Maritime Administration directed Port Authorities to have a plan to receive ships carrying imported goods to avoid congestion of goods at Cat Lai port.

Saigon Newport Corporation needs to notify import-export enterprises, shipping lines/shipping agents of the congestion at Cat Lai port so that they can unload and store the goods at other seaports.

At the same time, shipping lines/shipping agents change destination port information from Cat Lai port to Cai Mep port for imported shipments that are on the vehicles and have not been unloaded at Cat Lai port or for those which have been unloaded at Cai Mep port and are waiting to be loaded onto transport vehicles to be transported to Cat Lai port.