HCM City (VNA) - The Government’s Resolution 19 on improving the businessclimate and national competitiveness passed four years ago has helpedimprove the business environment significantly, but there remain shortcomingsin its enforcement, especially in terms of specialised inspections at thecustoms sector.

Businesses have expected in vain that administrative formalities would bestreamlined to reduce the goods clearance time, delegates told a recentseminar in HCM City.

Nguyen Dinh Cung, Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management,said the resolution is amended regularly in line with the evolvingbusiness situation, but has not been as efficacious as expected.

Regulations on quality standards, especially specialised inspection of importand export goods still cause difficulties for businesses and affect clearanceof goods, he said.

According to experts, reducing the time taken for custom clearance by one daywill help businesses save 200 USD on each batch of goods.

Currently, 30-35 percent of goods go through specialised customs checks, a veryhigh rate compared to other countries.

Pham Thanh Binh, an expert from the USAID’s Governance for Inclusive Growthproject, said too many items are subject to quality inspection.

All imports are subject to this, something not required, especially in the caseof goods like machinery, equipment and industrial products, and cost businessesmuch time and money, he said.

Besides, many import items are managed by multiple agencies with varyingregulations, which causes much difficulty and confusion in the process ofclearance, he said.

Dinh Cong Khuong of Khuong Mai Steel Company said authorities should considerinspecting only what is necessary and switching to post-clearance checks, hesaid.

Nguyen Thi Mai Huong of the Directorate for Standards, Metrologyand Quality said many ministries and agencies have not implemented theResolution thoroughly.

Cung said the Government has instructed relevant ministries to issue a list ofgoods subject to specialised inspections to reduce such inspections,simplify procedures and reduce inspection time, but no individual ministry hasbeen identified for drawing up the list.

There is a large gap between the resolution and its enforcement, he said.

Tran Ngoc Liem, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce andIndustry’s HCM City chapter, said there is a lack of coordination betweenministries and agencies and use of IT in specialised inspection.

Delegates agreed at the seminar that relevant ministries need tothoroughly overhaul regulations on quality control of imported goods and putoff inspection of imports to the post-customs clearance period.

They also called for only inspecting goods that are possibly “unsafe” and thosethat businesses register for inspection.

Besides, comprehensive reform of conformity certification and quality controlregulations is also needed, they said.

The seminar was organised by CIEM and the USAID’s Governance for Inclusive Growthproject.-VNA