Customs procedures are handled at the customs sub-department of Cha Lo International Border Gate in Quang Binh province (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) –The General Department of Vietnam Customs held a dialogue with Europeanbusinesses in Ho Chi Minh City on August 30 to help clear customs issues oftheir concern, especially customs revaluation.
The European Union (EU) holds a major proportionin trade with and investment in Vietnam. Bilateral trade jumped almost 11 timesfrom 4.1 billion USD in 2000 to 45 billion USD in 2016 and is forecast to hit50 billion USD this year.
A survey by the European Chamber of Commerce inVietnam (EuroCham) shows that most of the questioned businesses still knowlittle about regulations on customs revaluation.
EuroCham Executive Director Almut Roessner saidas most revaluation decisions in Vietnam were made by basing on customsdatabase or reference values collected in the internet, they haven’t beenobjective or in line with regulations.
According to the HCM City Customs Department,only 2-3 percent of commercial goods had their customs value revaluated in2016. The 25-percent figure provided by EuroCham might include non-commercialgoods.
In response to European firms’ opinions, NguyenQuoc Toan, deputy head of the department’s export-import tariffs division,assured that customs valuation has always been conducted in conformity withlegal regulations and in a transparent manner. Customs database is not used asa basis for adjusting goods’ customs value.
To tackle obstacles during the handling ofcustoms procedures, the customs sector will work harder to popularise new legaldocuments and regulations among businesses, thereby helping to promote theirawareness and coordination with customs agencies in enforcing law, preventingsmuggling and trade fraud, and creating a healthy business and competitionenvironment, he said.
Deputy General Director of Vietnam Customs HoangViet Cuong appreciated EU businesses’ contribution to Vietnam’s economicgrowth, noting that improving the business climate and businesses’competitiveness is critical to the sustainable growth and competitiveness ofthe Vietnamese economy.
The customs sector is striving to realise tradefacilitation targets, including cutting down the time needed to handle customsprocedures for export goods from 108 hours to 70 hours, and for import goodsfrom 138 hours to 90 hours, the official added.-VNA
VNA
