Officers at Lang Son Department of Customs implement customs clearance procedures on import-export goods (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Ministry of Financewill collaborate with relevant ministries and agencies to review legalregulations to establish a customs bond system to facilitate customs clearancein Vietnam in the 2018-2019 period.
The pilot project onapplying the system is expected to be implemented by 2020.
According to theministry’s General Department of Customs, the system will be implemented intandem with the national one-stop-shop customs mechanism in order to createfavourable conditions for trade activities and shorten customs clearance time.
The General Department of Customs said customsclearance procedures in Vietnam have seen difficulties and shortcomings incomparison with other countries in the world even though import-exportactivities have been improved.
Firms still took a greatdeal of time to prepare paperwork as well as fulfill the requirements forspecial investigations.
A customs bond is anagreement that ensures any importer will pay all fees and taxes as well asoperate according to law and regulations. Businesses will also implementrequirements on special check-ups after customs clearance.
A customs bond system isdesigned to streamline importers’ process for bringing goods into the country.Anyone that is importing goods or transporting them locally is required by thecustoms agency to purchase a bond from a surety company. If an importingcompany fails to pay fees or follow regulations, customs can file a claimagainst the bond. The surety company would then pay to make restitution, but inthe end the importing company is required to reimburse the surety company.
The General Departmentof Customs said that in some countries, the customs bond system has been usedfor a long time. For example, the US introduced the system in 1930 allowingseparating customs clearance at border gates with the completion ofrequirements relating to applications and conditions for the import and exportof goods.
Basically, the mechanismis meant to separate the release of goods at border gates and the preparationand submission of required customs documentation to facilitate export orimport into the country.
Once importers orexporters have customs bonds, they have guaranteed they will fulfill their taxobligations before their goods arrive in the country, so the goods can undergofaster customs clearance. Goods therefore can undergo customs clearance in theshortest time.
The department said the governmentshould have a completed legal system as well as the participation of insurancecompanies that meet technical criteria and are suitable with conditions in Vietnamto implement the customs bond system.
In addition, relevantministries and agencies should also implement reforms to facilitate theactivity.
Vietnam has climbednine spots, to 82 from 91, on the World Bank’s Doing Business 2017 ranking, andmoved 15 spots up to 93 from 108 for improved border-trade indicators relatedto import-export operations. The amount of time needed to handle customsprocedures was cut from 138 hours to 108 hours.
Vietnam wants tocut the required time for customs procedures from 108 hours to 80 hours by2020.-VNS/VNA
VNA
