Hanoi (VNA) - TheGlobal Alliance for Trade Facilitation (GATF) will help Vietnam to establish acustoms bond system – part of the country’s efforts to modernise and reformadministrative procedures relating to import and export.

The GATF and the Vietnam PrivateSector Forum (VPSF) launched their joint project on customs bond last week,aimed at facilitating customs clearance in Vietnam. A customs bond is anagreement that ensures that any importer will pay all fees and taxes as wellas operate according to all laws and regulations.

Thisis the start of the GATF’s Technical Assistance Project with the Government of Vietnamto help the country implement its World Trade Organisation (WTO) commitments,as well as implement the Government’s Resolution 19 on improving the nationalcompetitiveness and business environment.

Vietnamis the first country in Asia and the first developing country in the world tobe selected by donor countries in the WTO to receive technical assistance underthe agreement on WTO Trade Facilitation, in effect since February 22, 2017 when112 countries ratified it.

Thescheme will be co-ordinated by the PM’s Advisory Council for AdministrativeReform, whose standing agency is the Government Office.

Customs bonds are designed tostreamline importers’ process for bringing goods into the country. Anyone thatis importing goods or transporting them locally is required by the customsagency to purchase a bond from a surety company. If an importing companyfails to pay fees or follow regulations, Customs can file a claim against thebond. The surety company would then pay to make restitution, but in the end theimporting company is required to pay back the surety company.

According to the advisorycouncil, a customs bond is a trade-facilitating mechanism widely used incountries such as the US, Australia, Sweden, New Zealand, the UK, Singapore,Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and the Republic of Korea.

Basically, the mechanism is meantto separate the releasing of goods at border gates and the preparation andsubmission of required customs documentations to facilitate the export orimport into the country.

Once importers or exporters havecustoms bonds, they are guaranteed to fulfill their tax obligations beforetheir goods arrive in the country, so the goods can undergo faster customsclearance.

GATF director Philippe Isler saidthat the GATF would provide Vietnam feasible solutions to implement WTOcommitments, increase national competitiveness and improve business climate.

🥃[Over 180,000 documents processed via one-stop-shop mechanism]

Foreign experts from WTO membercountries will assist with administrative procedure reforms, reviewing andamending the legal framework as well as monitoring Vietnam Automated Cargo andPort Consolidated System/Vietnam Customs Information System (VNACCS/VCIS).

A customs bond system would be abreakthrough in facilitating trade in Vietnam, he said.

Nguyen Viet Nga, vice head ofInternational Affairs Department under Vietnam Customs, said that in Vietnam,customs clearance operations consumed up to 72 percent of required time for goodsto be released from border gates because of cumbersome procedures relating tospecialised inspections of goods.

Dao Huy Giam, General Secretaryof the Vietnam Private Sector Forum, said that the customs bond has helpedenterprises, surety companies and customs effectively monitor import and exportprocesses and save time in customs clearance.

An official from the InsuranceSupervisory Authority under the Finance Ministry told thoibaotaichinhvietnam.vn thatover 30 non-life insurance companies in Vietnam provided insurance guaranteesbut none of them offered customs bond.

Surety companies face majordifficulties such as a lack of information about insured companies or the riskof losing money that they paid to make restitution. 

Vietnam has climbed 9 spots to 82from 91 on the World Bank’s Doing Business 2017 ranking, and moved 15spots up to 93 from 108 for improved border-trade indicators related toimport-export operations. Time needed to handle customs procedures was cut from138 hours to 108 hours.

Vietnam wants to cut down therequired time for customs procedures from 108 hours to 80 hours by 2020.-VNA