PM asks for reduced ratio of goods subject to specialised examination

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivers a speech at the conference.

The list of goods and products subject to specialised inspection as well as inspection procedures should be cut down by 50%, PM Phuc added.

The cabinet leader also extolled the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Customs in its capacity as the standing body of the National Steering Committee for ASEAN Single Window (also known as the National Steering Committee 1899) for their great efforts to fulfill assigned tasks.

Experts and business representatives highly appreciated the outcomes of the implementation of NSW and ASW mechanisms over the past 4 years. Through the NSW, enterprises no longer have to work directly with each State agency in order to complete administrative procedures, thereby reducing costs, and shortening customs clearance time.

Overview of the conference

Concerning the ASEAN one-stop shop mechanism, Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung said as of January 1, 2018, Vietnam officially exchanged form D certificates of origin (C/O) with Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. As of July 15, the country received 32,949 certificates from the above countries while sending 14,214 ones to them. 

Vietnam is working closely with Brunei, Cambodia and the Philippines to set up a system to pilot the exchange of form D C/O, and is partnering with Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia to launch a pilot system to exchange ASEAN customs declarations. It is also negotiating to complete protocols and build a system to share information with the Eurasian Economic Union about customs declarations and C/O. 

Representatives of international organizations and development partners such as the World Bank (WB), the European Union, the US, Japan, and the Republic of Korea spoke of their appreciation for the Vietnamese Government’s reform in the field while hoping that with technical support projects, the Southeast Asian nation will engage in the global supply chain soon. 

According to the WB’s “Do Business” report for 2016-2017, Vietnam continued to be one of the four countries with the highest trans-border goods exchange in ASEAN. 

The customs clearance for Vietnam’s exports at border gates was brought down from 58 hours to 55 hours last year, and from 62 hours to 56 hours for imports into Vietnam. The cost of customs clearance for a batch of goods at border gates was reduced by US$19. 

With over 11 customs declarations last year, businesses saved upwards of US$ 200 million and over 16 million hours of storage for exports and more than 34 million hours for imports. 

This result has reflected Government agencies’ administrative reform efforts in boosting cross-border goods exchange.