Customs Sector Given Five Key Tasks in 2015

 

Delivering the opening address, Nguyen Ngoc Tuc, General Director of the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDC), stressed that the customs sector outperformed in 2014. At the start of the year, the GDC was assigned by the National Assembly, the Government and the Ministry of Finance to collect VND224 trillion (more than US$10 billion) for the State Budget but it ended the year with VND243,809.7 billion (as of December 20), 8.4 percent higher than the estimation. And, as of December 20, 2014, all customs departments and offices across the nation applied VNACCS/VCIS system to serve 49,880 importers and exporters. Export and import turnover via the VNACCS system was US$182.45 billion as of December 15, 2014. As many as 5.17 million declaration forms were handled.

 

This result was attributed to great endeavours and firm guidance of the GDC from the start of the year. GDC instructed its affiliates to coordinate with relevant authorities to tighten tax collection, deal with problems in tax collection and prevent tax loss. He said the sector will conclude the 2011-2015 reform and modernisation plan in 2015 and prepare to deploy a similar programme for the 2016-2020 period.

 

The online meeting also heard recommendations from provincial/municipal customs authorities like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Haiphong, An Giang and Binh Duong. Their proposals focused on the responsibilities of central authorities in reducing clearance time, the second-phase deployment of VNACCS/VCIS system, human resources training and development, supervisory equipment investment, and professional customs staff development.

 

In 2015, the GDC will carry out five key tasks: (1) effectively enforcing the amended Law on Customs; (2) stepping up the reform of administrative procedures, customs modernisation, particularly the enforcement of Government Resolution 19/NQ-CP and the Prime Minister’s Directive 25/CT-TTg, (3) collecting more than the estimation set for 2015; (4) preventing smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeiting; and (5) building up professional, well-behaved staff.