A New Thing in Investment Environment of BR-VT: Customs Procedure Reforms Accompanying with Logistics- Sea port Services

The effect of multimodal transport chain in logistics is resulted from operating sea port system, infrastructure and mostly paper work. Slow and complicated paper work will badly affect competition abilities of sea ports, logistics services and even investment environment. Ba Ria-Vung Tau (BR-VT) has had many efforts to reform administration procedures of trade and import/export in the area, among which are the application of e-customs at branches at sea ports and airports. This is a movement that shows the determination in administration procedure reforms for economic development. The application of e-customs will produce good effects on the environment of investment-business of BR-VT. And it benefits businesses and investors in the active area.

In the last few years, there have been many efforts in administration reform in the area of trade and import/export, among which is the application of e-customs at branches at sea ports and airports. At branches where e-customs has been deployed, it takes 3-5 minutes for clearance procedure with cargo in green lanes and 10-20 minutes with cargo in yellow lanes. As reported from many businesses, e-customs helps reduce time and expenses and businesses can be active in declaration process and arrange cargo clearance time. In addition, they are able to do declaration at any places with Internet connection, without having to be at customs offices. E-customs procedure allows immediate clearance to cargo without paper and practical inspection. Businesses are able to do declaration procedures at any time, not at office hours only. Therefore, e-customs is a core activity in customs modernization, which can help upgrade competence and competition abilities of local sea ports in general and of logistics services businesses in particular. And the provincial investment environment becomes more transparent, and convenience.

BR-VT Customs Department has replaced the traditional method with a new management method: focus inspection based on a technique of risk management, changing from “inspection first, clearance later” into “clearance first, inspection later” based on result of risk analysis. In 2014, the Department will employ an automatic clearance system and intelligence customs in the project VNACCS/VCIS (Vietnamese Nippon Automatic Customs Clearance System/ Vietnamese Customs Intelligence System) sponsored by the Japanese Government. Besides, the Customs are developing projects Nation Single Window and ASEAN Single Window. These are projects that surely benefit business community operating in import/export: they do not have to show papers issued by authorized organization many times.

Mr.Tran Van Danh, Head of BR-VT Customs Department said:” The Department is developing a project “Measuring time to release cargo” and proposing solutions to save time for clearance procedures. It has carefully studied tasks related to customs inspection, customs procedures for imported/exported goods, imported/exported means of transportation, bonded warehouses, CFS, ICD and ship supplying to carry out projects of developing logistics services in 2011-2015, vision 2020 of the province.”

For businesses’ effective operations, the Department has cooperated with port operators as Tan Cang-Cai Mep, SP-PSA, Baria Serece, SITV, CMIT and lines as Maersk Line, OCCL, Wan Hai, Evergreen, CMA-CGM, YangMing, APL to offer favorable conditions for liners to operate their international routes to Cai Mep-Thi Vai port (Tan Thanh ward). Besides, General Department of Customs is actively developing electronic-clearance – e-manifest-for vessels.

At the beginning of 2013, BR-VT Customs Department applied e-customs procedure at 100% crossing border customs department branches; the number of e-customs forms reached 99.55%; the number of import/export businesses used e-customs reached 95.32%; declaration forms using e-signature reached 81.66%. Megaports projects for radioactive examination to imported/exported cargo in containers will be put into operation. In this year, the Customs Department will reduce clearance inspection rate, in which cargo inspection rate at the field will be under 10%; increase risk evaluation quality to reach the rate of ≥1.5% for finding violation of total number of inspection forms.

What the Customs Department of BR-VT has been carrying out will be premises for BR-VT to join the global logistics chain. It is expected with “good news”, businesses and investors will find it satisfying and new ones will also be attracted to the area.