IMPROVING EFFICIENCY OF NATIONAL SINGLE WINDOW

On August 15, General Director Nguyen Van Can of the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDC) chaired a meeting on the implementation of the instructions of Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, Chairman of the National Steering Committee on ASEAN Single Window, National Single Window and Trade Facilitation (Committee 1899) concluded at its 8th meeting session on August 5, 2022.

He requested customs agencies to complete and submit to competent authorities a draft decree on management mechanism, methods, order and procedures of food quality inspection and control of imported goods; a decree on connection and sharing of information on export, import and transit of goods, exit, entry and transit of people and means of transport according to NSW in association with the Master Plan on building and developing an information technology system for centralized implementation of the National Single Window (NSW) and the ASEAN Single Window (ASW); develop an action plan for implementation of NSW; and promote logistics and trade facilitation in 2022 - 2026.

By June 30, 249 out of 261 administrative procedures were delivered by 13 ministries and agencies at the National Single Window, which processed nearly 4.95 million records filed by more than 55,000 companies. In 2021 and the first six months of 2022, central agencies delivered on the NSW 42 procedures, including 36 in 2021 and six in the first six months of this year. In addition, two procedures were upgraded and updated. Vietnam continued to exchange information on electronic certificates of origin (C/O) Form D with all nine ASEAN member countries; prepared to test the exchange of phytosanitary certificates and discuss solutions and roadmaps for exchanging electronic documents between ASEAN and Japan, China and South Korea.

With non-ASEAN partners, Vietnam completed pilot customs declaration information exchange with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU); negotiated the Protocol for Exchange of Electronic Certificates of Origin with South Korea; and carried out the Vietnam - New Zealand Trade Facilitation Agreement. NSW has been highly appreciated by domestic and international businesses and organizations for bringing practical effects to authorities, businesses, organizations and people.

For specialized inspection, 51 out of 60 lists of HS-coded goods have been issued, accounting for 85% of the plan. Vietnam promulgated regulations and standards or eliminated the list of two categories of goods and the list of all 22 commodity categories licensed for import.

Currently, to further boost the deployment of NSW and ASW, Deputy General Director Mai Xuan Thanh of the General Department of Vietnam Customs said that the Department is still working to deliver administrative procedures on these two systems as planned. The agency has effectively coordinated in implementing NSW, ASW and specialized inspection; developed and implemented an action plan for NSW implementation; and boosted logistics and trade facilitation in 2022 - 2026.

He said customs agencies are urgently submitting to competent authorities a decree on connection and information sharing in import, export and transit of goods; entry, exit and transit of people and vehicles according to NSW. Besides, they are building and launching a master plan for the construction and development of an information technology system for NSW and ASW deployment for centralized processing; and fostering personnel training, communication and support for ASW and NSW deployment.

Delivering directions at the meeting of the National Steering Committee on NSW, ASW and Trade Facilitation (Committee 1899), Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, Chairman of Committee 1899, highly appreciated the efforts of ministries and agencies that are members of Committee 1899 for facilitating the deployment of NSW, ASW, specialized inspection and trade facilitation.

At the same time, it is urgent to complete building a decree on connection and information sharing in export, import and transit of goods; and exit, entry and transit of people and means of transport "as soon as possible" to lay the groundwork for strengthening coordination of ministries and central agencies, especially in building a list of information provided through NSW. Ministries and branches will continue to review little-used or unused procedures to submit to the Ministry of Finance (General Department of Customs) for withdrawal from NSW.

Source: VCCI