Import-export enterprises rarely comply with customs laws

The above information was shared by the General Department of Customs at the conference on September 16. Accordingly, this agency said, only about 10% of units comply with the customs law at medium and high levels.

Mr. Ho Ngoc Quang, Deputy Director of Risk Management, General Department of Customs, said that in addition to complying enterprises, the remaining units are in the form of non-compliance; non-compliance when given the opportunity; desire to comply but sometimes fail or don't know how.

According to the General Department of Customs, the compliance level of enterprises is fully automated by technology. Enterprises are classified into 5 compliance levels from 1 to 5, respectively: priority enterprises; high compliance; average compliance; low compliance; do not obey.

Currently, about 190,000 businesses are evaluated on the system. The more the enterprises fail to provide information and commit more violations, the lower the score will be on the level of compliance.

This situation leads to the proportion of declarations being processed under the green channel is currently just over 66%, the yellow channel is over 29%, the rest is the red channel. As a result, specialized inspection activities take place a lot, putting pressure on businesses and the customs industry.

Mr. Andy Allan, Senior Trade Facilitation Specialist, under the Trade Facilitation Project of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), assessed that this activity will affect the trade competitiveness of Vietnam. Vietnam because it takes time and costs for businesses. In Vietnam, USAID implemented the Project with a total committed capital of 21.7 million USD, implemented in 5 years (2018-2023).

To improve this situation, the General Department of Customs has just piloted a program to support and encourage businesses to voluntarily comply with customs laws. According to Mr. Hoang Viet Cuong, Deputy Director of the General Department of Customs, in the first phase, more than 200 businesses participated. These businesses are diverse in type, size and nationality of funding and fall into the 2 to 4 compliance category.

The goal is that after two years, over 80% of participating enterprises increase their compliance level sufficiently or maintain a high level of compliance. "If the initial results are good, each local customs will expand the pilot," Mr. Cuong said. The customs sector is ambitious in the next 5 years, the rate of enterprises complying with levels 2 and 3 will reach over 20% of the total number of enterprises participating in import and export.

In addition, the General Department of Customs also encourages enterprises to use customs clearance agency services. Currently, there are 1,413 agents in charge of this, but the number of declarations made through agents only accounts for 7%. "This number is very worrying because according to international practices and some developed countries, the rate of declarations through customs agents is over 90%," said Mr. Cuong.

At the conference, the representative of the Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA), suggested that the scope of pilot participation should be extended to newly established businesses because this is a group that does not yet have data to assess the level of compliance. but is still risky and needs guidance and support.

Regarding the figure of only 7% of declarations through customs agents, according to VLA representatives, the pilot program should also supplement for customs agents who are eligible to participate in order to receive additional support and guidance. guide. Although the customs authority is considering customs agents as an "extension arm" of the customs industry, service providers are very short of people.

"The rate of personnel passing the certification exams in the North is currently below 7%, while the South is less than 5%. That's not to mention the candidates are all people who have specialized experience and prepare for exams before participating." VLA representative said.
Resource: Vnexpress