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CUSTOMS PROCEDURE RUNS SMOOTHLY AT NEW INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL OF DA NANG AIRPORT

VCN – In 2 working days at new international terminal, Da Nang International Airport Customs Branch has conducted procedure for 9 international flights (5 flights of leave country and 4 flights of entry country)

customs procedure runs smoothly at new international terminal of da nang airport
Customs officer of Da Nang International Airport Customs Branch do the procedure for passengers on entry and leave the country at the new airport. Photo: Ngọc Linh

According to Deputy Manager of Da Nang International Airport Customs Branch, to meet the requirement of operating the new international terminal, the Branch has arranged human force as well as coordinated closely with other forces at the airport in order to complete procedure for passengers and mean of transport on entry and exit.

About the equipment, Customs authority has luggage scanning system and scanner for hand luggage, along with modern camera system that allows supervising in many places at the airport. In that, terminal area has 8 scanners including 4 scanners for registered luggage (underground system) and 4 scanners for hand luggage in the outside. In the migration area, there is 8 scanners included 3 scanners for registered luggage and 5 scanners for hand luggage.

In particular, in 2 working days at the new international terminal, Da Nang International Airport Customs Branch has conducted procedure for 9 international flights (5 flights of leave country and 4 flights of entry country).

According to the evaluation of Mr. Pham Duy Nhat, the operation of the new international terminal with modern facilities and consistency will help the implementation of Customs procedure for entry or leave the country to become faster, convenient and meet the Customs management requirement in the context of increasing passenger and vehicle volume.

As known that, on 12/5, Customs procedure for international flights will implement entirely in the new international terminal. During this time, Da Nang international airport Customs Branch continues to arrange their force in order to implement Customs procedure at 2 terminals. The grand opening is expected to hold on 19/5.

The new international terminal at Da Nang International Airport is an important construction for the APEC 2017. It located near the current airport, the new international terminal of Da Nang Airport is designed and installed modern equipment. According to the reporter, currently, the final stages to complete the face of the new international terminal are being urgently implemented.

In 2016, Da Nang International Airport Customs Branch has carried out procedures for more than 17,000 flights, increased more than 43%; more than 2.3 million passengers, rose 55% over 2015.

In the first four months of 2017, the unit has completed the procedure for more than 7,000 flights, increased 30%; Over 1 million passengers, rose over 45% over the same period in 2016.

Here are some pictures of the Customs News’ reporter have recorded at the new international terminal:

customs procedure runs smoothly at new international terminal of da nang airport
Large area for check in court
customs procedure runs smoothly at new international terminal of da nang airport
Underground screening luggage area.
customs procedure runs smoothly at new international terminal of da nang airport
New International Terminal
customs procedure runs smoothly at new international terminal of da nang airport
Continue to complete final stages in order to prepare for the grand openning

By Ngọc Linh/Thanh Thuy

Source: http://customsnews.vn/

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A DEFICIT OF MORE THAN $ US1.89 BILLION

VCN – The higher increase of import turnover causes a big trade deficit for Vietnam. 

a deficit of more than us189 billion

Machinery and equipment become Vietnam’s largest imported commodities. In the photo: Excavators imported to Hoang Dieu Port, Hai Phong. Photo: T. Binh

According to statements from the General Department of Customs on 9 May 2017, the country’s total import-export turnover in April 2017 reached nearly $ US 34.91 billion, down by 1.9 % compared to the previous months. Thereby, bringing the total import-export turnover of the first four months reached $ US126.1 billion, up by 20.4 % over the same period of 2016.

In which, the total export turnover reached $ US 62.11 billion, up by 16.8% and the total import turnover reached $US 64 billion, up by 24%. Therefore, by the end of April 2017, Vietnam’s deficit was near $ US1.89 billion.

According to the General Department of Customs, there was a remarkable movement in some imported commodity groups such as: Machinery and equipment continuously increased by 5.7% compared to the previous month with the turnover of $ US 3.44 billion and accumulated to the end of April, 2017, reached $ US 11.505 billion and this group became the country’s largest imported commodity group.

Meanwhile, the CBU car with many attractions continued to drop with a decrease of 38.1% in volume and 7% in value. In the past four months, the country imported 33,404 CBU cars of all kinds with total turnover of more than $ US 663 million

For exports, mobile phones and part thereof were still the largest exported commodities with a total turnover of $ US 12.148 billion, up by 6.9% over the same period last year.

Although Textile and Garment still remained its position at rank No. 2 (reaching $ US 7.478 billion), it was closely followed by electronic products and parts thereof with a small distance of only $ US 128 million.

By Thai Binh/ Huyen Trang

Source: http://customsnews.vn/

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MAERSK GROUP’S EARNINGS IN LINE WITH EXPECTATIONS

Danish shipping and offshore energy conglomerate Maersk Group reported its profit at USD 253 million for the first quarter of 2017, compared to USD 224 million seen a year earlier, in line with expectations.

The group’s revenue increased by 5 percent to USD 8.9 billion from USD 8.5 billion reported in the first quarter of 2016, as a result of revenue growth in the group’s businesses Maersk Line and Maersk Oil. Namely, Maersk Oil saw a surge of 33 percent, or USD 343 million, in its revenues, while Maersk Line experienced a rise of 10% in revenues, or USD 519 million.

The underlying profit of USD 201 million, compared to USD 214 million reported a year earlier, was at the same level as last year, reflecting an increase of USD 321 million in Maersk Oil due to higher oil price and lower operating expenses, offset by decreases in almost all other businesses.

“We delivered year-on-year revenue growth for the first time since Q3 2014 in line with our ambitions to become a growth company again,” Soren Skou, CEO, A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S, said.

The group’s container shipping business Maersk Line reported a negative ROIC of 1.3% and a loss of USD 66 million for the first quarter of the year, against a profit of USD 37 million seen in the same period in 2016. Market fundamentals continued to improve in the three-month period ended March 31 and demand outgrew nominal supply for the second consecutive quarter, according to the company.

“Maersk Line is on track to deliver a result improvement of above USD 1 billion for 2017 compared to 2016, despite an underlying loss of USD 80 million in Q1, driven by a USD 381 million higher fuel bill,” Skou added.

The company informed that both spot freight rates and contract rates have increased during the quarter, lately also on the North-South trades.

Additionally, APM Terminals reported a decrease in its profit which reached USD 91 million, compared to USD 108 million seen a year earlier, and a ROIC of 4.5%. The underlying profit was negatively impacted by declining markets in West Africa and rate pressure in a number of locations due to overcapacity. In line with the new strategy no new terminal projects have been pursued and APM Terminals achieved a positive free cash flow of USD 88 million.

“We are starting to see synergies in Transport & Logistics, for example with Maersk Line increasing volumes to APM Terminals, improved collaboration between Maersk Line and Maersk Container Industry leading to significantly higher volumes and improved results, as well as cost synergies on Sales, General & Administration,” Skou said.

During the quarter, the sales and purchase agreement to acquire the German container shipping line Hamburg Süd from the Oetker Group was approved by the boards of the Oetker Group and Maersk Line. The company will acquire Hamburg Süd for EUR 3.7 billion on a cash and debt-free basis. A syndicated loan facility has been established to fully finance the acquisition.

“The Hamburg Süd acquisition is progressing as planned towards a closing in fourth quarter, subject to regulatory approvals. The acquisition will deliver substantial revenue, volume and market share growth as well as operational synergies of USD 350-400 million per year from 2019,” Skou said.

Source: http://worldmaritimenews.com/

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BUNKER PRICES AFFECT HAPAG-LLOYD’S RESULT

German shipping major Hapag-Lloyd finished the first three months of the current financial year with a positive operating result, in spite of higher bunker prices.

Although the company’s EBITDA improved by 6.4% to EUR 131.3 million from last year’s EUR 123.4 million, Hapag-Lloyd informed that its net loss widened to EUR -62.1 million from EUR -42.8 million seen in the same quarter in 2016.

Hapag-Lloyd said that the first-quarter result “was noticeably affected by ongoing bunker price increases.” At 313 USD/tonne, the average bunker price was clearly above the previous year’s figure of 197 USD/tonne, representing the highest level seen since June 2015.

The transport volume increased by 6.8% year-on-year to more than 1.9 million TEU from 1.8 million TEU handled in the same period a year earlier. While the average freight rate was USD 20 lower than in the first quarter of the previous year at 1,047 USD/TEU, there were further signs of a slight upward curve compared with the past quarters, according to the company.

The greater transport volume and exchange rate effects pushed revenue up by 10.4% to EUR 2.13 billion from EUR 1.93 billion seen in the corresponding period in 2016.

Rate increases were introduced in a number of trades even though the industry environment remains challenging, but these rate increases “are only going to have an impact on the company’s result later in the year,” Hapag-Lloyd said.

“Our activities in the first quarter focused on preparations for the merger with UASC and on the launch of our new alliance. The launch of the THE Alliance went well, and the merger with UASC will be closed shortly,” Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd AG, said.

“After the closing our priority will be to integrate UASC into Hapag-Lloyd quickly and to realize initial synergies from the merger,” Jansen added.

The merger with the Arabian liner shipping company is expected to generate annual savings of USD 435 million from 2019 onwards, with a large proportion of this already to be achieved in 2018, according to the company.

Source: http://worldmaritimenews.com/

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ZIM Shrinks Net Loss

Israel’s shipping company Zim Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM) managed to cut its net loss during the first quarter of 2017 to USD 6.4 million, compared to a net loss of USD 56.3 million reported in the corresponding period a year earlier.

The company’s total revenues increased by 4% to USD 655 million, compared to USD 630 million in the same three-month period in 2016, while its operating cash flow stood at USD 33.8 million, against a negative USD 14.6 million seen a year earlier.

Additionally, ZIM said that it saw a 3.6% increase in its carried volumes which reached 598 thousand TEUs, compared to 577 thousand TEUs handled in the first quarter of 2016, while the average freight rate per TEU stood at USD 953, against USD 943 in the same period in the previous year.

The shipping liner industry has been going through major developments and changes in the last year, with the increased mergers and acquisitions and the changes in the alliances’ structure. Since the third quarter of 2016 ZIM said that it has been witnessing a positive trend in the industry with slightly improved freight rates in some trades. However, market conditions on the whole “remained challenging and volatile.”

“In the face of this tough business environment, ZIM continues to outperform the industry and achieve improved results. ZIM’s Q1 results reflect the constant improvement in the company’s performance, as a result of the comprehensive transformation the company has implemented in recent years,” according to the company.

Source: http://worldmaritimenews.com/

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BINH DUONG CUSTOMS: INNOVATION IN BUSINESS SUPPORT

VCN – In order to develop the Customs – Business relationship, improve the quality of legal advocacy and support, and facilitate import and export businesses, in 2017, the Binh Duong Customs Department has a lot of innovations in approaching and answering problems for businesses. 

hai quan binh duong doi moi trong cong tac ho tro doanh nghiep

The delegation of the My Phuoc Industrial Zone Customs Branch is consulting on import-export procedures for businesses. Photo: T.D.

From 2013 up to now, the Binh Duong Customs Department has cooperated with Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese Business Associations and Sub-associations. Through the conferences, the legal documents on import-export activities were propagated to businesses in a timely fashion and obstacles of businesses were removed promptly. However, according to Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang, Deputy Director of Binh Duong Customs Department, dialogue conferences attracted a large number of businesses (about 100-150 businesses), the exchange and interaction between businesses and Customs are limited. Accordingly, to further improve the quality of dialogue, on May 4, 2017, the Binh Duong Customs Department held a training conference for 12 leaders of Japanese investment businesses in Binh Duong and expected from now to the end of 2017, there will be about 6 training conferences for business leaders of each Business Association and Sub-association.

Highly appreciating the renovations in the dialogue of Binh Duong Customs, Mr. Kazuhito Yamamoto, Head of the Japanese Business Association in Binh Duong said that in the past, to understand Customs Law, Customs procedures, business leaders often have to ask their subordinates. But through these training conferences, the business leaders directly grasp the information about Customs law and policy as well as directly ask leaders of Binh Duong Customs Department to get satisfactory answers.

In addition, from the beginning of 2017, the Binh Duong Customs Department has actively contacted and realized difficulties and promptly solve problems arising relating to Customs procedures, tax policy, tax refund and tax exemption modes. In order to support business correctly and promptly report the tax finalization of export production goods and processing goods, the Binh Duong Customs Department held 4 training conferences to directly guide how to declare and make settlement report on the situation of using raw materials, supplies and machinery for representatives of enterprises. The unit also signed the coordination regulation with the Department of Planning and Investment, the management boards of industrial parks in the province to exchange and supply information of enterprises in the province as the basis for assessment of revenue sources and invitation for businesses to increase revenues, also promptly support enterprises in difficulty. The unit updated the list of FDI enterprises that have been granted new tax code in the province, and timely allocated to its branches to contact, propagate and diffuse Customs procedures in Binh Duong.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Manager of My Phuoc Industrial Zone Customs Branch (Binh Duong Customs Department), acknowledged that in order to help businesses understand clearly the Customs procedures to comply with the regulations, in the recent time, the Branch has regularly conducted consultations at the head office of the enterprises on the import –export Customs procedures for raw materials for new investment enterprises in Binh Duong. From the beginning of 2017 up to now, the Branch have consulted 15 enterprises. Typically, the Branch has recently consulted Polytex Far Eastern Vietnam Co., Ltd (Far Eastern Group – Taiwan) with investment capital of $ US1 billion. In May, 2017, the company began to import raw materials for export production.

This was a project approved by People’s Committee of Binh Duong province in 2015 to build a Polyester Manufacturing Plant including long filament yarns, cotton yarns, synthetic yarns and knitwear in the Bau Bang urban -industrial zone, Bau Bang district with area of 99 hectares. The investment capital for the project was $ US 1 billion and divided into many phases. The Plant in Binh Duong is the third largest plant in the world after the plants in China and Taiwan of the Far Eastern Group

During the consultation session, the My Phuc Industrial Zone Customs Branch exchanged and guided busineses on tax policies for imported raw materials for export production, how to determine export norms and resolve inventories and returned export procedures to help businesses understand the Customs procedures. Previously, the Branch handled the import procedures for fixed equipment and machinery of Polytex Far Eastern Vietnam.

Nguyen Van Tuu, Manager of the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park Customs Branch stated that besides the training on tax finalization reports, the Branch also receives and addresses problems for businesses every day. Any new information and policies of the Ministry of Finance and General Department of Customs will be updated promptly through more than 1000 e-mail addresses of businesses registered at the Branch.

By the practical implementation, the Binh Duong Customs has taken many beliefs of enterprises. Along with that, the import and export at the Binh Duong Customs Department has increased significantly, the number of enterprises implementing the import and export procedures in the Department increased over 12% over the same period last year with 4,098 enterprises, and the number of Customs declarations also increased 17.58%, and the turnover increased 16.28% (reaching over $ US 11 billion) and budget revenues increased nearly 31% over the same period of 2016.

By Huong Diu/ Huyen Trang

Source: http://customsnews.vn/

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VIETNAM RETURNS TO IMPORT SOME AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS FROM INDIA

VCN- From May 10, 2017, the Indian agricultural products which were suspended from import will be imported into Vietnam again.

viet nam nk tro lai mot so mat hang nong san tu an do
The Indian agricultural products which were suspended from import will be imported into Vietnam again.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has issued Decision No.1644/ QD-BNN-BVTV on continuing to import of high-risk commodities carrying serratus from India. Agricultural products include: Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), Cassiatora (Cassia spp), Cocoa bean (Theobroma cacao), Common Bean (Phaseolus spp) and Tamarind (Tamarindus indica).

The Plant Protection Department notifies the Indian phytosanitary authorities to strengthen phytosanitary to strictly prevent entities subject to phytosanitary in the export goods to Vietnam.

At the same time, strengthening the phytosanitary measures for the above agricultural products from India to ensure that entities subject to the phytosanitary cannot enter Vietnam.

Earlier, on March 1, 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued a document No. 558/QD-BNN-BVTV on temporary import of these agricultural products due to the high risk of infection with Caryedon serratus Olivier which can cause a great damage to the agricultural products in stock, cause damage to Goundnuts, Cassiatora, Cocoa bean, Common beans and Tamarind.

By Xuan Thao/ Ngoc Loan

Source: http://customsnews.vn/

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VTIP – TOOL FOR TRADE FACILITATION

VCN- The establishment of the Vietnam Trade Information Portal (VTIP)  does not only meets Vietnam’s commitments under Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), but also is an effective tool to further facilitate the parties relating to import and export and transit operations with Vietnam.  

vtip cong cu tao thuan loi cho thuong mai

Customs officers of Port Border Gate Customs Branch (Nghe An Customs Department) supervise import and export goods Photo: H.Nu

Strong promotion from Customs

According to the World Bank’s recent business environment report for 2017, Vietnam rose 9 places to the 82nd rank out of 190 economies. Particularly for the cross-border trade index relating to import-export operations; Customs clearance; and regulations on specialized inspection, Vietnam increased 15 places, from the 108th rank in 2016 to the 93rd in 2017. Compared to other countries in the ASEAN region, Vietnam is in the top four countries in the business environment. However, compared to countries with favorable business environment such as Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, the gap between Vietnam and these countries is still quite large. Therefore, the Government Resolution 19-2017/NQ-CP set a target for Vietnam for 2017- 2020 to strive to reach a level at least equal to the average of ASEAN- 4 countries on the criteria of improving the business environment.

The representative of International Cooperation Department (General Department of Vietnam Customs) said that in order to implement the provisions of law as well as international commitments, in the recent time the Customs has gradually completed the legal system during the negotiation of TFAs or new FTAs. Besides, the Customs regularly organizes consultations and dialogues to solve problems of the business community; Comprehensive application of modern information technology in Customs procedures such as implementation of VNACCS/VCIS nationwide; Pilot implementation of supervision system at seaports; Connection between the Customs and Treasury, and Bank to simplify Customs procedures, facilitate businesses. In addition, the Customs also actively coordinate with ministries and sectors to implement administrative procedures for export and import goods on the Single Window, thereby creating maximum conditions for business activities, export and import of enterprises.

In addition, the Customs abandoned 19 procedures and simplified 46 procedures; Reduced many Customs documents; Allowed enterprises to submit electronic dossiers; publicized and reduced time to examine Customs dossier and physical inspection. In particular, the General Department of Vietnam Customs collaborated with the WB to develop VTIP to provide a complete and comprehensive reference source of information relating to import and export, the tariffs applied to import goods and details of process and procedures and forms to meet specialized inspection requirements. The purpose of VTIP is to help exporters, especially small and medium size enterprises know the process and procedures relating to their operations, thus saving time and operating expenses. In addition, VTIP will also play as an important role in assisting the Government towards simplifying and legalizing relevant administrative procedures.

Ready for operation

As chair of the negotiation of the TFA (approved in Bali, Indonesia in November 2014), the Ministry of Finance specifically the General Department of Vietnam Customs submitted to the National Assembly for ratification of the revised Protocol at the 10th session of the 13th National Assembly on November 26, 2015. On November 26, 2015 the National Assembly issued Resolution No.108/2015/QH13 approving of the Protocol to amend the Marrakesh Agreement to establish the WTO. In October 2016, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 1899 /QD-TTg on the establishment of the National Steering Committee for ASEAN Single Window, National Single Window and Trade Facilitation (Referred to as the National Steering Committee). In November, 2016 the Government issued the Action Plan to implement the TFA under Decision No.1969/ QD-TTg. On February 22, 2017 the WTO’s TFA took effect after being approved by two-thirds of the 164 WTO member countries.

As committed in the TFA, each member country, including Vietnam, needs to build a website to publicize and provide information. The development of this website not only meets Vietnam’s commitments under the TFA but also is an effective tool to further facilitate the parties relating to export, import and transit operations with Vietnam. It is also a tool to publicize policies as well as in international commitments that Vietnam joints and keep with the trend of World Customs – digital Customs 2016.

In order to help Vietnam implement well the commitments in the TFA, the WB supported Vietnam’s Government to establish and improve capacity of the National Steering Committee and build VTIP. The development of the VTIP has carried out since January 2016 at the General Department of Vietnam Customs and being consulted by PM Group under the WB. Currently, contents have been posted, with nearly 2,000 contents relating to legal regulations, process and procedures and export and import operations. In parallel with the development and posting the contents, the consultancy unit trained for officers of the General Department of Vietnam Customs to transfer technology to ensure the operation and update VTIP’s contents after the transfer, said by Mr. Chris Lewis Jones, the Head of Project Consulting and Management Team of VTIP.

In order to be ready for the opening and transferring the VTIP to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, to be expected to implement in early June 2017, preparations are being urgently completed. Coordination mechanisms among relevant parties, including ministries and sectors which have regulations relating to import and export operations published on the VTIP, are being developed and agreed among the parties to ensure that the contents posted on the VTIP are always updated and accurate. Currently, a review of the content posted on VTIP is being conducted by ministries and sectors under the direction of the General Department of Vietnam Customs to prepare the opening, said by Mr. Chris Lewis Jones.

Mr. Chris Lewis Jones added, “VTIP is designed to be one Single Window information post, providing information relating to Vietnam’s export and import in a accessible, logical and useful way for importers and exporters to access basic information about the necessary regulations and procedures for import and export and transit. VTIP is a useful tool to assist the Government and other relevant parties in reducing, modernizing and simplifying the import and export declaration procedures in line with international practices. With rich and comprehensive contents, VTIP is expected to save time and expense for importers and exporters in particular and contribute to facilitating and promoting Vietnam’s trade growth in general.

By Hong Nu/Ngoc Loan

Source: http://customsnews.vn/

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ELECTRONIC INVOICES MUST BE USED FROM 2018

VCN- The target of the Finance is that by 2020, electronic invoices must be used with 90% of businesses or 90% of goods traded by electronic invoices on the basis of the roadmap from 2018.

phai su dung hoa don dien tu tu nam 2018
Tax operations at the Hanoi Taxation Department. Photo: Thuy Linh.

That is the provision of the draft Decree replacing Decree No. 51/2010 / ND-CP of 14th May 2010, and Government’s Decree 04/2014 / ND-CP of 17th January 2014 regulating invoices for sales and service provisions which have just been finalized by the Ministry of Finance.

Accordingly, from 1st January 2018, the subjects use electronic invoices / electronic invoices with tax codes for the sales of goods and services as follows: Enterprises and State units use electronic invoices from the time they receive their tax codes periodically and transfer invoice data to the tax offices (enterprises which are established under the Law in industrial parks, economic zones or hi-tech zones; enterprises and banks with charter capital of 15 billion vnd or more); enterprises and organizations which use electronic invoices have tax codes (some newly established companies, enterprises and organizations which purchase invoices from tax offices such as enterprises which violate regulations on management and use of invoices, enterprises at a high risk according to the notice of the tax authorities and other organizations and individuals subject to tax invoices before 1st January 2018 must use electronic invoices with codes of tax authorities as reported by the tax authorities).

From 1st January 2019, the tax authorities will apply electronic invoices for 30% of the remaining enterprises and organizations. From 1st January 2020, the tax authorities will apply electronic invoices for 80% of enterprises and organizations with tax codes. At the same time, the tax authorities will start implementing electronic invoices for business households with annual revenue of 3 billion vnd or more.

Reportedly, the Taxation has stepped up the electronic tax declaration and payment by connecting the tax system with the tax service providers through the Internet (T-VAN). As a result, by the end of March 2017, out of 581,875 businesses operating, there were 576,056 enterprises (accounting for 99%) filing tax declaration electronically and 565,099 enterprises (accounting for 97%) registering electronic tax payment at commercial banks.

Thus, nearly 100% of businesses applying online tax declaration is the basis for the Taxation to speed up the application of electronic invoices. In the coming time, the General Department of Taxation will continue to coordinate with related units to hire information technology services with service providers in order to expand the application of electronic invoices with the authentication code of the tax authorities.

The use of electronic invoices can bring many benefits. Till now, there have been 656 enterprises making electronic invoices with the number of 277.98 million invoices.

Businesses using electronic invoices nomarlly have a large number of invoices per month (over 3 million invoices), have information technology infrastructure in important industries and fields. These are large enterprises (located in the top 500 large enterprises of the country) providing direct goods and services to consumers.

According to the assessment of the tax authorities, all provinces and cities in the country basically have used electronic invoices, but mainly in the two key cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City. They are also large enterprises operating in the field of trade, services, IT infrastructure with less risks.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Phung, the Director of the Department of Large Enterprises, under the General Department of Taxation: “In the first pilot phase, electronic invoices have received the support of many businesses operating in the fields of aviation, banking, electricity and telecommunications. At present, the tax office has a mechanism to encourage enterprises to use for long-term expansion in the country. To a certain stage of development, the tax authorities will require enterprises to use electronic invoices instead of using paper invoices”.

The common view of many enterprises through dialogues with the tax office has shown that the implementation of electronic invoices not only brings companies tangible value such as cost and time savings but enterprises can also receive other intangible values ​​which can not be converted into money It is the opportunity value when enterprises provide customers with modern, convenient and fast services, contributing to raising the brand value of enterprises.

Since 2014, the Ministry of Finance has encouraged some enterprises to use electronic invoices instead of paper invoices, especially enterprises which have information technology infrastructure and comply with the Tax Law such as Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), Military Telecom Corporation (Viettel), Vietnam Airlines Corporation (VNA) and Saigon Railway Company.

By Minh Anh/ Hoang Anh

Source: http://customsnews.vn/

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BUSINESSES LOOKING FORWARD FOR CUSTOMS CLEARANCE PROCEDURES TO BE MORE OPEN

VCN- Although the customs sector has achieved many results in reforming procedures and the spirit of service of customs officials and employees are recognized by the business community, appreciated, but still entangled in the process of customs clearance of goods related ministries that businesses want to be resolved thoroughly.

 

businesses looking forward for customs clearance procedures to be more open
Customs supervision at the warehouses (Yen Phong Industrial Zone – Bac Ninh). Photo: Thu Trang.

Increased coordination

Resolution No. 19-2017/NQ-CP by the Government on continuing to implement the main tasks and solutions to improve the business environment, enhance national competitiveness in 2017, orientation to 2020 requires to shorten the time for carrying out customs clearance of goods across borders to 70 hours for export goods, 90 hours for import goods.

However, according to the Vietnam Logistics Association (VLA) statistics in 2016, the time to clear export procedures is still high, up to 108 hours and 138 hours for imported goods. Time is still high obviously not entirely in the Customs sector, because customs clearance time for a customs declaration/shipment at customs only accounts for about 28% of customs clearance time and not exceed 1 business day. The remaining time belongs to enterprises and related agencies, in which specialized management agencies account for 72% of goods clearance time.

In this regard, Mr. Nguyen Tuong, Deputy Secretary General of the VLA, said that to reduce the clearance time, the improvement of specialized inspection procedures is a key issue, otherwise the efforts of the Customs will be heavily affected. A trade expert also said that in the specialized inspection, there are agencies, ministries and industries also “threaten” the businesses by issuing the long list of procedures that affect customs procedures.

In the report “Assessing the reform of customs procedures: the satisfaction of enterprises in 2016”, conducted by Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), some enterprises said that the inspection issue remains too many overlapping legal documents, there is no close coordination between the customs and specialized management agencies, many licenses etc. Therefore, many businesses reflect the urgent matter such as, the goods being inspected takes time, cost when the products purchased by enterprises have to carry a quantity for inspection, sampling, the remaining goods are not enough supply under the contract. Or some companies said that the information required registration is unclear, causing companies to take time to re-disclose etc. These are the long-standing shortcomings of enterprises for specialized testing that require the agency to sit back and work together more closely.

Increase service

“Orientations for reforming administrative procedures of the Customs sector are on the right track, but there are still some documents and regulations related to customs clearance of goods due to lack of full participation of enterprises, so leaving some regulations that are not close to reality, leading to negative, causing trouble for businesses”, said Mr. Dang The Lung, General Secretary of Hai An District Association of Enterprises (Hai Phong).

Representatives of an import-export construction materials company in Nghe An said that although the customs clearance has applied electronic declaration, but at peak time, the system became overloaded, resulting in difficulties. In spite of this, the General Department of Customs has made a lot of directions on administrative procedure reform, but at the level of local departments and direct implementers, there are still some difficulties, particularly the attitude of the civil servants toward enterprises, even some of them do not consider enterprises as partners.

As the above difficulties, Mr. Phan Thong, General Secretary of the Vietnam Shippers’ Association, said that, besides the close coordination among branches, sectors and customs, there should be a strict monitoring mechanism, enhance capacity, level and awareness of cadres and civil servants of the whole industry. He also recommends to increase the compensation for customs officers because they have a lot of work, have to work overnight, even in the holidays like Tet holidays.

Along with the above issues, Ms. Dang Thi Binh An, Chairman of the Board member of the C&A Tax Consulting Co., said that the handling of complaints of enterprises should be improved, there should be separation to check, increased transparency and objectivity. Answering the written answers to businesses should be quicker and more frequent.

It can be seen that the efforts of the customs sector need to be further strengthened to meet the needs and requirements of enterprises, so that enterprises are the real partners and objects to serve. Of course, with the participation of the authorities, the political will of the Customs sector, there is a need to change the businesses’ operation with transparency and records, papers are clear so that ready to stand up to fight for misconduct when carrying out administrative procedures.

By Hương Dịu/ Huu Tuc

Source: http://customsnews.vn/