VCCI calls for efforts to further cut informal costs for enterprises
VCCI calls for efforts to further cut informal costs for enterprises
Informal fees, despite having dropped over time, remain a hindrance for enterprises. Therefore, ministries and agencies, especially in the customs sector, should make greater efforts to further reduce informal charges, said Dau Anh Tuan, head of the Legal Department at the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).
At a conference today, January 8, to publish a report on enterprises’ satisfaction with customs clearance procedures last year, Tuan noted that as of June last year, only 6% of commodities were exempt from specialized inspections. The average time for each specialized inspection in the country is 76 hours, three times higher than that in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
As a result, VCCI coordinated with the relevant agencies to conduct a survey from January 1, 2017, to May last year to check the satisfaction with customs clearance procedures at more than 3,000 enterprises.
Accordingly, up to 59% of respondents stated that they did not pay informal fees and 26% of enterprises claimed they did not know of these fees. Meanwhile, the remaining 18% admitted to paying such fees.
In addition, the survey showed that more than half of respondents said they would not face discrimination if they declined to pay any informal fees, and 34% stated that they had no idea of the consequences, while 15% claimed they had been discriminated against, only half the proportion seen in the 2015 survey.
Enterprises participating in the survey expected the customs and other competent State management agencies to continue simplifying administrative procedures and intensify the application of advanced technologies for completing procedures and improving links between enterprises and customs agencies.
In addition, customs clearance procedures should be executed in a more transparent manner, while customs officials’ problem-solving skills should be improved. The customs sector should also upgrade facilities for customs clearance work.
Under the prime minister’s direction, ministries and agencies have continuously reformed their administrative procedures for import-export activities to assist enterprises, contributing to improving the business environment and the nation’s competitive capacity, said Tuan.
Specifically, the customs sector has applied modern risk management solutions and technologies, moved from pre-inspections to post-inspections and developed the national single window to save the customs clearance agency time and costs.
Enterprises have also applauded ministries and agencies’ efforts in reforming import-export management procedures.
Truong Van Cam, vice chairman and general secretary of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, noted that last year had witnessed the impressive growth of the sector, with total export revenue of more than US$36 billion, up 16% year-on-year thanks to customs’ administrative procedure reforms.
