HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Finance will collaborate with relevant ministries and agencies to review legal regulations to establish a customs bond system to facilitate customs clearance in Việt Nam in the 2018-19 period.

The pilot project on applying the system is expected to be implemented by 2020.

According to the ministry’s General Department of Customs, the system will be implemented in tandem with the national one-stop-shop customs mechanism in order to create favourable conditions for trade activities and shorten customs clearance time.

The General Department of Customs said customs clearance procedures in Việt Nam have seen difficulties and shortcomings in comparison with other countries in the world even though import-export activities have been improved.

Firms still took a great deal of time to prepare paperwork as well as fulfill the requirements for special investigations.

A customs bond is an agreement that ensures any importer will pay all fees and taxes as well as operate according to law and regulations. Businesses will also implement requirements on special check-ups after customs clearance.

A customs bond system is designed to streamline importers’ process for bringing goods into the country. Anyone that is importing goods or transporting them locally is required by the customs agency to purchase a bond from a surety company. If an importing company fails to pay fees or follow regulations, customs can file a claim against the bond. The surety company would then pay to make restitution, but in the end the importing company is required to reimburse the surety company.

The General Department of Customs said that in some countries, the customs bond system have been used for a long time. For example, the US introduced the system in 1930 allowing separating customs clearance at border gates with the completion of requirements relating to applications and conditions for the import and export of goods.

Basically, the mechanism is meant to separate the release of goods at border gates and the preparation and submission of required customs documentation to facilitate export or import into the country.

Once importers or exporters have customs bonds, they have guaranteed they will fulfill their tax obligations before their goods arrive in the country, so the goods can undergo faster customs clearance.

Goods therefore can undergo customs clearance in the shortest time.

The department said the Government should have a completed legal system as well as the participation of insurance companies that meet technical criteria and are suitable with conditions in Việt Nam to implement the customs bond system.

In addition, relevant ministries and agencies should also implement reforms to facilitate the activity.

Việt Nam has climbed nine spots, to 82 from 91, on the World Bank’s Doing Business 2017 ranking, and moved 15 spots up to 93 from 108 for improved border-trade indicators related to import-export operations. The amount of time needed to handle customs procedures was cut from 138 hours to 108 hours.

Việt Nam wants to cut the required time for customs procedures from 108 hours to 80 hours by 2020. — VNS