Further reforms should be carried out to enhance the efficiency of the national single window and simplify the procedures of specialised inspection for customs clearance, according to a survey about how businesses felt about the reform effort published on Thursday.
The survey was jointly carried out that the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the General Department of Customs on more than 3,000 enterprises.
VCCI’s Deputy Chairman Hoang Quang Phong said that it was important to carry out regular reviews and simplifications as well as implementing thorough digitisation measures to ensure a continuous problem-solving process.
A transparent information exchange mechanism was also needed to improve the efficiency of the national single window and simplify the procedures of specialised inspection, which would create benefits to trade.
The information and data sharing mechanism must also be built to ease the requirements for unnecessary information, Phong said.
The survey found that the reform effort in specialised checks helped create favourable conditions for businesses and facilitate trade, with the principle of risk management beginning to be applied at different levels, a number of procedures were electronic and overlaps in specialised inspections were removed.
Enterprises still faced difficulties in the compliance process, however.
About 59 per cent of surveyed enterprises said that they struggled in complying with specialised inspection procedures. The most common difficulties were overlaps in inspection, improper attitude of civil servants and being required to provide information and documents outside of regulations.
About 8 per cent said that they had products subject to inspection by two or more than two ministries, of which, 81.5 per cent said that the overlaps in specialised inspections caused a waste of time and pushed up costs.
Regarding informal charges, 59.1 per cent said that they did not pay this fee while 35.8 per cent were uncertain about the actions they took. Still, 5.1 per cent openly admitted paying informal charges.
The national single window allowed enterprises to provide information to many management agencies on a single platform, streamlining administrative procedures, and reducing time at the borders and costs for businesses.
As of October 17, 250 out of 261 procedures of 13 ministries were connected to the national single window with nearly 5 million dossiers of more than 55,000 enterprises.
Hoang Viet Cuong, Deputy Director of the General Department of Customs, said that administrative reforms would be enhanced together with the modernisation of procedures to enhance the efficiency of the national single window.
USAID Acting Vietnam Mission Director Bradley Bessire said that dialogues between management agencies and enterprises played an important role, adding that the cooperation between State management agencies and the private sector would bring transparency and more efficient reforms.
Effective reforms would also attract more investors and investment in Viet Nam, he said. — VNS