Reform of management procedures and inspections for export and import goods has changed little in the first half of this year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

During six months, ministries and sectors removed 50 per cent of goods from the list of products under specialised management and inspection.

However, according to the MPI, there are still more than 77,400 goods under specialised management and inspection. The average time for a specialised inspection is 76 hours per procedure, nearly three times higher than in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Procedural reforms were mainly to change the inspection step after customs clearance.

Businesses and other relevant ministries have asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to review specialised management and inspection procedures for some products under the ministry's management because they have caused businesses to waste time and pay more fees. However, the ministry has not yet reviewed the goods in question.

The procedures businesses have requested to be reviewed include the checks on formaldehyde limits for textile products, energy efficiency tests and requests for additional licences for alcohol distribution.

Although Viet Nam has been working to reform the system, businesses say there is still a gap between policies and their needs. They continue to recommend changes to administrative procedures, investment conditions and laws.

Viet Nam is still targeting having one million businesses in operation by 2020, but the MPI says challenges including the implementation of support policies for small- and medium-sized enterprises could make the goal difficult to achieve. — VNS