Nghe An Provincial Customs Department: 65 years of construction, growth and development

After 65 years of construction, growth and development, accompanying the growth of the industryCustomVietnam, Nghe An Provincial Customs Department has continuously developed in all aspects, always excellently completed assigned tasks, met the requirements of political tasks of the Party, State and province in each revolutionary period, contributing to the cause of protecting national interests, sovereignty and security.

Since its establishment, it has actively fought against smuggling across the border and domestically, contributing to the work of healing the wounds of war, restoring production, and developing the economy after the war.

Nghe An Provincial Customs Department received the Labor Medal. Photo courtesy of Hoang Vinh

During the period of fighting against the destructive war of the American imperialists, each Customs officer was a soldier, overcoming rain of bombs and storms of bullets, "sticking to ships, sticking to goods, sticking to border gates" to carry out procedures for goods.Import and Exportthrough Ben Thuy port, Vinh station and Nam Can border gate to support the battlefield.

In the flames of war, officers and employeesNghe An CustomsNot afraid of hardships and sacrifices, under the leadership of the local Party Committee and government, closely coordinating with branches and levels, not only completing procedures well and ensuring the safety of hundreds of thousands of tons of goods passing through the border gates, but also arresting and handling hundreds of cases of smuggling, illegal transportation of goods, gold, silver bars, weapons, explosives, and enemy reactionary psychological warfare documents. With these achievements, Nghe An Customs has been awarded the Excellent Emulation Flag and Certificate of Merit by the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee and the Central Customs Department for many consecutive years. Ben Thuy Port Customs Station was awarded the Second Class Military Exploit Medal by the President, and 57 officers and employees were awarded the Resistance Medals of various classes.

After the liberation of the South and the reunification of the country, Nghe An Customs Branch was renamed Nghe Tinh Customs Branch and then Nghe Tinh Customs. Under the leadership of the General Department of Customs, Nghe Tinh Customs has grown to a new height, actively building a clean and strong Customs force. Thanks to that, during this time, tens of thousands of tons of trade goods were cleared through Nam Can Border Gate to support our brotherly country Laos. Machinery, equipment, fertilizers, gasoline, food were cleared at Ben Thuy Port and Cua Lo Port to serve economic development and people's lives. At the same time, export procedures were carried out for Nghe An agricultural products such as peanuts, sesame, oranges, tea, coffee, etc.

Entering the renovation period, Nghe Tinh Customs has continuously improved political awareness, professional qualifications, legal knowledge, and foreign languages ​​for its staff and civil servants, in order to meet the increasingly high requirements of customs management, contributing to the successful implementation of the country's industrialization and modernization.

Nghe An Provincial Customs Department always meets the requirements of the task in the new situation. (photo taken in 2019). Photo courtesy of Hoang Vinh

In June 1992, the General Department of Customs issued Decision No. 107/TCHQ-TCCB, on separating Nghe Tinh Customs into Nghe An Customs and Ha Tinh Customs. By 1994, Nghe An Customs was renamed Nghe An Provincial Customs Department as its current name. To complete its tasks, Nghe An Provincial Customs Department organized for cadres and civil servants to study and thoroughly grasp the Ordinance and documents guiding its implementation, with the motto of fundamental and thorough innovation, fighting against conservatism and stagnation, creating an important change in professional work and force building.

As a result of the following 10 years of innovation, from 1991 to 2000, Nghe An Provincial Customs Department has achieved outstanding achievements: The organizational structure has been consolidated and improved, the number and quality of staff and civil servants have been increased. All aspects of professional work have been carried out in accordance with procedures and legal regulations. In recognition of the achievements, the Party and the State have awarded Nghe An Provincial Customs Department the Third Class Labor Medal, many collectives and individuals have been awarded Medals and Certificates of Merit of various kinds by the State.

The initial step of converting the electronic customs management method from transaction-based management to enterprise-based management, from paper-based processing to electronic data processing; forming a team of staff working in a new environment. From mid-2011 and the following years, electronic customs procedures were widely deployed, improving the quality and level of automation, contributing to facilitating import and export activities and being highly appreciated by the business community.

Customs officers guide businesses to deploy the VNACCSVCIS automatic customs clearance system. (Photo taken in 2019). Photo courtesy of Hoang Vinh

In 2014, the Customs sector in general and Nghe An Provincial Customs Department, after a period of acceleration, officially operated the VNACCS/VCIS automatic goods clearance system. Nghe An Provincial Customs Department is also a pioneer in deploying the VNACCS/VCIS automatic customs clearance system. After only 3 months of implementation, the VNACSS/VCIS automatic customs clearance system was implemented at 100% of affiliated Customs Sub-Departments.

The application of modern customs management methods has contributed to improving the quality of work and service products, meeting the increasing demands of trade, investment and tourism activities in the area. The work of fighting against smuggling, trade fraud, and drug control has been deployed synchronously by the unit both at sea and on land routes, arresting and handling hundreds of smuggling cases, including cases of great value.

Customs officers inspect import and export goods at Cua Lo port (photo taken in 2019). Photo courtesy of HV

Thanks to that, the quality of work and products and services has been increasingly improved, meeting the increasing demand of trade, investment and tourism activities in the area. The import-export turnover at Nghe An Provincial Customs Department in 2019 reached 1,739.2 million USD, the state budget revenue reached 1,706.8 billion VND; In 2020, the import-export turnover reached 1,871 million USD, the state budget revenue reached 1,178.1 billion VND and despite being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, in the first 5 months of 2021, the import-export turnover reached 1,114.1 million USD, the state budget revenue reached 691.7 billion VND, completing 55.3% of the legal target (1,250 billion VND).

Promoting the glorious tradition of the heroic Soviet homeland, the homeland of the great President Ho Chi Minh, in each revolutionary period, the cadres, civil servants and employees of Nghe An Provincial Customs Department always uphold the good nature of customs officers, steadfast in politics, proficient in profession, pure in ethics and qualities, excellently completing all assigned tasks. Continuing the tradition of previous generations of customs officers, the generation of cadres and civil servants of Nghe An Customs vows to strive to study and practice in all aspects, increasingly mature to not disappoint the trust of their predecessors, worthy of the trust of the Party Committee, government and people in the province.