Protect domestic production

(Baonghean) - The General Department of Customs has just organized an introduction of new contents of the draft Law on Export Tax (XK) and Import Tax (NK) amended; results of the implementation of the Customs Law. Accordingly, the reality of import-export activities and production-business activities requires amending and supplementing a number of contents of the current Law on Import and Export Tax.

According to Deputy Director General of the General Department of Customs Nguyen Van Can, immediately after the Customs Law was passed, the General Department of Customs issued Directive No. 9296/CT-TCHQ dated July 25, 2014, clearly stating the tasks that need to be focused on and a detailed plan for implementing the Customs Law. Up to now, the tasks have been carried out in a synchronous and unified manner and achieved good results. In particular, the drafting of documents to implement the Law has been proactively reviewed, identifying documents that need to be issued to build a system of customs legal documents in a unified, synchronous and convenient manner during the implementation process. Up to now, the General Department of Customs has drafted and submitted to competent authorities for promulgation 3 decrees, 1 decision of the Prime Minister, 10 circulars; at the same time, the General Department of Customs has also issued professional procedures for implementation.

In the work of disseminating and propagating the Customs Law and guiding documents, the General Department has organized timely training for customs officers from key officers to executive officers. Propaganda and dissemination activities for the business community, relevant organizations and individuals have also been focused on in many diverse forms such as: developing documents introducing the Law; compiling and printing propaganda publications; organizing training conferences; propagating at conferences organized by the General Department in coordination with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and at business dialogue conferences...

Infrastructure upgrade is the foundation

At the same time, the General Department of Customs urgently reorganized, arranged, and allocated human resources. After proactively reviewing the functions and tasks of its units to reorganize the apparatus and allocate resources in accordance with the requirements of implementing the Law, the sector dissolved, established new units, and adjusted the functions and tasks of a number of units. The Customs Department proactively reviewed the staff and civil servants at the unit to select civil servants who have been trained and have specialized and experienced expertise to be assigned to departments in accordance with the requirements of the Law implementation process. The preparation of facilities and technical means has been promoted: the sector has received and officially implemented the VNACSS/VCIS system from the Japanese Government. The implementation of the system helps Vietnam Customs effectively apply advanced customs management methods. In addition, the procurement and installation of modern equipment for customs inspection and supervision has been actively and synchronously deployed.

The industry has also deployed the construction and pilot operation of a customs monitoring system through the application of barcodes at a number of seaport branches to shorten the time for monitoring goods through port gates and create a premise for connecting with the systems of agencies and enterprises operating warehouses, yards and ports. The electronic payment gateway (E-payment) through the connection and exchange of information between the Customs IT system with the Treasury and Commercial Banks continues to be deployed in parallel with the upgrading and putting into operation other IT application systems in the customs fields (such as: risk management information system, tax accounting, tax price data management information, digital signature authentication, tax exemption management information, tax reduction, tax refund...). In the first 6 months of 2015, 2 camera monitoring systems were accepted, handed over and put into use at Dinh Vu Port - Hai Phong and the new Noi Bai - Hanoi Cargo Terminal. Installing camera systems at Terminal T2 of Noi Bai International Airport, Tan Thanh - Lang Son, Tan Cang - Cat Lai, Customs Branch of Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Carrying out procedures to purchase 5 container scanners, 3 cargo and baggage scanners, and 6 underground scanners.

Continue to simplify customs procedures

Assessing the impact of the Customs Law on a number of customs operations, Deputy General Director Nguyen Van Can said that the changes to the Customs Law and the documents detailing its implementation have had a profound impact on all customs operations, especially customs operations. The entire industry has proposed to abolish 17 procedures and simplify 46 procedures; customs records have been simplified and reduced; the time for checking records and checking actual goods has been reduced; electronic customs procedures have been deployed at all customs branches nationwide. Modern customs operations based on the principle of risk management have been applied in all customs inspection and supervision activities, ensuring suitability for strengthening inspection of key risk subjects. Post-clearance inspection work has been strengthened to ensure the requirements of modern customs management: changing the management method, switching from "pre-inspection" to "post-inspection", facilitating the circulation of goods, post-clearance inspection work has been strengthened, information collection and analysis has been expanded, focusing on high-risk enterprises, fields and goods - Deputy General Director Nguyen Van Can affirmed.

In addition, the professional level of customs officers is specialized in each field; the customs organization is improved. Each customs officer is aware of the need to improve their sense of responsibility and professional level to meet the requirements of modern customs management. Some local customs units have rearranged the organizational structure at the grassroots level towards specialization in each specific field. The rights and obligations of customs declarants, organizations and individuals involved are more transparent, when the self-responsibility of customs declarants is enhanced, clearly defining the responsibilities between customs declarants and customs officers, between customs agencies and related agencies; minimizing direct contact between customs officers and customs declarants; creating positive changes for organizations and enterprises in administrative reform to coordinate in managing import and export activities - Director of the Legal Department of the General Department of Customs Phung Thi Bich Huong said.

There are still many shortcomings and limitations that need to be amended.

According to Deputy General Director Nguyen Van Can, after 10 years of implementation, the Import-Export Tax Law No. 45/2005/QH11 has had a positive impact on many socio-economic aspects of the country and achieved the goals set out when the Law was promulgated. However, up to now, the Import-Export Tax Law has revealed a number of shortcomings and limitations that need to be amended. First, when implementing the tariff reduction roadmap according to the free trade agreement (AFTA), from 2018, the basic import tax rate will be eliminated. In order to contribute to protecting domestic production, it is necessary to supplement and upgrade the legal basis of a number of important contents on tax defense measures in the Import-Export Tax Law. In addition, there are some provisions in the Law that are no longer consistent with the provisions of the Law on Tax Administration, the Law on Customs, the Law on Investment, the Law on Environmental Protection, etc. Some provisions in the Law are not consistent with the commitments in international integration that Vietnam has participated in and will participate in, and need to be amended to contribute to the implementation of socio-economic development goals and administrative reform requirements in the new period.

Accordingly, the main amendments of this draft Law include many groups of contents. In the group of issues on encouraging development and reasonable protection of domestic production and business in accordance with the development orientation of the Party and State and signed international commitments, the Finance sector proposes to supplement a number of provisions on anti-dumping tax, anti-subsidy tax, and self-defense tax; amend the principles and authority to issue tax schedules and tax rates; prescribe the minimum export tax rate of the tax schedule according to the list of taxable export goods instead of the current tax rate framework; at the same time, amend and supplement the provisions on tax incentives to encourage the development of production and business, export, and promote socialization. In addition, the new draft Law also amends and supplements to synchronize and unify with related legal documents; overcomes problems arising in the implementation of the current Law on Import-Export Tax, including contents on the scope of regulation and non-taxable subjects, taxpayers.

Regarding the group of issues on compliance with international commitments and international treaties on export tax and import tax, the draft supplements regulations on applying export tax to cases where goods are exported to countries, groups of countries or territories with preferential agreements on export tax; on applying tax rates to goods from non-tariff zones; and supplements regulations on tax exemption. Regarding simplicity and convenience for taxpayers; contributing to administrative reform, improving the business environment and enhancing national competitiveness, the draft requires transferring some goods serving export production to tax-exempt subjects to encourage production...

Red River