VietNamNet Bridge – The new regulation on the procedures for customs clearance has led to the fact that imports and exports have got stuck at customs and management agencies.

The Circular No. 128 by the Ministry of Finance on the customs procedures, customs examination and supervision, which took effect on November 1, has made both import-export companies and state bodies puzzled.

The circular stipulates that enterprises must show the certificates by specialized management agencies to be able to get customs clearance and carry goods out of the ports.

In case the verification cannot be carried out right at the border gates, enterprises can carry the goods to their warehouses or factories for verification, if specialized agencies send dispatches to customs agencies about this and take responsibility for the supervision of the goods.

The representative of a seafood import-export company in the southern province of Binh Duong complained that the new regulation has made the company’s operation stagnant for the last week.

He said it takes at least 10 days to have the imports to be verified by specialized management agencies. Meanwhile, as both the agencies don’t have warehouses, the company’s goods still have been lying at the port.

“I hope the current problems would be settled soon. Only by that time, will our production activities return to the normal track,” he said.

Not only seafood, but salt, medical equipment, animal feed and fertilizer companies have also made similar complaints. The import goods through the Cat Lai and ICD ports in Thu Duc district may easily get spoiled because they have to wait to be verified.

The new circular also stipulates that enterprises have make customs declarations in the localities where their production workshops are located (in the past, they could make declarations anywhere most convenient to them).

This, plus the storage fee enterprises have to pay when leaving the goods at management agencies for verification, both would force enterprises to pay higher production costs.

It would also take enterprises a lot of time to follow the procedures, because in many localities, the infrastructure conditions and international transportation services still cannot meet the requirements.

Nguyen Van Kha from the Dong Nai Garment Corporation complained that the company can only make customs declaration in the localities where it sets production workshops instead of HCM City. This means that it would have to pay more expenses and spend more time to wait for materials, while the workshops need materials as soon as possible for production.

Also according to Kha, in the past, it took his enterprise 1-3 days only to make customs declarations. Meanwhile, it now takes 3-7 days.

Vinh from Tien Tien Garment JSC also complained that with the new regulation, the company had to make customs declarations in Tien Giang province and then get customs clearance in HCM City.

A Dong Thap province-based seafood company’s senior executive complained that five containers of seafood materials have been lying at the Tan Cang and Cat Lai ports, waiting for the verification for one week already, while it’s still unclear when the goods would be cleared.

Nguyen Huu Nghiep, Deputy Head of the HCM City Customs Agency, said the agency has reported the problems to the Ministry of Finance.

Thanh Mai