Sharing responsibility for ensuring security and safety of the supply chain

Production at Garment Corporation 10, one of Vietnam's typical textile and garment enterprises. Photo: T.Binh

With the view of achieving the goal of both removing difficulties and obstacles for enterprises and effectively implementing the work of post-clearance audit, ensuring the requirements of state management of customs, the Bureau of Post-clearance Audit, and local customs departments have concretized the resolutions, directives and directions of the Government, the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Customs into specialized tasks.

Specifically, the work of post-clearance audit is implemented according to the oriented programs and plans with specific research and calculation, a method of implementation, and careful preparation before conducting the inspection.

The policies are clearly directed, with specific implementation methods for each stage, aiming at the goal of synchronous and unified implementation within the entire post-clearance audit force.

In particular, the work of post-clearance audit is carried out in a planned, focused, and key manner, avoiding widespread and ineffective inspections, developing an orientation plan for post-clearance audit within a period of 1 year or according to the key management requirements of the whole sector in each period or controlling high risks of law violations arising in each period in accordance with the spirit of Directive No. 7180/CT-TCHQ dated November 19, 2019 of the General Director of the General Department of Customs.

With that policy, the Customs sector has deployed topics with a national scale such as: cashew topic; topic against fraud, fake origin and illegal transportation... and has achieved positive results.

Regarding the management of Authorized Economic Operators (AEO), the Customs authority has implemented reforms, reduced administrative procedures, supported and accompanied enterprises.

Accordingly, automatic renewal activities and appraisal activities for renewal are effectively applied, limiting the activities of post-clearance audit at AEOs.

Along with creating favourable conditions for AEOs, the General Department of Customs has strengthened and innovated management work such as: issuing documents to rectify and guide AEOs to fully perform their responsibilities, building requirements for connection and standardizing data exchange information to serve the management of processing, manufacturing and export production activities.

In addition, the General Department of Customs also strives to implement mutual recognition agreements on the AEO Program such as: Mutual Recognition Agreement between Vietnam and ASEAN (2023); Action Plan between the General Department of Vietnam Customs and the General Department of China Customs on the Mutual Recognition Agreement on the AEO of Vietnam Customs and the Enterprise Credit Management Program of China Customs (October 13, 2024).

Practices from more than 10 years of implementing the Program show that when recognized as AEO by the General Department of Customs, the enterprise becomes a trusted partner of the Customs agency, and both sides share the responsibility of ensuring security and safety of the goods supply chain.

The application of the AEO Program not only does not affect the budget revenue, but on the contrary, the more enterprises participating, the more effective the program will be.

By creating conditions for AEOs who are subjects that comply with the law with low risks, the Customs authority can devote more resources to inspecting and supervising enterprises and goods with higher risks.