HCM City (VNA) - Customs inspectionpaperwork will be reduced, while procedures and services will be improved toaid firms’ operational activities, experts said at a conference in Ho Chi MinhCity this week.

There have been changes to reduce the number oftypes of goods that need to be inspected, and to invest in high qualityfacilities and a skilled workforce for better inspections and other procedurechanges to aid firms.

Dang Vu Thanh, Deputy Chairman of the VietnamLogistics Business Association, said that despite ongoing changes to improvecustoms and inspections, inspections were too frequent and too lengthy.

Indiscriminate inspections of imported goods havewasted resources and goes against Vietnam’s goal of promoting global trade, hesaid.

Thanh said inspections of imported goods shouldtake into account the firms’ reputation to prioritise businesses that haveadhered to regulations. Customs officials should consider the types of goodsinvolved and identify risk potentials. More criteria for exemptions should alsobe considered.

Nguyen Quoc Thanh, Deputy Head of GeneralDepartment of Customs’ IT and Custom Statistics Department, said the departmentwould “reduce paperwork and applications in favour of online channels likewebsites and mobile apps to save cost.” This tactic would gather user feedbackto improve online services and raise awareness of the benefits of onlinechannels.

Customs staff training and acquiring hi-techequipment for inspections would also improve the situation.

The Ministry of Finance would work with relevantdepartments and look into further reducing the list of goods that are subjectto inspection to only include products that pose environmental or economicthreats. The department would also remove unnecessary steps from the customsprocess.-VNA