Enterprises will soon have to use digital signatures on customsdeclaration forms, Nguyen Manh Tung, Customs Department director of ITand Statistics, told the newspaper Ha Noi Moi (New Ha Noi).

* What are the benefits that the Vietnam Automated Cargo and PortConsolidated System (VNACCS) will offer Vietnamese enterprises?

The VNACCS is designed based on a centralised processing modelintegrating multiple features and facilities which help make thedeclaration procedure fast and convenient. The speed of customsclearance will be rapid, at around 15 seconds maximum for goods in thegreen lane for enterprises undertaking clearance procedures for importedand exported goods.

At present, each enterprise is given an e-customs account to help speed up procedures.

However, there are some risks in using e-customs which are out ofcontrol of the account holders. That's why with support from JapanCustoms, Vietnam Customs will introduce the VNACCS on April 1, 2014 anduse digital signatures instead of the e-customs system.

The use of digital signatures is fully in line with internationalpractice and will bring many benefits to enterprises, particularly forthe customs clearance procedures of imported and exported goods.

* If by April 1, any enterprises fail to have their digital signaturesauthenticated for their customs declaration form, will they be able tocontinue with the e-customs clearance procedures?

There are more than 40,000 enterprises nationwide currently using thee-customs procedures. When the VNACCS is put into operation, enterpriseswill have had five months to apply for the digital signature, so I hopethey will all have their digital signatures ready to use by that date.Vietnam Customs is developing a mechanism for dealing with enterpriseswhich fail to comply with the legal requirements. It is now on the tableof the Ministry of Finance waiting for approval.

Ishould point out that the registration process for the digital signaturecan be done through the Vietnam Customs website and only takes twominutes.

* What are the other benefits of using the VNACCS?

There are quite a lot of benefits, particularly in terms of savingtime and money for both customs officers and the enterprises.

In 2012, Vietnam Customs conducted its first survey on customersatisfaction towards e-customs procedures, but unfortunately the datahas not been released to the public.

However, I hope the survey results will be released some time in November or December.

* Information confidentiality is a concern of many enterprises whenapplying for e-customs procedures. Do you think digital signatures willbe absolutely safe?

Each enterprise is given adigital signature with a token and only one person is authorised to useit. When the information is transferred and signed, no one can accessit, except the authorised person. And when the customs declaration withthe digital signature is transferred to the Customs Office, it will thenbe transferred to the signature authentication office to certify. Onlyafter these processes are carried out can the enterprise's dossier beopened. So there is no doubt that high levels of confidentiality areguaranteed when Vietnam Customs decides to introduce the digitalsignature.

Another advantage of the digitalsignature is that it eradicates the possibility of enterprises claimingthat they did not make the customs declaration, because both theauthorising company and recipient must have their own tokens to open thedeclaration.

In addition, the company providingthe technology has many solutions to protect the security of the digitalsignature. At present there are eight Vietnamese companies providingsuch a service.-VNA