Closer coordination between customs and agencies concerned is required to enable speedier customs clearance, shared participants of a teleconference in Hanoi on April 2.

Under a resolution recently issued by the government, the duration for clearing exports and imports through customs is to be cut to less than 10 days and 12 days, respectively, by late 2016, in order to be on par with the average of the ASEAN-4( Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand).

To that end, it requires determined efforts from the customs sector and other units, said Deputy Head of the General Department of Customs’ Customs Reform and Modernisation Committee Le Nhu Quynh.

According to the 2013 report by the General Department of Customs, 28 percent of the time needed for customs clearance is consumed by the customs sector, with the remaining by other State management agencies including the Ministry of Industry and Trade, border gate management units, storage enterprises, port authorities and logistics firms.

Pham Thanh Binh, a customs advisor from the US Agency for International Development’s Governance for Inclusive Growth programme, spoke of shortcomings in specialised management of cargos subject to customs clearance, including overlapping and cumbersome procedures.

Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Export-Import Department Do Thi Thu Huong called for the streamline of legal regulations to reduce overlapping management and shorten customs clearance process.

Regulations on tracking the origin of goods and customs incentives to firms were also clarified at the event.-VNA