A national pilot project on e-customs was inaugurated at a ceremony in Hanoi on February 26.

The event marked the completion of the project’s Phase 1, which saw the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Transport connect to the e-customs system.

Phase 2 will start this year and see three more ministries connected to the network – the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

The e-customs system is designed to be the core of the National Single Window (NSW) Vietnam is building under its commitment to join the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) network by 2015.

It allows trade and transport-related parties to declare information and documents once at a single location to complete all legal requirements concerning import, export and transit, thus vastly reducing waiting times and complicated administrative procedures.

Meanwhile, the ASW is a regional initiative that connects and integrates NSWs of member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) with the aim of expediting cargo clearance as the bloc looks to establish the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh, head of the National Steering Committee for NSW and ASW, requested that relevant ministries and agencies continue to streamline administrative procedures related to the NSW. He also urged them to coordinate closely in building a database on administrative procedures for the NSW.

The same day, Deputy PM Ninh chaired the fourth plenary session of the National Steering Committee for NSW and ASW. He instructed agencies to focus on completing the legal framework for Phase 2 of the NSW as well as ensuring the smooth operation of the NSW technical infrastructure.-VNA