EuroCham Customs Training Session 2019

On 23rd May 2019, the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) and its partner EVBN co-organised with Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Customs a Customs training session for European business community at Liberty Central Saigon Riverside Hotel.

Mr. Juergen Weber, Chairman of the EuroCham Transportation and Logistics Sector Committee, emphasised in his opening remarks that 2018 was a remarkable year for a closer cooperation between HCMC Department of Customs and EuroCham with relevant training sessions and dialogues co-organised, achieving satisfactory results. Leveraging such achievements, both parties agreed that 2019 continues to be a year for strengthening the cooperation between Ho Chi Minh City Department of Customs and the business community, as stated in the Customs’ Department’s Plan 77: “The business community and the HCMC Customs Department are reliable partners, working together for mutual development”.

Focusing on updating and equipping the business community with latest customs regulations and procedures, the 2019 Customs Training Session was fruitful with the participation of nearly 90 representatives from companies operating in various industries. Participants, mainly at management and executive level, had the chance to interact directly with representatives from the Customs authority to gain a better and deeper understanding as well as to address their concerns during their daily business operational activities.

In the morning session, Mr. Le Van Trien, Deputy Head of Supervision and Management Division of the HCMC Department of Customs presented to the business community notable changes in the Law on Foreign Trade Management as well as its guiding legislative documents. He also took this chance to provide key content related to the origin of goods topic which is at heart of the implementation of new generation FTAs such as EVFTA and CP-TPP. At the end of the morning session, Mr. Trien spent time addressing many questions from the participants, mainly about the supervision methods of the Customs authority and what businesses should do to be compliant.

In the afternoon session, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan, Deputy Head of Tax Import & Export Division of the HCMC Department of Customs, systematised the import and export procedures. He focused  on 3 key topics: customs valuation, HS Code classification, and origin of goods. He shared valuable experience and tips for businesses. Mr. Toan also emphasised the connection role of EuroCham in bringing the concerns of the business community to the Customs authority.  All questions raised by the participants will be consolidated by EuroCham and sent to the Customs Department for their feedback. This will be uploaded on EuroCham’s website once available. The one-day training session ended with a high evaluation and feedback from participants.

In the closing remarks, Mr. Nguyen Hai Minh, EuroCham Vice – Chairman, once again confirmed the commitment of EuroCham in working closely with the Ho Chi Minh City administration, especially the city Department of Customs, to support the development of the city as an attractive, efficient and sustainable destination for European investors and businesses. He also underlined the importance of customs authorities as one of EuroCham’s key advocacy contacts and shared the upcoming plan of EuroCham in bettering the chamber’s supporting role in tax & customs field by having dialogues with Government through the Advisory Council for Admnistrative Procedure Reforms under the Prime Minister. Moreover, EuroCham is conducting a survey among its members to collect concerns/questions relevant to tax and tax-related customs issues. Based on the responses of the businesses, EuroCham will identify suitable channels to support members in advocating to the authoriries and resolving them.

Documents is available here

Official Response from the HCMC Customs Department (in VIE) is available here