Ministry to name labs to test imported scrap
The Government has assigned the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to choose independent labs, instead of those run by the State, to test the quality of scrap imported as production material.
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| The prime minister’s working group inspects a customs office in Hai Phong City - Photo: Nhat Bac |
The move is expected to remove the customs clearance bottlenecks faced by importing enterprises, which have incurred losses totaling billions of Vietnam dong.
Customs agencies will use test results from the chosen labs to conduct customs clearance procedures.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will have to abolish unreasonable regulations governing the testing of the quality of scrap imported as material, including those forcing importers to submit quarantine and environmental protection certificates issued by the Ministries of Agriculture-Rural Development and Natural Resources-Environment, respectively.
In addition, the loose coordination between the customs agencies and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has made life hard for importers.
In related news, on January 29, the prime minister’s working group led by Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung conducted an inspection of a customs office in the northern city of Hai Phong.
Within 30 minutes, customs officers could not show the customs clearance history of an enterprise while the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Vietnam Customs are taking the lead in administrative reform.
Minister Dung said the slow goods clearance has long been a big issue for importers.
Although statistics on enterprises’ losses triggered by customs clearance delays in the last six months have yet to be released, the World Bank found that Vietnam would lose more than US$3.2 billion a day if the country maintains unreasonable customs clearance procedures.
At the meeting with the prime minister’s working group, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan admitted the way the ministry has tested the quality of scrap shipments has caused difficulties for importers, but he asked the General Department of Vietnam Customs to take responsibility for this.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Van Can, head of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, attributed the slow goods clearance to the lack of officers in charge of the job at the local Departments of Natural Resources and Environment.
