Vietnam customs to tighten baggage security

Deputy director of Vietnam’s General Department of Customs (GDC) Nguyen Cong Binh told a seminar held in Hanoi on July 4 that there would be a specific scheme to closely monitor goods at airports, helping to shorten the luggage-handling process and combat smuggling.

“The implementation of the scheme is one of the customs sector’s new solutions, aimed at applying a modern international-standard management system to ensure aviation security and simplifying and harmonising customs procedures and warehousing services provided by logistic firms at seaports and airports,” Bình said.

Under the scheme, custom forces would co-operate with logistic firms to upgrade their management and supervision systems on passengers’ luggage and goods, applying modern technology to integrate their systems and connect with each other to exchange and update the latest information with the aim of tightening the monitoring of the luggage-handling process.

As projected, the scheme will be piloted by the Hanoi Customs Department from October this year.

Bình said, currently, the connection between customs agencies and logistic companies was not tight enough, leading to slow, inaccurate and troublesome procedures, creating many loopholes and vulnerabilities for goods and luggage delivery and handling process.

He indicated that since the beginning of 2017, custom officials at Noi Bai airport had discovered 250 expired shipments, without any individuals, organisations or businesses receiving them.

Nguyen Manh Tung, director of the Customs Department of IT and Statistics under the GDC, said co-operation between customs forces and warehousing businesses would create smooth information flow, helping minimise time, cost and effort, contributing to the reform of administrative procedures and preventing trade fraud and loss in State budget revenue.