The General Department of Vietnam Customs will continue improving policy and procedural reforms and promoting digital customs and smart customs this year to prevent trade fraud while creating the necessary conditions for businesses’ import and export activities, according to Deputy Director of the Department’s Customs Supervision and Management Department Nguyen The Viet.

Customs agencies strived to cut the time needed to complete customs clearance activities by 10 per cent last year.

The rate of consignments to be sampled for testing was cut by 20 per cent.

Customs clearance priority was given to farm produce, particularly fruit and vegetables.

Total trade value reached $683 billion in 2023, a year-on-year decline of 6.6 per cent.