In the first four months of 2024, Vietnamese customs officials have intercepted a vast array of illicit goods, highlighting the ongoing battle against smuggling and trade fraud in the country.
The General Department of Vietnam Customs has established a group of specialized officers to help businesses avoid violations and improve compliance with customs laws. The pilot program has been implemented at 266 businesses. The customs sector hopes that after two years, all enterprises within the program will be fully compliant with customs laws.
Vietnam’s agricultural exports to Australia are facing difficulties, as Australia has a labor shortage in many fields, including in the customs sector, while trade growth and Covid-19 remains complex issues. All of these factors have resulted in the slow customs clearance of goods. Vietnam and Australia have set a target of bilateral trade hitting $15 billion this year.
The custom sector’s contribution to State budget revenue in the first seven months of this year totaled more than VND260 trillion ($11.16 billion), a 12.7 per cent increase year-on-year and representing 74.2 per cent of the annual estimate.
Customs revenue exceeded the target in 2021 and reached VND370 trillion ($16.23 billion), an increase of 19.2 per cent compared to 2020. The sector has set a target of VND352 trillion ($15.42 billion) in revenue in 2022.
The customs sector’s State budget contribution totaled more than VND285.6 trillion ($12.57 billion) in the first nine months of 2021, equal to 90.6 per cent of the estimate. The sector will attempt to post VND335 trillion ($14.74 billion) for the year as a whole, exceeding the target by VND20 trillion ($880.81 million).