Working out e-customs links

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh has approves a six-month extension of a pilot e-customs plan that was to be completed at the end of last year.The pilot e-customs was launched in 2005 in the northern port city of Hai Phong and HCM City, under the Government’s Decision 149 and so far, has been applied in 90 customs branches across 20 cities and provinces nation wide, including Hanoi, Da Nang, Dong Nai and Binh Duong.According to the Finance Ministry, until last October, the number of e-customs offices accounted for nearly 80 percent of total customs offices. Nearly 47,000 enterprises, about 86 percent, used e-customs services already.An accumulative 2.5 million customs declarations were computerised, helping with an import-export volume worth nearly 200 million USD.Beside the proven effectiveness of e-customs during its pilot period, the ministry said-e-customs were mostly applicable for customs clearance while receving and processing information have yet to work sufficiently, urging more time to practice.