The Vietnamese government is now hard at work completing the legal framework for the country’s National Single Window (NSW) to officially connect to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Single Window (ASW), according to Vietnam Customs.
In a recent official release, the agency said Vietnam continues to work on the completion of all the aspects of the legal framework that is needed for the official connection to ASW in the period 2016-2020.
This comes after the launch of the NSW and technical connection to the ASW on September 8, 2015 and, earlier this year, the signing by Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung of the protocol on the legal framework of the ASEAN Single Window.
According to the Office of the National Steering Committee for NSW and ASW, to successfully link up with the ASW in the next few years, Vietnam had to customize the contents of its Customs Law 2014 and Decree No. 08/2015/ND-CP.
The decree provides guidelines for customs procedures, inspection, supervision, and control. It is dated January 21, 2015 and took effect March 15 of this year, according to the Ministry of Justice.
Moreover, various ministries and sectors developed joint circulars to guide the implementation of the NSW.
However, more needs to be done to address a number of issues that still stand in the way of full implementation of the program. These initiatives include creating a full legal framework for the use of electronic documents, for the use of electronic documents in administrative procedures, and for the use of services provided by third parties, according to the committee report.
The legal framework will also have to be created for the exchange of information and electronic documents with countries in the region and with export markets outside the ASEAN area. Of particular note is the need to negotiate and get input based on bilateral treaties, multilateral treaties, and free trade agreements in order to enable the recognition and exchange of electronic licenses recorded on the NSW portal.
Once these objectives are accomplished, it could facilitate the release of exports from Vietnam and enhance the quality control of goods imported into Vietnam, said Customs.
In 2006, the ministers of finance of ASEAN member countries signed the protocol on establishing and implementing ASW, giving flesh to the ASEAN pact by laying down technical guidelines and an action plan for the ASW’s creation.
Photo: Ronald Woan
