ỨNG DỤNG CÔNG NGHỆ THÔNG TIN TRONG QUẢN LÝ NHÀ NƯỚC VỀ HẢI QUAN APPLICATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN MANAGING STATE ABOUT CUSTOMS General Information: Vietnam Customs, formally called as General Department of Taxation, was established on the tenth of September in 1945 After long time for the up-and-down changes of history, Vietnam Customs has gradually been built up to develop and grow up, which brings considerable contribution in the protection of sovereignty and developing the economics of the nation There are some main tasks of the section including: customs monitoring on goods and means of transportation, preventing smuggle and trade fraud, collecting import duties, doing statistics about customs for the state Applying information technology IT System Management in customs activities is very necessary because it can assure the profession, transparence and effectiveness of the industry Situation and SWOT analysis: 2.1 Objective factors: - Currently, the number of imported and exported items, means of transportation and exit of passengers are getting more and more In addition, the situation of smuggle, tax evasion and trade fraud is also becoming more and more complicated There are so many new kinds skilled smuggle and trade fraud, such as: the infringement of copyright, intellectual property and information technology, money launder, rare animal smuggle and so on - The requirements on integration and development trends of both International and Regional Customs, Vietnam Customs should take fully action of international commitments related to customs within the framework of WTO, ASEAN, APEC, ASEM, WCO and other foreign organizations In order to meet these requirements, Vietnam Customs should constantly innovate in all fields, including from procedures, policies to capacity of staffs - Technology and Science, especially Information Technology, are developing increasingly Nowadays, IT is being applied in so many different areas including customs as well This is a good factor for Vietnam Customs to apply these achievements in our daily professional activities 2.2 Subjective factors: IT System Management - Government and the Ministry of Finance always encourage and facilitate for enterprises to apply Information Technology in the state management involved in Customs - Currently, the knowledge and capacity of staff team both in the Department of Information Technology and other sections can meet the requirements when applying new IT systems in professional activities The conditions of information infrastructure (line, machinery and so on) and capitals for investment can meet the demands on modernizing customs’ operation 2.3 SWOT analysis: - Strengths: Comparing to other ministries and domestic enterprises, Customs sector is one of the leading units in applying Information Technology in professional activities Besides, Vietnam Customs gets considerable support from Vietnam Government and other international organizations, for instant: World Customs Organization and Japanese International Cooperation Agency in combining between modern technology and state Customs management Regarding to the network system, all offices of both General and Local Department have internet connection and most of them are using wifi system To software application integrating into management: some software is widely put into operation effectively, such as: Netoffice software which is used to manage the document and internal information systems, GTT01 – the system to manage dutiable data, CO management program, payment program of Customs, Banking and Treasury, software to keep track of rested tax arrears, employee IT System Management management system, system automatically updating and listing the number of imported – exported items, software for Customs E-declaration and etc - Weaknesses: Legal frame in Customs section has not synchronized yet, so some new problems are come up in State’s management of Custom Thus, when building applied software, we should pay attention to open factors, which can help us easy to adjust and change Another weak point is the instability of the transmission in some remote areas despite the infrastructure and transmission lines are completed relatively Furthermore, some software edited by Vietnamese IT still gets several problems affecting to the operation of the whole system while some software working well in some Customs of other countries needs adjusting to fit with Vietnamese laws - Opportunities and Threats: Currently, the demand on modernizing to improve the operational capacity is growing more and more necessary for all organizations Applying IT achievements in State’s management can help Vietnam Customs develop both capacity and working effectiveness Also, they can help accelerate the process of reform and modernization using advanced international standards and the commitments between Vietnam Government and other organizations and countries can be well-done These will a favor for importing and exporting activities and improve the competitiveness of Vietnam items However, promoting the application of Information Technology can face up with some obstacles which should be predicted to well prepare solutions They could be: cheating some enterprises to fraud in exporting and importing, Internet security and privacy issues, dependence IT System Management too much on machine systems which can prevent from the continuous operation when having some problems… Competiveness: Due to the specific characteristics (it is a state management agency), Vietnam Customs has no rivals Nevertheless, we are having an intention of building up the model that Vietnam Customs is a service provider and other enterprises are our clients Vietnam Customs’ competitor is itself Hence, without modernizing to develop, we will be put back Actually, it is true that logistics trading is more and more developing and complicated with the appearance of more sophisticated tricks So, how to make logistics activities more comfortable and transparent together with reduce the number of tricks and trade fraud when items for trading are increasing gradually but customs officers is limited? To reach these targets and meet demands of customers that are enterprises, it is essential that we should innovate to apply Technology achievements, especially IT, in general activities of the sector Applying modern machineries (scan package systems, scan container machine and so on) and management software (managing temporarily imported for re-exported goods by GPS system, software for automatic declaration and clearance, risk management systems and etc) will help improve the capacity of customs officers and the quality of the work as well The application of Information Technology in the sector: IT System Management - Netoffice software: It is a document and internal information management system which is being updated and adjusted to be relatively convenient for using However, the look-up speed is sometimes slow when a number of people log at the same time - GTT01 software: It is a Duty Assessment Information Management System used in not only General Department but also local offices to support for examining and determining the exact value of goods and prepare for Electronic Customs Model in future - CO Management System: It is a program for automatically identifying the origin (Certificate of Origin – C/O), managing the portfolio of items’ origin, signature and etc - Software for payment of Tax – Customs – Bank – Treasury: E-tax payment software is connected to Tax, Customs and Treasury offices to favor of time, expense for enterprises in paying tax - Tax arrears tracking software: Updating the list of enterprises that owe taxes on imported goods, tax debts and so on - Staff management program: Updating and managing information about officials in the whole sector, professional qualifications, training certificates and so on Applications which is being built up and expected to implemented in the near future, and action plans as well as targets: 6.1 E-Manifest Program: IT System Management - Content: This is software to update the list of imported items before they are loaded at the port Based on it, the system automatically analyzes and divides into small groups including blue, yellow and red one Then it will make a decision on examining and level of inspection Local customs offices have access to the system and follow the results of the analysis - Hardware: Servers located in General Department, workstations put in the provincial offices - Software: sponsored by WCO - Application management unit: supervised by Department of Monitoring - Estimated expense: billion dollar - Other related applications: This software is a key factor for applying VNACC/VCIS system and also an important input for applying risk management system of the sector - Plans: + Expected time for building: to June of 2013 + Trial time implementation: 03 months (from 7/2013 to 9/2013 inclusive) + Time for overall and give feedback: 01 month (10/2013) + Time for modifying and adjusting the apps : 02 month + Time for taking action: 01/01/2014 6.2 Managing temporarily imported for re-exported goods by GPS system: IT System Management - Content: This is the software using the Global Positioning System (GPS) to monitor items, means of transportation from the gate for temporary import to the gate for re-export to assure that transportation can go in the right route and the items can be re-exported in right time as required - Hardware: Servers located in General Department, workstations and monitoring equipment put in the provincial offices - Software: provided by the company supplying the hardware - Application management unit: supervised by Department of Monitoring - Estimated expense: 50 million dollar - Other related applications: This software is a key factor for applying VNACC/VCIS system and also an important input for applying risk management system of the sector - Plans: + Software: provided by Japanese sponsor + Trial time implementation with some key commodities in some local offices: 03/2013 + Time for taking action: 07/2013 6.3 VNACCS/VCIS system: - Content: It is a program for developing E-customs and implementing the policy of one gate in innovating and modernizing Vietnam Customs Additionally, it builds up a team of hidden customs officials, which is to connect among the Customs of IT System Management different countries and to share the information of goods, import and export enterprises - Hardware: Servers located in General Department, workstations put in the provincial offices - Software: built up based on the systems of Japan Customs with some changes to be in accordance with the legal framework and regulations of Vietnam - Application management unit: VNACCS/VCIS Project Management Team - Estimated expense: 40 million dollar sponsored by Japanese Government and JICA - Other related applications: This is a general system for the operation of modern customs model, such as: software about e-Declaration, e-Manifest, e-Invoice, ePayment, e-C/O, Electronic Packing List (e-P/L), Selectivity, risk profile management/risk criteria, import-export company management, and so on - Plans: + From 12/2012 to 4/2013: Developing the system + From 5/2013 to 10/2013: Integrating and testing the system + From 11/2013 to 2/2104: Trial implementing the system + From 3/2014: Taking action the system Lessons learned: IT System Management - Applying the achievements of science and technology, particularly the application of VNACCS/VCIS system will help Vietnam Customs have accession to advanced standards of Japan Customs and International Customs The quick, accurate and convenient clearance will improve the prestige of Vietnam Moreover, it will create attractive business environment for foreign investors and build up the force of professional, transparent and effective customs officers - According to the World Customs’ experience, when building up and applying customs management software, legal system and business procedures should be paid attention to The reason is that the business process in each nation is different and changeable Thus, the applied software should be very flexible and need open elements to adjust to suit for the real situation - When applying modern technology in customs activities, one of the most considerable obstacles which Customs Department in each country has to face up with is fraud and tax declaration Therefore, besides electronic software, we should have a team of officials and experts to monitor the process of import and export activities, entry and exit activities as well - Another important factor that should be mentioned is security Due to the sensitive information from customs which is involved in national security, software system in Custom must have strong capacity of security and ensure that the intrusion from outside is extremely difficult 10 IT System Management ... infrastructure and transmission lines are completed relatively Furthermore, some software edited by Vietnamese IT still gets several problems affecting to the operation of the whole system while some software... be predicted to well prepare solutions They could be: cheating some enterprises to fraud in exporting and importing, Internet security and privacy issues, dependence IT System Management too much... limited? To reach these targets and meet demands of customers that are enterprises, it is essential that we should innovate to apply Technology achievements, especially IT, in general activities