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Customs system upgrade set to streamline trade
The Finance Ministry's Customs Department will soon be using special software to run a new valuation system after many months of preparation.
“We will first test the new system at the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge in Vientiane,” said department Director General Mr Santiphab Phomvihane on Friday.
“The trial run will help us to improve the system and expand it,” Mr Santiphab said at a meeting on customs valuation attended by both government officials and business operators.
“The project to improve the system has been a cooperation study involving both the state and private sectors.”
The introduction of the new system is part of changes being made to prepare Laos for membership in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Laos engages in trade cooperation in the region and globally, with imports and exports increasing each year.
“However, improvements to our management systems have not kept pace with the expansion of trade cooperation,” Mr Santiphab said.
Customs valuation is important for business operators, especially the documents that have to be prepared to import and export goods.
A department official said “We're still having difficulties and facing delays in implementing the previous customs valuation system. So the department sees the need to improve the system and make it more efficient.”
“Many state sectors still create a lot of paperwork, which leads to delays and wastes times for businesses.”
The meeting also included a general discussion on improvements to the Customs Law, which the department expects to present to the National Assembly by the end of this year.
“We will have a more detailed discussion on the issue before we submit the law to the National Assembly,” Mr Santiphab said.
Laos' preparations to join the WTO are progressing well and the parties involved are now carrying out the final steps, an Industry and Commerce Ministry official said recently.
Negotiations are underway with the Republic of Korea, USA, the EU and Australia.
Laos recently completed the sixth working party meeting and answered 700 questions from WTO members. It has also completed negotiations on trade, production and services with Japan and China.
The number of questions is expected to rise to 800 at the seventh working party meeting to be held in the middle of this year.
The questions mainly relate to regulations on trade, exports, imports, inspection, copyright, intellectual property, quality control and health.
Law and regulation improvements are challenging tasks because many of Laos' laws are not aligned with those of other countries. To date Laos has improved 20 draft laws and 40 regulations.
vientiane times
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