Proposal to abolish licensing procedures for inland waterway vehicles entering and leaving ports from January 1, 2026

(Chinhphu.vn) - In the spirit of Resolution No. 66/NQ-CP dated March 26, 2025 of the Government on the Program to reduce and simplify administrative procedures, the Vietnam Maritime and Inland Waterways Administration (Ministry of Construction) has proposed to abolish administrative procedures for licensing inland waterway vehicles to enter and leave seaports, ports, inland waterway wharves, and anchorage areas. At the same time, reduce fees and charges for inland waterway vehicles corresponding to the types of vehicles for which the procedures are abolished.

The requirement to carry out administrative procedures for licensing inland waterway vehicles and to pay fees when carrying out administrative procedures has somewhat created a greater burden on the management activities of people and businesses.

The Vietnam Maritime and Inland Waterways Administration has solicited opinions on the Project to improve State management solutions to replace administrative procedures for licensing inland waterway vehicles to enter and leave seaports, ports, inland waterway wharves, and anchorage areas; and exemption and reduction of fees and charges for inland waterway vehicles to enter and leave seaports, ports, inland waterway wharves, and anchorage areas.

Administrative procedures are a burden

Currently, legal regulations to regulate the operation of inland waterway vehicles include 1 Code, 1 Law and documents guiding the implementation from vehicle registration, inspection, licensing activities, organization of apparatus serving the licensing work and collection of fees and charges for the operation of inland waterway vehicles.

In the period of 2022 - 2024, the total amount of fees and charges collected when handling procedures for inland waterway vehicles entering and leaving seaports, ports, and inland waterway wharves will reach more than 936 billion VND.

However, according to the assessment of the Vietnam Maritime and Waterways Administration, the recent requirement to carry out administrative procedures for licensing inland waterway vehicles and pay fees and charges when carrying out administrative procedures has somewhat created a greater burden on the management activities of people and businesses.

Most of the administrative procedures for inland waterway vehicles are currently being received and returned directly by port authorities through paper documents. This requires a large number of personnel and time to process administrative procedures, affecting work efficiency, causing congestion, and slowing down the progress of freight and passenger transportation.

In addition, the procedures for granting licenses for vehicles entering ports and inland waterways and the inspection of vehicles are not separate, causing difficulties for vehicles to enter and leave ports and inland waterways to load and unload goods, pick up and drop off passengers, potentially causing corruption and negativity.

The Vietnam Maritime and Waterways Administration also stated that "there is inequality in the level of fees and charges between inland waterway vehicles with VR-SB class and other inland waterway vehicles when entering and leaving seaports, ports, inland waterway wharves, and anchorage areas".

"In the era of growth, digital transformation is a technological revolution that has created great opportunities and premises for research and proposals to strongly reform administrative procedures, cut compliance costs, and create the greatest convenience for people and businesses.

Therefore, it is necessary to develop a project to improve state management solutions to replace administrative procedures for licensing inland waterway vehicles to enter and leave seaports, ports, inland waterway wharves, and anchorage areas; to exempt and reduce fees and charges for inland waterway vehicles to enter and leave seaports, ports, inland waterway wharves, and anchorage areas," said Mr. Le Do Muoi, Director of the Vietnam Maritime and Waterways Administration.

Abolish licensing procedures, cut fees and charges

In the spirit of Resolution No. 66/NQ-CP dated March 26, 2025 of the Government on the Program to reduce and simplify administrative procedures, the Vietnam Maritime and Inland Waterways Administration has proposed to abolish administrative procedures for licensing inland waterway vehicles to enter and leave seaports, ports, inland waterway wharves, and anchorage areas (excluding: vehicles with VR-SB license; vehicles exiting, entering, and transiting - licensing to enter and leave seaports, ports, inland waterway wharves, and anchorage areas of these types of vehicles is being adjusted according to regulations for vehicles entering, exiting, and transiting according to maritime law provisions for seagoing vessels).

At the same time, reduce fees and charges for inland waterway vehicles entering and leaving seaports, ports, inland waterway wharves, and anchorage areas corresponding to the types of vehicles whose procedures are abolished.

This agency calculates that in a year, the number of administrative procedures that can be reduced when abolishing administrative procedures for granting permits to enter and leave ports and inland waterways for vehicles is 750,000, with an estimated savings of about 80,000 VND in tonnage fees for each abolished administrative procedure (provisionally calculated for vehicles with a tonnage of <500 tons, the collection rate is 165 VND/ton).

"Thus, in one year, businesses can save about 61.5 billion VND in administrative procedure compliance costs (not including travel costs and hiring workers to carry out procedures)," Director Le Do Muoi informed.

The abolition of these procedures also helps limit the occurrence of corruption and negativity, while contributing to cutting operating costs for the apparatus and organizations performing tasks; Ending inequality in collection levels, fee collection regimes, and charges for inland waterway vehicles entering and leaving seaports and inland ports and wharves; Promoting the application of information technology and digital transformation in inland waterway transport activities.

The Vietnam Maritime and Waterways Administration said that if the Project is approved by competent authorities, the abolition of administrative procedures for licensing watercraft will be applied from January 1, 2026.

Vietnam is a country with advantages in the potential for developing inland waterway transport with more than 3,500 intra-provincial and inter-provincial rivers and canals, most of which flow into the sea through 124 estuaries, with a total length of more than 80,500 km, of which about 42,000 km of rivers and canals are capable of exploiting waterway transport.

Inland waterway transport plays an important role in transporting large volumes of goods at low cost, especially effective for long routes; contributes to reducing pressure on other types of transport; is more sustainable and environmentally friendly than other types of transport, contributing to the development of green and sustainable transport when oriented for effective investment and exploitation.

Phan Trang

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/de-xuat-bai-bo-thu-tuc-cap-phep-phuong-tien-thuy-noi-dia-vao-roi-cang-tu-1-1-2026-102250529222623169.htm