Customs Region II: Propagating the law, combined with strict handling to prevent revenue loss

Strengthening policy dissemination, building two-way dialogue forums

With the position of a key unit in budget collection and import-export management in Ho Chi Minh City after the merger, the Customs Branch of Region II has been promoting reform and modernization, taking digital transformation as a pillar and considering businesses as companion partners.

Not only does it facilitate trade flows and enhance the attractiveness of the investment environment, the unit is also shouldering a large proportion of the entire Customs sector's budget revenue, making an important contribution to stabilizing the macro balance and socio- economic development.

*Customs Branch Region II strengthens policy dissemination and removes legal obstacles for businesses*

Highly appreciating the support of the Customs Branch of Region II, in an interview with the Industry and Trade Newspaper, Mr. You Byung Ha - Korean Customs Counselor in Vietnam immediately mentioned the stable growth picture of Ho Chi Minh City and the achievement of nearly 7 billion USD of foreign direct investment (FDI) flowing into the city.

According to Mr. You Byung Ha, this figure demonstrates the attractiveness of the investment environment and reflects the smooth operation of the state management system, in which the Customs force is the pioneer. He especially acknowledged the dedicated efforts of the Customs Branch II in facilitating trade and supporting the Korean business community, especially in customs clearance, handling procedures and guiding policy implementation.

He said that the Customs sector in general and the Customs Sub-Department of Region II in particular are constantly improving procedures, promoting the modernization of professional activities, moving towards a more transparent and business-friendly customs system.

In addition, in recent times, the Customs Branch of Region II has always listened to and shared with businesses, regularly organized seminars and two-way dialogue programs to proactively exchange information, guide new policies and regulations, thoroughly explain requirements on records, documents, and implementation procedures, helping domestic and foreign businesses to promptly grasp and comply with the law, minimizing errors in the process of import and export procedures.

A vivid example, which more clearly illustrates the practical support effectiveness of the Branch, was mentioned by Mr. You Byung Ha, that is, a shipment of imported components of a Korean enterprise was processed and cleared within only 12 hours. Such fast processing speed helps enterprises reduce a lot of costs of storage, warehousing and other opportunity costs.

More importantly, according to the Korean Customs Counselor in Vietnam, it is to create great conditions for raw materials to be promptly brought into the production line, avoiding interruptions in production and business activities.

Similar to Korean enterprises, from the perspective of European enterprises, they also gave the Customs Branch of Region II extremely positive comments and assessments.
Mr. Juergen Weber, Chairman of the Transport and Logistics Subcommittee, European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham), said that many European enterprises highly appreciated the efforts to reform administrative procedures of the Customs in general and the Customs Branch of Region II in particular in recent times, especially the maintenance of direct dialogue conferences with enterprises as an effective and continuous two-way information channel.

" At these dialogues, businesses have timely access to policies, fully grasp changes in regulations, and understand what documents and papers they need to prepare. They also have their problems raised on the spot and are answered and resolved right at the base, thereby significantly limiting legal risks, time and costs in import-export activities, " said Mr. Juergen Weber.

*A workshop taking place in October 2025, is a forum for the Customs authority to listen to and receive comments from the business community.*

Positive reviews from the international business community are clear evidence that the reform and modernization process at the Customs Branch of Region II or the customs sector has not stopped at the level of slogans or banners, but has been realized with very specific and substantial results.

Ensuring financial and budgetary discipline

In 2025, the legal target of the entire Customs sector is 411,000 billion VND, the target is 470,000 billion VND. In particular, according to Official Dispatch No. 13913/CHQ-NVTHQ dated July 11, 2025 of the Customs Department, the Customs Sub-Department of Region II is assigned the legal target of 169,700 billion VND and the target is 176,000 billion VND, equivalent to 41.29% compared to the legal target of the entire sector.

Considering the locality structure before the arrangement, Ho Chi Minh City (old) was assigned a legal target of 130,000 billion VND and a target of 133,000 billion VND, accounting for about 31.63% of the total industry's regulations; Vung Tau (old) had a legal target of 21,500 billion VND, striving for 22,000 billion VND, accounting for 5.23%; and Binh Duong (old) was assigned a legal target of 18,200 billion VND, striving for 21,000 billion VND, equivalent to 4.43% of the total industry.

These figures show that the requirements for management, operation, risk analysis and implementation of anti-revenue loss tasks that the Customs Sub-Department of Region II must meet in the new context have increased many times over, when three major focal points are now combined into one unit.

The Customs Branch of Region II determined that, not only stopping at completing the collection task at the level of "correct and full collection", the unit also pays special attention to synchronously implementing solutions to prevent revenue loss, recover tax debts and fight against trade fraud.

As a result, the total state budget revenue from anti-revenue loss solutions by October 31, 2025 will reach VND899.39 billion. Of which, the total tax debt collection is VND212.47 billion, including VND43.30 billion in overdue tax debt collection for debts arising before January 1, 2025 and VND169.17 billion in overdue debt collection for debts arising in 2025.

In parallel, post-clearance inspections brought in VND87.33 billion in revenue, while anti-smuggling investigations contributed VND130.16 billion. The results of preventing revenue loss from risk groups related to incorrect declaration of commodity codes, under-declaration of taxable values, incorrect application of tax rates, etc. reached VND469.43 billion, of which code adjustments brought in VND284.96 billion, taxable value adjustments VND179.13 billion and tax rate adjustments VND5.34 billion.

The above results reflect the steadfast efforts of the leadership and staff of the Department in both expanding the freedom of commercial activities and maintaining financial and budgetary discipline. In other words, the unit has been faithful to its core mission, which is to provide maximum support to businesses without losing revenue, without fostering loopholes, and without making it difficult for businesses to comply with regulations.

To minimize errors in the customs declaration process when carrying out import and export procedures, the Customs Sub-Department of Region II recommends that businesses continue to proactively research and master the system of related legal documents, from Laws, Decrees to Circulars and specialized instructions; regularly update newly issued documents and policies, especially regulations related to commodity codes, taxable values, origins, tax exemption, reduction and refund regimes.
When problems or difficulties arise during the procedure, businesses should promptly discuss with relevant units, including customs authorities and specialized management agencies, to receive guidance and correct resolution in accordance with regulations, avoiding small errors accumulating into major violations, causing unnecessary risks to business operations.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/hai-quan-khu-vuc-ii-tuyen-truyen-phap-luat-gan-voi-xu-nghiem-chong-that-thu-430657.html