Improving the Border Agency Cooperation

Among the OIC Member States for Facilitating Trade

Dansavanh. For example, the sub-department of the Laobao customs assigns a competent team

of customs officers cooperating with the Laos customs officers to conduct joint physical

inspections as well as to execute customs clearance procedures for goods and vehicles coming

into Laos from Vietnam. Regulations on task divisions, working hours, labour policies and legal

organisations are stipulated fully in an arrangement between the Vietnamese and Lao

Ministries of Finance dated 26 October 2014.

Figure 16. Joint inspections

Source: Nguyen, 2016

Information Technology and Automated Customs System

In general terms, the customs clearance procedures are applied for goods and vehicles in the

country of entry. In particular, the procedures are carried out with the Vietnam Automated

cargo clearance system (VNACCS) for the goods and vehicles declared by the Vietnamese

owner and with the ASYCUDA for the Laos declarations. It has been noted that the two systems

– ASYCUDA for Laos Customs and VNACCS/VCIS for Vietnam Customs – do not interface.

2.4.3.

Summary and discussions

To date, a number of achievements have been reached in the cooperation at the Laobao-

Dansavanh border crossing point. A close BAC between Vietnam and Laos is in place with

advanced participation of the two countries’ key border enforcement agencies including

customs, border guard, police, immigration and quarantine. The progress has been relatively

fast, providing tangible benefits for the public, among them improved enforcement and faster

and easier clearance. The passenger traffic is 50% more efficient and, according to the ADB

report, there has been a 30% decrease in cargo clearance time. As a result, both inbound and

outbound volumes of trade in goods haveincreased.

However, there are still a number of unresolved issues.

Low interconnectivity and

synchronisation of the legal and institutional frameworks are slowing down the progress. So

do the lack of transparency and availability of legal documents, laws and regulations, statistics

database, technical assistance, and so forth. There are also difficulties in working

GDVC, 2016