Hanoi(VNA) - Local enterprises are spending around 28.6 million working days valuedat 14.3 trillion VND (636 million USD) a year to complete administrativeprocedures for special inspections on imported and exported goods.

This estimate wasrevealed by Mai Tien Dung, Minister- Chairman of the Government Office during a working session held in Hanoi onAugust 21 with 11 related ministries and other agencies.

Dung, who heads a working team appointed byPrime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to work on the issue, said specialphytosanitary inspections accounted for 0.1 percent, animal quarantine 14.3 percent,energy efficiency 25.3 percent, food hygiene and safety 19.1 percent andlicences for import and export products 41.2 percent of the total number ofspecial inspections carried out in the country.

“The Government has issued Resolution 19/NQ-CPto reduce the rate of special inspections from 30-35 percent of imported andexported goods to 15 percent, but this target has not yet been met,” Dung said.

There are 100,000 items that are subject to specialexaminations, he added.

The administrative procedures on goods control have beenoverlapping, resulting in higher spending for firms. The rate of goods thatundergo two to three special inspections accounted for 58 percent, the meetingheard.

The minister said some ministries are the onlyagencies authorised to carry out the special inspections, so goods from distantlocalities have to be taken to these agencies, increasing business costs.

Manual inspections, slow informationconnections and lack of risk management application have resulted in a highnumber of special inspections but very low discovery of violations (0.1 percent),he added.

The country has 5,917 procedures for specialinspections of ministries at border gates. The PM has asked that these arereviewed and redundant ones removed.

“The PM has asked ministries to clarify whichprocedures should be maintained and which can be removed,” he said.

He called for administrative reforms related tospecial inspections towards reducing unnecessary costs for businesses. This isimportant because procedures for special inspections account for half thecustoms clearance time, he said.

Some cargoes have had to wait for one tothree months to complete special inspections even after completing customsclearance procedures; and some have been left at border gates for three to fourmonths, while the regulated time is less than 15 days. Some of this delay hasbeen attributed to changes in special inspection procedures.

The chairman said the Government wouldreview special inspections by all ministries and ask for specific explanationsto decide which procedures can be removed.-VNA