Immigration Department and Customs Department sign coordination regulations

The ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister of Public Security Senior Lieutenant General Pham The Tung and Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi.

The event was co-chaired by Director of the Immigration Department Lieutenant General Pham Dang Khoa and Director of the Customs Department Nguyen Van Tho.

At the ceremony, in the presence of the two Deputy Ministers and representatives of relevant units, Lieutenant General Pham Dang Khoa and Mr. Nguyen Van Tho officially signed the Coordination Regulations between the Department of Immigration and the Department of Customs.

With the newly-signed Coordination Regulations, the two agencies are expected to strengthen coordination in a more substantive and effective manner, contributing to effectively implementing and handling law violations in the fields of immigration and customs, ensuring aviation security and facilitating immigration and international trade activities.

Speaking at the ceremony, Director Nguyen Van Tho stated that the Customs Department would direct its functional units and airport customs branches at international airports to incorporate the contents of the Coordination Regulations into their professional procedures. 

He added that the department would also assign officers from central to local levels to be in charge of coordinating with their peers from the Immigration Department to prompt handle cases in place, avoiding prolonged bottlenecks that could affect national security or the legitimate immigration activities of businesses and citizens.

On behalf of the Department of Immigration, Lieutenant General Pham Dang Khoa emphasized that, immediately after the signing, the department would popularize the Coordination Regulations to units directly working at airports and air terminals and translate the appropriate contents of the Coordination Regulation into their daily operational procedures.

He stressed that the Department of Immigration would designate coordination focal points along both professional and technical lines, clearly determining the accountability of each officer and maintaining smooth communication channels to handle incidents and emerging situations in a swift, accurate and secure manner.

Lieutenant General Pham Dang Khoa also underscored the importance of maintaining regular review and assessment mechanisms to promptly resolve difficulties during implementation and proactively propose higher-level authorities to fix any shortcomings identified through practical coordination activities, with the goal of achieving substantive, effective and measurable outcomes of the coordination between the two sides.