Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Kunming Customs under the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) have agreed to deploy a smart border gate, import & export one-stop shop to facilitate the customs clearance of agricultural products. The consensus was reached at a meeting between Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam and Kunming Customs on measures to promote trade between Vietnam and the Chinese province of Yunnan. Jin Yanyong, head of Kunming Customs Department, said he expects that relevant agencies of the two countries will organise meetings at least once a year. He said it is necessary for the two sides to promote their geographical advantages, enhance exchanges, learn from each other and expand their cooperation. Affirming that Vietnam is an "important trading partner", GACC and relevant agencies are actively seeking ways to further facilitate enterprises of the two countries in terms of import and export, Jin said, suggesting agencies of Vietnam to soon increase the number of enterprises obtaining authorised economic operator (AEO) certification. The head of Kunming Customs also proposed implementing import & export one-stop-shop model that has been recognised by many countries and financial institutions around the world. Pham Lan Trang, a representative of the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC, said that the two sides can coordinate and exchange information to fight smuggling and build a safe business environment. Agreeing with the proposals of Kunming Customs, Deputy Minister Nam said that Vietnam has started the construction of an expressway connecting Ha Giang province, which shares a border with Yunnan, and with other localities. It is expected that this expressway will be the lifeline of freight transport and tourism development. Nam suggested Kunming Customs to promptly send a project on smart border gate and smart customs to Vietnamese regulatory agencies for consideration. It is essential for the two countries to hold annual meetings every November between relevant agencies of Vietnam and China to review cooperation results in a year and settle obstacles, he added. The Deputy Minister said ample room remains for promoting trade potential between Vietnam and Yunnan province. Nam suggested the Chinese side permit more Vietnamese aquatic products to enter the country, creating conditions for businesses to increase the quantity and output of goods to the province. Agreeing with Nam’s proposals, Jin said Yunnan province is building a bridge between Baise and Hekou cities- two localities that host border gates with Vietnam, adding that it will greatly reduce congestion at borders. He said that in the coming time, Kunming customs will apply measures to reduce clearance time such as health declaration, terminal goods and payment via QR Code. Deputy Minister Nam assigned the Plant Protection Department (PPD) and the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to work with Chinese customs agencies in rolling out solutions to facilitate the clearance of plant and aquatic-related agricultural commodities. At the meeting, Huynh Tan Dat, PPD’s Deputy Director said the department collaborated with GACC to deploy the ECET system to exchange electronic phytosanitary certificates, aiming to shorten customs clearance procedures. In the near future, the two sides will coordinate to build lists of goods prioritised for plant quarantine, organize conferences to exchange expertise and develop a plant quarantine process in line with “one-stop customs” or “one border gate one stop”, he added./.