Since the new international passenger terminal at the Da Nang International Airport was put into use in May, the Customs Division has effectively handled entry procedures for passengers arriving at the airport through the ‘green and red gates’.

Check-in baggage is scanned at the airport

Under the national rules, the ‘green gate’ at an airport’s arrival terminal, is designated for passengers on international flights arriving in Viet Nam with no goods to declare, whilst others must go through the ‘red gate’ if carrying goods that need to be declared.

Passengers with checked-in luggage that does not arrive with them on the same flight must also make a declaration with airport customs, according to the national regulations. 

However, entry into a particular ‘gate’ constitutes a legal declaration, if a passenger going through the ‘green gate’ is found to be carrying goods exceeding the customs limits, or containing prohibited items.  He/she, therefore, may be prosecuted for making a false declaration to customs, by virtue of having gone through the ‘green gate’.  Each ‘gate’ is a point of no return, once a passenger has entered a particular ‘gate’, they cannot go back. 

Ms Le Thi Kieu Oanh from Thanh Khe District said that she usually makes business trips overseas, so she has become accustomed to the operation of the ‘green and red gates’.  Ms Oanh also remarked that the operation of these ‘gates’ is a convenient way to shorten the time to handle entry procedures, and to relieve the passenger overload at the airport.

The Head of the airport’s Customs Division, Mr Pham Duy Nhat, said that his unit has worked closely with other relevant agencies and airlines to grasp information on passengers on international flights arriving at the airport with goods to declare. 

In addition to the effective operation of the ‘green and red gates’, an underground scanning system for check-in luggage has been put into use at the airport to facilitate the entry of passengers and shorten time spent on administrative procedures.

The deployment of underground scanning allows all registered baggage of passengers that are entering to be checked via scanner without disassembling and damaging the luggage.

If the scanner detects luggage with suspicious items, it will continuously be monitored throughout the time it move in the underground system until the procedures stage. When passengers receive the baggage, they will be directed to the inspection area and customs declaration for further execution.

Only those passengers who are believed to be carrying suspicious items in their luggage must take further steps of customs inspection.

The application of the new system also helps to ease the pressure on customs officers, and they will have more time to focus on handling suspected cases and violations.

Stating from this month, the ‘One-stop-shop’ administration mechanism is operating at all the Divisions of the municipal Customs Department in a bid to ensure effective interconnection amongst them in handling administrative procedures.