Technical infrastructure completed for e-customs system to commence   Customs officers check goods being imported via the Tan Thanh Border Gate in the northern mountainous province of Lang Son. The new e-customs system will help reduce waiting times and complicated administrative procedures. - VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet HA NOI (VNS)- A national pilot project to develop efficient border procedures using e-customs technologies was inaugurated at a ceremony in Ha Noi yesterday. The event marked the completion of the project's Phase 1, which saw the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Transport connect to the e-customs system. Phase 2 will start this year and see three more ministries connected to the network – the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The e-customs system is designed to be the core of the National Single Window (NSW) system Vietnam is building under its commitment to join the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) network by 2015. This programme allows trade and transport-related parties to declare information and documents just once at a single location to complete all legal requirements concerning import, export and transit, thus greatly reducing waiting times and complicated administrative procedures. Meanwhile, the ASW is a regional initiative that connects and integrates NSWs of member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), with the aim of expediting cargo clearance, as the bloc looks to establish the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh, head of the National Steering Committee for NSW and ASW, requested that involved ministries and agencies continue to streamline administrative procedures related to the NSW. He also urged them to coordinate closely in building a database on administrative procedures for the NSW. That same day, Deputy PM Ninh chaired the fourth plenary session of the National Steering Committee for NSW and ASW. He instructed agencies to focus on completing the legal framework for Phase 2 of the NSW, as well as ensuring the smooth operation of the NSW technical infrastructure. - VNS