Technical checks prove burden for enterprises Businesses in Vietnam spend 28.6 million working days and VND14.3 trillion (USD629.2 million) annually to complete procedures related to technical checks on around 100,000 types of goods. The figures were announced at a meeting on Monday between the government’s taskforce with representatives from 11 ministries and agencies on technical checks of import and export goods.     Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung Speaking at the meeting, Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung mentioned that chocolate products alone need 13 licenses before being sold to the market. Yogurt products are inspected by both the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Health. The technical checks on confectionery materials are also carried out based on up to four documents issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Some ministries only assign one agency nationwide to be in charge of the goods inspections, so companies have to take their products from one end of the country to another to get the checks done. According to Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung, many products, which are made by leading global firms still have to be checked in a manual way when they are imported into Vietnam. Dung noted that approximately 30-35% of import-export goods are subject to technical checks and the rate needs to be reduced to 15% in the coming time. He also pointed out the overlapping procedures while carrying out the specialised inspections of goods, which are therefore increasing costs for enterprises. Under the prime minister’s instruction, ministries and agencies need to speed up administrative reforms in order to facilitate import-export enterprises, as the technical checking of goods now accounts for 50% of the customs clearance time. Laodong