National Consultant for Training / Co-facilitation on Customs Risk Management

USAID Trade Facilitation Program

SCOPE OF WORK

National Consultant for
Training / Co-facilitation
on Customs Risk Management

Proposed Personnel:            National Short-term Technical Assistance (STTA) in Customs Risk Management Training

Period of Performance:        o/a November 2021 – April 2022  

Origin/Destination:              [TBC] Hanoi and some of the selected provinces of the Program in Vietnam

Travel Dates:                        o/a December 2021 & March/April 2022  

Activity No.                           Activity 3.1. Training on Risk Management

• Sub-activity 3.1.2. Intensive training for customs officers on collection and processing of information on export-import cargo via road transport;
• Sub-activity 3.1.5. Capacity building for improved effectiveness in risk control of air cargo (goods at airport warehouses, imported and exported goods through express delivery services, international postal service);
  (Risk Management Department, General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC)).  

MEL indicator(s):                  EG.2.1-1, EG.2-1, CBLD-9

Project Background

The USAID Trade Facilitation Program (“the Program”) is a five-year project that aims to support the adoption and implementation of a risk–based approach to customs and specialized inspection institutions in Vietnam. The Program will work with the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) to strengthen the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) of Vietnam and its Working Groups; streamline border clearance procedures (including specialized inspection implemented by other line ministries and agencies); harmonize the implementation of risk-based approaches between  national and provincial levels; train national and provincial customs officers and staff from other ministries on risk management; and facilitate dialogue between customs and business and between stakeholders in Hanoi and in the provinces.

At the moment, the leadership officials of GDVC are aiming towards the following key objectives:

• SMART Customs model – strategy to the year 2030 with a vision to 2045;
• Re-structuring Customs procedure module (currently VNACCS/VCIS have been out of date) to have a separate module owned by Vietnam Customs with experience learned from UK, US, EU customs.

Activity Description

Background: With the current revolution of the global Covid pandemics and the subsequent development of e-commerce, there has been a significant increase in the volume of goods/cargoes exported and imported cross-border by all channels of transport, especially by air mode.

As the focal point of risk management at the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC), the Risk Management Department (RMD) has been assigned by the Director General with a number of tasks related to collecting and processing information, developing and managing the application of risk criteria, managing, evaluating compliance, categorizing risks within the customs risk management expertise, etc. Among a number of risk management procedures and regulations, targeting of exported and imported cargoes/goods plays an important role in the decision-making process. Customs targeting work is built on legal foundation of the Government’s relevant Circular 18/TT-BTC dated 2019 by the Minister of Finance Vietnam and Decisions 2281/QD-TCHQ and 1371/QD-TCHQ dated 2020 by GDVC Director General and has certain principles and operation organization flow at central level and departmental level, rules in inspection and selection using scanners, and target identification in exportation and importation.

Risk evaluation on goods related to targeting work has been implemented strongly in 2020, which is also a request from GDVC to the risk management team of the entire sector. However, due to the typical rotation feature of Vietnam Customs, capacity building and development remain a constant need.

Within the Year 3 and Year 4 Work Plans (Y3WP and Y4WP) for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY2022), the Program, based on the discussion and agreement with the Risk Management Department (RMD) under GDVC, will continue the implementation Activity 3.1 Capacity Assessment and training on Risk Management, in which there are two sub-activities coded as 3.1.2 and 3.1.5. 

3.1.2 Intensive training for customs officers on collection and processing of information on export-import cargo via road transport;

3.1.5 Capacity building for improved effectiveness in risk control of air cargo at airport warehouses, imported and exported goods through express delivery services, international postal services.

Training Objectives:

• The training/knowledge sharing session aims to provide information and theoretical knowledge and practical experience on information collection, risk targeting and control of cargoes imported and exported by land and air routes; cargoes shipped via international postal and courier services - from the operational materials of the World Customs, Customs of some relevant countries, as well as the knowledge and experience of international experts and national experts; 
• Training content will be built and broken into sessions following an agenda developed in close cooperation with the USAID Trade Facilitation Program and GDVC’s RMD. 

The training will carry the following details: 

Given the current global Covid-19 situation, a flexible renovation in training delivery modality also needs to be identified. Virtual classes through video-conference and blended training can be alternative solutions. 

Tasks & Responsibilities

1. Developing content materials of the training/knowledge sharing sessions, discussing with RMD and the Program for finalization;
2. Producing suitable training materials in MS PowerPoint, Words, Excel and others following the agreed training content at section 1.;
3. Delivering and co-facilitating training, discussion sessions; sharing knowledge and experience related to the training course.

(Detailed agenda shall be proposed and approved by the RMD before implementation.)

Qualifications

Ideally, the National Training Consultant should have:

• Master's degree or higher in trade policy, international trade, customs law or administration, economics, business administration, or similar fields; candidates with Postdoctoral Fellowship combined with successful and practical training experience at qualified institutes are preferred;
• Profound understanding and experience of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and international regulations and application on customs procedures in general, customs to business, and risk management in particular;
• Minimum 10 years of experience in academic research on customs risk management, risk targeting, exportation and importation of air cargoes via land mode, postal courier and express delivery service;
• Native-fluent Vietnamese language skills in academic written, oral communication, presentation and training;
• Written, oral, and presentation skills in English equivalent to IELTS 7.0 and above; 
• Capacity in co-facilitating training and discussion sessions in Vietnamese AND English to large audience, both international and national;
• Ability to travel to and within Vietnam. 

How to Apply  

Applications should be sent no later than November 12, 2021 to email: [email protected]

Applications should include:

1. Cover letter (no longer than 1 page)
2. CVs (see attached template);
3. Updated USAID 1420 form (see attached template)
4. Cost proposal (See attached template)