Individual Corruption

According to Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2010, a substantial amount of the Vietnamese households who had contact with the customs administration throughout 2009 report to have paid a bribe.

Business Corruption

According to the USAID’s Vietnam Provincial Competitiveness Index 2010, a majority of the foreign investors engaged in export admitted to paying informal payments at the customs offices to speed up processing. This is also mirrored in the World Economic Forum Global Enabling Trade Report 2010, in which business executives rate the transparency of the border administration in Vietnam, regarding irregular payments in exports and imports, as relatively low, constituting a competitive disadvantage for the country.

Political Corruption

The Customs Department is reportedly notoriously corrupt and customs officials have been convicted for helping organised syndicates in their smuggling activities. The World Bank, cites the customs authority as a hotspot for corruption in Vietnam, and is sponsoring a Customs Modernization Project (from 2005 to 2011) to modernise customs procedure and improve its efficiency and transparency, in accordance with international best practices. Please click here for more details about the project.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2012:
- A standard export shipment of goods requires 6 documents and takes 22 days at a cost of USD 580 per container.

- A standard import shipment of goods requires 8 documents and takes 21 days at a cost of USD 670 per container.

World Economic Forum: The Global Enabling Trade Report 2010:
- Business executives give the transparency of border administration (pervasiveness of undocumented extra payments or bribes connected with imports and exports) in Vietnam a score of 2.7 on a 7-point scale (1 'non-transparent' and 7 'transparent').

- Business executives give the efficiency of customs administration (burden of customs procedures) in Vietnam a score of 3.6 on a 7-point scale (1 'extremely inefficient' and 7 'extremely efficient').

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2010:
- 29.1% of households who had contact with the customs administration throughout 2009 report to have paid a bribe.

USAID: Vietnam Provincial Competitiveness Index 2010:
- Almost 70% of foreign invested enterprises report to pay informal charges at the customs offices to speed up processing.

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2009:
- Over 18% of companies report that they expect to give gifts in order to obtain an import licence.