U.S. provides grant to Vietnam Customs’ electronic manifest pilot

U.S. provides grant to Vietnam Customs’ electronic manifest pilot    The U.S. Trade and Development Agency will provide a $601,893 grant to help Vietnam Customs carry out an electronic manifest pilot program.
   USTDA said the test will demonstrate the benefits of the Secure Trade in the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Region, or STAR, Initiative. The program will be highlighted at the November APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in Vietnam.
   The agency said the program is a public-private partnership to support the implementation of the World Customs Organization Framework to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade and to further promote the STAR Initiative.
   In addition, the project is part of Vietnam Customs’ plan to undertake a large-scale modernization of its facilities and processes using a World Bank loan and Vietnamese government funding.
   USTDA said the electronic manifest pilot should “improve security risk management, timeliness, completeness and accuracy of customs clearance transactions for air freight carriers.”
   Working with Vietnam Customs on the project are also Unisys Corp., FedEx Express Corp. and the National Center for APEC in Seattle. Unisys and FedEx will contribute additional resources to complete the pilot project, USTDA said.