Viet Nam became the second ASEAN country to formally join the UNODC-WCO Container Control Programme on 9 February 2015, in a Signing Ceremony held at the headquarters of the General Department of Viet Nam Customs, in Hanoi.

Addressing the delegation, Mr. Nguyen Duong Thai, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Viet Nam Customs, said, "the Global Container Control Programme will provide training to improve the capacity of Customs officers at Hai Phong Port to detect and deal with seized goods in order to improve security and reduce the risk of drugs, weapons and explosives trafficking".

He went on adding that he hoped this would serve, "as a model and a solid basis to expand this Programme not only in Hai Phong Port but also to other major sea, land and airports in Viet Nam."

Over 500 million sea containers transfer 90% of the world cargo across the globe every year with over half of these containers originating from, in transit through, or destined for the countries of Southeast Asia. Traffickers exploit the sheer volume of this trade to conceal and transport illicit goods in the hope they will evade detection.

In the first 10 years of operation, the Programme Control Units (PCUs) established by the Programme have seized over 100 metric tonnes of cocaine, 2.9 metric tonnes of heroin, 60 metric tonnes of cannabis and 1,200 metric tonnes of precursor chemicals used to manufacture both illicit drugs and explosives.

In 2015, the Global Container Control Programme will be operating in nearly 30 countries of the world. 5 ASEAN countries, namely Thailand, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are next slated to join the Programme through the financial contribution of the Government of Canada (Global Partnership Program) and the United States (Export Control and Related Border Security Programme).