3 containers transporting precious wood

The Functional Force inspecting the cargo Photo: Van An

In the process of verification of Customs, the 3 containers were: GATU82896855 transported on the PIONNEER New Port ship No.1637N arrived to Tan Cang 128-Hai Phong on December 13, 2016; EMCU9636808 and TCNU7515636 were transported on the GLOKY New Port ship No. 1637N arrived to Tan Cang 128-Hai Phong on December 14, 2016.

All 3 containers were shipped from Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong Port by the consignor L.V.C private enterprise and the consignee was Mr. P.V.T. On the Bill of Lading was declared of 90 tons of rice. However, through supervision and control, the shipments were suspected to be imported wood without documents to identify the origin. Soon after, Customs issued a dispatch to the Tan Cang -128 Hai Phong Joint Stock Company and the Tan Cang Shipping Joint Stock Company of Hai Phong Branch to temporarily delay the transport procedures.

On December 16 and 17, 2016, implementing the Examination Decision dated December 15, 2016 of the Northern Anti-smuggling Enforcement Unit (Team 1 under the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department of the General Department of Vietnam Customs), the Team 1 collaborated the Northern Customs Marine Enforcement Fleet (Fleet 1) and the Online Customs Supervision Division (Division 3) under the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department and the Hai Phong Customs Department inspected the 3 suspicious containers.

The inspection result is the same with the consideration of the Customs force; all 3 containers above did not contain rice, but had sawn wood of difference sizes. Through the initial verification the wood there was Camwood and Sindoer.

Mr. P.V.T, he confirmed that he was not the owner of the shipments and did not know the information of the commodities in the 3 containers. The owner of the shipments was Mr. D (unknown name and address). Mr. D knew Mr. T who implemented the transportation procedures in Hai Phong and called for Mr. T to hire him to transport the containers from Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong Port and then transport from Hai Phong Port to the provinces appointed by Mr. D.

The packing of the goods in Ho Chi Minh City was carried out by Mr. D, Mr. T confirmed that he did not know the information about this. After the cargos arrived at the Port, and received the Cargo Arrival Notice from the shipping lines, Mr. P.V.T received the Delivery Order from the Shipping lines and arranged delivery to Tan Cang 128 Hai Phong to receive the cargo and knew that the shipment was temporarily delayed for investigation and identification.

Mr. T said that this was the second time he made the transportation procedures for Mr. D. The previous time, on November, 2016 he was hired to transport cargo from Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong and then ship to Nam Dinh.

Wood packed in the containers. Photo: Van An

According to the verification result of the Forest Research Institute (under the Vietnamese Academy of Forest Science) all of the wood was Rose Wood, Cam Wood and Sindoer (under Table IIA, Group II, Forest Fauna and Flora are exploitation restrictions for trade purpose, and Techicai Sitan (under Annex II of the List of Wild Fauna and Flora which are stipulated in the annexes of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

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Especially, 2 types of wood: Michelia foveolata Merr.ex Dandy and Casia sp which are not classified. However, the Forest Research Institute considered that Michelia foveolata Merr.ex Dandy and Casia sp are the same types of woods which are temporarily classified in V Group of “the List of the wood used nation wide” which was issued with Decision 2198-CNR dated November 26, 1977 of the Ministry of Forest (current known as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development).

Currently, the Northern Anti-smuggling Enforcement Unit is investigating to clarify the case.