A company must not pay tens of billions of VND in tax arrears thanks to support by the Customs

The conference was attended by 25 enterprises in three provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Lam Dong.

At the conference, Mr. Bao expressed his deep gratitude to Da Lat Customs Branch, Dak Lak Customs Department and the General Department of Vietnam Customs for their support to Dalat Hasfarm Company over the years. Thanks to the assistance by the Customs, the company has removed problems and avoided tax arrears and retained the export market.

Specifically, due to problems related to criteria for determining materials that can be produced domestically, the company was collected about VND 30 billion of import duty on greenhouse in 2015. But thanks to the discussion by Dak Lak Customs Department with the Ministry of Planning and Investment on clarifying the criteria, then this tax arrears amount was refunded to the company.

However, in 2022, the Ministry of Planning and Investment continues to provide different criteria on the list of materials that can be produced domestically. Therefore, Dalat Hasfarm was collected tax arrears worth tens of billions VND for 2015-2022. Dak Lak Customs Department actively supported the company in reporting to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and did not have to pay the tax arrears.

In addition, Bao said that from 2023, the company have face problems in exporting flowers to Australia. Because the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued Circular No. 10/2020/TT-BNNPTNT promulgating a list of approved and prohibited plant protection chemicals in Vietnam. Accordingly, plant protection chemicals containing the active ingredient glyphosate are banned from use in the country.

Mr. Nguyen Van Bao, Deputy General Director of Dalat Hasfarm Co., Ltd. expressed his deep gratitude to the Customs for the support to the company over the years.

However, this is the active ingredient used by Dalat Hasfarm to kill chrysanthemum and carnation sprouts exported to Australia and is accepted by this country. “This new regulation has made Dalat Hasfarm to almost lose the Australian market with sales of about US$20 million/year. But thanks to the support of the Dak Lak Customs Department, the company found an active ingredient to replace glyphosate and was temporarily accepted by the importer” - Mr. Bao said.

Another problem raised by Mr. Bao is the export of seedling tops to Europe from March 2023 until now. Specifically, in the EU, a type of bacteria has arisen that spoils fruit, especially in many olive groves in Germany and Italy. The EU said that the bacteria is imported from abroad and requires all partners’ products to be tested.

In response to this request, Vietnam sent a report confirming that there was no such type of bacteria in Vietnam before, without conducting any inspection or testing. However, the EU side did not accept it and Dalat Hasfarm's seed shipments have been stopped from customs clearance from March 2023. “This is a market with a turnover of about US$7 million for Dalat Hasfarm, so stopping exports also causes a lot of damage” - Mr. Bao said and hoped that in the coming time, the authorities of the agricultural sector will provide solutions to this problem.

In response to Mr. Bao's comments, Mr. Ho Van Dung, Deputy Director of Dak Lak Customs Department, said that the department will report to relevant authorities to remove the issue for the company.

At the conference, other businesses also appreciated the support of Dak Lak Customs Department. Regarding this issue, Dung said that Dak Lak Customs Department has made great efforts to develop Customs-Business partnership and related parties. The department has focused on supporting businesses to restore and stabilize production and business after the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, it has promoted Customs reform and modernization, promptly removed difficulties and obstacles for businesses, shortened customs clearance time for goods, and facilitated trade.

Mr. Ho Van Dung discusses with businesses at the conference.

Over the past time, the department has signed and implemented a Customs-business partnership agreement, and maintained cooperation contents with Dak Lak Provincial Young Businessmen Association and Lam Dong Provincial Young Businessmen Association and 14 businesses that are regular partners at Customs Branches.

According to Mr. Dung, through the signing and implementation of the Customs-business partnership agreement, the Department has gradually helped the business community understand the operation of the Customs.

Dung also shared the positive results on annual release time measurement in 2023 at the Dak Lak Customs Department. Accordingly, the Department ranked 6th among 35 provincial and municipal Customs Departments in reducing customs clearance and release time, creating favorable conditions for businesses.

The average time from receiving declarations to customs clearance and release of goods is shorten compared to 2022. Specifically, the time for exported goods reduced 8 minutes 35 seconds to 8 minutes 12 seconds compared to 2022.

For imported goods cleared at ports and border gates, the time from receiving the declaration to customs clearance and release is 10 hours 52 minutes 4 seconds, down 6 hours 1 minute 8 seconds compared to 2022.

Mr. Dung said that declarations have been opened, the department has assigned officers to check and quickly clear goods for businesses. Although the time for granting specialized inspection certificate and result notification is still long, it has been shortened compared to last year.