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Director of the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department (General Department of Customs) Nguyen Phi Hung

Regarding C/O fraud in Vietnam, what solutions have the Customs forces developed?

Due to the geopolitical position and the ongoing situation of trade wars of major countries, there is a phenomenon of fraud originating in order to evade sanctions and enjoy tax incentives from free trade agreements(FTA).

Facing this situation, the Ministry of Finance instructed the General Department of Customs to developcomprehensive and specific plans to detect, prevent and handle foreign goods taking advantage of Vietnam C/O to export to a third country.

Grasping the guidance of the Ministry of Finance and implementing the function of state management on customs, the General Department of Customs has developed a plan to guide the whole sector on customs inspection, supervision and control.

At the border gate, the task for the relevant departments is to check and closely compare the records with signs of violation.

At the same time, the leaders of the General Department of Customs assigned the Department of Customs Information and Statistics Technology to analyze and evaluate the products with sudden growth in import and export turnover.

The Post-clearance Inspection Department strengthens the inspection of high-risk enterprises on C/O fraud, especially enterprises of foreign direct investment, and cooperating with foreigners operating in the field of machining.

In addition to the above measures, one of the key tasks is to investigate and handle cases of signs of violation. How did the Department of Anti-Smuggling Investigation implement this request, sir?

Under the direction of the leaders of the General Department of Customs, the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department has been carrying out a series of professional measures, including the collection of remote customs intelligence and coordination with othercountries to identify enterprises and establishments that have links with domestic enterprises through production and business activities to take advantage of Vietnam's C/O to export goods to other countries.

The Customs Control Force focused on investigating and discovering "ghost enterprises" and enterprises naming foreign subjects to carry out acts of bringing finished goods from abroad to Vietnam and then attach labels for C/O Vietnam, or order finished products abroad to return to our country to continue exporting to a third country.

The Department of Anti-Smuggling Investigation has found signs of establishing enterprises making joint ventures with foreign partners to falsify records and papers to get Vietnam's C/O.

With the direction of the leadership of the Ministry of Finance, the Customs has been implementing solutions drastically and synchronously to prevent and control C/O violations. Cases of violation will be strictly dealt with in accordance with Vietnamese law and international practice, especially cases of signs of tax evasion, counterfeiting of dossiers and vouchers to obtain Vietnam's C/O will be subject to request for criminal treatment.

The initiative of the Ministry of Finance and the General Department of Customs isvery clear; can the Customs Department alone prevent C/Ofraud?

In order to effectively prevent and handle C/O fraud, in addition to the efforts of the Customs agency, it is necessary to synchronize the participation from the business community and relevant management agencies.

For the business community, we recommendin order to take advantage of the advantages brought by FTAs, businesses need to comply with the laws in production and business activities.

At the same time, it is recommended that management agencies and organizations such as the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Science and Technology, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) need to soon complete the regulations and process of granting C/O. The process, before, during and after the issuance of C/O requires the examination and evaluation of the compliance of the enterprise and the agency with the task of issuing C/O to prevent violations.