Customs agency response to import of agricultural products from China

Professional activities at Tan Thanh Customs Branch. Photo: Hồng Nụ

Recently, there was information that agricultural products from China shipped through Tan Thanh border gate (Lang Son province) without information about orgin; did incorrect Customs procedure; and the actual import quantity exceeded the declared quantity.

Regarding the above information, the representative of the General Department of Customs said that, the leader of the General Department of Customs has requested Lang Son Customs Department to check and clarify.

According to Lang Son Customs Department, agricultural products that are sold in Po Chai market (China) and shipped to Vietnam, don’t have any information about origin and expiry date, Lang Son Customs Department explained, in fact, after loading goods to a truck at Po Chai (China), Vietnamese enterprises would stamp label which has product information and origin. For garlic, especially, it also has the expiry date on the label which use in 60 days since the clearance day. For mushroom, the information also showed the manufacture name, production date and expires in 30 days from the production day.

Regarding Customs procedure for imported agricultural products, Lang Son Customs Department stated that: According to the regulation, the Customs agency only does good clearance for agricultural products that have all related documents including Customs dossiers and Phytosanitary Certificate for import goods. In particular, Phytosanitary Certificate must be granted by the Quarantine Department.

In one case of imported garlic, according to Lang Son Customs Department, through the Customs procedure process and verification from enterprise, the information in the import declaration stated 15,225 kg of dried garlic but on the VAT invoice showed that it was 32 tons. So it is a conflict because:

Firstly, the enterprise issued a receipt based on the import declaration, hence they would not declare a large quantity larger than import quantity because it could lead to a VAT charge of 5% at the input stage. On the other hand, if they wrote large quantity rather than the actual import quantity on the VAT invoice, the enterprise could not strike a balance to the tax agency.

Secondly, in fact, there is no container truck that could carry 32 tons of garlic (container truck usually register from 15 – 17 tons). Representatives of Lang Son Customs Department analyzed that, enterprises issue a sale invoice for the above shipment for 2 vehicles and 2 different import declarations.

For the information of cargo truck transported to Vietnam, it must stop to "make laws". According to Lang Son Customs Department, vehicles have to stop for doing procedure at the station, do a quarantine and physical inspection (if any) and implement cargo clearance in accordance to law. Customs agency only implements supervision in doing procedure and check Customs dossier; State Treasury at Tan Thanh will arrange to issue a receipt and collect tax, and fees in accordance with the law.

About declared prices of import agricultural products, Lang Son Customs Department analysed that:

The fruit commodities, and agricultural products imported through the Tan Thanh Customs Branch (Lang Son Customs Department) are traditional products, often imports over the years, declared price stability. Specifically, in 2016 (by the end of November 24^th 2016) garlic was imported with a quantity of 59,405 tons, with a declared price of $US 250 / ton; Mushrooms were imported 9,568 tons, declared price from $US 400-3500 / ton; grapefruit was 276 tons, declared price at $US 160 / ton. These are import items that have an import tax rate of 0% and are exempted from VAT at the import stage. Hence it would not be subject to take risk management, focus on examination and valuation of the Customs sector.

The representative of Lang Son Customs Department affirmed: In recent years, the Lang Son Customs Department and Tan Thanh Customs Branch have facilitated enterprises to do procedure, increasing the working time of staff in order to carry out Customs procedures faster and more accurately, reducing clearance time, saving cost for enterprises.