Formosa imports mud: Prohibited goods or not?

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The Customs Branch of Vung Ang port has conducted surveillance for the shipment of Formosa. Photo: Dinh Binh.

Does the amount of mud that Formosa imported constitute prohibited goods, Sir?

On September 11, 2016, the Customs Branch of Vung Ang port implemented Customs clearance of goods under Customs declaration 101027830631/A11 (registered on September 8, 2016) of Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company. The shipment was declared as follows: 10 parts (part of equipment) of Torpedo weighing 350 tonnes; 40 tonnes of refractory bricks, type ASC - XER-B-1; 202 tonnes of refractory bricks, type ASC-XER-B-2; 275 tonnes of refractory bricks, type ASC - XER-B-3; 474 tonnes of material for making permanent floors, type FL-130; 98 tonnes of red mud type HM-SC3 mud under Section 1 (C10014) DMMT No 08/HQHT- DM on March 7, 2016 HQHT and 70 tonnes of bauxite mud , type NJ-42 in Section 2 (C10014), DMMT No. 08 / HQHT- DM.

Accordingly, red mud and bauxite mud are considered as rare goods which are not produced in Vietnam according to Official Letter No. 2084 / BXD-VLXD on September 14, 2015 of the Ministry of Construction on construction materials not produced domestically and Official Letter No. 2631/ BKH-KTCN on April 7, 2016 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment on construction materials not produced domestically.

According to records of Formosa, the shipment was not subject to prohibited imports under the management of specialized inspections agencies, which was automatically classified in Channel 2 (the Yellow Channel). Therefore, after receiving full legal records, Customs officers implemented Customs clearance on VNACCS system in accordance with the law.

How will Customs authorities handle this shipment?

The shipment was transported on MV. YING RICH ship - Hong Kong (China) entering Son Duong port on the afternoon of September 14, 2016. After the ship docked, the Customs Branch of Vung Ang port assigned Customs officer to supervise the loading, unloading and transporting of goods under the current regulations.

However, in order to implement the Regulations on coordination between the Ha Tinh Department of Customs and Ha Tinh Provincial Police, after the MV. RICH YING ship docked, Customs officers provided information to the Environmental Police Division (under Ha Tinh Provincial Police).

The Ying Rich Ship. Photo: Binh Dinh.

On September 15, 2016, the Customs Branch of Vung Ang port conducted surveillance for Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company in the process of unloading and transporting goods. However, when monitoring imported goods including red mud, type HM-SC3 and bauxite mud, type NJ-42, Customs officers found that the goods were in a powder form instead of muddy form. Thus, Customs officers decided to implement physical inspections to determine whether the goods were consistent with the declaration or not.

On September 17, 2016, the Customs Branch of Vung Ang port decided to stop transferring goods to the monitoring area to carry out physical inspections for these 2 types of mud. However, the Customs Branch of Vung Ang could not specify these 2 types of mud due to lack of professional facilities, so the samples were sent to the Environmental Police Department (under the Ministry of Public security) and the Environmental Police Division (under Ha Tinh Provincial Police) for examination.

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Currently, the Customs Branch of Vung Ang port still monitors and requests Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company to keep the status of the shipment including red mud, type HM-SC3 and bauxite mud, type NJ-42, which shall not be imported to use until the results of examinations are complete and the authorization of Customs authorities is provided.

Thank you!