HCM City: Examines solutions to prevent smuggling of goods in transit

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Automotive engines were smuggled as a form of goods in transit. Photo: TH.

According to the analysis of Mr. Tran Viet Thang, team leader of the Customs control team, under HCM City Customs Department, recently, there have been some enterprises bringing contraband goods into the Vietnamese domestic market for tax evasion and in order to avoid the management and control of specialized agencies and Customs authorities.

Specifically, when Customs officers detected shipments with suspicious signs and implemented inspections, enterprises made adjustments to their manifest to change to the type of goods in transit through roads nearby border gates and then tranferred the illicit goods into the domestic market.

Based on the guidance of Deputy Director General of Vietnam Customs, Mr. Hoang Viet Cuong, the Customs Control Team has planned to monitor operations of some key and suspicious enterprises. From early August to date, the Customs Control Team has detected two cases making use of this method of transit to bring contraband goods into the domestic market, from HCM City to nearby provinces.

At the meeting, leaders of Customs Branches and functional divisions of HCM City Customs Department has analyzed the specific situation of goods in transit through the gate of HCM City to other countries. Especially, most of the goods in transit to Cambodia are through the border gates in Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc, An Giang, Long An, etc.

Leaders of Customs Branches said that the type of goods in transit were for normal service operations, but some enterprises and individuals had misused the transit arrangements to smuggle goods illegally.

Some enterprises and individuals took advantage of preferential policies for goods in transit, by declaring legal goods for Customs procedures, and not including other items in the shipment (which may be contraband imports). In the process of transporting shipments in transit, theses enterprises and individuals withdraw the goods from the shipment for consumption in the Vietnamese market.

In addition, for the shipment of imported goods in transit including conditional goods with a high value, or prohibited goods, after the shipment was out of Vietnam's territory, the enterprise finds the way to re-import by various methods such as: splitting the shipment for transport through border gate trails and crossings or opening Customs declarations to take advantage of the free test for re-imported goods into Vietnam.

At the meeting, Deputy Director General of Vietnam Customs, Mr. Hoang Viet Cuong emphasized, apart from genuine enterprises, Customs authorities had discovered many businesses taking advantage of this opportunity to perform serious commercial fraud.

In fact, in recent years, some smuggling enterprises have taken advantage of the name of other enterprises which complie with the law to represent them on import records. Most of these goods are illegal products, which are managed by specialized agencies.

Thus, through the methods above, conditional imports, prohibited goods and illicit goods have been transferred into the domestic market for consumption for the purpose of tax evasion and avoidance of specialized inspections, creating unfair competition in the marketplace, and affecting domestic production.

Facing this situation, in order to effectively manage and prevent the misuse of forms of goods in transit to implement smuggling and trade fraud, Deputy Director General of Vietnam Customs, Mr. Hoang Viet Cuong directed the Customs Control Team to plan to inspect and monitor goods in transit. The Division of Customs Supervision and Management has reviewed specific guidance for proper implementation, pointing out the inadequacies and loopholes to report and propose amendment and supplement accordingly.

For shipping businesses, Customs authorities should review and promote guidance for enterprises to implement regulations properly. Also, Customs needs to be aware of the tricks, and methods which some businesses are using.

Goods in transit relate to many localities, therefore, functional agencies should provide regulations and effective measures to coordinate with other relevant agencies to ensure effective management.

Customs modernization to enhance the effectiveness of anti-smuggling VCN- Tien Giang voters proposed enhancing close inspections at the border gates and border routes from Vietnam-China ...

For the detected violations of this type, Deputy Director General of Vietnam Customs has directed to promote the quick action and investigation. If the case has enough elements to constitute a crime, authorities shall prosecute the case and transfer it to the investigation agency.