Smugglers take advantages legal loopholes for sugar smuggling and trade fraud

	Dong Thap Customs seizes thousands of packs of smuggled cigarettes
	Goods smugglers use many tricks to cross border
	Not to protect and abet smugglers

How do you assess the smuggling of granulated sugar along the border route over the past time?

- The smuggling of granulated sugar has still taken place along the border routes. Although there have been no hot spots or complicated cases, Thai smuggled granulated sugar has been traded in big cities.

Law enforcement authorities in the southwest border provinces have tackled many sugar smuggling cases. How does this result affect domestic sugarcane production enterprises?

- Over the past time, law enforcement agencies in the southwest border provinces have actively inspected and tackled many smuggling cases of granulated sugar in the southwest border as well as the domestic market.

The detection and prevention of sugar smuggling cases have a positive impact on the production and business of sugar cane. Thanks to the reduced volume of smuggled sugar, domestically produced sugar has been sold, and factories have increased sugarcane purchasing prices and pay to farmers. The sugarcane price has reached the highest level in recent years, and the sugarcane farmers' income has improved, thereby increasing sugarcane area and output.

From 2020-2021, Vietnam applied trade defense tools to import Thai sugar. According to VSSA's assessment, smugglers have used new fraud methods to import sugar. Could you tell me about these new methods?

- Some new fraud methods appeared when Vietnam applied trade defense tools on imported Thai granulated sugar such as falsely declaring the price and quantity of sugar imported from Cambodia to Vietnam in the period 2020-2021, including 20 companies registering the import declaration across nine Southwest border gates.

Smugglers have used the cross-border payment system for smuggling. Notably, the suspects in the case of Nguyen Thi Kim Hanh (Muoi Tuong), An Giang transferred money to buy and sell sugar across the border with 33 sugar dealers in Can Tho, Ben Tre and Tra Vinh with a total amount of about VND4,105 VND. Currently, these suspects have not yet been handled.

In addition, smugglers declared to re-export smuggled sugar. For example, Le Son One Member Limited Liability Company re-exported 500 tons of sugar across Lao Bao Border Gate in 2022.

Regarding origin fraud, from February 9, 2021 Decision 477/QD-BTC applying anti-dumping measures on Thai sugar to the end of 2022, 762,100 tons of sugar were imported from Indonesia to Vietnam. All of this sugar quantity has a certificate of origin form D (mainly from PT. Kebun Tebu Mas Company), which means the sugar is produced from sugarcane. VSSA believes that the whole volume of sugar cannot be produced from sugarcane and showed signs of origin declaration fraud.

For sugar imported from Malaysia, from February 9, 2021, Decision 477/QD-BTC applied anti-dumping measures to Thai sugar to the end of 2022, 378,716 tons of sugar imported from Malaysia to Vietnam. Almost all of the quantity of sugar has a certificate of origin form D. Because Malaysia does not grow sugar cane and is only involved in refining sugar, VSSA said that the declaration of origin fraud activities.

The confirmation of the C/O issuers of Indonesia and Malaysia for origin fraud showed that the issuers have not yet checked the application for granting C/O to comply with provisions of the ATIGA agreement. When Vietnam verified C/O form D for Indonesian competent authorities to identify the origin of imported sugar, and the authorities only confirmed that the refined sugar products had gone through 20 steps and 143 employees were involved in the production process.

Smuggled goods seized by HCM City law enforcement agencies. Photo: T.H

In fact, many sugar smuggling cases have been fined and seized. Does VSSA have any recommendations on legal shortcomings and loopholes as well as measures to improve the efficiency of the prevention of sugar smuggling and trade fraud?

- The sugar smuggling and trade fraud show that a number of legal loopholes are abused by smugglers:

Local government agencies have no consensus on the handling methods for confiscated smuggled sugar. Smuggled sugar is packaged as made in Thailand but has no documents proving import and origin. Some localities have destroyed infringing sugar but some localities have conducted auctions to raise public funds.

The smuggling and trade fraud activities have been only fined. The illegal import of Thai sugar should be prosecuted for smuggling and illegal transportation of goods and currency across the border. Sugar products that are illegally imported from Thailand and failing to pay taxes, must be criminally prosecuted under the regulations on “tax evasion”.

Besides, the ineffective handling of packing and producing rock sugar has led to violations. Firstly, there is no license from the manufacturer, and the name and address of the sugar manufacturer are not listed. Second, they fail to comply with regulations on the labeling of goods.

Thank you so much!