VietNamNet Bridge - The General Department of Customs (GDC), in an effort to tighten control over scrap imports, has decided that paper and steel scrap importers must have import samples examined prior to customs clearance.

GDC has tightened the control over scrap imports

The Vietnam Paper and Pulp Association (VPPA) has sent a dispatch to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), complaining that the new regulation set by GDC has placed difficulties on their operation.

In documents released on June 18 and June 26, GDC stipulated that importers must send scrap import samples to the Customs Inspection Agency to examine the conformity of imports with required environment standards. 

However, according to VPPA, the time to get samples and to give answers about examination results was not clarified.

With the new regulation, import scrap paper will have to be examined by two agencies –  inspection institution to be appointed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE) and the Customs Inspection Agency. 

According to VPPA, the required procedure will force scrap importers to spend more time to get customs clearance. This will cause an import deadlock at ports, while importers will have to pay more for storage fees. 

From June 26 to July 10, the loss incurred by scrap paper importers reached VND30 billion. This did not include losses caused by machine interruptions and slow deliveries. 

It is expected that the number of scrap paper containers to dock at ports would double in five to seven days. 

Prior to that, the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) also lodged a complaint to GDC, showing the difficulties scrap steel importers have to face because of the new regulation. 

The HCMC Customs Agency said that the examination is a task that local customs agencies must do as per the GDC’s instructions stipulated in the dispatch. 

The agency said tightening control over scrap imports is a must to protect the environment from the ‘invasion’ of substandard scrap imports.

In its latest move, GDC sent a dispatch to local customs agencies to guide control over scrap imports, stipulating that scrap imports must meet three requirements.

First, the imports must be listed among the scrap items the Prime Minister has allowed  as input material for production in Decision No 73 dated in December 2014.

Second, the imports must meet national standards on environment in accordance with MONRE’s Circular 43.

Third, the scrap must be imported by companies which have certificates on facilities to protect the environment.

The measures were taken by GDC after thousands of containers of scrap and waste imports were found stuck at ports.

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Xuan Nam