An interdisciplinary working group is needed to handle scrap inventory

	Vietnam has installed a system to prevent scrap imports from afar
	Strictly implement the E-manifest declaration for imported scraps

Resolutely take waste products out of Vietnamese territory. Photo: N.Linh

Assign responsibility for each unit

Commenting on the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s plan to handle scrap inventory, the Ministry of Finance said that, under the direction of the Prime Minister in the Directive No. 27/CT-TTg, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment chairs and coordinates with the Ministry of Finance, and relevant ministries and branches, to study and propose solutions to deal with and handle scrap inventory at seaports in accordance with the laws on environmental protection and customs.

Therefore, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will be the lead agency in handling scrap containers that are stagnant at the port, and the interdisciplinary working group will be headed by representatives of the Environment Administration. Representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport will be members to coordinate on the basis of functions and tasks. In addition, the interdisciplinary working group will have more representatives of shipping lines, port business enterprises, to conformity certification organizations to take samples and witness in case of opening containers for inspection.

In addition, the determination of unsold goods at ports is the scrap under the responsibility of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, so the Ministry of Finance requests the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to be the lead agency in the classification and identification of stagnant containers at ports that are scrap materials that meet, or do not meet, the national technical standards on environment issued together with the Circular 08/2018/TT-BTNMT.

The Ministry of Transport will have to direct functional agencies to apply appropriate handling measures to resolutely request shipping companies to take goods out of the Vietnamese territory under the provisions of Article 58 of the Customs Law, as goods defined as waste and discarded materials which fail to meet the national technical standards on environment, issued together with the Circular No. 08/2018/TT-BTNMT and Circular 09/2018/TT-BTNMT.

The Ministry of Finance will have to direct the customs agency to find the owners of goods that have arrived and stored at ports more than 90 days, in accordance with the law. At the same time, the handling of stagnant goods will comply with the provisions of Article 58 of the Customs Law.

Resolutely move scrap goods out of Vietnames territory

Regarding the process of scrap inventory, according to the Ministry of Finance, scrap containers that have been in excess of 90 days, and have been notified by the customs authorities to find their owners, but after an excess of 60 days the unit does not receive any response, the Customs authorities will notify the shipping company of being forced to take the shipment out of the Vietnamese territory within 30 days from the date that the customs office informs. If the shipping company has not yet transported the shipment out of Vietnamese territory, the interdisciplinary working group will open containers for inspection and handling.

In cases of determining that the shipment is waste materials that do not meet the national technical standards on environment, (issued together with the Circular No. 08/2018/TT-BTNMT and the Circular No. 09/2018/TT-BTNMT), the Ministry of Finance proposes the Ministry of Transport to direct functional agencies to apply appropriate measures to resolutely request shipping companies to take the shipment out of the Vietnamese territory in accordance with the Article 58 of the Customs Law.

"We do not carry out destruction because it will cause environmental pollution because it must use the state budget, and shipping companies will have a reason not to take the shipment out of Vietnamese territory. It will make Vietnam become a yard, a garbage area, with places of waste causing environmental pollution... "- The Ministry of Finance's document cites clearly.

In the case of determining that a lot of goods are scrap meeting the national technical standards on environment, (issued together with Circular No. 08/2018/ TT-BTNMT and Circular No. 09/2018/TT-BTNMT), the Ministry of Finance will base on a list of qualified organizations that meet the conditions for handling imported scrap issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and relevant legal documents for handling goods inventory.

For scrap containers stored at ports, but the consignees on the bills of lading do not have certificates of eligibility for environmental protection in importing scrap as raw materials, the shipping carrier must take the shipments out of Vietnamese territory within 30 days from the date of customs notification to shipping lines.

30 days from the date of the customs office announcement, if the shipping company has not yet transported the shipment out the Vietnamese territory, the interdisciplinary working team will open the container for inspection and handling.

For scrap containers arriving at the port having an owner, and the customs declarations have been registered but not yet cleared, the enterprises may continue to carry out customs procedures in cases where the scrap shipment meets the conditions for imported goods.

Regarding the location of clearance procedures for imported scrap, the Ministry of Finance agreed on allowing enterprises to select customs clearance locations at import border gates, or at places where imported scrap plants and facilities are located to produce raw materials for carrying out customs clearance procedures (including the registration of import customs declarations and customs clearance of imported scrap).

Specifying the import quota for scraps VCN- The Customs authority will control scrap imports by software. This software allows the checking of all ...

However, with inspection procedures for environmental protection alone, actual inspection of imported scrap shipments must be carried out at the entry border gate, because scrap is a commodity with a high risk of causing environmental pollution. Actual inspection must be carried out at the import border gate, and in cases of checking that the scrap shipment does not meet the conditions for import, it is required to re-export at the border gate, avoiding the difficulty in having to take it inland and then force it to be re-exported, which would generate environmental pollution inland.