GDVC strictly controls customs declaration for Sorbitol products

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Officers of Noi Bai International Airport Customs Branch inspect imports and exports. Photo: Ngoc Linh.

Earlier, on July 6, 2021 the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Decision 1719/QD-BTC imposing a temporary anti-dumping tariff for Sorbitol products imported from India, Indonesia and China, which took effect on July 13, 2021.

On November 23, 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Decision 2644/QD-BTC officially imposing an anti-dumping tariff for Sorbitol products imported from these countries, which took effect November 23, 2021.

The GDVC said that through information collection about the implementation of customs procedures for Sorbitol products and feedback from businesses, some enterprises have made inaccurate declarations of imported goods for fraud on HS code, origin, customs value or trade remedy evasion.

In order to prevent fraud, the GDVC has requested local customs departments to strengthen inspection for imported Sorbitol products.

The GDVC cites QCVN 4-33:2020/BYT on the national technical standards for food additives promulgated together with Circular 31/2020/TT-BYT dated December 31, 2020 of the Ministry of Health as saying that, organizations and individuals must make a declaration of conformity for Sorbitol Syrup as a food additive based on the method of self-declaration of products; must be subject to food safety inspection in accordance with the Law on Food Safety, the Government's Decree 15/2018/ND-CP dated February 2, 2018.

The labeling of imported Xiro Sorbitol food additives must comply with the Government's Decree 43/2017/ND-CP dated April 14, 2017 on goods labels.

The country’s top customs regulator has also required units to comply with current regulations in the customs process. The declaration on purpose, packing specifications, and properties (liquid, powder) of imported Sorbitol products is required.

If the imported Sorbitol products are declared for other purposes, not as a food additive, the Customs must classify the products into other goods channel, conduct a physical inspection and take samples for identifying the purpose to apply tax rate and determine the accuracy of the declaration of the customs declarant as per the provisions of Article 29 of Decree 08/2015/ND-CP dated January 21, 2015, amended and supplemented in Decree 59/2018/ND-CP dated April 20, 2018.

The GDVC has also directed local customs departments to verify certificates of origin issued by countries other than Indonesia, China, and India in accordance with regulations of Clause 2, Article 19 of Circular 38/2018/TT-BTC dated April 20, 2018 of the Ministry of Finance.

The local customs departments have been required to strictly check the certificate of origin or conduct a physical inspection (if any) to identify the origin of the goods and send the suspected documents to the GDVC for verification.

During waiting for the verification results, the shipment will be imposed the tax rate as per regulations in Clause 7 Article 19 of Circular 38/2018/TT-BTC.

If the customs detects law offenses, tax evasion or suspected signs in customs value, labeling or quantity of the imported shipment, the authority will apply measures to inspect and conduct a post-clearance audit for assessment of legal compliance of enterprises.