Identifying risks for container screening, violating enterprises exposed

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Container screening at Hai Phong Customs. Photo: Thai Binh

Identifying risks on three routes

In Hai Phong, from the information provided by the Risk Management Department, the Customs force inspected two imported containers from Canada. Goods were declared as rubber conveyor belts, but through physical inspection by a scanner, the Customs force discovered that the goods were second-hand speakers, amplifiers and auto parts.

In another consignment imported from Japan, goods were declared as food and laundry detergent. However, the Customs discovered that the importing enterprise did not declare incorrectly declared and did not meet the import conditions and must pay an additional tax amount of VND200 million.

Similarly, for a consignment imported from Hong Kong (China), goods were declared as toys, but through physical inspection, the Customs force exposed the act of wrong declaration of the quantity, resulting in a lack of VND120 million in payable tax, and issued a decision on an administrative fine of VND24 million.

In Ho Chi Minh City, through the application of screening criteria in customs clearance for four companies importing pianos, the Customs force discovered that these companies had increased 50commodity lines per declaration and declared other products that had never been declared before, such as generators, lawn mowers, welding machines, drilling machines, air compressors, forklifts, and air compressors.

This is the result of a series of solutions that the risk management force has applied.

On May 12, 2020, the General Department of Customs issued Decision No. 1371 / QD-TCHQ amending and supplementing the functions and tasks of key identification on sea, air and road routes for three units under the Risk Management Department, which is also the focal point for identifying risks at the General Department of Customs level.

Also in the third quarter, the Risk Management Department established specialized groups in charge of identifying risks at Cat Lai port area, Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong port. Specifically, the groups conducted screenings for 198 containers before customs clearance in Hai Phong;screening in customs clearance for 137 importers and 270 containers with signs of risks.

Through screening, the Customs force discovered 14 infringing containers (including 10 containers at Hai Phong port and four containers at Cat Lai port and Ho Chi Minh City), accounting for 3% of the total number of screened containers. In which, the main violations were imports without declaration, imports of banned goods and wrong declaration of goods types. Notably, there were 14 cases where enterprises showed signs of delaying opening declarations, correcting declarations many times, supplementing permits, declaring over quantity commodity lines. As a result, the Customs force collected nearly VND1 billion of additional taxes and VND90 million in fines.

Proactively selecting containers for screening

Compared to the first six months of 2020, the selection of containers for screening and the number of infringing containers in Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City increased significantly. The detection rate of violations through screening and violations of additional declarations, correction of declarations, declaration of over quantity of commodity lines per declarations also increased.

In order to improve the efficiency of container scanners, in the fourth quarter, the Customs force has further strengthenedanalysis and determination of risks and selection of goods inspection by container scanners. While there is no minimum screening rate for each scanner, the Risk Management Department has worked with provincial and municipal customs departments to ensure that the number of screened containers reaches or exceeds the number of screened containers per day.

Accordingly, throughinspection and screening combined with the level of legal compliance and the level of risk classification of the business to choose enterprises for inspection through screening. Accordingly, it is necessary to re-evaluate and adjust the screening rate appropriately. If container screenings are conducted many times but there are no violations, it is necessary to reduce the inspection rate or stop the inspection.