Many imported food items failed to meet standards

Smuggled food items importing to Cat Lai port were seized by Customs authorities in the begining of 2018. Photo: T.H

Recently, in early February of 2018, R.Đ. trading and travel service Co., Ltd (Hanoi) imported a shipment of by-products from maize, which was worth by over 3.6 billion VND. The assessment result of this shipment showed that it did not meet the requirement about conditions and standards in accordance with regulations. HCM City Customs Department has already sanctioned the business 30 million VND, and forced it to re-export the violated shipment.

Earlier, N.L.G export – import services trading company limited (district 1, HCM City) imported more than 2,800 boxes of cordyceps roberti with total value of over 377 million VND. Due to the quality of the shipment it did not meet necessary standards, and HCM City Customs Department sanctioned 50 million VND and forced them to re-export the entire shipment.

Also, Đ.T. Import and distribution Co., Ltd (Binh Thanh District, HCMC) imported 1,650 bottles of supplementary foods of all kinds which were worth nearly 150 million VND and did not meet the requirements for conditions and standards in accordance with regulations; C.K Company (Binh Thanh District, HCMC) imported 130 boxes of seaweed, and was also sanctioned for administrative violation to pay 20 million VND, and forced to re-export that shipment due to poor quality.

Beside the food items, Saigon port area 1 Customs Branch also detected many imported shipments of fertilizer that did not meet the requirements about conditions and standards as prescribed. Typically, P.H. trading and production Co., Ltd (Binh Chanh District, HCMC) imported 900 packs of micro-organic fertilizer with the value of 316 million VND; H.L Joint Stock Company imported nearly 14 tons of NPK fertilizer with a value of 179 million VND, these shipments did not meet the standards for import quality, and the HCM City Customs Department sanctioned 30 million VND, and forced them to re-export the batch of infringing shipment.

According to the HCM City Customs Department, at the end of the year, the imports of goods increased sharply, so the Customs Branches focused on quality inspection in compliance with State management of specialized branches, in order to prevent import goods of poor quality besides the tasks of anti-smuggling and trade fraud.

Particularly, at the Cat Lai port, among the 650 cases of customs law violations discovered and made and recorded by Saigon port area 1 Customs Branch in 2017, nearly 70 cases of imported goods did not meet the requirement of quality and standards as prescribed. The items were mainly food, beverages, machinery, equipment, supplementary foods, fertilizers, ...

The HCM City Customs Department has built a number of specialized projects and plans for prevention in the previous period, and for the periods during and after the Lunar New Year. In particular, it concentrated on solutions to prevent sub-standard consumer goods and smuggled goods, as these tended to increase last month.