Warning of many cases importing infringing goods

	Quang Ninh Customs seizes infringing goods worth VND2.6 billion
	Discover more than 1,000 cases of violation in customs field in one month

HCM City Customs Department’s officers inspect imports and exports to prevent violations. Photo: T.H

Implementing dissolution procedures after being investigated for violations

According to HCM City Customs Department, on August 16, the Customs Enforcement Team under the Department seized import shipments of three companies after detecting violations. Through a physical inspection, the team detected that the actual goods were inconsistent with the customs declaration, and increased the declared import tax rate from 3% to 20% for the imports.

The team has expanded the investigation to identify violations, value of infringing goods and the amount of tax arrears for handling.

However, in collecting information, the team detected that one of three companies submitted a notice of dissolution to the Business Registration Office - Department of Planning and Investment of HCM City to carry out procedures for dissolution.

To prevent the situation, on August 18, HCM City Customs Department sent an official dispatch to the Business Registration Office under the Department of Planning and Investment of HCM City, Thu Duc City Tax Department, Go Vap District Tax Branch requesting to suspend the processing of dissolution procedures for this company and the two remaining enterprises (if any).

The city customs department has detected some companies committing customs offenses. However, when expanding the investigation, Customs discovered that many companies do not operate at the registered business address or the address is not real.

Thinner imports show suspected signs

In mid-August, HCM City Customs Department detected some enterprises importing chemicals declared as solvents that can be used to mix gasoline, and sent a warning letter to the Department of Industry and Trade and the Market Surveillance Department of HCM City to strengthen control and promptly detect cases of using solvents to make illegal gasoline.

According to the Department, the department discovered that some importers declared imported chemicals as “Mixed organic solvent-Thinner” or “Synthetic Solvent- Thinner” used to clean metal and mix paint.

The department determined that the actual imported goods have the main ingredients as light solvent extraction of mineral oil (for making gasoline) and light solvent extraction of mineral oil with a small amount of tetrahydrofuran from it. 0.5% to 1.2% (not suitable for making gasoline).

“However, with the high content of mineral oil in the above solvents, illegal traders may use low quality and illegal gasoline to sell, especially when the price of petroleum products surge,” said the Department.

The Department has exchanged information with relevant agencies to strengthen the control of goods quality to combat fraud in trading petroleum products, protect consumers and ensure safety.

Recently, the Director of HCM City Market Surveillance Department requested the Market Surveillance Teams to strengthen local inspection and supervision, grasp information and handle violations.

Accordingly, the Market Surveillance Teams has strengthened inspection, supervision and management of the area, grasped information, taken measures and coordinated with other law enforcement agencies to inspect and handle suspects who took advantage of the high mineral oil content to make low-quality gasoline for consumption in the market.

The Market Surveillance Department also directed the Surveillance Teams to control chemical production and business activities in the area, update and add to the list of local management for organizations and individuals producing and trading chemicals, and chemical warehouses.