Which country is at the top of the list for exporting scrap to Vietnam?

Backlogs at Cat Lai port. Photo: Thu Hòa

The amounts of scrap imported from the US includes: Plastic scrap accounting for 14%; paper scrap accounting for 39.6%; steel scrap accounting for 18.7%.

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, in the first 6 months of 2018, Vietnam imported more than 4 million tons of scrap plastic, metal and steel, with total value of over $US 1.2 billion, in that steel scrap accounted for over $US 958 million.

Also, in the first 6 months, there were 240 enterprises importing scrap plastic, paper and steel.

Beside the US and Japan, other export markets for metal, paper and steel scraps to Vietnam are Thailand, Korea, China, Philippines, Australia, Germany, Italy and Canada.

Meanwhile, currently at some ports in Cat Lai and Hai Phong, they have a large volume of scrap containers that are stuck. At Cat Lai, as of July 25, there were 3,579 containers; In Hai Phong port, as of 5/7, there are 1,485 containers (in that 1,342 containers were plastic waste).

For scrap goods that are stuck in the customs operation area, the customs authorities shall carry out to review, collect information and analyse, classify and handle in accordance with the provisions of law. In cases where the goods are imported 90 days from the date of arrival at the border, but there is no person to come for collection, the customs authorities will publish the information on mass media. If it is out of date for receiving and no one comes for receiving goods, the owner of the means of transport, the transport operator or the person who is authorized by the owner of the means of transport must transport the goods out off the Vietnamese territory.

In order to ensure the management and supervision of importing scraps in compliance with the Customs law and environmental protection law, the General Department of Vietnam Customs has guided the local customs authorities to implement coercive measures for importing scrap materials in accordance with the Customs law and environmental protection law.

According to the Acting Director of the Customs Control and Supervision Department Au Anh Tuan, scrap is a high risk item. According to the Customs law, legislation on the environmental protection, imported goods declared as scrap are subject to physical inspection.

The customs authorities conduct physical inspections in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Law, in that regulated inspections must be conducted in various ways. In cases where the goods are eligible for import or not, the customs authorities shall take samples of a goods’ shipment for analyzing and accurately assessing the sample in order to compare between the information in the declaration and actual goods.

Furthermore, Mr. Tuan said, “During the past time, the customs authorities have taken samples for inspection of over 1000 shipments of imported scrap. At present, results from 700 samples have been received, and it has been discovered that 11 cases of scrap declarations did not meet the national technical requirements for environmental protection.”