Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The GeneralDepartment of Customs will focus on cracking down origin frauds and illegal transshipmentas violations are becoming more rampant and complex as Vietnam integratesmore deeply into the global economy.

Nguyen Tien Loc, Director of the GeneralDepartment of Customs’ Post-Clearance Inspection Department, made the statementat a conference about the fight against origin fraud on July 6 in Hanoi.

Loc said origin fraud and illegal transshipmentwere being committed to avoid the US’s tariffs on Chinese products and enjoypreferential tariffs on products from Vietnam.

With the escalating US-China trade war,tariffs on products originating in China and exported to the US rose byabout 7.5 percent to 285 percent, a huge difference with tariffs onproducts originating in Vietnam, Loc said.

Loc said the customs watchdog found a numberof cases of origin faking and illegal transshipment, adding that origin fakinghappened most often in the sectors of electronics, garments, footwear,bicycles, wood, iron and steel and solar panel products.

Products were imported from China for minorprocessing in Vietnam then exported to the US to avoid the tariffs, he said.  

The department’s statistics showed thecustoms watchdog found 24 cases of origin faking out of 76 casesinvestigated, confiscating 3,590 bicycles, more than 4,000 sets of bicyclecomponents and 12,000 sets of kitchen cabinet accessories.

Of note, a firm established in 2018 in Ho ChiMinh City was found to provide fake certificates of origin to about 30enterprises with a total exported goods value of more than 600 billion VND (25.8million USD).

Currently, only the Vietnam Chamber ofCommerce and Industry and the Ministry of Industry and Trade are authorised toprovide certification of origin.

Investigations into the case were stillongoing, said Nguyen Hung Anh, Director of the Anti-smuggling andInvestigation Department.

Regarding the alleged origin faking of GlobalVietnam Aluminum Company Limited with a goods value of more than 4.3 billionUSD, Loc said the inter-sectoral investigation on the case was completed butdid not found sufficient grounds to conclude the company violated establishedregulations.

The customs watchdog asked Ba Ria – Vung Tau province’scustoms department to closely watch the company’s aluminum storage in thesouthern province with a weekly report to ensure these products would not besold in the domestic market or would ensure origin rules when shipped out of Vietnam.

Loc said the customs department would enhanceinspection to prevent origin faking, especially when the European Union – VietnamFree Trade Agreement comes into force at the beginning of next month./.