Smuggling into Vietnam remains a head-aching issue in 2018, increasing both in number and value compared to the previous year.Deputy Director of the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department under the General Department of Vietnam Customs Nguyen Khanh Quang made the statement on December 27 at a press conference on the fight against smuggling, commercial fraud, and illegal transportation of goods across borders in 2018 in Hanoi.
Overview of the press conference. Photo: Anh Kiet
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He stressed smuggling mainly focused on prohibited goods, goods imposed with high tariffs, commodities subject to specialized inspections, and low-standard food.
Specifically, from December 16, 2017 to December 15, 2018, the customs force handled 16,633 cases of violation, up 9.54% compared with the same period in 2017. The value of smuggled goods is estimated at over VND1,702 billion (US$73.18 million), an increase of 115.61%, Quang said.
He added that customs force has prosecuted 62 cases, transferred 133 cases to other agencies for prosecution, collected nearly VND351 billion (US$ 15.093 million) for the state budget, up 4.83% compared with 2017.
Particularly for drugs, the entire customs detected and helped to arrest 216 narco-trafficking cases, Quang pointed out.
Smuggling into Vietnam remains a head-aching issue in 2018. Photo: internet
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Notably, at the gate of international airports and in international post, there have been complicated cases of illegal transportation related to prohibited products, drugs, weapons, gold, wild life, phones, cigarettes, alcohol, cosmetics and functional foods, among others, Quang added.
“The smuggling and illegal transportation of goods across borders was complicated. The reason was high profits due to the difference in price between domestic goods and foreign goods,” Deputy Director Quang told Hanoitimes.
He stressed that in order to improve the capacity and efficiency in the fight against smuggling, in the time ahead, the customs force will continue to further ease procedures for enterprises in the field of import-export and closely monitor customs control operations.
The customs force will actively collaborate with the relevant functional forces and local authorities in order to detect, fight and deal with violations in a timely fashion; promote publicity of policies and laws as well as hazards and consequences of smuggling activities and illegal transportation of goods across borders, Quang said.
