The General Department of Vietnam Customs under the Ministry of Finance (MoF) is investigating and handling violations in imported scap to tighten the flow of debris into the country, as well as its process of trading and processing.
Press conferences on customs’ management for imported garbage. Photo: Anh Kiet
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At the same time, it is necessary to strictly handle cases of committing frauds or importing discarded materials failing to meet the requirements on environmental protection, Thanh said.
Moreover, the MoF has directed and guided local customs offices to implement measures to tighten imported garbage in accordance with the law on customs and the law on environmental protection, so that Vietnam will not become a dumping ground of the world, Thanh emphasized.
According a report from the General Department of Customs, after China banned the import of 24 types of scap, the import of scap in Vietnam tends to increase sharply, with complicated changes and risk of causing pollution, affecting living environment, causing urgent public opinion.
However, many consignments of imported scrap do not meet the regulations for environmental protection, so enterprises do not come to the customs offices for making customs procedures or customs clearance. That results in a large quantities of imported scrap in Vietnam’s ports, the report said.
The amount of imported scrap in 2017 doubled compared to in 2016. Import turnover of discarded materials such as plastic, paper, iron from 2016 to June 30, 2018 increased sharply (from 200% to 400%). In the first six months of 2018, enterprises in Vietnam spent US$1.23 billion to import scrap, and the volume of imported scrap surged 200% compared to the volume in 2017, the report added.
Cat Lai seaport has the largest scrap backlog in Vietnam. Specifically, as of July 25, 2018, at Cat Lai port, the total number of containers was 3,579, of which 594 containers stayed for 30 to 90 days and 2,423 containers waited for clearance for more than 90 days, Thanh stressed.
There were 1,485 containers at Hai Phong seaport as of July 5, 2018, of which 1,342 containers were plastic waste, an increase of 228 containers compared to June 5, 2018), 632 containers stayed for 30 - 90 days and 853 containers stayed for more than 90 days, Thanhh added.
