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SPECIALIZED INSPECTION OF THE AGRICULTURE TO BE TOO BROAD, AND LACK THE HS CODES

VCN- The specialized management and inspection of the agriculture still exist mostly in quarantine, food safety inspection, and quality control.

 
The Customs officers in the Hai Phong port Region II are inspecting the import and export goods. Photo: Q.Hung.

List of goods without the HS code

According to the statistics of the General Department of Customs in the field of plant quarantine, in 2016, there were more than 400,000 import and export declarations belong to quarantine. Of which, 49 declarations were found to be in violation, accounting for 0.01% of the total number of declarations belong to be examined.

According to the Ministry of Finance (the General Department of Customs) – the standing agency implementing the national single window mechanism and the specialized inspection, for food safety inspection of the import and export goods the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued the list of goods subject to food safety inspection prior to the customs clearance with the HS code in Decision No. 4069/QD-BNN-QLCL dated August 14th, 2015. However, some goods groups do not still detail their names and HS codes. Specifically, raw milk, products containing honey, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly, tools, materials, and a package of food… List of goods subject to inspection prior to the customs clearance is also very broad.

Regarding quarantine, the list of goods subject to quarantine of animals and the list of goods subject to quarantine of aquatic products prior to the customs clearance was issued in accordance with Circular No. 25/2016/TT-BNNPTNT. However, these lists have not detailed the names and have not had the HS codes, so, this leads to a very wide range of quarantine goods. Examples: Meat products, dairy products…

For quality control, the list of goods group 2 under the management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is stipulated in Circular 50/2009/ TT-BNNPTNT dated 18th August 2009 and Circular 50/2010/TT-BNNPTNT dated 30th August 2010. However, the list of goods subject to quality inspection prior to the customs clearance is too large, cover almost the goods under the management of this Ministry.

In addition, the list has not detailed the name of the goods and not attached the HS code under the list of the export-import goods. Many goods must be inspected, but there have not stipulated the inspection procedures, and progress, the technical standards or regulations. This makes difficult for both the companies and the Customs to enforce.

Overlap in safety inspection and quarantine

In addition to the list of goods subject to inspection is too large, there are many items on the list of goods subject to quarantine and on the list of goods subject to food safety.

Specifically, yogurt, milk powder, cheese, wheat flour… have to be quarantined according to regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which is subject to food safety inspection as regulated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Many items have been both quarantined and inspected the food safety by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, such as meat and meat products, milk, dairy products, food of plant origin that has not been processed deeply…

To overcome this situation, the Ministry of Finance requests the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to coordinate with the specialized management Ministries (the Health Ministry and the Industry and Trade Ministry) to review the list of goods belong to quarantine and the list of goods belong to food safety inspection prior to the customs clearance in the direction: Apply only one form of pre-clearance inspection, reduce the list of goods subject to special inspection for the goods that have been processed deeply.

In case of high-risk items, 2 types of inspection must be carried out, it needs to unify one clue unit/agency. Avoiding that the enterprises have to go to two agencies to test for the same import goods

For the inadequacies that the list of goods subject to food safety inspection, quarantine and quality control is too wide, the Ministry of Finance said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should issue a list of goods subject to food safety inspection soon, according to the regulation, 2 lists of goods have to been specified: The goods subject to pre-customs clearance (high risk) and the goods belong to inspection prior to transportation and consumption (low risk). With the list of goods subject to pre-customs clearance, it is necessary to issue the goods names in detail and the HS codes fully.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance proposes to change fundamentally the management and inspection methods of food safety for the import goods in the direction of management based on assessing the risk level of the export-import goods and legal compliance level of the enterprises, applying the AEO mode. Transfer the time of inspection to the post-clearance inspection, except for cases where the import goods would be a high risk of food safety. At the same time, apply widely the international practice, promote the mutual recognition agreement.

The Ministry of Finance proposes that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development take the lead in studying and recommending amendments and supplements to the regulations on the specialized management and inspection for the import-export goods in the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine, the Law on Animal Health under the application of risk management method based on the risk level of goods and the legal compliance level of enterprises.

In Decision 2026/QD-TTg, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was tasked to amend and supplement 49 legal documents on the specialized management and inspection for the import and export goods. According to the review of the Ministry of Finance by August 20th, 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development amended and supplemented 41/49 documents. However, two documents have been issued to replace the old ones but failed to meet the requirements (list of goods without the HS code), in particular: Circular No. 25/2016/TT-BNNPTNT issued the list of aquatic products subject to quarantine in replacement of Decision 45/2006/QD-BNN; Circular 26/2016/TT-BNNPTNT promulgated the list of aquatic products subject to quarantine in replacement of Circular No. 32/2012/TT-BNNPTNT. At present, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is amending the 8 remaining documents, including 6 legal documents and 2 lists of goods.

By Ngoc Linh/ Binh Minh

Source: http://customsnews.vn/

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PROPOSE TO REDUCE A SERIES OF FEES AND CHARGES

VCN- Implementing Decree 75/ND-CP on monthly Government’s meeting in Jun 2017, the Ministry of Finance has presented 5 draft Circulars on the reduction of fees and charge to remove difficulties for businesses and send to ministries and ministerial-level agencies, VCCI and People’s committees of provinces and cities under central authority for consultation.

propose to reduce a series of fees and charges
Fee for inspection of means of fire prevention and fighting shall reduce from 20% to 50%. Photo: the internet.

First of all, the Ministry of Finance has drafted a revised Circular No. 202/2016/TT-BTC on the rate, collection, submission, management, and use of the fees for the secured transaction. Specifically, the rate of fee for registration of the notice of collateral settlement shall reduce from 70,000 VND to 30,000 VND/application and the rate of fee for issuance of a copy of a certificate of secured transaction registration shall reduce from 30,000 VND to 25,000 VND/case.

In the draft revised Circular 227/2016/TT-BTC regulating the rate, collection, submission, management and use of the fees for inspection of means of fire prevention and fighting, the Ministry of Finance proposed that the rate of fee for inspection of all type of fire extinguishing agents, fire retardant materials and substances, personal protective clothing and equipment and instrument used for rescuing people shall reduce from 20% to 50% depending on each type of instrument.

The Ministry of Finance has proposed to reduce 10% of fee rate for notarization of contracts for buying and selling property at auction in draft revised Decree No. 257/2016/ TT-BTC on the rate, collection, submission, management and use of fees for notarial and authentication service, fees for verification of eligibility for practicing as a notary, fees for verification of eligibility for operating private notary office and charges for processing of applications for notary card.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance has drafted revised Circular 245/2016/TT-BTC regulating the rate, collection, submission, management, and use of the fees for verification of business conditions in verification of technical safety standards; training on occupational safety and hygiene. The Ministry has proposed to reduce 5% of fee rate for these fees.

In the revised Circular No. 202/2016/TT-BTC on the rate, collection, submission, management and use of the fees for secured transaction, the Ministry of Finance expected to reduce the rate of fee for registration of the notice of collateral settlement from 70,000 VND to 30,000 VND/application and the rate of fee for issuance of a copy of a certificate of secured transaction registration from 30,000 VND to 25,000 VND/case.

On 31 August 2017, the Ministry of Finance consulted about 3 circulars on fees and charges in the field of veterinary and food safety quality management with the purpose of reducing costs for businesses.

By Hong Van/Ngoc Loan

Source: http://customsnews.vn/

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DEVELOPING LOGISTICS SERVICE IN VIETNAM

Vietnam’s logistics services – freight forwarding, transportation, and inventory services – began to develop in the 1990s. Logistics has now become an important economic sector in Vietnam. In the next decade Vietnam could reach an export-import turnover of 200 billion USD per year.

developing logistics service in vietnam

Vietnam earns US$22 billion a year from logistics services. The sector’s annual growth rate has been 16 to 20% in recent years. According to World Bank rankings, Vietnam ranks 64th out of 160 countries in logistics development and fourth in ASEAN after Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Logistics is one of Vietnam’s fastest growing and most stable services. Recent statistics from the Vietnam Logistics Association show that more than 1,300 logistics enterprises are now operating in Vietnam, including foreign-invested firms.

Most logistics service providers in Vietnam are small or medium-sized enterprises. Major firms like Transimex Saigon Corporation, Sai Gon Newport Corporation, Gemadept Corporation, and Transport and Chartering Corporation (VIETFRACHT) specialize in freight forwarding, loading, and uploading mainly in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. There are 25 multinational enterprises operating in these areas. The rest are domestic small and medium-size enterprises and mainly work for international companies.

Logistics service providers in Vietnam have set up business relations with the US, the EU, ASEAN, Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea. In recent years, logistics has played an increasingly important role in economic development and international economic integration.

Phuong Lan, General Director of the Amerasian Shipping Logistics Corporation (ASL), said “Logistics is a support pision of the import and exports sector. When an economy grows, with an increasing volume of imports and exports, the workload of the logistics industry will also rise. Most logistics companies in Vietnam are small or medium-sized enterprises. But since Vietnam joined the WTO, the majority of Vietnamese logistic enterprises, which are mostly young, dynamic, and quickly adaptable companies, have grown.”

According to the Vietnam Maritime Administration, shipping is the most important area of logistics. But Vietnamese enterprises handle just 18% of the total import/export volume. The rest is done by foreign businesses.

Tran Thanh Hai, deputy head of the Import-Export Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said Vietnam is poised for a logistics breakthrough.

“First, we need to improve the legal framework in line with the state management mechanism and adopt policies that support the industry’s growth. Second, it’s important to develop transportation infrastructure – bridges, roads, railway stations, ports, warehouses, and logistics centers,” Hai emphasized.

The government recently approved an action plan to enhance the competitiveness and growth of logistics services in Vietnam by 2025.

Source: VOV

http://customsnews.vn

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TWO MORE IMPORT COMMODITY GROUPS VALUED AT $US 20 BILLION

VCN – In the first time (as by 15/8), Vietnam already has 2 import commodity groups reached over $US 20 billion according to lasted information from General Department of Vietnam Customs.

two more import commodity groups valued at us 20 billion
Imported excavators of Doosan brand (Korea) in Hai Phong port. Photo: T.Bình

The two groups that reached this milestone are machinery and equipment group and computer, electronic products, and components, group. Notably, the import turnovers of these two groups have grown significantly by billions of dollars compared to the same period last year.

In that, machinery and equipment reached $US 22.603 billion, increased by $US 5.81 billion and continues to be the largest import group in Vietnam. The second place is computers, electronic products and components with $US 20.581 billion, increased by $US 4.276 billion.

With the total turnover of $US 43.184 billion, these two main groups accounted for nearly 34.2% of the total value of imported goods in the country at the same time. Moreover, the largest supply market of both groups is Korea.

According to the latest information on the import market at the end of July, computers, electronic products and components imported from Korea reached $US 7.1152 billion, accounting for nearly 37.3% of total import turnover of this group in the whole country. Meanwhile, machinery and equipment reached $US 6.964 billion, accounting for 32.8% market share.

Along with Korea, China and Japan are also major import markets for Vietnam’s machinery and computers, electronic products and components. In particular, the import turnover of machinery and equipment from China reached $US 6.255 billion, accounting for nearly 29.5%; While import turnover of computers, electronic products and components reached $US 3.816 billion, accounting for nearly 20%.

For the Japanese market, import turnover of machinery and equipment reached $US 2.493 billion, accounting for 11.7%; And import turnover of computers, electronic products and components reached $US 1.62 billion, accounting for over 8.4%.

By Thái Bình/Thanh Thuy

Source: http://customsnews.vn

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MINISTER DINH TIEN DUNG: COMMITTED TO ISSUE MANY POLICIES TO ATTRACT JAPANESE INVESTORS

VCN – On the sidelines of the Investment Promotion Conference of the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam in Japan, the Minister of Finance had an interview with the Nikkei newspaper regarding Vietnam’s policies for investors in general and Japanese investors in particular

minister dinh tien dung committed to issue many policies to attract japanese investors

Minister Dinh Tien Dung answered the Nikke newspaper in Japan

What could Japanese businesses expect for business opportunities through investment in Vietnam, sir?

According to the World Bank, Vietnam’s business environment index for 2016-2017 has risen 9 places (from 91st of 189 to 82nd of 190).Vietnam competitiveness is the 60 in the world out of 138 countries ranked by World Economic Forum in 2017.

In mid-May 2017, the Moody’s credit rating agency upgraded Vietnam’s credit rating from “stable” to “positive”. Vietnam has always had political, social and macroeconomic stability. Viet Nam’s legal institutions and transparency are being constantly improved and step by step complying with international commitments and standards, enabling investors and businesses to enjoy long-term operation and development.

The Vietnam’s Government is committed to creating the best business environment towards business environment standards of the OECD countries, reducing contingencies for macro-environment and policy, increasing predictability and transparent implementation and accountability to the business community. Continuing to build and facilitate factors to create competitive advantages for the economy (such as infrastructure, financial system development, education reform, improvement of the quality of human resources training). Undertaking to implement the institutional reform in open-hearted and friendly manner in order to bring the opportunity of participation and contribution of economic sectors including the private sector to economic growth.

With a favorable business environment, the Vietnam’s Government expects Japanese businesses to invest more strongly in Vietnam in the fields: national public key Infrastructure development, PPP projects; environment; energy, renewable energy; manufacturing industry; high-quality and effective agriculture; Finance – banking and equitization of SOEs.

For equitization of SOEs, we encourage the transfer and merger of activities (M & A) associated with the large SOE equitization in fields such as transportation, infrastructure, food, agriculture, telecommunications, commerce, services, tourism, construction etc. This is a great opportunity for Japanese investors and businesses to become strategic partners of the Vietnamese businesses in the fields with great potential for development

In particular, we encourage Japanese investors to actively invest in the Vietnam’s stock market. With solutions to improve the business environment, enhance national competitiveness and many market development policies, Vietnam’s stock market in the first 6 months of 2017 strongly developed. The VN Index has reached a new height in the past nine years. The stock market continues to be the attractive destination for foreign portfolio investment inflows and foreign investors who have been big net buyers for the past six years. From the beginning of the year to the end of June 2017, foreign investors have bought a net value of 9,300 billion VND of shares, fund certificates and net value of 14,400 billion of bonds.

Could you tell us about regulations for foreign enterprises in Vietnam at the current time and regulations in expectation of being loosen in the future?

In 2014, the 8th session of the 13th National Assembly adopted a number of important laws including Enterprise Law (revised) and Investment Law (revised), creating transparency and clearance in the investment and business, facilitating international integration, which were highly appreciated and supported by domestic and foreign business communities. In particular, the Investment Law 2014 has vigorously reformed the administrative procedures towards transparency, simplicity and efficiency. Some important amendments and supplements include:

Firstly, the Law has simplified the procedures and shorten the processing time of issue of investment certificate for foreign investors within 15 days instead of 45 as before.

Secondly, the Law has reformed the process of enterprise establishment for foreign investors towards removing the requirement on submitting investment certificate and business registration certificate to separate investment activity under project with business registration activity.

Thirdly, the Law has also specified legal position of FDI enterprises to create basis for unified application of investment conditions and procedures for these enterprises in the direction that enterprises with a foreign invested capital of over 51% are required to apply conditions and procedures like foreign investors. For the others, enterprises apply conditions and procedures like domestic investors.

Fourthly, the Law has clarified scope of regulation of the Investment and Law on Securities in transfer of share; form of capital contribution, share and contributed capital purchasing of foreign investors and required conditions of foreign investors. With a synchronous legal system in the securities sector, the Ministry of Finance has coordinated with ministries and agencies to effectively implement solutions to promote the diversification of investors attract and expand the foreign investments institutions into capital market. Specifically: promulgating Decree No. 60/2015 / ND-CP in the direction of removing the limitation on the ownership ratio of foreign investors in non-conditional businesses and allowing foreign investors to implement unlimited investment in government bonds, local government bonds and corporate bonds; Amending current regulations to simplify investment procedures of foreign investors in Vietnam’s stock market; And promulgating guidelines and notification on the stock market to encourage listed companies to disclose information in English and request departments and depository centers to disclose information in English to facilitate foreign investors to invest in the stock market.

Along with that, Vietnam has finalized the legal framework on professional investment institutions on the stock market under international practice such as open-end fund and closed-end fund, member owned fund, securities investment company, real estate investment fund and Exchange Traded Fund(ETF) were formed and operate on the stock market; and the legal framework for the derivative securities market has also been fully promulgated. On August 10, 2017, the derivative securities market was officially launched and put into operation

What has Vietnam issued preferential policies for Japanese investors, sir?

The Vietnam’s Government will continue to drastically improve the business environment, clarify and simplify administrative procedures in line with international practice and commitments. Thereby, enhancing national competitiveness and effectively attracting all resources and creative ideas, contributing to the economic development.

After 45 years of official diplomatic relation, it can be said that the relationship between Vietnam and Japan has been developed strongly and is in the best period in history. Japan is the Vietnam’s largest official development assistance (ODA) country, the Vietnam’s second largest foreign investor, and the Vietnam’s fourth largest trading partner.

Being a leading country in science and technology, financial investment and many other fields, Japan becomes a Vietnam’s comprehensive strategic partner. Vietnamese businesses has trusted and invested in Vietnam in the context where Vietnam is gradually shifting the economic growth motives to high value sectors using advanced technology and high-quality labour.

In the aim of tightening the relationship, the two countries’ senior leaders maintain regular visits and meetings at international and regional forums. Most recently, the visit of Prime Minister of Japan to Vietnam in January, 2017 and the visit of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to Japan in June, 2017. Vietnam is strongly committed to continuing to perfect the legal system and policies related to investment in a consistent, open, transparent, predictable and facilitation manner for investors.

Although, Japanese financial corporations, insurance companies and securities companies have invested in Vietnam, it is still not corresponding with the development potential. In order to further encourage Japanese investors, in the coming time, in addition to measures to stabilize macro-economy, operate fiscal and monetary policies, Vietnam will focus on researching and implementing measures such as continuing to remove barriers, strengthening reforms in equitization mechanism, capital divestment for foreign investors and reducing the proportion of state ownership in SOEs; accelerating the listing of large-scale equitized SOEs on the stock market and reducing the proportion of state ownership to increase quality goods for the stock market to meet the needs of investors; modernizing information technology on the system of bidding, registration, depository and listing of government bonds and government guaranteed bonds in the direction of minimizing administrative procedures, shortening the time from the issuing stage to the listing stage from T + 2 in 2016 to T + 1 in 2025 to increase the liquidity of the bond market; reforming administrative procedures for foreign investors; and diversifying products on the stock market, .

Thank you,

By International Cooperation Department/ Huyen Trang

Source: http://customsnews.vn

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ONE COMMODITY LIST REGULATED IN 42 DOCUMENTS

VCN – Overlapping is one of the shortcomings in the specialized management for imported – exported goods, one commodity list is regulated in 42 documents, including documents from 2004 such as the list of plant varieties permitted for production and business in Vietnam.

one commodity list regulated in 42 documents

North Hanoi Customs officers inspected imported – exported goods. Photo: N. Linh

This is one of the issues mentioned by the Ministry of Finance in the recent letter sent to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Ministry of Finance said that many lists of the commodity subject to specialized management are regulated in many documents by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. For example, the list of fisheries subject to specialized management is regulated in Circular No. 04/2015 / TT-BNNPTNT; Decision 13 / QD-BNN-TCTS in 2016; Decision 38/2008 / QD-BNN and Decision 57/2008 / QD-BNN. These regulations are duplicative and inconsistent.

The list of plant varieties permitted for production and business in Vietnam is currently regulated in 42 documents, including documents from 2004 (such as Decision 74/2004 / QD-BNN of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on the promulgation of the list of plant varieties permitted for production and business).

According to the Ministry of Finance, the overlapping in the document system has caused problems for both the Customs and enterprises in the application. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance proposed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to review, unify and standardize the lists subject to specialized management to facilitate enterprises and Customs in the search and application.

The list of imported – exported goods and goods in transit subject to the specialized management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development must be enclosed with the codes, standards, inspection methods in conformity with the Vietnam export, and import classification nomenclature issued together with Circular 65/2017 / TT-BTC.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to study and fundamentally change methods of management and inspection for exported and imported goods in the direction of implementing the management principles on the basis of risk assessment of imported and exported goods and assessment of enterprise’s compliance; applying authorized economic operator policy; moving the inspection time to the inspection of the goods has been cleared (except for food safety inspection for high-risk imported goods).

By Ngoc Linh/ Huyen Trang

Source: http://customsnews.vn

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VND EXPECTED TO SEE END-OF-YEAR DIP

The Vietnam dong is expected to depreciate by two percentage points at the end of 2017 ending a period of stability that lasted throughout the year

vnd expected to see end of year dip

Since the start of this year, the USD/VND exchange rate remained relatively stable, hovering around VND22,700 to the dollar. However, this period of calm is likely to end soon, as Vietnam enters its busy end-of-the-year business season.

Economic expert Nguyen Tri Hieu said that Vietnamese businesses may require more foreign exchange notes to import materials and pay their overseas partners. Moreover, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) may announce further rate hikes at the end of this year, which usually pushes up the USD on the global market.

“Foreign exchange has been steady since the start of 2017 thanks to the ongoing inflows of foreign investment, mild inflation, and strong liquidity at banks. However, the Vietnamese currency may depreciate by 2% at the year’s end due to seasonal reasons,” he said.

Since May, the USD Index has lost 4.51%, standing at 93.46 points on August 17. This fall has greatly supported the stability of Vietnam’s currency. In fact, according to recent statistics from the National Financial Supervision Council (NFSC), rates at commercial banks dropped by 1.3% over the past seven months.

In the open market, foreign exchange also went down by 1.14%. Even when the Fed hiked its interest rate 0.25% in June, the foreign exchange market in Vietnam stayed calm.

The only notable difference is that Vietnam’s central daily rate, managed by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), edged up by 1.24%. The rate on August 17 stood at VND22,450 per dollar, slightly higher than the VND22,159 figure quoted on January 1. NFSC analysts reckoned that the central bank had to slightly devalue the domestic currency to support Vietnam’s exports, which benefit from a weaker VND.

According to researchers at Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI), this ongoing tumble of the greenback has indeed supported VND exchange rates. However, they also highlighted challenges posed by a weaker USD. Specifically, euro/USD rates have gone up by 8.96% year-on-year, while the Japanese yen lost 6.18% against the VND.

“This will impact on Vietnamese firms who earn profits or have outstanding loans denominated in euro or Japanese yen. It’s clear that a fall in the USD doesn’t affect USD/VND rates but it affects other foreign currencies in the Vietnamese market,” SSI wrote.

Meanwhile, Vietcombank Securities concurred with the forecast of a 2% VND dip in the fourth quarter of 2017. In the third quarter, the brokerage reckoned, the domestic currency will remain stable.

Stability in USD/VND exchange rates does not only help Vietnam’s export companies manage their business, but also dampens the need for USD speculation in Vietnam, according to expert Nguyen Tri Hieu.

The zero percent interest rate for USD-denominated deposits allows companies that earn their revenue in foreign currencies to enjoy much lower lending rates, while inpiduals are discouraged from hoarding USD.

“To prevent unfavourable changes in foreign exchange, export firms in Vietnam should sign currency forwarding contracts,” said Hieu. “Moreover, I believe that the SBV is likely to keep the VND relatively stable, despite any slight devaluation in the coming months. This will support Vietnam’s end-of-year export and also keep the foreign exchange market calm.”

Source: VIR

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MOL, NYK, OTHERS BREACH SOUTH KOREAN ANTITRUST LAW

Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOL) has been found guilty of violating South Korean antitrust law with respect to car carrier services.

Following an investigation, the Fair Trade Commission of South Korea (KFTC) announced on August 21, 2017 (South Korea time) that several companies including MOL breached the country’s antitrust law.

Commenting on the ruling, MOL said that it has fully cooperated with the KFTC during the investigation.

“Though the KFTC announced that they found the violation of South Korean antitrust law and imposed a fine, MOL and its subsidiary company, Nissan Motor Car Carrier Co., Ltd. (NMCC) were exempted from all penalty including the fine because KFTC granted MOL’s and NMCC’s joint application under the KFTCs leniency program,” the company said in a statement.

“We are taking the KFTC’s announcement very seriously. We are making our best efforts to prevent any recurrence of such issues, to further enhance MOL’s compliance structure, and to regain public confidence,” MOL added.

Other rival companies named by the KFTC are MOL’s Japanese counterparts Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) and K Line, followed by EUKOR, CSAV, ZIM, Hoegh, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL), Eastern Car Liner (ECL) and an unnamed non-vessel-owning carrier.

According to the regulatory body, a total of KRW 43 billion-worth (USD 37 million) of fines will be imposed on the car carriers for colluding on price-fixing and market sharing manipulations

Source: http://worldmaritimenews.com

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INDIA CUSTOMS ARRESTS AIR INDIA CABIN CREW FOR SMUGGLING GANJA

A cabin crew member of national- carrier Air India has been arrested by customs officers for allegedly trying to smuggle narcotic by hiding it in a meal service cart of a flight.

customs arrests air india cabin crew for smuggling ganja

The officers seized nearly two kilograms of ganja from the cart of the Air India flight from Chennai on July 19, according to a release issued by the customs department today.

A detailed investigation was carried out and a member of the cabin crew was arrested, it said.

Source: indiatimes.com/

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MAJOR EXPORT COMMODITY GROUPS IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF 2017

VCN – According to Vietnam Customs, in the first seven months of 2017, 21 among 45 commodity groups reached an export turnover of over US$ 1 billion. In which, the ten largest export commodity groups reached US$ 82.52 billion, accounting for 71.6% of the country’s total export turnover. 

major export commodity groups in the first seven months of 2017
The ten largest export commodity groups in the first seven months of 2017 compared to same period 2016

Mobile phones and components: The export turnover of this group in July was US$ 3.07 billion, down by 4.9% compared to the previous month, bringing the export turnover of this group in the first seven months of 2017 to US$ 22.56 billion, up 14.8% over the same period last year.

This commodity was mainly exported to the United State with a turnover of US$2.24 billion, down 4.0% compared to the same period of last year; the United Arab Emirates with a turnover of US$ 2.24 billion, down by 13.4% and South Korea with a turnover of US$ 2.03 billion, up by 34.5%.

Textile and garment: reaching an export turnover of US$ 2.46 billion in July 2017, up 3.8% over the previous month, bringing the export turnover of this commodity group in the first seven months of 2017 to US$14.19 billion,up 8.1% over the same period last year;

In the seven months of 2017, 48.8% of the country’s textile and garment value were exported to the United States with a turnover of US$ 6.92 billion, up 6.3% over the same period last year. Followed by the EU (28 countries) with a turnover of US$ 2.08 billion, up 2.7%; and Japan ranked third with a turnover of US$1.65 billion, up 6.9% …

Computers, electronic products and components: Export turnover reached US$ 2.09 billion, up 1.7 % over the previous. Thereby, bringing the export turnover of this group in seven months / 2017 to US$ 16.64 billion, up 43.7% over the previous month.

In the seven months, computers, electronic products and components were mainly exported to China with US$ 3.36 billion, twice as much as the same period last year; The United States with US$ 1.68 billion, up 3% and Netherlands with US$ 1.13 billion, up 26.5% …

Footwear: Exports of footwear of all kinds reached US$ 1.3 billion in July, 2017, down 6.4% over the previous month, bringing the export value of this commodity group in seven months of 2017 to US$ 8.34 billion, up 12.2% over the same period last year.

Vietnam’s footwear import markets in the first seven months of 2017 were the US market with over US $ 2.89 billion, an increase of 13.2% over the same period last year; the EU market with nearly US$ 2.69 billion, up 8.6%; and China market with US$ 623 million, up 30.2%; …

Machinery, equipment and other accessories: Export turnover reached $ 1.06 billion in May, up 3.5% over the previous month. Thereby, export turnover of this group in 7 months / 2017 reached $ 6.99 billion, up 30.7% over the same period last year;

In the seven months of 2017, machinery, equipment and spare parts were mainly exported to the following markets: the United States reached US$ 1.42 billion, up 24.5% over the same period last year ; and Japan reached US$ 976 million, up 14.5%; China reached US$ 915 million, up 71.8%; …

Seafood: The total seafood export turnover of Vietnam in July 2017 reached US$ 796 million, up 7.5% over the same period last year. In the first seven months of 2017, Vietnam exported US$ 4.38 billion of seafood, a year-on-year increase of 19.3%, equivalent to US$ 707 million.

By the end of July, 2017, the United States continued to be the leading importer of Vietnamese seafood imports with a total turnover of UD$ 790 million, up nearly 4% over the same period last year. In particular, in the first seven months of 2017, seafood exports to China increased sharply to US$ 543 million, up 57.1 % from the seven months of 2016.

Wood and wood products: reaching an export value of nearly US$ 599 million, down 5.4% compared to June 2017, bringing the export value of this group in the seven months, 2017 to US$ 4.25 billion, up 12.3% over the same period last year.

In the first seven months of 2017, wood and wood products were mainly exported to the following markets: the United States with US$1.78 billion, up 18.9% over the same period last year; China with US$ 628 million, up 17.7% and Japan with US$ 584 million, up 5.9%;

By Ha Nhi/ Huyen Trang

Source: http://customsnews.vn