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On May 25, Vice Chairwoman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Truong Thi Ngoc Anh spoke about a batch of 1.1 million masks that have not gone through customs clearance, sent by a business in Germany and overseas Vietnamese in Hong Kong in November 2021.

On May 26, the General Department of Customs provided specific information about the case.

Accordingly, when the batch arrived in Vietnam, the Central Committee of Vietnam Fatherland Front (Vietnam Fatherland Front) did not present two documents: a decision on the receipt of aid from the competent authority and a declaration of aid confirmation certified by the finance authority.

Currently, the declaration of aid confirmation has been actively canceled by the Ministry of Finance to match the anti-pandemic situation according to Circular 23/2022 dated April 6, 2022. However, the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front has not yet obtained an import license from the Ministry of Health.

The General Department of Customs said that at Noi Bai International Airport Customs Branch, the batch consisted of 29 packages of masks of the Fatherland Front arrived Noi Bai on November 20, 2021.

On December 10, 2021, the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front sent Official Letter 3369 to Customs on facilitating in receiving masks as aid for Covid-19 prevention.

On December 16, 2021, the Noi Bai International Airport Customs Branch issued an official dispatch guiding customs procedures, thereby requesting the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front to provide the decision on receipt of aid from the competent authority and an original written certification of aid issued by the Ministry of Finance.

On the same day, the Noi Bai International Airport Customs Branch reported to the Hanoi Customs Department on the batch of aid of the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front.

On March 3, 2022, the Debt Management Department - Ministry of Finance sent an official letter to the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front guiding the procedures for aid certification. Accordingly, pursuant to the provisions of Decree 93/2021 dated October 27, 2021, the above shipment is not subject to procedures for aid certification and at the time of signing the written response, the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front did not provide the prescribed documents to carry out the aid certification procedures.

As of May 25, 2022, the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front has not visited Noi Bai International Airport Customs Branch to carry out import procedures for the above shipment.

In addition, Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Branch is handling a shipment of 599 packages of masks (5.011kg). The customs branch contacted the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front and understood that due to difficulties in customs clearance for the shipment of masks at Noi Bai International Airport Customs Branch, as of May 25, 2022, the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front has not yet visited the customs office to carry out procedures for the shipment at the Tan Son Nhat Airport Customs Branch.

The General Department of Customs informed that the two shipments of masks have not been cleared because the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front has not yet carried out the procedures as they have not submitted all documents in the customs dossier.

The General Department of Customs said that after receiving feedback from the National Assembly deputies about the above cases, the General Department of Customs has requested Noi Bai International Airport Border Gate Customs Branch and Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Branch contacted the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front to reduce the storage costs for the above two shipments, whereby the Customs office agreed to let the Fatherland Front Committee register the declaration and bring the goods for preservation and submit missing documents within 30 days.

On May 26, 2022, the Central Committee of the Fatherland Front visited Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Branch to carry out customs procedures and make customs declarations to bring the goods for storage, because there are no customs documents as prescribed. This Central Committee also made an appointment to the Noi Bai International Airport Customs Branch on the same day.