Leaders of Binh Phuoc Customs Department discuss with enterprises at the conference. Photo: N.H

Director of Binh Phuoc Customs Department Nguyen Van Lich said that Binh Phươc is home of cashew trees. However, the operation of local cashew businesses is spontaneous, with a small scale. The trade of imported cashew raw materials has increased, causing difficulties in customs control. Therefore, that the establishment of bonded warehouse for this item to improve efficiency of customs control and facilitate and avoid risks in trading raw materials, the Director said.

This is a good idea because Binh Phuoc is home of world cashew production, but there is no bonded warehouse for cashew products in the province.

“Not all businesses can afford to buy raw materials at the beginning of the crop. If there is a bonded warehouse in Binh Phuoc, small businesses can also buy materials in accordance with their financial ability to put them into processing,” Mr. Sam said.

Therefore, Mr. Sam suggested businesses to jointly invest in bonded warehouses to create a foundation for the sustainable development of the cashew industry in the future.

Director of Binh Phuoc Customs Department said that at the end of 2021, the Department issued a decision to review the operation of local cashew businesses. It has been classified into three enterprise groups: group of well compliance enterprises, group of enterprises that have not yet understood regulations, and group of enterprises abusing preferential policies of the State, loopholes in the law for profiteering. Accordingly, Director General Nguyen Van Lich signed three decisions to prosecute for smuggling cashew nuts.

Deputy Head of the Operational Division of Binh Phuoc Customs Department Nguyen Thi Duyen, said the cashew industry has contributed to a third of the GDP of Binh Phuoc province. More than 200 enterprises are engaged in cashew import and export activities.

Raw cashew materials of local import and export businesses are imported from foreign import, or domestic trading and self-supply sources. Accordingly, the turnover of local businesses account for nearly 50% of raw cashew imports and over 40% of the country's kernel exports.

Through reviewing the operation of cashew businesses in the area, the local Customs Department has recognized a number of risks for businesses. Specifically, most enterprises have managed by turnover and have not yet applied management software. The human resources for accounting, import and export of enterprises are still limited; many accounting staffs holds many jobs, causing low working efficiency, which easily leads to errors.

Because the domestic production of raw cashew nuts has not met demand, businesses always face difficulties in the supply of raw materials and depend on imported materials. Many firms suffer from obstacles in accessing to foreign markets and are scammed when foreign partners deliver goods not as committed.

Accordingly, common violations that businesses often commit include: false declaration of goods name, origin, unit of measurement, HS code of export shipment of cashew kernels; false declaration of quantity and value compared with the actual import of some imports; and providing documents and documents that are not consistent with the actual request of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on issue of C/O certificates.

Many enterprises have changed the purpose of using imported raw materials and auxiliary materials without customs declaration; the management of imported raw materials inconsistent with customs declarations.

The representative of Binh Phuoc Customs Department recommends that businesses need to arrange specialized personnel for import and export activities to ensure understanding of the customs regulations, thereby, complying with regulations on import and export, avoiding the risks and errors. The business leaders also need to understand the regulations so that they can control and direct them when errors occur.