Recently, the Post Clearance Audit Customs Department under the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) has promoted its role in investigating and handling criminal cases, including cases related to origin fraud and illicit transshipment.

Closing ceremony of the training course on investigative skills for post-customs audit and
announcing the decision of the Director of the People's Police Academy on the issuance of
certificates to 30 officers of the Post-Clearance Audit Department on May 27. Photo: T.Binh

Recently, the public has voiced concern about suspected origin fraud in cashew imports with a large volume from Cambodia to Vietnam.

The GDVC has requested all operational departments to investigate the case. The Post-Clearance Audit Department plays leading role in the investigation.

In June, the Post Clearance Department issued 20 decisions on audits for enterprises in Binh Phuoc province where importing, processing and exporting Vietnam's cashews.

In early September, the department concluded with 18 audits and pointed out many signs of violations related to cashew imports.

The department is also the leading department in implementing schemes on combating origin fraud and illicit transshipment. However, the detection for violations is not easy. The department’s officers face difficulties in performance. The department has taken investigative measures to clarify the frauds, the department’s Director Nguyen Tien Loc said.

The Director cites the Law on Organization of Criminal Investigation Bodies 99/2015/QH13 as saying that the Post Clearance Audit Department is assigned to investigate when performing its tasks and detecting criminal signs.

In fact, the Customs Enforcement, Post-clearance Audit and Inspectorate forces are the leading forces in the fight against crime, smuggling and trade fraud. The coordination among forces has contributed to improving efficiency of combating crimes in the new situation when customs-related crimes are increasingly complicated.

Over the past time, the department has focused on training, improving qualification and capacity for officers performing investigation to meet requirements in the reality.

The department has coordinated with the People's Police Academy to hold a training course on investigation skills for post-clearance audit (in April and May).

The training course focuses on necessary skills for the post clearance audit force in prosecuting and completing records to transfer the competent agencies for prosecution.

In September, the department held an online conference to publicize Directive 26-CT/TU of the Politburo on strengthening the leadership of the Party in investigating and handling violations. The department’s Director Nguyen Tien Loc chaired the conference. The director emphasized the importance of Directive 26 and Guidance 04 and mentioned contents related to investigation and handling customs offences.

With positive results over the past time, the department will further promote its role as one of the core tools of the modern customs management, contributing to affirming the leading role of the Customs sector on the anti-smuggling.

According to the GDVC, between January and July, the customs sector conducted 1,062 audits, imposed taxes and fined VND500.2 billion and collected VND455 billion to the State budget.

Notably, the Post Clearance Audit collected over VND403 billion, accounting for 88.6% of the total revenue of the entire force.