Resolve difficulties among one day for export enterprises

Solve among one day

Mr. Bui Khac Nha - Sales Director of T.A Agricultural Products Processing and Food Export Co., Ltd (‘T.A Company’) said he was delighted when the cashew nut batch at Tianjin port, China, was custom cleared on the morning of March 19 - less than 24 hours after the Company sent a written notice to Viet Nam Sanitary and Phytosaniary Notification Authority and Enquiry Point ('Vietnam SPS').

According to Mr. Nha, through the introduction and advice of the Vietnam Cashew Association ('Vinacas'), the Company sent an official letter to Vietnam SPS on March 18. The content is a request to assist the Company in requesting the General Administration of Customs of China ('GACC') to clear the batch with the bill of lading number CULVSGN2I03814. 

This shipment arrived at Tianjin Port on January 25, 2022. However, because the company's English name is missing an "s", the customer cannot pick up this container.

T.A Company has submitted a complete application for business registration to export to China since December 2021 and is currently licensed to export. According to the guidance of Official Letter No. 175/BVTV-ATTP dated January 20, 2022, the product fully meets the requirements of the Plant Protection Department on guiding enterprises producing food of plant origin to perform the export registration to China.

"We don't know from which side the problem is. Only when the customer reports that they can't receive the goods. The Company could find the error on GACC's website. We have always been worried for the past several weeks," Mr. Nha said.

Since discovering the cause, the Company has actively contacted competent authorities in Vietnam but could not completely fix it, even though it is just a spelling error - missing an "s".

After more than a month of goods at the port, through Vinacas, the Company asked Vietnam SPS for help. Although at the weekend, Vietnam SPS and the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam, the General Department of Customs of China worked continuously on March 18 and 19.

Thanks to the timely and synchronous participation of the parties, Tianjin Customs allowed T.A Company's customers to receive goods on the morning of March 19.

Absolutely avoid mistakes

China is Vietnam's third-largest cashew export market, accounting for about 15% of the market share. From January 1, 2022, enterprises apply Decree 248 and Decree 249 to export businesses, so domestic companies still have many wonders, according to Mr. Dang Hoang Giang, General Secretary of Vinacas.

Enterprises that export cashews to China are divided into two groups by Mr. Giang. The first is to submit the files before October 31, 2021 - this group has relatively smooth export activities and receives the code from the beginning of 2022. The second is to submit the files from November 1 to December 31, 2021 - this group received the codes in the first quarter of 2022 and had a few problems.

The case of company T.A belongs to the second group and belongs to the "unnecessary" error.

"We acknowledge and appreciate the help of Vietnam SPS, the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam, and the General Administration of Customs of China. It is the result of synchronous and effective cooperation between the parties." Mr. Giang emphasized.

For Vietnam SPS, Vinacas General Secretary proposed strengthening support, advice, and propagating and disseminating new provisions of the SPS Agreements from WTO members in general, and Decree 248 and Decree 249 in particular.

Assessments "reflected through Vietnam SPS are processed immediately", Mr. Giang considers this the focal point of information, helping the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and enterprises ensure export activities.

Vinacas is committed to conveying information from the competent authorities to each member widely. The association also expressed the hope that Vietnam SPS will coordinate to organize many conferences to guide businesses to adapt to the increasing requirements of the world market.

Through the case of T.A Company, Mr. Ngo Xuan Nam - Deputy Director of Vietnam SPS - advised businesses on three issues as follow:

Firstly, businesses need to carefully check the business name on the profile, product code, address, and related information, to avoid spelling errors, word errors, missing characters, arithmetic errors.

Secondly, in the unfortunate event of an error, businesses need to contact the product management authority as soon as possible according to Decree 15/2018/ND-CP of the Government, Vietnam SPS, or the system of associations to get help.

Thirdly, enterprises must check the synchronous documents before exporting goods, avoiding the case that they cannot clear customs because of spelling errors.