The Prime Minister has called for stricter control over the temporary import for re-export activities in ports across the country, in a bid to curb the phenomenon in which a large number of temporarily imported products have been allegedly distributed for domestic use rather than being re-exported. With many businesses refusing to complete the re-export procedures and willing to lose their goods, many local ports are on the verge of becoming a warehouse of smuggled goods, or dumps for waste products. Hai Phong port in the northern province of the same name is a typical example. “Many businesses, failing to meet the high storage cost, have left their containers behind without completing the re-export procedures,” said Cao Trung Ngoan, deputy CEO of Hai Phong Port Co. Ltd. Early this month, a company announced that they would get rid of the 6,400 tons of zinc ore stored at Hoang Dieu port as they failed to re-export them after their temporary import in June, Ngoan told Tuoi Tre. Prior to that case, another company based in Mong Cai also imported 250 tons of beef with US origins, and has since failed to re-export them to China. “The left-behind temporary imports are a big headache to our company, and we currently do not have any solutions,” lamented Ngoan. Similarly, at Chua Ve port, also based in Hai Phong, hundreds of containers of temporary shipments have been stored for months, but their owners do not bother to re-export them.Waste products More than 20,000 TEU, each equal to a 20-foot container, of temporarily imported shipments have been lying in ports around Hai Phong City for the last few months, according to statistics obtained by Tuoi Tre. Meanwhile, the inspectorate of the General Customs Department has recently detected 31 containers of frozen meats including rotten chicken meat, beef, and viscera. The inspectorate also found 140 containers of waste plastics, rubbers, tires and, most worrisome, 31 containers of used lead batteries. “Businesses have deliberately declared the wrong names of products in customs declaration to bypass laws and temporarily import the products to Vietnam,” said Nguyen Van Can, deputy head of the General Customs Department. Specifically, the Quang Ninh-based Kim Kham Co. Ltd. last September imported 90 tons of frozen chicken meat, declared as legs and wings, but authorities later found that the products were in fact chicken gizzards, which were banned from temporary import. Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan said the temporary import of waste products is very dangerous due to the long storage period allowed. “Goods are allowed to be stored in Vietnam under temporary import for as many as 195 days, opening a wide door for the ports to become the place to stock smuggled goods or waste products,” he said.Closer watch The Prime Minister has ordered that the Ministry of Industry and Trade should issue a list of commodities banned from temporary import for re-export within this month. Businesses will also be required to obtain a license to be allowed to temporarily import frozen foods for re-export activities. The government also ordered the reduction of the allowable period for shipments to be temporarily stored in Vietnam to 45 days, with no more than 15 days of deadline extension. Businesses have to re-export their shipments immediately after the period expires, otherwise the products will be confiscated. The Ministry of Finance also ordered the customs authorities to review the shipments that have been temporarily imported to detect those that have been stored too long without being re-exported. Meanwhile, Finance Deputy Minister Tuan demanded that hazardous waste products such as lead batteries, waste plastics, and used electronics be banned from temporary import. “We should also suspend the temporary import and re-export of frozen food products and byproducts,” he said.