29 customs officers severely disciplined in the case of 213 missing containers

Reporting to the Prime Minister about the incident, the Ministry of Finance said that since 2015, the General Department of Customs discovered violations in 213 containers of 56 enterprises transported through Cat Lai port - Ho Chi Minh City (departure) to transit by road to Cambodia (destination) when these containers were transferred from Cat Lai port without being brought to the place of export as prescribed.

The goods in the 213 missing containers were all used electronic goods (washing machines, air conditioners, speakers... goods on the list of goods banned from import to Vietnam.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the 56 enterprises with the 213 containers that were investigated were all inactive or did not have headquarters at the registered business address. The results of this verification were then sent to the Police Investigation Agency (C46 - Ministry of Public Security).

Regarding the results of the review and handling of responsibilities of individuals involved in the case of 213 containers of transit goods that did not exit the country, the Ministry of Finance said: Immediately after discovering the case, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department reviewed and handled the transfer of 29 related civil servants to their positions, and then handled further as follows:

Disciplinary action was taken against 2 civil servants involved in the cancellation of BOA (a system to confirm that transit goods have completed customs procedures at the departure port) on the system; 11 civil servants and 1 leader of the Supervision Team involved in the goods leaving the port but not keeping records were disciplined by lowering their classification by 2 levels (to the level of completing tasks but still having limited capacity).

Three leaders of the Sub-Department and three customs team leaders of different periods related to the incident were downgraded one classification level (to good performance).

According to the report sent to the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Finance admitted: "The handling results of the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department are not satisfactory. The level of handling is not strict, does not ensure deterrence and prevention of violations; and is not commensurate with the consequences that have occurred."

Therefore, at the end of January 2018, under the direction of the Ministry of Finance, the General Department of Customs sent a dispatch requesting Ho Chi Minh City Customs to review and take disciplinary action.

The Ministry of Finance committed to the Prime Minister to synthesize a report on the results of handling individuals related to the case in the first quarter of 2018.