Imported cars cost hundreds of millions more because of storage fees

Faced with the situation of many car import companies showing signs of fraud, the Ministry of Finance has "ordered" strict control of imported cars. But both companies and customs are facing difficulties due to the arising problems.

Lost several hundred million more

Talking to reporters, Mr. Nguyen The Hung, Director of KYLIN-GX668 Trading Joint Stock Company (Hai Phong) lamented: "It's so hard. So many difficulties."

The reason Mr. Hung complained about the difficulty was because on November 28, the Ministry of Finance issued an order requesting the General Department of Customs, the General Department of Taxation, and the Customs Departments and Tax Departments of provinces and cities to implement management measures on the origin of goods and customs value of imported cars.

Specifically, for imported cars (except imported cars of subjects with diplomatic incentives and exemptions), a certificate of origin (C/O) must be submitted at the time of customs procedures.

The Ministry of Finance is "ordering" strict management of imported cars.

In particular, one of the directives of the Ministry of Finance that has caused difficulties for many businesses is that imported cars that have not completed customs procedures are not allowed to be brought back to the customs declarant's warehouse for storage while waiting for customs clearance.

Mr. Nguyen The Hung confided: "When the goods are transported by the shipping company to the port, normally like before, we can withdraw the goods, then bring them to the salon to wait for customs clearance. We can invite the inspector to come to the salon to inspect. However, since the Ministry of Finance tightened the requirement that vehicles that have not completed customs procedures cannot be brought back, we have encountered many difficulties."

“Now when the car arrives at the port and is taken out of the shipping company’s container, customs won’t let the car go home but instead forces it to be left at the yard. If you leave it at the yard, you have to pay extra parking fees, which is very expensive, costing hundreds of millions more a month,” Mr. Hung shared.

“The car was left outside in the rain and wind, broke down, rats and bugs chewed the wires, chewed everything... After a month like that, when I got the car back it looked like it had been left out in a storm.”

A representative of another car import company added: In addition to the storage fee, shipping lines are now taking advantage of this opportunity to pressure businesses. They require that when the goods have not yet cleared customs, they still have to pay the container storage fee, even though the car has actually been removed from the container, the tire has been returned and the car has been brought back to the port yard. That means, the shipping line forces businesses to pay the container storage fee until the car is brought back to the showroom.

“To get all the documents, it usually takes us 10-15 days, even 2-3 months to bring the vehicle back. That means we have to pay for the container storage and yard storage for at least 15 days to 2 months,” the representative of this company worried.

Mr. Nguyen The Hung said: “If it is from 1-7 days, they charge 100 USD/container, but on the 7th day, it increases to 200 USD/container, and so on. If it is at the yard for 1 month, the yard fee and container storage fee add up to several hundred million. If there are many trucks coming in, it will cost several billion for container storage and yard fees,” Mr. Hung worried.

Imported trucks through Huu Nghi - Lang Son international border gate. Photo: L.Bang

Customs also complained of difficulties.

Not only businesses, local customs are also confused when implementing the Ministry of Finance's directive on "tightening imported cars".

According to the reflection of Lang Son Provincial Customs Department, currently imported automobile goods at Huu Nghi International Border Gate Customs Branch include trucks, chassis cars, tractors, concrete mixers, and concrete pump trucks. Although the yard at Huu Nghi Border Gate has been invested, it is still cramped, and the services provided related to the storage of goods at the yard are not guaranteed and do not meet the requirements.

“Therefore, storing large quantities of goods for a long time in the current narrow wharf conditions will cause congestion, affecting the customs clearance time of other import and export goods at Huu Nghi border gate,” Lang Son Customs Department is concerned.

Therefore, this agency proposed to allow businesses to bring goods back to their warehouses for storage for trucks and chassis.

At the same time, Lang Son province leaders also expressed their sympathy with businesses when "instructing wharf service providers at Huu Nghi border gate to only collect 1-day storage fee for goods stored from import to customs clearance, avoiding additional costs that cause difficulties for businesses".

According to businesses, the Ministry of Finance’s strengthening of management of automobile imports is necessary when many violations, signs of fraud and tax evasion have been discovered. However, these measures need to be appropriate to the actual situation so as not to cause difficulties, waste time and costs, especially in the context of the Ministry of Finance’s efforts to reduce customs clearance time and reform administrative procedures.

According to Vietnamnet