Support Vietnamese businesses in handling shipments imported from the UAE suspected of showing signs of fraud

Support Vietnamese businesses in handling shipments imported from the UAE suspected of showing signs of fraud

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that on March 20, 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Asia – Africa Market Department) received an email from a Vietnamese enterprise requesting support in resolving a case related to an imported shipment. from a partner in the UAE suspected of signs of fraud.

From January 2024 to February 2024, Vietnamese enterprises signed 3 purchase contracts with UAE partners, the total purchase amount is 1,000 tons of PET plastic, the contract value is 665,500 USD delivered in Hai Phong in the form of CFR. By March 13, 2024, the Vietnamese enterprise had paid its partner an amount of 526,257 USD. After receiving the deposit, the UAE partner delivered 25 containers of goods to the Vietnamese enterprise.

However, after opening the declaration and importing goods into the warehouse, Vietnamese businesses discovered that the actual weight of goods in each container was only 15-20% of the invoices and documents. During the process of goods inspection and import, Vietnamese enterprises conduct this with the coordination of an independent inspection unit and under the witness of the local Customs Branch.

After discussing with the partner to resolve the problem, the Vietnamese business said there was no positive response from your side. Faced with that situation, Vietnamese businesses contacted the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Vietnam Trade Office in the UAE to request support in resolving the case.

Immediately after receiving the enterprise’s request, the Ministry of Industry and Trade directed the Vietnam Trade Office in the UAE to urgently send a note to the local authorities, and at the same time directly work with the enterprise’s partners. Vietnam, as well as the Bank leaders conducting the transaction, requested support in temporarily seizing the transaction amount between the two parties to clarify the situation and ensure legal benefits for businesses.

In the spirit of urgent, drastic work and timely intervention of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam Trade Office in the UAE, by April 11, 2024, Vietnamese enterprises had received back the full amount of advances to their UAE partners and Helping the company avoid losses of 526,257 USD (equivalent to 13.4 billion VND).

Through the above incident, in order to minimize risks in commercial business transactions with partners in West Asian countries, the Ministry of Industry and Trade recommends that businesses pay attention to the following issues:

1. Pay close attention to large value contracts and partners searching online.

2. Before signing a contract, businesses need to carefully find out information about the partner, contact the Vietnam Trade Office in the host country or concurrently to receive additional support and information about the partner.

3. Pay attention to the sanctions provisions in the signed contract, taking into account the risk that disputes may arise during the transaction process.

4. You should coordinate with an independent inspection unit when carrying out import procedures and customs clearance of goods.

5. In case a dispute arises, businesses need to urgently contact domestic authorities and Vietnamese diplomatic/trade representative agencies abroad for timely support.

According to Nguyen Long (VOV1)