Vietnamese cashew nuts face competitive pressure from Africa
Vietnam's cashew industry rose to number 1 in the world thanks to mastering technology. But Vietnamese technology is also helping African cashews compete with Vietnamese cashews.
On April 20, the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) said that an enterprise belonging to Vinacas is in danger of losing a shipment of 5 containers of cashews exported to Algeria (Africa) because it believes in a broker.
Specifically, in August 2022, this business exported 5 containers of cashew nuts to Algeria, through the intermediary of a company located in South Africa. The intermediary company paid a deposit of 10% of the value of the goods, but when the goods arrived at the port of Mostaganem (Algeria), the customer, the Algerian company Eurl ATS Food, could not do customs clearance because this company was banned by the Ministry of Commerce of Algeria. included in the list of commercial fraud enterprises from June 2022.
The owner of the goods is a Vietnamese enterprise and the shipping company has done procedures to change the consignee to another company (also in Algeria) at the request of an intermediary in South Africa, but the Algerian customs does not accept it. According to the port of Mostaganem customs, the company Eurl ATS Food lost the legal capacity to carry out procedures such as import, as well as change the business to receive replacement goods or re-export goods. According to the customs of the host country, more than 5 months in the port, the Algerian customs is entitled to auction this shipment.
Updating the latest information, Mr. Tran Huu Hau - Deputy General Secretary of Vinacas said: "The total value of 5 containers of cashew nuts is 466,900 USD (equivalent to 11 billion VND). Mostaganem auctioned and could not bring the goods back, the business is facing the risk of losing the shipment.According to the shipping line, 2 containers have been withdrawn and the remaining 3 containers are still in the customs warehouse. still trying to work with the Vietnamese authorities and the Algerian authorities to request settlement and refund of the shipment to the company.
The representative of the above mentioned cashew export company shared: "The Mostaganem port customs violated international practices when arbitrarily auctioned the shipment without notifying the owner. We only received information about the following incident. When the customs auctioned the shipment publicly, we realized that the shipment was in danger of loss, so we sent an official letter to ask for help to the relevant agencies, and flew to Algeria to work directly with the port of Mostaganem customs. from March 28, 2023. In addition, we have sent a letter requesting to meet and work with the authorities of Algeria through: General Department of Customs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade of Vietnam as well as the Ministry of Trade of Vietnam. The Vietnamese Embassy and the Vietnam Trade Office in Algeria, the Algerian Embassy in Vietnam, request the Algerian side to send an official document clarifying the customs auction process, handling principles and applicable law. .
However, until now, this business has not received a response from the Algerian government and all goods have been auctioned by the port customs of Mostaganem and the buyer has moved 2/5 containers out. out of the port.
Currently, the Vietnam Trade Office in Algeria has sent a telegram to Vinacas and the Vietnam Pepper Association to warn of fraud when exporting to Algeria.
Quang Thuan
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
