Tiếng Việt
普通话
At the meeting held by the Vietnam Maritime Administration under the Ministry of Transport on August 2, participants said that enterprises, port operators, shipping firms and customs agencies have yet to cooperate to control the import of secondhand products, especially plastic. As a result, procedures continue to overlap, thus slowing down the handling of these containers.
Phan Trong Lam, deputy general director of Vietnam International Container Terminals, said that the handling of imported plastic waste is regulated in six laws and falls under the jurisdiction of 10 agencies. However, no single agency has taken the lead, causing difficulties for enterprises.
According to Nguyen Phuong Nam, director of the operating center of Saigon Newport Corporation, ports have stopped accepting plastic scrap containers since early last month. Paper and steel shipments have been mainly sent to Cat Lai and Cai Mep ports, respectively.
Some 4,500 containers, storing scrap such as paper and plastic, have been abandoned at Vietnamese ports as the identity of the owners and transport firms remains unknown.
Bui Viet Anh, a representative of shipping firm Cosco, told the participants of the meeting that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has issued certificates only to importers of small-sized scrap.
He proposed the Government swiftly establish a working group that includes the representatives of various agencies to deal with the backlog of imported waste.
Shipping companies claimed they are not allowed to check the containers before loading them onto ships. They have suggested directly contacting the owners of the abandoned containers instead of publicizing the information in newspapers.
Nhu Dinh Thien of the Vietnam Ship Agents and Brokers Association argued that shipping firms need to know what they have transported and should carry the ineligible scrap imports out of the ports.
He further suggested that certificates of eligibility for environmental protection on scrap imports should be granted only to those who are able to process the waste.
Bui Thien Thu, deputy head of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, said the administration will propose the Prime Minister offer a mechanism to build links between enterprises, port operators and shipping firms to cope with the backlog of scrap containers.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment needs to publicize the list of enterprises that are eligible to import waste and amend regulations to speed up the handling of the large volume of imported scrap at ports.