Ministry of Foreign Affairs speaks out

At the regular press conference on the afternoon of March 17, responding to a reporter’s question about the reaction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the information that 100 containers of Vietnamese cashew nuts exported to Italy were at risk of being deceived, the publisher Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang said the representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade provided information to the press.

Most recently, on March 14, 2022, the Prime Minister also directed ministries and branches to urgently coordinate with the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) and relevant agencies and units to inspect and clarify causes to take measures to handle and support to ensure the interests of people and businesses.

On the side of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, immediately after receiving information from Vinacas, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs directed the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy to contact the ship owners, directly to Genoa city, Naples to verify information. ; Send a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Financial Police and local authorities requesting to quickly investigate and clarify the case, take necessary measures to protect the rights and interests of the local authorities. legitimate benefits for Vietnamese enterprises”Ms. Hang said.

According to the spokesperson, the Vietnamese Embassy and Trade Office in Italy have also discussed with businesses and Vinacas, providing guidance on how to deal with them, and requesting relevant units to contact the International Economic Court. In fact, the International Commercial Arbitration Center in Vietnam needs to intervene and consult with shipping lines to stop delivering goods to buyers in the suspected fraud group, in order to minimize losses for Vietnamese enterprises. Male.

“Following the direction of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to examine and clarify the cause, actively support domestic enterprises to solve this case and ensure maximum safety for transactions between Vietnamese enterprises and Italian enterprises in the near future”. Ms. Hang confirmed.

According to information from the Vietnam Cashew Association, many domestic cashew businesses are in danger of losing nearly 100 containers worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Europe. Businesses are concerned that this may be a big scam as these businesses all sign contracts through Kim Hanh Viet Brokerage Company to export cashew kernels to Italy.

The incident stemmed from concerns when the goods had arrived in Italy, but up to this point, businesses all faced the common situation of constantly changing SWIFT numbers – bank identification numbers.

At the bank of Turkey, after the bank received the set of documents, the buyer was informed that the buyer was not their customer and that the bank had returned the documents but did not specify the form of payment, no provide the bill of lading number to the Vietnamese bank.

Documents sent to the bank in Italy, the local bank informed that the copies were not the original. Currently, Vietnamese enterprises do not know where the original documents are. Meanwhile, anyone with the original set of documents can go to the carrier to pick up the goods.

The Vietnam Cashew Association called for the support and intervention of competent authorities and shipping lines, and suggested that shipping lines apply “Urgent” measures – temporarily hold consignments lying at ports and will arrive at the port.