The case of 100 containers of cashews exported to Italy: Initial progress

As of April 3, Vietnamese businesses have gained control of 12/35 containers with lost original documents, while re-exporting 18 containers to the Netherlands and Turkey and re-exporting 4 containers of goods to Vietnam. obtain original documents in less than one month from the time the case arose thanks to the best efforts and active support of the parties involved.

Loss of control of the original document

On March 8, the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) sent an official dispatch informing that some businesses had difficulty in making payments when exporting 100 containers. cashew to Italy, when he lost control of 35 sets of original documents (equivalent to 35 containers).

(Illustration image – Photo: Investment Newspaper)

The incident stemmed from concerns when the goods had arrived in Italy, but businesses all faced the common situation of constantly changing the bank identification number (SWIFT). 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, do not provide the bill of lading number to the Vietnamese bank. As for the documents sent to the bank in Italy, the local bank informed that they were copies or blank paper, not the original.

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. Because the goods were about to arrive at Italian ports, the Vietnamese Embassy and Trade Office in Italy quickly stepped in and coordinated with the lawyer to actively contact and work directly with the relevant Italian agencies such as: shipping companies, financial police, port authorities, banks to request support and coordination.

On March 10, the Italian financial police made a decision to keep at the port the first 4 containers of cashews transported to the port of Genoa. The entire Italian port and banking system was alerted to this incident. The Vietnamese Embassy in Italy also sent notes to local agencies such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Development, the port authority, customs, police, courts, as well as chambers of commerce, banks, Italian partners can support Vietnamese businesses.

Thanks to these efforts, by March 22, all 35/35 containers that lost their original documents were safely located in Italian ports so that Vietnamese businesses had time to prove their goods and win. return ownership and release the goods.

As of April 3, Vietnamese enterprises have regained ownership of 9 containers of goods with original documents lost by negotiation, confirming with the buyer that they are not related to the shipment and have not Never buy from Vietnam. Based on that confirmation, Vietnamese businesses have taken out 9 containers, can exchange bills of lading to sell to new buyers in a very short time, reducing large losses.

Meanwhile, 3 other containers lost their original documents and were guaranteed by Vietnamese businesses to the shipping company to bring the goods back to Vietnam. However, the way to gain control of the remaining goods is still arduous, because not all businesses have the financial ability to pay the guarantee, or can negotiate and confirm with the buyer that they unrelated to the shipment, but must have original documents or an urgent judgment of the court or relevant authorities on the decision to return the title to the seller.

Another big victory is that among the containers with original documents, businesses have re-exported 18 containers to the Netherlands and Turkey and decided to transfer 4 containers to Vietnam.

The option with the least loss for Vietnamese businesses in this case is to find new buyers, because if they choose to bring their goods back, businesses will have to bear the entire outbound shipping cost of 14,000 USD/ container and unspecified return costs, plus fees for storing containers and ports during the blockade.

The Vietnam Trade Office in Italy comes into play

Currently, the Vietnam Trade Office in Italy is coordinating with lawyers, assisting in connecting with overseas Vietnamese businesses in countries such as Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium and Hungary to assist in finding reputable distributors. in Europe. Currently, some partners have shown interest, asking the price to consider buying these cashews. However, finding new customers is not easy because of the large quantity and high quality cashew kernel segment.

In addition, because sales are in a passive situation, the seller is easily pressured by the buyer, not to mention the costs incurred in transportation, port fees, packaging changes… at the request of the new buyer.

Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Italy Nguyen Duc Thanh said that businesses and Vinacas still need to work actively with relevant agencies in Vietnam to have urgent and urgent decisions to help businesses. Vietnamese industry can release goods soon, because with food items like this, time is money.

Through the above case, lawyer Davide Gallasso of the Law Office Davide Gallasso and his associates in Lecco (Italy), who are coordinating with the Vietnam Trade Office in Italy to handle the case, recommended that Vietnamese businesses when exporting goods, it is necessary to choose a safe payment method, learn carefully about the import partner; at the same time, should be proactive in chartering shipping, ie exporting under CNF or CIF terms. Because the enterprise actively charters the ship to have better control of the original documents and goods.

From the incident, Honorary Consul of Vietnam in Naples Silvio Vecchione said that when Vietnamese businesses do business with Italian businesses, they need to go through the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy, the trade agency, and the Vietnamese honorary consul. Nam to find out information about partners, ensuring maximum safety for transactions between Vietnamese businesses and Italian businesses.

And Vice President of the Italy – Vietnam Chamber of Commerce in Turin Pham Van Hong said that this is a very sophisticated scam. Regarding the form of fraud, the buyer through the loophole of the payment method by collection and payment (D/P), because the seller completely lacks information about the partner when negotiating the contract. This can be the main reason for foreign partners to have fraudulent conditions.

According to him, businesses need to be more cautious with new partners doing transactions for the first time, carefully checking and authenticating partners through many different channels. The selection of partners is almost the decisive stage of exporting enterprises.

Enterprises also need to learn the regulations and customs of freight forwarding in the importing country to ensure control over the goods; Regarding the bill of lading, it is recommended to use the made-to-order bill of lading, not the name bill of lading or the blank bill of lading. Because in case the documents are tampered with or lost on the way, if the bill of lading is named or the bill of lading is empty, whoever gets the bill of lading can also go and receive the goods without being responsible for payment. or accept payment.

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