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Of these, the group of key products has plummeted by 15 percent to 50 percent. Particularly, the group of completely-built-unit cars, motorcycles, iron and steel, and petrol and oil has dragged down the revenue of about VND7.5 trillion.

Mr. Dinh Ngoc Thang, Director of the Customs Department of HCMC, analyzed that the products with increased import turnover all had low import tariff rates from zero percent to 5 percent due to preferential treatment from the free trade agreements so the increased tax amount could not compensate for the decreased import tax. On the other hand, the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in the world has not shown signs of easing, automobile factories have ceased operations in some markets which has also affected significantly the budget revenue. In Ho Chi Minh City, the accumulated state budget revenue reached about VND43 trillion on June 15 while the estimated ordinance this year is VND115 trillion. The budget revenue in June this year is estimated at VND8.2 trillion.

On the same day, the Customs Department of HCMC said that recently it and the specialized forces have continuously uncovered and successfully prevented several cases of drug trafficking disguised as gifts and non-commercial goods. From the beginning of this year to June 16, units of the city’s Customs Department have uncovered and seized about 30 kilograms of all kinds of narcotics. The city’s market surveillance authority also informed that the number of cases of smuggled household goods and cosmetics by air also increased. Recently, market surveillance teams temporarily seized 168 packages of goods of about 4 tons, including children’s toys and clothes gathered at the domestic warehouse of Vietnam Airlines Southern branch. At the time of inspection, the owner has not been able to show invoices and documents proving the legality of the batch of goods.

By Thi Hong – Translated by Thuy Doan