Return scrap stuck at ports to sender, Vietnam ministry proposes

By Anh Minh   April 9, 2019 | 01:20 am PT
Return scrap stuck at ports to sender, Vietnam ministry proposes
Over 23,400 scrap containers are stuck at Vietnamese ports. Photo by VnExpress/Thien Tri
The Ministry of Finance has proposed that scrap stuck at ports is auctioned and/or re-exported towards mitigating adverse environmental impacts.

The ministry says there are over 23,400 scrap containers stuck at Vietnamese ports, of which 42 percent have not been claimed for over 90 days.

The port in the southern Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province has the highest number of unclaimed containers at 9,400, followed by the northern port city of Hai Phong with over 6,000 and Ho Chi Minh City with over 4,600.

The ministry is proposing that containers that meet environmental standards are auctioned and shipping companies are asked to take back the rest.

If the shipping companies do not obey this instruction, their licenses in Vietnam might be revoked and the unclaimed containers destroyed.

The Ministry of Finance has also requested the Ministry of Transport to strictly control the delivery of containers containing environmentally polluting material and force them to get out of the country.

The latest proposal comes as Vietnam has been seeking to limit the import of scrap since last year. Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung last month said that the country will not accept plastic scrap imports as feedstock starting 2025.

Last July, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered a temporary stop to scrap imports, saying Vietnam must not become a dumping ground for other countries’ waste, leaving thousands of containers stuck at ports for months. His orders followed a surge in imports in the first six months after China banned imports of certain wastes.

Vietnam imported 9.2 million tons of scrap last year, up 14 percent from 2017, according to Vietnam Customs.

 
 
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