China suspends customs clearance for Vietnamese goods during Tet

By Anh Minh January 14, 2022 | 05:11 am PT

Container trucks carrying agriculture exports stranded at a China border gate in Lang Son Province, December 11, 2021. Photo by Lang Son Customs Department

China will suspend customs clearance for Vietnamese goods at border gates in the northern province of Lang Son for seven days during Tet, the Lunar New Year festival.

The customs clearance will stop from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, instead of the previously announced 28 days, the province’s Dong Dang border gate management board said.

As of Jan. 13, a total of 1,521 trucks carrying Vietnamese goods, with over 620 carrying fresh fruits were stranded at border gates in Lang Son because of sluggish customs clearance caused by strengthened Covid prevention, according to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade.

The province said it would take a fortnight to release all the stranded goods because only 100 trucks complete customs clearance a day.

For its part, Lang Son has announced that it will stop receiving new arrivals of fresh fruit-carrying trucks from Jan. 17 till the end of Tet.

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Vietnam earned $1.75 billion from exporting fruits and vegetables to China in the first 11 months of 2021, up 3.6 percent year-on-year despite Covid-19 impacts. China remained Vietnam’s top fruits and vegetables export market with a market share of 54 percent in the 11-month period.