Vietnam Dismisses Taiwanese Charges on Chinese Goods

A Vietnamese trade representative to Taipei rebutted the allegations of dried day lily from China being routed through his country to bypass Taiwanese restrictions on Chinese agricultural products. His reaction came after the Taiwanese opposition, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) accused that dried day lilies arriving at Taiwan markets from Vietnam were from China as the imports were more than it actually produced.

Citing customs statistics, the DPP Legislator Pan Men-an said that 73,830 kg of dried day lily, purportedly from Vietnam, were imported into Taiwan in 2009, a 27 percent rise from the 58,108 kg that entered Taiwan's market in 2008. Taiwan’s ban on the import of 830 Chinese agricultural products, including dried day lily is still in force though the FTA talks between both countries are at full swing.

Ho Quoc Phi, deputy head of the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei (VECO), told the CNA that the allegations had formed a major barrier to the import of Vietnamese goods into Taiwan. He further added he had already clarified the situation to Taiwan's top agricultural authority.

The envoy informed that cases of smuggled Chinese farm produce being brought into Taiwan through Vietnam, including tea, cigarettes and garlic, in 1991, never got the Vietnamese certificates of origin. He claimed issuance of counterfeit certificates attracted severe punishments, and as a result of stringent actions against bootlegging by the end of 1994, no such cases were reported since then.

Pan had earlier alleged “A certificate of origin can be bought at the price of less than US$350.” However, according to Vietnamese authorities, the certificate of origin is not the only document required for the passage of goods but also importers' transaction and transportation documents.

Ho urged the lawmakers to provide a copy of the counterfeit document to his office, so that its authenticity could be verified. He also agreed to run an investigation at his government’s cost provided the charge leveller involved was ready to meet the expenses of investigation if the allegations were found false.

By Jose Roy