Information from the importers of Nepal pepper also said that the ban only applies to shipments shipped to Nepal after March 29, 2020, while previous export shipments are still allowed to enter normally.
However, after the shipments of pepper from Vietnam (exported before March 29, 2020) arrived in Nepal, Vietnamese enterprises asked importers to pay, and Nepalese importers announced that they had no Import licenses from the Government so Nepal banks do not accept payments.
According to Mr. Nguyen Nam Hai, in front of such an unfortunate situation, pepper exporting enterprises have contacted the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnamese Embassy in India and the International Pepper Association to ask for assistance to apply for re-export. export the aforementioned pepper containers to Vietnam.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam has sent a note to the Government of Nepal proposing clearance of trapped pepper shipments or facilitating customs procedures for businesses to re-export these shipments to Vietnam. The Vietnamese Embassy in India also spoke directly to the Standing Deputy Minister of Nepal Ministry of Trade, Industry and Supplies on this issue.
However, more than a month has passed but the case has remained still and there has not been any response from the Government of Nepal, leaving Vietnamese exporters in a dilemma. If it doesn’t work, then we won’t finish it.
Ms. Phung Thu Huyen, Director of South Internetional Company shared, at present, the export enterprises having stuck goods are facing many losses such as overdue interest rates of banks; There is no capital to turn around and especially the burden of container and yard storage costs increases exponentially every day.
Specifically, according to the freight transport contract, after the container cargo arrives at the port of destination, the shipping company will let lie free for 7-10 days, then apply the charge for container storage, storage yards for containers 40 feet 70 USD / days for the first week, the 2nd week is 100 USD / container, from the 3rd week onwards is 170 USD / container. As calculated above, with the storage time of over 3 months, the amount to pay for a container has reached from 16,000-17,000 USD, not including other costs such as: storage at the port, agent fees. customs procedures…
Ms. Truong Dung, representative of Lien Thanh Company, added that among 13 businesses with stuck goods, some businesses only have 2-3 containers but some have up to 20 containers, the amount payable to shipping lines is very high. big. Up to this point, the costs incurred were equivalent to 30-35% of the value of the shipment, if the Nepal side to immediately pull the goods, the total cost incurred also up to 50% of the value of the shipment. Not to mention, pepper in the rough packaging, exposed to hot weather can be moldy and lose a lot of weight.
In case Nepal does not have an official answer, causing the shipment to continue to be at the port, businesses may have to accept abandon the goods because if they pull back, they will not sell anymore while the costs are too high.
Enterprises said that Vietnam and Nepal have a good bilateral trade relationship, the transaction history between Vietnamese and Nepalese enterprises has not had a bad precedent. When the COVID-19 epidemic broke out, Vietnamese businesses fully understood that Nepal could issue a temporary import ban due to force majeure. The ban, however, needs a waiver for shipments that have departed for Nepal before the ban is issued.
Therefore, Vietnamese exporters proposed to the Government of Nepal to quickly provide answers on customs clearance or create conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to re-export the above goods to Vietnam; At the same time, it is expected that shipping lines transport these goods to share with Vietnamese exporters by reducing container storage and shipping fees in the case of towing goods to help them overcome current difficulties.
