After 5 months, 76 cashew containers of Vietnamese enterprises crashed in Italy, so far the case has been basically successfully handled. However, this also alarms that fraud in international transactions can happen to any business if not alert…
The representative of the Vietnam Cashew Association said that businesses need to learn lessons in international business, the role of brokers is very important, but businesses need to have independent inspection of partners. Here, the role of the Trade Office in the host country is very important.
At the seminar “Prevention of disputes and frauds in international trade – Experiences for Vietnamese enterprises from the case of cashew nut containers” on August 23, Mr. According to Vietnam, after 5 months, 76 cashew containers of Vietnamese enterprises have crashed in Italy, so far the case has been basically successfully handled.
SCAM LOOK FROM 76 CONTAINERS ARTICLE
Out of 76 containers of 5 enterprises that have signed contracts (there are 2 other enterprises that signed contracts and were also deceived but contacted the Trade Office and Lawyers in Italy) 5 containers were kept in time and did not ship (71 containers). containers have been exported), promptly recovered 38 sets of original documents, thereby recovering the goods.
Enterprises had to make a deposit (deposit) to the carriers to take out 32 containers; took out 1 container of goods thanks to the judgment of the Italian court.
“From the risk of losing dozens of containers with a value of hundreds of billions of dong, Vietnamese exporters have not lost a single container to fraudsters, even though they have appropriated nearly 40 sets of original documents. of nearly 40 containers,” said Nhut.
Analyzing the cause, the representative of the Vietnam Cashew Association said that the reason leading to businesses being cheated was because they trusted too much in the brokerage company and did not check partner information. Especially, during the difficult time of the epidemic, having large orders, businesses want to sell, especially at a time when the market has few transactions.
“On the 2nd of Tet, a business announced that it had received orders for dozens of containers. This has hit the psychology of businesses in the time of scarcity of orders. Businesses are so happy that they don’t need to celebrate Tet, hire workers with high salaries to do it urgently, in time to deliver goods,” said Nhut.
Another reason, according to Mr. Nhut, is the risky payment method.
Mr. Bach Khanh Nhut, Standing Vice Chairman of Vietnam Cashew Association shared at the workshop.
From this case, the representative of the Vietnam Cashew Association said that businesses need to learn lessons in international business, the role of brokers is very important, but businesses need to have an independent inspection of partners. Here, the role of the Trade Office in the host country is very important.
On the other hand, businesses need to be alert to unusual signs from partners. When the goods go to Italy, only 1 week (the goods have not arrived at the port) the broker has asked the business to provide the voucher code, while it usually takes 3 weeks. It was the delivery of the Cod code that caused the document to be lost.
Besides, businesses should use a more secure payment method. It is advisable to exchange information with colleagues to detect signs of fraud. In this incident, all 5 businesses did not inform each other, only when they encountered problems, they sent it to the Association and only then did they know that their colleagues were also cheated.
AVOID Haste, Negligence In INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS
Information at the seminar, Mr. Nguyen Minh Duc, an expert from the Legal Department, VCCI, said that according to a survey by PwC, 52% of Vietnamese enterprises participating in the survey said that they experienced fraud or other economic crimes. in the 2 years prior to the time of the survey. This level is higher than the 46% of the Asia Pacific region and the 49% of the world.
Objects to scam Vietnamese businesses are from customers, suppliers, and intermediaries and agents.
However, the survey also shows that Vietnamese businesses have not focused on anti-fraud measures. But when the incident happened, not many Vietnamese businesses wanted to report it to the state agency.
The reason is that they do not trust state agencies, do not trust the professional capacity of state agencies, fear that information will be leaked to the public.
With 21 years of doing business, Mr. Nguyen Huy Hung, Sales Director of Phuc Sinh Joint Stock Company, said that his business also encountered these situations. More than a decade ago, when delivering 37 pepper containers worth 2.43 million USD, the partner requested to deliver the bill of lading to them so that they could control the “path” of the goods.
This makes the business suspicious and check the partner’s bank account. Upon checking, this customer did not have a bank account, so the business stopped the transaction.
To limit risks, according to Mr. Hung, when doing business, it is necessary to find out information of customers through Vietnamese Trade Offices abroad, foreign embassies in Vietnam. Enterprises must capture and learn information about partner banks. When doing business, it is not allowed to give the bill of lading number to the customer – this is a hard rule when doing business.
“Most importantly, businesses avoid haste, negligence, and fundamental errors in international payments. If we simply think that we have succeeded, we will easily fall into a trap,” warned Mr. Hung.
In payment, Mr. Ngo Khac Le, Arbitrator of Vietnam International Arbitration Center. It is recommended that in cases where the buyer requires only one set of bills of lading issued (drawn) by the shipping line, the order bill of lading should be used and that in the “Consignee mentioned above” section of the bill of lading, write “at the order of the Bank”.
This bank is the bank that the seller asks to collect the money and deliver the documents to the buyer. The seller will instruct this bank upon receipt of the buyer’s payment to sign the bill of lading and specify the transfer of the right to receive the goods to them.
“With this method, the buyer cannot assume that there can be a delay in receiving the goods because they only need to pay for the goods to have a bill of lading to receive the goods and if the bill of lading is lost on arrival. the bank, the consignee also did not receive the goods because the bill of lading was invalid (not signed by the bank to transfer the right to receive the goods), so the shipping company did not return the goods”, Mr. Le analyzed.
If the buyer requires the use of a bill of lading, which is a type of bill of lading with the consignee’s name on the bill of lading, the seller should use the master bill of lading and the secondary bill of lading. Thus, on the master bill of lading, write the name of the consignee as the agent of the forwarder.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, Counselor of the Embassy of Vietnam in Italy, agrees, businesses need to draft a contract to sign in accordance with their company’s capacity, with a reasonable payment method, because there is no such method. Any payment is perfect, there is a certain risk. Exporting businesses should ask buyers for a 10% deposit to prove they have a bank account – this is proof of the buyer.
Source: VnEconomy
