Near Tet, the demand for agricultural products trading between Vietnam and China increased dramatically. Thousands of vehicles were congested at Kim Thanh No. 2 International Border Gate.
The drivers were waiting to return the empty van to the Chinese side. Photo: H.Đ
The owner of the goods carries additional costs
Recorded at Kim Thanh border gate, for a few days, the number of vehicles coming here has increased dramatically. Convoys were lined up at the entrance to the gate as well as around this area. At one point, vehicles had to park along the Noi Bai – Lao Cai expressway, the section bordering on Kim Thanh border gate.
A shipper shared, this occasion was quite difficult because it had to closely supervise the truck through all stages to be able to return the goods to the merchants of your country as soon as possible. Cargo vehicles are stagnant, but in fact their output does not increase as much as felt outside.
Meanwhile, the slow delivery time leads to the cost of accommodation, parking for the owner … Goods on the vehicle for a long time may be damaged such as deciduous, boots because outside the waiting time at the border with The movement of agricultural products from the south to Lao Cai also took nearly a week. Meanwhile, the losses on the shipper have to suffer.
At the front of the imported goods, after receiving the goods from China, the empty van must turn around and return it to the Chinese owner.
However, every 2 days, when the empty van can not return, the owner of the imported goods must be fined up to 700 yuan (equivalent to 2.5 million dong).
“Their feeder drivers are not available, but cars are very expensive every Tet. It is fine to delay returning an empty van to them. Late payment of goods also leads to many complicated things such as the exchange rate at the time of payment ”, said the owner.
Even during the complicated time of the Covid-19 epidemic, effective anti-epidemic still needs to go hand-in-hand with goods clearance. Therefore, up to now, the specialized transit driver team at the border gate continues to be maintained. The return of empty vans is done in the quarantine area.
At the Kim Thanh Road No. 2 International Border Gate, the entry is only for vehicles carrying goods without entering people.
All the roads to the Kim Thanh International Road 2 Border Gate (Lao Cai) are congested. Photo: H.Đ
Fast handling, reduce the load congestion
Mr. Pham Hung – Deputy Head of Lao Cai Border Gate Management Board said that nearly a week, the number of vehicles carrying goods mainly agricultural products increased dramatically at Kim Thanh border gate. In addition, the transfer driver decreased, the empty van could not turn and return to the Chinese side. Now is the time near Tet, so the need to exchange, buy and sell between the two sides also increases.
“At that time, we actively exchanged the Chinese side to remove. Accordingly, increasing the number of drivers involved in transshipment of goods. Suggest them to extend the time to open the border gate to 10 p.m. to clear customs clearance for empty vans “, Mr. Hung said.
Currently, extending the border gate opening time to 10 p.m. has basically solved the traffic congestion. It is expected that the clearance time will be extended to 2 days. The case has not been resolved completely, then continue to ask the Chinese side to prolong this time to remove the congestion of agricultural products on both sides.
At the border gate, Chinese traders import dragon fruit, banana, watermelon … and Vietnamese traders import apples, tangerines, and vegetables from China.
Regarding the issue of regulating vehicles carrying import and export goods, Major Bui Hong Ha – Chief of the Lao Cai International Border Guard Station said that the station had reported to the Provincial Border Guard Command to take measures to handle, reduce gate congestion. In particular, drive into the parking lot to avoid traffic jams. Up to this point, the congestion has basically been resolved and stabilized.
Recorded at Kim Thanh border gate, after only 1 day, empty vans at the border have halved, currently there are about 400 vehicles. The number of vehicles carrying dragon fruits is continuing to keep the functional forces regulating so that the goods can be exported quickly.
Explaining more about the reason of traffic congestion, Major Bui Hong Ha said that near Tet, the Chinese side lacked transit drivers. Previously, there were about 30-40 drivers every day, now there are only 17-20 drivers, leading to when the Chinese car has returned, there is no one to drive.
On the other hand, because some border gates have not received the goods, so they flock to Kim Thanh border gate (Lao Cai) … The stricter inspection and management of imported goods is also a cause of congestion here.
