Alarm Raised against Imported Industrial Wastes

The General Department of Customs (GDC) recently collaborated with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to hold a seminar on “Green Maritime” in Hanoi.

 

Mr Nguyen Van Can, Deputy General Director of GDC, informed the meeting that customs authorities in northern Hai Phong City detected at least 300 containers with signs of violating the environment law.

Actions against violators are going very slow because owners reject or customs officers cannot know who own violated goods.

 

Mr Nguyen Khac Hieu, Deputy Director of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, put forth measures to put an end to importation of industrial wastes harmful to the environment and human health. Proposed measures include building a quota-granting system, granting import and export quotas on environmentally harmful goods, setting up information exchange with other nations and inside the country, etc.