Container trucks are stuck in Bao Nguyen parking lot (Tan Thanh border gate area), Lang Son province - Photo: HA QUAN

Tomorrow (February 16), Lang Son province will stop receiving vehicles transporting fresh fruit to land border gates for export to China. The expected period is 10 days, ending on February 25. 

Before the above information, many businesses stopped bringing their vehicles to Lang Son border gates to monitor the situation more or redirected to other border gates such as Mong Cai (Quang Ninh).

How to export more rows?

Mr. Gia Huy - a representative of a company specializing in exporting dragon fruit, mango and jackfruit - shared that in the past, his business cleared 20 vehicles per day, but now only 4-5 vehicles remain. 

"Chinese goods owners are impatient but can't do anything. In the long run, the goods will be crowded at all border gates, wherever they can go, the car will rush there, drivers will reduce their income, the company will reduce profits. …  If the Chinese side extends the working time to 18 pm, the amount of goods exported will be more," said Gia Huy.

Meanwhile, Ms. Tran Thi Hang - representative of Thai Viet Trung Transport Joint Stock Company - offered two options. Firstly, the authorities need to have a mechanism to classify goods. “The authorities may allow the clearance of fresh fruit and other vehicles at 70-30 or 60-40 at the same time in two rows. Vehicles carrying electronics, fashion, etc. have contracts, so Chinese customers can receive them at any time, thereby reducing the number of vehicles stored in the yard," Hang said.

Second, restart the bypass program. Previously,  Chinese empty cars delivered in Vietnam could get export goods within the same day. Enterprises only need to make an application certified by  the border gate and yard management unit. Thereby reducing waiting time, reducing the backlog of export vehicles, and reducing damage to exporters.

"Agencies and departments need to develop a plan to solve the problem of container truck congestion in parallel with increasing the number of export trucks. If the container truck has to wait in the yard for a long time, businesses will have to bear additional costs. , increasing the cost of depreciation of the vehicle while the interest on bank loans still has to be paid on time," said Ms. Hang.

Container truck carrying fresh fruit such as jackfruit, banana, dragon fruit, watermelon... waiting for many days for customs clearance - Photo: HA QUAN

Fear of chain damage 

According to Ms. Tran Thi Hang, in recent years, the number of FDI enterprises in charge of processing goods for export to China such as fashion goods (Nike, Adidas, Uniqlo), electronic goods (Samsung, Apple, LG) ... have increased sharply. . But in recent months, fresh fruit container trucks have been stuck for a long time, unable to clear customs, affecting both electronic and fashion goods trucks.

"For example, before spring-summer, businesses have to produce from a whole month ago to keep up with export goods because the shipping process takes about 15 days. But now, container trucks carrying electronic components and fashion are having to be stacked. the back row of the fruit cart.

Conspicuous damage is that there are containers of electronic goods with a large value of 1 - 2 million USD, while each fruit truck is 400 - 500 million VND. The accompanying invisible damage is that the factory lacks production materials, leading to hundreds of thousands of workers at risk of losing their jobs or reducing working hours, outdated goods, supply chain disruptions, etc.

In the long term, foreign investment corporations will "consider" when choosing Vietnam as an outsourcing location or moving to other countries such as India and Indonesia, leading to many workers losing their jobs and reducing their income... Goods are a few days late, but 10 to 15 days late, no business can stand it," Hang shared. 

The solution is available, difficult in 'Zero COVID'

Talking to Tuoi Tre Online , director of Lang Son Department of Industry and Trade Nguyen Dinh Dai said that the province has announced to stop receiving fresh fruit trucks from February 16, after reviewing the situation, there will be an assessment of the situation.

"The functional authorities have notified and advised against allowing trucks carrying agricultural products to enter the province. The functional forces will block the province right at the beginning. Before deploying, businesses also grasp the situation and do not bring goods up anymore. If we continue to bring goods up, it will create a congestion of goods, causing damage to businesses such as increased costs due to waiting", Mr. Dai added.

According to Mr. Dai, Lang Son authorities actively trade goods until 10 o'clock at night. Many solutions have been proposed such as boosting domestic consumption, focusing on fruits and agricultural products that are in the harvest season; consider and guide enterprises to redirect their exports to waterways and railways; market expansion to other countries. 

However,  the limited clearance capacity is due to the "Zero COVID" strategy from China.