Part 1: Unveiling the cunning tricks behind the story of traders forcing down prices in the crab capital of Ca Mau
Part 2: Easy to hire, hard to get code - 'Unwritten rules' surrounding crab traders in Ca Mau
Part 3: 'Looking for a needle in a haystack' to find a production facility with an export code for Ca Mau crabs
Video: Tricks to 'speedily' bring Ca Mau crabs across the border
To clarify the crab export production process, as well as the management work of the functional unit, VTC News reporter contacted NAFI region 5 (under the Southern Department of Quality Management, Processing and Market Development - Southern NAFI).
Mr. Chu Duc Xuan - Head of NAFI Region 5 Quality Department - confirmed that all crab shipments must have certificates when exported.
However, according to Mr. Xuan, depending on the priority level of the facility, the frequency of inspection will be continuous or extended. For facilities with high reliability, the issuance of certificates will be "loosened" without the need for strict inspection. The facility that produces the product will register to issue the certificate.
Specifically, the minimum sampling frequency is specified: Special regime: 2 months/time; Grade 1: 1 month/time; Grade 2: 1 month/2 times.
“Gia Thanh is ranked 2nd, inspected twice a month, for large shipments, every 5 shipments ready to be exported, they inspect 1 shipment. In fact, the production facility is just a packaging facility, simple packaging of live crabs is correct.
The factory only has the packaging stage, so it usually takes a few hours at night, so it’s quick to put them in boxes. They come to the factory to pack them, but in fact, the crabs are tied up when they are caught…”, Mr. Xuan said.
One day after contacting NAFI Region 5, we returned to the production facility of Gia Thanh Company Branch in Ca Mau City. Notably, this facility was no longer in the state of “closed doors” as before but had opened its doors wide, ready to “welcome guests”.
Posing as someone who wanted to buy some crabs to eat, we were warmly greeted by a woman in her 50s who did not show any suspicion towards strangers.
She even took the reporter to introduce the working areas and described in detail each stage of packing the finished crabs, although she kept saying: " I only watch the house and don't know anything. There are workers who do that, there are a lot of them! ".
More than 10 minutes later, when we learned that the facility only closed crabs for export and did not sell retail, we suggested leaving. Surprisingly, the woman prepared tea and invited us to drink, and then the conversation became more lively.
“This is an export crab business so it is very strict. Up until now, crabs have been bought from local farms, and these farms must have proper contracts to buy, not just randomly buy,” the woman said.
To prove her point, she brought out several thick files to show us. In them, there were all kinds of papers related to business licenses, codes, certificates and contracts to buy crabs from the square with cooperatives, households...
Are these things necessary, when we just come as people to buy a few kilos of crab to eat? A normally “closed” establishment now opens wide to “welcome customers”?
The woman who introduced herself as only knowing how to look after the house and knowing nothing else, spoke fluently about the process of purchasing, producing, packaging, and transporting crabs from Ca Mau across the border. And, a stranger, coming to buy a few kilos of crab to eat, was “shown” by a facility that exports tons of crabs every day with valid documents on crab export…
When we asked what time of day the crabs would be inspected and packaged, this woman confidently stated: “The goods are packed here at around 9pm, every day. Once packed, they are transported to the airport.”
However, when we told them that we had visited the facility last night, between 9pm and 11pm, but did not see any activity, this person stammered and replied: "Oh, we didn't work last night because we couldn't get the documents."
There were too many unusual problems happening at Gia Thanh Company Branch after we contacted NAFI Region 5.
Armed with this information, we continued to interview many people living nearby. As expected, the unusual “welcoming” of the 50-year-old woman above seemed to have been part of a pre-written script.
“This evening (May 19), around 7 o’clock, not even 7 o’clock yet, dusk. I saw a truck drive in, leaving 3-4 empty styrofoam boxes with holes, then a guy pushed them in with a wheelbarrow. That’s all, it’s been closed all this time, nothing has been done. I just thought to myself, maybe they’re reopening today.
Because the gate is closed and there is nothing to do, Mr. N. is the one who makes granite. Only when he makes granite will he open that gate, otherwise the gate will be closed all day and night, and there will be no opening for production or export. My family has been here for a long time, but I have never seen a truck come there. There are no employees inside to produce. She is lying," said a resident living next to Gia Thanh Company's branch.
Another person said: “I used to sell goods before, sitting there selling every day. I hung a sign in disguise, day and night, never opened the door. I had to disguise myself, had to have a base to find someone to make a contract, if I didn’t have a base, who would dare sign a contract?”
This information coincides with the information that a leader of the functional agency of Ca Mau province had previously admitted to us that the Gia Thanh Company Branch facility only "hangs up a sign and does not do any activities".
Thus, there have been two conflicting information streams regarding the activities of Gia Thanh Company Branch.
First, the information that this crab export packing facility is operating normally, goods are still arriving at the facility for export every day as stated by the housekeeper we mentioned, as well as by Mr. Chu Duc Xuan (leader of NAFI 5).
Second, the facility only operates in disguise, only posting signs to legalize the paperwork for exporting goods, as stated by a provincial leader and information verified by reporters from local people.
So in the end, which is the most accurate information? Was Gia Thanh Company Branch notified in advance to “welcome” the reporter in the most neat and “natural” way?
>>> Final episode: Tricks behind Ca Mau crab export shipments: Is it only the businesses' fault?
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