The violators of clothing export regulations would have to face new
punishments said Deputy Minister of Trade Mai Van Dau.

Dau said that the punishment will range from revoking quotas and
stopping quota allocations to bringing the offenders to court. The Ministry of Trade is determined to enforce the punishments. Companies which manipulate the US clothing export quota system or fake their credentials could face trial.

The Ministries of Trade and Industry have been embarrassed by clothing company imposters which have faked export visas and certificates of origin (Co) to use the country''s official quota to US markets.

He said the ministry had caught three Vietnamese imposters in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and a northern province, but foreign frauds were also operating, making it difficult for Vietnamese authorities to control.

The revised quota system for US garments still gives preference to companies which have a proven export track record in the US, with 75 percent of the quota going to these earners, 5 percent more than this year''s ratio.

Companies which have long-tern and large contracts in the US will get 5 percent of the quota, up from 3 percent, and companies which use a large amount of local materials will get 7 percent, up from 3 percent.

Another new criterion is to stockpile 1 percent of the quota for
businesses in emergency cases. The remaining 12 percent will go to companies which have earned high profits from non-quota categories, expanded production capacity, use modern equipment or are located in remote areas.

In the first nine months of this year, Viet Nam earned 1.62 billion USD from clothing exports to the US market.