Origin Fraud and Illegal Transshipment Consultant

USAID Trade Facilitation Program
SCOPE OF WORK

Hybrid training course on Prevention of Origin Fraud and Illegal Transshipment for
local customs officers

Proposed Personnel:               Local Short-term Technical Assistance (STTA)                            
                                                Origin Fraud and Illegal Transshipment Consultant

Period of Performance:           February – March 2022

Origin/Destination:                 Hybrid

Travel Dates:                           None 

Activity No.                           3.6 Support Activities to be implemented by USAID Trade Facilitation Program (Program) and the Project Management Unit (PMU) for awareness raising and capacity building for local customs officers

MEL indicator(s):                     IR3.1-2.

Project Background:

According to the situational assessment conducted by the Program during FY2020 the technical assistance needs of the six targeted provinces (Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Tri, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh city and Dong Nai) relates mainly to areas of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) awareness raising, Special Inspection (SI), Risk Management (RM), Cross Border Management (CBM) and the utilization of the National Single Window (NSW). Specific technical assistance requests focused on the mentioned topics presented by the six local authorities and later endorsed by the PMU have been included in the Y3WP (from October 2020 to September 2021). Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many local activities in Y3 have been carried forward to Y4 (from October 2021 to September 2022).

Activity Description:

As agreed with the PMU, the Program will cooperate with Customs Control and Supervision Department of General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) to implement a 3-day Hybrid Training Course Workshop on Prevention of Origin Fraud and Illegal Transshipment. As the topic attract the interest of many other local customs departments, the activity will be expanded to other provinces than the 6 selected provinces, namely Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Binh Duong, Long An and Tay Ninh. The training will be conducted hybrid on the Webex platform, in which participants from the 4 Northern Provinces (Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh and Lang Son) will attend directly while the others from the Central and Southern provinces will participate online.  

Tentative Training Agenda:

Objectives:

• Improve the knowledge and techniques/skills of local customs officers in the 6 selected provinces and other provinces on how to prevent and handle cases on fraud in origin and illegal transshipment;
• Update the tools and measures applicable in Vietnam and other countries;
• Provide case studies to demonstrate the effective enforcement and application;
• Provide instruction on the future duties of local customs officers

Tasks & Responsibilities:

• To produce materials in the forms of PowerPoint (a must for the presentation), Words/ Excel and others on the following topics:
  
  • US-China Trade War and its impacts on Vietnam
  • American Act 301 and its investigation on currency devaluation against Vietnam
  • Updating trade remedy cases
  • Fraud behaviors in import-export activities
  • Fraud behaviors in simple processing activities
  • Fraud behaviors in labelling
  • Case Studies of Origin Fraud and Illegal Transshipment
  • Obstacles in handling the results of investigation
  • Reference to the set of criteria to identify cases of origin verification and some countries’ templates of questionnaires to examine and verify the origin
• Together with experts from Customs Control and Supervision Department (GDVC) and Foreign Trade Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade - MOIT), to deliver the training course to customs officers from different provinces, including the 6 selected ones to answer questions raised at the training.

Qualifications:

Ideally, the Consultant should have:

• Master's degrees in law, international trade, customs administration, trade policy, economics, business administration, or similar field (Bachelor degree with more than 10 years of experience in field may be accepted);
• Minimum 10 years of experience coordinating or working with line ministries and/or customs in Vietnam at central or provincial level;
• Proven experience of working with, or practical knowledge of origin fraud and illegal transshipment;
• Good understanding of Vietnam and other countries rules and laws on handling violation cases of origin fraud and illegal transshipment;
• Background knowledge and understanding of the current status of Vietnam as related to this topic;
• Proficient in word processing, spreadsheets and office software such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Google Applications;
• Good communicator with fluency in Vietnamese and English and with strong written, oral and presentation skills

Reporting:

The National Consultant(s) will be required to report to the Program Deputy Chief of Party Nguyen Hong Son ([email protected]) and Trade Facilitation Coordinator Vu Minh Nguyet ([email protected])

How to apply:

Applications should be submitted no later than February 07, 2022 to [email protected]

Applications should include:

1. Cover letter (no longer than 1 page)
2. CVs (see attached template);
3. Updated USAID 1420 form (see attached template)
4. Cost proposal (See attached template)