According to local Chinese media, Unilever, one of the world's largest consumer products conglomerates, has been involved in a smuggling scandal in China.
It is reported that four parties — Unilever China's purchasing department and the department's chemical outsourcing assistant manager Fan Jun; Bronson and Jacobs (Shanghai) International Trading Company; an importing agent of Unilever; and its acting business manager, Zhang Hao — have been taken to court and accused of smuggling. The parties were said to have intentionally used another name in importing chemical materials for Unilever to evade tax payments and the total tax they evaded had amounted to CNY3.17 million.
It is reported in various media that from October 2002 to February 2008, Unilever's purchasing department imported 74 quotas of steroid through Bronson and Jacobs (Shanghai), thus evading paying CNY2.19 million in tax. In addition, from January 2005 to April 2006, the company used a similar approach and imported 15 quotas through Shanghai Zhao Heng Industrial Company and eight quotas through NK Chemicals (Nanjing), which helped it evade paying a total of CNY980,000 in tax.
Reports state that transnational companies have long taken advantage of the management loopholes of the Chinese customs to smuggle goods to evade tax. In 2003, Fuji Xerox, another well-known multinational company, was found to be involved in a similar smuggling case.
