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Dairy farmers sour over import taxes
The lowering of import taxes on milk materials last year has put dairy farmers raising milch cows in a very difficult position.
Do Kim Tuyen, an official of the Animal Husbandry Department under Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry, said that many milk processing companies had minimised buying fresh milk due to the current low tariffs and world prices of milk materials.
He said each kilogram of milk processed from imported milk materials was priced at about VND4,000 per litre while the price of local fresh milk is VND7,000 per litre.
Last year, authorities decreased import tariffs on skimmed milk and full-cream milk to 3-7 per cent from 10-34 per cent when world prices of milk materials including skimmed and full-cream milk rose to US$5,000 per tonne.
World prices of both kinds of milk have fallen by 50 per cent, but import tariffs on milk materials have stayed the same although the ministry, farmers and some domestic milk processing companies have called many times for an increase.
Hoang Kim Giao, head of the department, said that increasing import tariffs would not lead to a corresponding increase in the prices of milk and other diary products in the market if authorities implement suitable mechanisms to control quality and pricing.
Other experts say that new varieties of milch cows from foreign countries, especially Australia, should be imported and modern technology applied in order to increase output.
Decreasing production costs and ensuring high quality of fresh milk will help farmers earn sufficient profit, they feel.
Additionally, the State should continue to encourage enterprises to sign purchase contracts with farmers at fair prices.
vietnamnews
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