|
Sugar and salt once again cause headaches to ministries
Salt producers and users have repeatedly asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to allow importing salt. Meanwhile, sugar producers have repeatedly asked for the permission to export sugar. What is happening?
The paradox in salt import
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the salt output would exceed the demand by 70,000 tons. However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade still has granted quotas allowing enterprises to import 100,000 tons of industrial salt.
Enterprises want to import salt, because the imports not only are cheaper than domestic products, but also allow them to enjoy the tariff of 10-15 percent if they import salt within the quotas. Meanwhile, the normal tariff is 50-60 percent.
The price gap has prompted intermediate enterprises to ask for the permission to import salt and then resell to chemical enterprises for profits. The Southern Basic Chemicals Corporation has been found as importing industrial salt, but then sold 23,000 tons to the market for profits.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien also thinks that the quota scheme has brought the chances to enterprises, to dodge the laws to seek profit. Therefore, it would be better not to grant import quotas, but to manage the imports with the tax policies.
The ministry has been urged to examine import enterprises which were granted quotas to find out the real demand of enterprises. Some experts have suggested cutting down the number of importers for easier management. MARD and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) need to find out the real demand for industrial salt for the immediate time use and long term use. This will allow MARD to program the development of industrial salt production.
The problem in sugar export
The recent contradictory pieces of news have puzzled the public. However, experts have said that the sugar output and supply have always been instable in the last many years; the oversupply may occur this month, but short supply would be seen the next month.
While salt producers ask for salt import, sugar producers are seeking the permission to export 250,000 tons. Explaining this, the Vietnam Sugar and Sugarcane Association said that the supply has exceeded the demand, while the domestic consumption has been going very slowly. Since enterprises cannot sell products, they do not have capital for the next crop.
However, the proposal has been facing the opposition from some involved parties. Vu Vinh Phu, Chair of the Hanoi Supermarket Association, said that MOIT needs to think carefully about the proposal.
He recalled that in 2011, sugar companies made two contradictory proposals just within a month relating to the sugar import and export. This showed that the companies only acted for their benefits, while they did not care for the benefits of people.
Meanwhile, Doan Xuan Hoa, a senior official of MARD, has said that the sugar cane crop has not finished yet, and there has been no exact figure about the sugar output. Therefore, MARD still cannot make decisions.
In early 2012, after consulting with MARD, MOIT agreed to allow exporting 30,000 tons of sugar. However, to date, the quota has not been used up.
Do Thanh Liem, Deputy Chair of the Vietnam Sugar and Sugarcane Association, has commented that MOIT has been insisting on the quota scheme to control the sugar prices. However, a lot of loopholes have been found in the scheme, because the ministries cannot be sure if the enterprises make the imports or exports.
vietnamnet
|
