The Ministry of Industry and Trade has recently hosted a seminar to introduce documents for the implementation of Decree 109/2010/ND-CP on rice export business in Ho Chi Minh City. According to participants, if Decree 109 is rigidly applied, the “door” for nearly 200 rice exporters will be shut as they fail to meet rice export requirements.
At the meeting, authorities and companies loudly complained that Decree 109 had some infeasible and troublesome regulations. For example, it ruled that companies must have warehouses and husking facilities in the province and city thereof when they apply for export certificates.
To help rice exporters to deal with difficulties, Mr Truong Thanh Phong, Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), said whereas companies are not required to have infrastructure in the same locality, they should be licensed in case they meet all requirements for infrastructure and machinery.
Speaking of existing difficulties facing rice exporters, Mr Ong Hoang Van Khoe, a rice exporter representative, complained that if Decree 109 is inflexibly applied, the “door” for his company and more than 200 rice companies will be closed. Mr. Khoe said he himself was born into a farming family and he decided to open a rice exporting company to be more successful in a market economy. Although his company does not have a big warehouse or husking facility, it has exported a lot of rice to the world market, helping Vietnam assert its position on the world rice market. If the Government and ministries tighten regulations on small and medium enterprises like they plan to do, his company and others will face an appalling dilemma.
An official from An Giang Provincial People's Committee said companies need more time to meet conditions imposed by the Government, suggesting another year beyond the currently fixed deadline. At present, An Giang province can only license eight out of 40 rice exporters and is considering licence for four others.
Mr Phong said Vietnam now has 211 rice exporters but only 47 are actually capable, holding 87 percent of rice exports. For the time being, some 80 companies are eligible for rice export licences in accordance with Decree 109. In fact, 49 companies have been authorised.
Reportedly, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will license five new rice exporters in the coming time. By the end of August, as many as 49 companies will be granted rice export licences in accordance with Decree 109. Besides, to loosen regulations on rice exporters, the ministry will allow seven out of 40 companies to lease dryers or warehouses when they prepare to invest in their own facilities.
While waiting for the Government to perform a rescue, Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Nguyen Thanh Bien proposed that ineligible companies cooperate with licensed ones to participate in production and business activities.
In another development, the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) said rice exporters registered to ship 6.2 million tonnes of rice in 2011, an increase of 15 percent over 2010. They have exported more than 4.7 million tonnes worth US$2.2 billion, up 17 percent in volume and 27 percent in value over the same period in 2010. They are expected to send more than 1 million tonnes abroad in August and October 9 2011. In the whole year, the total export volume will reach 7 million tonnes.
Ha Linh
Vietnamese
