>> Official rejects VN’s violations of WTO price policy
>> Consumer awareness vital to steady milk prices
>> Imported milk prices on the rise in anticipation of new law
>> Milk prices rise again
>> Perhaps there is a reason to cry over spilt milk
The Ministry of Finance is reviewing milk prices and the cause for their changes.
 |
| Consumers hope that milk prices would be more reasonable in the future (Illustrative photo) |
According to Nguyen Anh Tuan, Vice Director of the Price Management Department under the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the inspection over all dairy companies and retailers is being conducted by the MoF in a bid to collect data and make public enterprises that have to register their imported milk prices with the MoF.
The list of enterprises that must register their imported milk prices to the MoF will be announced to the public before October 1, which is also the date when Circular No 122/2010 comes into effect.
Circular No 122/2010 is a regulation requiring that dairy companies register imported powdered milk prices for infants under the age of six with the MoF\'s Price Management Department or the provincial departments of finance.
“After that we will provide this list to all provinces and cities nationwide. More importantly, dairy companies should be self-conscious in checking whether they are are on this list and then register their imported milk prices according to the circular No.122/2010. If companies are found to be in violation, the highest administrative penalty imposed for them is VND40 million ($2,032),” emphasised Tuan.
Tuan also added that it would not be easy to complete the list and checking the registration of dairy enterprises because there are now about 500 dairy companies and retailers in Ho Chi Minh City alone.
Tuan said that after the issuance of the circular, as of September 24, the MoF had received commitment from only one company, namely Mead Johnson Vietnam, saying that their milk prices would not be increased from now before the year ends.
“This shows that the milk price increases among dairy enterprises has been unreasonable. Milk producers and importers had attributed higher exchange rates and input costs to the rise in milk prices. However, according to the Ministry of Industry & Trade, input costs and milk prices in international markets have not gone up. In addition, the adjustment of the new average inter-bank rate is only about 2%. Meanwhile, the milk price have surged by 7-10%,” stated Tuan.
Tuan provided more details on establishing the circular. He said that when the circular was in the process of being drafted, his department and the MoF were very cautious and consulted opinions of ambassadors of countries that export milk to Vietnam.
At the same time, the MoF also conducted a public opinion poll through its website and collected feedback from relevant ministries, agencies and People’s Committees of provinces and cities. After the survey on the circular, most of them supported the MoF’s policy.
“Several dairy companies were opposed to this circular. They probably had complained to their ambassadors before the circular was issued. However, these ambassadors just sent their recommendations on the circular. They did not show disagreement against it,” said Tuan.
In a common letter addressed to the ministry, the ambassadors said the new price control mechanism would affect Vietnam’s efforts towards a market economy as well as its performance of WTO regulations.
It could also hamper the attraction of foreign investment and development of the labour market, the diplomats said.
“As an agency specialising in managing prices, we have thoroughly considered all feedback and opinions of those who we had consulted as well as rechecked all regulations related to Vietnam’s WTO accession. We can conclude that Circular 122/2010/TT-BTC did not break any of Vietnam\'s price commitments to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Thus, we submitted the complete circular to the MoF,” said Tuan.
As of September 25, the General Department of Customs requested all provinces and cities pay attention to checking imported milk prices.
If the difference in imported milk prices among the same kind of products is over 10%, it’s necessary to check those products after customs clearance.
In addition, after customs clearance, it’s necessary to find answers to questions on registering milk prices in an unreasonable manner before being imported into Vietnam.