Rice bags for exports (Source: cafef.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - According to a newgovernmental decree, rice-exporting businesses will no longer be required toown rice storage, paddy milling and grinding facilities with processingcapacities of 5,000 tonnes of rice and 10 tonnes of paddy per hour, respectively.
Instead, they now can rent such facilities fromother agencies and organisations. The capacity volume requirements are alsoremoved. The change comes thanks to a new Decree 107/2018/ND-CP that willreplace the Decree 109/2010/ND-CP aiming to remove difficulties and legalbarriers for rice businesses to expand into foreign markets. It will come intoeffect on October 1 this year.
According to Tran Van Cong, Deputy Director of theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s (MARD) Agro Processing andMarket Development Authority, the new decree will help rice traders cut costssignificantly.
Cong said the conditions in old Decree 109 hadhampered the businesses’ rice exports as it required the rice traders to own atleast one rice store and one rice husking and grinding facility with fixedcapacity.
“Businesses have lost a lot of opportunities toexport rice due to the above conditions. They produced high-quality rice, whichcould compete with other producers in the world, but they lack capital to buildsuch facilities. Therefore, they failed to export rice and develop foreignmarkets,” said Cong.
As for the traders exporting organic rice,parboiling rice and multi-micronutrient fortified rice, the new decree allowsbusinesses to export these types of rice without a certificate of eligibilityfor rice export business.
It also states that the rice traders will not haveto reserve product for circulation but will still be responsible for reportingon their activities in accordance with regulations.
When carrying out customs procedures, tradersexporting rice, organic rice, parboiling rice and multi-micronutrient fortifiedrice only need to submit to the customs authority the original or a writtencopy with confirmation authenticated by relevant agencies that the rice exportsare in conformity with criteria issued by MARD and the Ministry of Health.
Nguyen Minh Thien, Managing Director of Co May Groupin the southern province of Dong Thap, told Vietnam News that the new decreewas a good decision by the Government. It proved that the Government hadlistened, understood and resolved problems of business community in general andrice traders in particular.
“Although the decree is issued late, it will helpbusinesses, like my company, have the opportunity to develop new markets,” Thiensaid.
Thien recalled that he had participated in an expoin Thailand last year, not for seeking opportunities to export but to learn themarketing methods of foreign businesses and evaluate his rice product’s qualityin the market.
“We cooked rice and invited visitors to enjoy it.Our rice attracted a lot of customers because of its fragrance and goodquality. Many businesses wanted to import our rice but I had to ignore them.
I couldn’t explain to them that my company did notmeet the Vietnamese Government’s conditions on rice exports, although I canaffirm that my rice products can directly compete with Thailand’s rice both inquality and price. I don’t dare to offer big contracts of rice exports. I lostthe opportunity to directly export my rice product,” said Thien.
With this new decree, Thien said his company hadset up a long-term plan to develop foreign markets. It will first focus onSingapore and then the US.
The Co May Group is currently exporting rice toSingapore via an entrusted import company at a moderate quantity of about 70tonnes of rice per month, supplying retail supermarkets with the brand name CoMay.
“With the new decree, now that we don’t need acertificate of export, we will offer big contracts. The most important factoris that good products and reasonable prices will attract customers,” said Thien.
In addition, Cong said this decree would greatlyreduce costs for businesses as it cuts administrative procedures and conditionsrelated to storage and rice processing facilities.
“I believe that the new decree will effectivelysupport the consumption of rice products. With such advantages, I expect anincrease in the number of enterprises involved in rice export, helpingVietnamese rice reach far into new markets,” said Cong.
In the first seven months of this year, Vietnam’srice exports reached 3.93 million tonnes with turnover of nearly 2 billion USD,up 12.8 percent in volume and 32 percent in value over the same period lastyear.
From late 2017 until now, the prices of Vietnameserice have risen continuously. Currently, the price is higher than that ofcompetitors such as Thailand, India and Pakistan by up to $100 per tonne. Thedemand for quality rice in the world has increased; meanwhile the country’srestructuring of rice production has helped raise the volume of quality rice,significantly contributing to increasing the rice exports of Vietnam.-VNS/VNA
Instead, they now can rent such facilities fromother agencies and organisations. The capacity volume requirements are alsoremoved. The change comes thanks to a new Decree 107/2018/ND-CP that willreplace the Decree 109/2010/ND-CP aiming to remove difficulties and legalbarriers for rice businesses to expand into foreign markets. It will come intoeffect on October 1 this year.
According to Tran Van Cong, Deputy Director of theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s (MARD) Agro Processing andMarket Development Authority, the new decree will help rice traders cut costssignificantly.
Cong said the conditions in old Decree 109 hadhampered the businesses’ rice exports as it required the rice traders to own atleast one rice store and one rice husking and grinding facility with fixedcapacity.
“Businesses have lost a lot of opportunities toexport rice due to the above conditions. They produced high-quality rice, whichcould compete with other producers in the world, but they lack capital to buildsuch facilities. Therefore, they failed to export rice and develop foreignmarkets,” said Cong.
As for the traders exporting organic rice,parboiling rice and multi-micronutrient fortified rice, the new decree allowsbusinesses to export these types of rice without a certificate of eligibilityfor rice export business.
It also states that the rice traders will not haveto reserve product for circulation but will still be responsible for reportingon their activities in accordance with regulations.
When carrying out customs procedures, tradersexporting rice, organic rice, parboiling rice and multi-micronutrient fortifiedrice only need to submit to the customs authority the original or a writtencopy with confirmation authenticated by relevant agencies that the rice exportsare in conformity with criteria issued by MARD and the Ministry of Health.
Nguyen Minh Thien, Managing Director of Co May Groupin the southern province of Dong Thap, told Vietnam News that the new decreewas a good decision by the Government. It proved that the Government hadlistened, understood and resolved problems of business community in general andrice traders in particular.
“Although the decree is issued late, it will helpbusinesses, like my company, have the opportunity to develop new markets,” Thiensaid.
Thien recalled that he had participated in an expoin Thailand last year, not for seeking opportunities to export but to learn themarketing methods of foreign businesses and evaluate his rice product’s qualityin the market.
“We cooked rice and invited visitors to enjoy it.Our rice attracted a lot of customers because of its fragrance and goodquality. Many businesses wanted to import our rice but I had to ignore them.
I couldn’t explain to them that my company did notmeet the Vietnamese Government’s conditions on rice exports, although I canaffirm that my rice products can directly compete with Thailand’s rice both inquality and price. I don’t dare to offer big contracts of rice exports. I lostthe opportunity to directly export my rice product,” said Thien.
With this new decree, Thien said his company hadset up a long-term plan to develop foreign markets. It will first focus onSingapore and then the US.
The Co May Group is currently exporting rice toSingapore via an entrusted import company at a moderate quantity of about 70tonnes of rice per month, supplying retail supermarkets with the brand name CoMay.
“With the new decree, now that we don’t need acertificate of export, we will offer big contracts. The most important factoris that good products and reasonable prices will attract customers,” said Thien.
In addition, Cong said this decree would greatlyreduce costs for businesses as it cuts administrative procedures and conditionsrelated to storage and rice processing facilities.
“I believe that the new decree will effectivelysupport the consumption of rice products. With such advantages, I expect anincrease in the number of enterprises involved in rice export, helpingVietnamese rice reach far into new markets,” said Cong.
In the first seven months of this year, Vietnam’srice exports reached 3.93 million tonnes with turnover of nearly 2 billion USD,up 12.8 percent in volume and 32 percent in value over the same period lastyear.
From late 2017 until now, the prices of Vietnameserice have risen continuously. Currently, the price is higher than that ofcompetitors such as Thailand, India and Pakistan by up to $100 per tonne. Thedemand for quality rice in the world has increased; meanwhile the country’srestructuring of rice production has helped raise the volume of quality rice,significantly contributing to increasing the rice exports of Vietnam.-VNS/VNA
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