"Clean up" the fertilizer market

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Imported fertilizers at Customs Branch of Saigon port, Zone I. Photo: Thu Hoa.

Many tricks

According to the Plant Protection Department (the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), Vietnam is currently unable to produce pesticides, so most of the pesticides used in Vietnam must be imported.

According to the Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine, 100% of lots of plant protection drugs, technical pesticides and fertilizers imported into Vietnam must be inspected by the State for quality. Only shipments of plant protection drugs and fertilizers of new quality shall be imported and put into circulation in the market.

However, the transported and traded forms of smuggled pesticides are very sophisticated, with small quantities, mainly through trails, openings along the border, sold in the highland markets and transported inland. Thus, the detection, fighting and seizure for smuggled goods is very difficult.

At the same time, the production and trading of pesticides are difficult to detect in small quantities. Thus, it needs coordination of relevant agencies in the struggle to prevent the production and trading of fake drugs and pesticides.

Specifically, the Market Management Branch of Lam Dong recently coordinated with the relevant agencies to check and take samples of fertilizer sold in three stores selling fertilizer in Di Linh district, discovered that fertilizer samples Alpha 3 micronutrient NPK produced at Tan Viet Phat Export - Import Joint Stock Company (address at Cam An hamlet, Cam Giang commune, Go Dau district, Tay Ninh province); N-P-K 15-7-21 + 13S + TE + Bo manufactured at Viet Na Co., Ltd (Address at Bay Mau Industrial Zone, Khanh Long Quarter, Tan Phuoc Khanh Ward, Tan Uyen Town, Binh Duong Province); NPK 16-10-16 + TE produced at Ba Bac Company Limited (Address at Phu My 1 Industrial Zone, Tan Thanh District, Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province) were of poor quality

On 27 November 2017, the Standing Office of the National Steering Committee 389 sent Official Letter No. 426 / VPTT-TH to the Steering Committee 389 of Tay Ninh, Binh Duong, Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces and related agencies. They shall request the verification and inspection of fertilizer production establishments which have products not compatible with the announced applicable standards. Verification results show that only one batch of fertilizer is produced, with quantities ranging from 80 to 100 tons, without samples as prescribed.

Notably, there are new tricks for production, trading fertilizer, fertilizer tax evasion, with a number of fertilizer production companies linking, contracting sales to an investment unit to provide directly to those who use agricultural produce. They do not market it, or sell fertilizers to business organizations or individuals, but agree to sign contracts for the purpose of evading state taxes and selling their products. Poor quality fertilizer, causes difficulties to the functional agencies in the inspection, detection and handling of violations.

Conduct investigation

The detection and treatment of the smuggling, producing and trading of fertilizers and pesticides are still limited and ineffective due to inadequate provisions of law by the authorities.

According to the Standing Office of National Steering Committee 389, the implementation of the Law is still overlapped due to the inconsistency between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. This is especially the guideline on inspection work stipulated in Circular 29 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Circular 41 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, resulting in the wrong perception and implementation of the functional agencies. Besides, the authorities have not closely monitored the production of fertilizers and pesticides, so many of the enterprises produce low-quality products in the market, negatively affecting farmers.

Therefore, the Director of the Standing Office of the National Steering Committee 389, Mr. Dam Thanh The, suggested that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) should closely coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to remove inadequacies, overlaps and inconsistencies in the regulations on fertilizer management between the two ministries.

Regarding the shortcomings, Mr. Nguyen Quy Duong, Deputy Head of the Plant Protection Department said that, the management mechanism focused on post-clearance audits while the inspection forces were still very limited, so fertilizers of poor quality were "hot" issues in society, causing a lot of consequences, from economic losses to producers, causing environmental pollution, low productivity of agricultural products. In addition, till now, the detection and treatment of violations of fertilizer production and fertilizers of poor quality, were weak and limited.

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In order to overcome this situation, the Deputy Director of the Plant Protection Department has requested the National Steering Committee 389 to direct the competent agencies to closely coordinate, investigate and strictly handle organizations trading fake fertilizers or fertilizers of poor quality. Particularly, the Ministry of Public Security shall set up specialized projects to investigate, detect and arrest criminal organizations and individuals producing fake fertilizers in accordance with the provisions of the Law.