A rice field in the Mekong Delta - the rice granary of Vietnam (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Industry and Trade has asked thePrime Minister to postpone the implementation of a decision on suspending riceexport.
On March 24, the General Department of Vietnam Customs issued an urgent document asking provincial and municipalDepartments of Customs to suspend the export of rice starting from 0:00am ofMarch 24.
In the document,Deputy General Director Mai Xuan Thanh said this is to implement a conclusionby Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a meeting of the cabinet on ensuring foodsecurity in the context of the COVID-19.
Explaining the MoIT’s latest proposal, Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Khanhsaid the ministry had earlier recommended the Government to temporarily haltrice exports due to concerns that the country might face the risk of riceshortage for domestic consumption after Vietnam’s rice exports in the first twomonths of the year surged by 32 percent year-on-year to 930,000 tonnes amid risingdemand for rice and strongly fluctuating prices on the world market under theimpact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, following the General Department of VietnamCustoms’ instruction, several localities and firmsreported that there is a gap between statistics on rice stocks of the MoIT and thoseof localities and trading companies, especially regarding the rice output ofthe Winter-Spring crop in the Mekong Delta and the volume of rice kept byfarmers and traders.
Therefore, the MoIT asked for the postponement of the order on riceexport suspension in order to conduct a review of the rice stocks in thecountry.
The gap between the ministry’s statistics and those of trading companiesis due to the fact that rice exporters are not required to report their tradingactivities, stocks and reserves under Decree 107/2018/ND-CP.
According to DeputyMinister Khanh, some businesses said riceexports in March would not increase as fast as forecast, even slow down. Anumber of provinces also reported that farmers are keeping large quantity ofrice.
The MoIT’s viewpoint is that food security must be the top priority, thedeputy minister said, adding that the ministry had planned measures to easedifficulties for trading businesses in case rice exports are suspended. One ofthe measures is to work with banks to reduce interest rates on the businesses’loans, he said./.
VNA
