New decree coming to regulate fertiliser market better

The Plant Protection Department is set to issue a new decree on fertiliser management to encourage legitimate producers and eradicate fake products, which are widepsread. — Photo tuoitre

HCM City – The Plant Protection Department is set to issue a new decree on fertiliser management to encourage legitimate producers and eradicate fake products, which are widepsread.

“In the existing decree on fertiliser management, many provisions are outdated and not in line with the practical situation,” Hoàng Trung, the head of the department, admitted at a seminar held last week to solicit ideas for the new decree.

Producers themselves are allowed to verify the quality of their products and announce them without having to go through the authorities, he said.

“This has affected buyers because many enterprises do not appraise their products but still claim high quality.”

La Hoàng Đức, general director of Ngọc Tùng Limited Company, said: “We are looking for a new decree because with the current one we have thought many times about stopping production because many of its provisions make us very unhappy.”

He said he had even planned to close his US$10 million plant in Long An several times.

“Market watch forces do not know how to take samples and give us wrong test results.”

He said in the new decree authorities must define low-quality fertilisers and increase the penalties on such products.

“The old decree carries the same level of fines whether there is a 0.5 per cent shortage of chemical ingredients or 20 per cent. Authorities must have different fines for different levels of shortage.”

But Vũ Tu Nghĩa, director of An Lạc Development and Investment Joint Stock company, said: “We are afraid of regulation changes because we will have to spend time waiting for the new decree to stabilise and it is costly for us.”

He also objected to the requirement that each company must have its own laboratory.

“A laboratory costs VNĐ500 million – VNĐ1.5 billion (US$22,000 – 66,000) besides which we have signed a contract to measure quality with a State quality measurement centre.”

Trung said: “In the new decree we will consider fixing responsibility on users for proper fertiliser use to reduce waste and protect the environment.

“The new decree will stipulate that users should use the right fertilisers for each crop, at the right time and in the right quantity.”

The decree would improve oversight to eradicate fraudulent companies, he said.

“The old decree has failed to manage the fertiliser industry.”

As of the end of last year over 6,000 fertiliser products had been licensed, and in the first quarter of 2017 another 3,000 were added to the list.

“There are 300 applications for building fertiliser plants waiting for approval and they will increase the number of plants to over 500, too many for the country,” Trung added.