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Imports of several classes of steel products no
longer require approval from the Ministry of Industry and Trade. —
VNA/VNS Photo |
Under the circular, domestic importers of non-alloy
flat rolled steel products with a width of over 600mm and the
zinc-plated and coloured steel products will have to receive permission
from the ministry.
The ministry will offer the automatic import licences
for importers under the form of confirmation for import application for
each batch.
The ministry's import-export management department will
take responsibility for issuing the licence to the enterprises within
seven days of the enterprises submitting their import application.
The circular will take effect as of September and will expire on December 31, 2010.
The move aims to prevent an influx of imported steel
products, especially those already produced by domestic enterprises, a
problem which has partly contributed to the country's trade deficit.
Pham Chi Cuong, chairman of the Viet Nam Steel
Association said that the automatic licences on import products would
aid authorities in exercising greater control over these imports.
In the first six months of the year, the country
imported more than 200,000 tonnes of rolled steel products, including
41,000 tonnes in June alone, according to the association.
Most steel products imported to Viet Nam come from ASEAN countries and China.
At present, the retail steel price of domestic
enterprises stands at VND14.3-14.5 million (US$752-762) per tonne while
imported steel products are VND500,000- 700,000 cheaper per tonne than
domestic products.
The majority of imported steel products consist of
construction, zinc-plated, and coloured steel despite domestic producers
having excess capacity.
The automatic import licences have been applied by the
ministry of Industry and Trade from early 2009 and at present there are
eight commodities which have to apply for automatic import licences.
In May this year, the ministry proposed to expand this
list to 26 commodities, of which majority are food, fashion and interior
products. — VNS
by http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/
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