The time and cost involved in inspecting imported animal feed should be reduced by half, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat.
He made the statement at a meeting held on Friday to discuss difficulties northern businesses in the animal husbandry sector face, which could become a bigger problem as Viet Nam's free trade agreements with other countries are soon to come into effect.
Plant quarantine and animal feed quality inspections greatly affect domestic businesses that import animal feed. Storage fees at ports during quarantine are one of the biggest issues, Director General of Quang Minh Corporation Tran Thanh Quang said at the meeting.
Raw materials imported for animal feed production must undergo plant quarantine procedures and quality inspection.
"This is a time-consuming procedure that may take up to 10 days," he said.
Doan Trong Ly, director general of Aprocimex, an animal feed processing joint stock company, attributed the high price of raw material for animal feed in Viet Nam to quality inspections and storage fees.
Ly suggested authorities inspect only ten per cent of incoming orders instead of the current rule, which mandates every order be inspected. The current rule, in his opinion, causes unnecessary costs for businesses.
Other participants at the meeting also called for a change.
"Why must importers wait for weeks, or spend billions of dong on storage fees, if they haven't made any violations for a long time, like 10 years? " said Pham Van Tiep, director of ABC joint stock company.
According to Bui Si Danh, a deputy at the Plant Protection Department, testing every incoming container is a standard practice of international customs.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development ordered the Animal Husbandry and Plant Protection Departments to hold talks with businesses later this month to find ways to minimise the time and monetary costs. The proposals should be submitted to the minister before May 30, he said.
The minister requested that the Plant Protection Department study the frequency of inspections around the world, especially exporting countries that demand inspections be done before they provide quality certificates for their product.
He also asked the department to add more human resources and equipment to speed up the inspection process and thereby avoid stockpiling imports at the Hai Phong Port
