Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered ministries to ensure this year’s trade deficit does not exceed 20 percent of total export turnover.
In a directive released by the Government office on January 4 to ministries, the PM asked that exports be stepped up, product quality improved, and the trade balance maintained to restrain the trade deficit in 2010.
He assigned the Industry and Trade Ministry to consider the promulgation of regulations that impose export and tax quotas, or import licenses on importers of commodities that are potentially harmful to the environment, crops, domestic animals, or human health.
Such regulations should be announced soon for immediate implementation in the first quarter, the PM said.
The Industry and Trade Minister must first suspend the import of commodities with unknown origin or of unknown quality via cross-border trade, and then make reports to the Government in case the ministry does the same for such commodities via official trade, Mr. Dung added.
