Agree to exempt export tax on farmed python skin

The Government also assigned the Ministry of Finance to provide specific implementation instructions for businesses and livestock households.

The Prime Minister has just issued Official Dispatch No. 4013/VPCP-KTTH agreeing with the proposal to exempt export tax on farmed python skin products and assigned the Ministry of Finance to provide specific implementation instructions.

According to the official dispatch of the Ministry of Finance reporting to the Prime Minister on the proposal to exempt export tax of 9 farms and enterprises breeding pythons and exporting python skins in Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City, for many years, the successful breeding of pythons including black pythons and yellow pythons has brought great benefits to households and python breeding facilities in the South, creating jobs and taking advantage of surplus food sources from nature.

Python skins are mainly exported to earn foreign currency and ensure compliance with national and international regulations. The 5% export tax on python skins has significantly affected the breeding and export of python skins, while python breeders face many difficulties because they cannot access preferential loans.

The Ministry of Finance also said that information about the python farming industry for export in Vietnam is generally not large in scale, only at the level of households with farms and home processing facilities or linking many farms and households, but there are no processing factories.

From 2011 to now, this industry has also been affected by the domestic and international economic crisis, the demand and export price of raw python skin have been decreasing, the average export price of raw python skin from Vietnam in 2009 was 27.7 USD/piece, down to 19.8 USD/piece in 2011; meanwhile, the price of animal feed in 2011 doubled compared to 2010, in 2012 increased about 17% compared to 2011.

The export turnover of python skin in 2012 was only about 55.17% compared to 2011. Currently, the amount of python skin remaining in stock in farmers' households is estimated at 14,000 to 15,000 pieces, the farming output in 2012 was about 60% compared to 2011. The current exported python skin products of Vietnam are determined to be legally in accordance with the CITES Convention on python farming for skin in Vietnam.

Based on that situation, the Ministry of Finance stated that python farming households are facing difficulties in capital, export markets, and the farming scale is shrinking. In addition, the python farming and processing project is not a project eligible for State investment credit loans.

The export tax rate of 5% for raw hides of various animals, including python skin, is currently the floor rate of the Export Tax Schedule prescribed by the National Assembly Standing Committee in Resolution No. 295/2007/NQ-UBTVQH12 dated September 28, 2007, so it cannot be reduced to 0% as proposed by farm owners.

Therefore, according to the Ministry of Finance, to remove difficulties for python breeders, based on the authority stipulated in Clause 11, Article 16 of the Law on Export Tax and Import Tax No. 45/2005/QH11, it is possible to apply import tax exemption "for other specific cases decided by the Prime Minister".

Before submitting to the Government, the Ministry of Finance also sent a document asking for opinions from relevant ministries and branches. The opinions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the State Bank were basically in agreement with the opinion of the Ministry of Finance.

According to (vov.vn) - LT