Fertilizers are counterfeited from packaging to inspection seals.

Counterfeit products not only appear in fertilizer production facilities and sales agents, but also infiltrate testing and inspection rooms... to deceive consumers.

This painful reality was raised by experts and businesses at the workshop "Reestablishing Vietnam's fertilizer market" on the morning of September 28.

According to Mr. Nguyen Hac Thuy - Vice President of the Fertilizer Association, the situation of fertilizer production using "hoe, shovel" technology, counterfeiting labels and packaging of famous brands has decreased significantly. However, products that do not guarantee quality are still flourishing, causing frustration and damage to farmers.

According to statistics from the Fertilizer Association, there are 800-1,000 establishments nationwide producing this product. Of which, nearly 50% of the fertilizer samples tested did not meet the quality standards as registered and declared on the packaging. These subjects took advantage of loopholes in legal regulations on total nutritional quality, ambiguous content on the packaging... causing confusion and deception to consumers.

Fake fertilizers are becoming a common phenomenon, causing harm to consumers. Photo: Customs Newspaper

“The domestic fertilizer market is spontaneously produced, wherever it can be done, it is done, there has not been a revolution to restore order. Counterfeit products not only appear in fertilizer production facilities and sales agents, but also infiltrate into testing and inspection rooms,” Mr. Thuy stated the reality.

Pointing out a series of violations in the fake fertilizer business that were discovered and prosecuted but have so far remained “silent” or only been administratively handled, the Vice President of the Fertilizer Association doubts the vested interests and protection of law enforcement forces in these cases. “These elements are like “time bombs” that sabotage and illegally profit,” Mr. Thuy commented.

Citing a recent incident when the Standing Office 389 inspected and discovered 1/3 of the products of Thuan Phong Fertilizer Joint Stock Company (Dong Nai). Although the Prime Minister had directly directed, the locality arbitrarily let the company off the hook and only handled the administrative action. "Should this be considered a typical example of group interests? What do the ministries and branches think?", Mr. Thuy asked.

Currently, the Vietnamese market has about 7,000 fertilizer products, while other countries in the world only have about 300 products. There are so many products that even an expert, Mr. Nguyen Huy Cuong - Deputy Director General of the General Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said that in many cases, he himself cannot distinguish between real and fake fertilizers on the market.

“That shows that the level of counterfeiting by these subjects is very sophisticated, but the current penalties are too light. Not to mention the unclear regulations on fake fertilizers and poor quality fertilizers among ministries and branches... causing farmers to face a matrix of fertilizers on the market,” Mr. Cuong said.

The report of the Market Management Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) also shows that the results of inspections and penalties for the production and trading of fake and poor quality fertilizers recorded an average of nearly 4,000 cases each year. In 2013 and the last 6 months of 2014, this agency inspected more than 5,300 violations and penalized nearly 1,500 cases.

But Mr. Cuong said that although many have been discovered, the sanctions are not strong enough, mainly administrative fines. "Businesses accept paying fines because the fines are too small, just like "scratching an itch", so they just pay the fine and continue working," he said.

Another shortcoming that Mr. Luong Quoc Doai - Vice President of the Vietnam Farmers' Association frankly pointed out is that there are thousands of types and brands of fertilizers produced and supplied by manufacturing enterprises on the market, causing farmers to fall into a "matrix" when choosing this product. "The number of products is too large, people cannot remember or understand the effects; there is no way to recognize or distinguish between real and fake fertilizers. This is a loophole for dishonest businesses to take advantage of to confuse and deceive consumers," Mr. Doai shared.

Mr. Bui Manh Tien - General Director of Ca Mau Fertilizer Company said that the market is too easygoing, which has unintentionally created "land" for unscrupulous manufacturing enterprises to do wrong things. Besides, Vietnam currently has too many fertilizer manufacturers. "When the quantity is too large, the competition exceeds the necessary level, in order to survive, many enterprises have to do wrong things," he analyzed.

To restore the market, experts and businesses recommend that the Government amend and supplement Decree 202 on fertilizer management in the direction of more specific regulations on the responsibilities of local authorities at all levels when violations of production and trading of fake and poor quality fertilizers occur... While waiting for amendments, it is necessary to unify the management agency for this product, instead of having two agencies "managing" it currently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to easily "track" responsibility and correctly assess the current market situation...

According to VNE