Milk price declaration: Who will benefit?

Who will benefit when the regulations on registration and declaration of prices of milk and functional foods for children under 6 years old come into effect is still a big question.

With the assigned task of managing milk prices, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has issued Circular No. 08/2017/TT-BCT regulating price registration and declaration of milk and functional foods for children under 6 years old. This Circular will take effect from August 10, 2017.

According to the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the subjects of Circular 08 are traders of milk and functional foods for children under 6 years old and state management agencies with authority in price management. Circular 08 only regulates the implementation of price registration and declaration of milk and functional foods for children under 6 years old. The list of milk and functional foods for children under 6 years old is implemented according to regulations issued by the Ministry of Health.

Conference to guide the implementation of Circular 08.

However, at the conference guiding the implementation of Circular 08 to those affected by the circular held on August 2 in Hanoi, there were still many concerns: Will the prices of milk and functional foods be better managed after Circular 08 takes effect?

According to Mr. Nguyen Loc An, Deputy Director of the Domestic Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), the responsibilities of enterprises and the rights of consumers are clearly demonstrated when Circular 08 takes effect.

“Compared to before, Circular 08 has many innovations in respecting the right of enterprises to self-determine prices for their goods and to be responsible for the declared prices according to the current accounting regime,” said Mr. An, affirming that consumers will have many benefits, even in terms of ensuring milk quality because the Ministry of Industry and Trade manages both the announcement of quality products as well as when necessary, product recalls. Moreover, management is carried out along the chain, price management according to retail prices is a step forward for consumers to benefit more.

Representing enterprises producing and distributing dairy products, Mr. Tran Quang Trung - Chairman of the Vietnam Dairy Association said that Circular 08 has been widely consulted and has been criticized by many units for a long time. Therefore, the issuance and implementation of this Circular from August 10 will contribute significantly to stabilizing milk prices, especially for milk products for children under 6 years old.

“Circular 08 has a special point in regulating how distribution systems must declare. When importing or manufacturing, businesses will register prices with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and local authorities. If the change in the margin is less than 5%, businesses still have the right to proactively change but must notify the state agency - this demonstrates the business's initiative,” said Mr. Trung.

The Domestic Market Department is responsible for reviewing the list of organizations and individuals registering prices and declaring prices at the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

According to Mr. Trung, for the distribution system, Circular 08 has regulations on the distribution system, especially the retail distribution system. It also stipulates each geographical area and each different locality, so businesses, entrepreneurs, especially retail entrepreneurs, can declare prices with competent authorities in that locality. If the declaration is reasonable and permitted by competent authorities, it will ensure the interests of both businesses and consumers.

Appreciating the efforts of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in developing and promulgating Circular 08, with the limitation of price increase/decrease within the scope of 5% to ensure business competitiveness, Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Head of Product Management Department, Department of Food Safety (Ministry of Health) is still concerned that management at all levels is difficult to implement due to the huge volume of products that will have to apply this policy.

“In terms of policy, it is very correct, but in terms of implementation, there are still some problems such as when increasing the number of registrations, the control capacity of the management agency system... Management will be difficult because the number of registrations is too large, so it is easy to overload the state management system,” Mr. Dung commented.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Tran Quang Trung – Chairman of Vietnam Dairy Association.

Meanwhile, a representative of the Department of Industry and Trade of Hai Duong province also said that the implementation of management functions and management tools is very difficult to achieve as desired, it is very difficult to distinguish between milk for children under 6 years old and functional foods for children under 6 years old.

“In Hai Duong, there are up to 10,000 milk shops. In case they do not declare but still sell goods, and when declaring, there are two problems: One is that the Department of Industry and Trade's office did not know and copied the stamp and sent it back; Two is that if they consider sending it back, the Department of Industry and Trade is short of people to do it all. So, does the provincial People's Committee need to reassign the task of reviewing and supervising the price declaration and registration or is it only assigned when the Department of Industry and Trade requests decentralization to the district People's Committee?”, a representative of the Hai Duong Department of Industry and Trade wondered.

Discussing the registration and declaration of milk prices according to Circular 08, the representative of the Domestic Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) admitted that the responsibility of local Departments of Industry and Trade will be very heavy in implementing Circular 08.

To make a correct assessment, the Departments of Industry and Trade must closely coordinate with local departments and branches. The issuance of Circular 08 is based on the motto of learning from experience while doing it, with appropriate revisions to best serve businesses and consumers./.

According to VOV