PM announces excise duties on rice, fertiliser exports

Hanoi (VNA) - Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has announced thefirst-ever imposition of excise (export) duties on rice and fertiliser.

Decision No 104/2008/QD-TTg was taken in reaction to the mass export ofthese two items over the past few months.

Rice will be taxed at eight tax levels, calculated on the free-on-board (FOB) price. Rice worth 600 USD to 700 USD a tonne will face a 500,000 VND levy. Rice worth between 700 USD and 800 USD a tonne will be levied at600,000 VND a tonne.

Duties on rice worth 800 to 1,300 USD a tonne will be between 800,000 VNDand 2.9 million VND.

While it has previously set quotas for rice exports, this is the firsttime the grain has been subject to an excise (export) tax.

An excise tax of 4,000 VND per kilogramme will be imposed on sulphate ammonia (SA) and diammonium and phosphate fertiliser (DAP), while urea andpotassium fertiliser be levied at 5,000 VND per kilo.

As an agricultural developing country, Vietnam consumes a large quantity of fertiliser, which has led to recent deficiencies in meetingdomestic demands.

While farmers are paying reasonable prices for imported fertiliser, at the same time, some fertiliser enterprises are exporting their products to takeadvantage of the much higher prices overseas.

According to a Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development report, Vietnam exported more than 2.5 million tonnes of rice during the first six months of the year, an increase of 5.8 percent against the same period of2007.

This indicates a record high export turnover for the year of 1.5 billionUSD.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Nguyen Thanh Bien, said at a recent export rice conference in the southern province of Tien Giang that Vietnam would try to export 4 million tonnes or more of rice by the end ofthis year.

According to some economic experts, excise taxes are a way to support economic growth and increate national budgets.-