Tariff increase violates free trade agreement

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has
confirmed that the US Department of Commerce (DOC) increase in its
antidumping tariff on Vietnam’s tra (Pangasius) fish runs counter to the
letter and spirit of the free trade agreements between Vietnam and the
US.

In an open letter sent to the Vietnamese
Government and the US Ambassador in Vietnam on Sept. 16, VASEP expressed
indignation and concern over DOC’s preliminary antidumping duty rates
in the sixth administrative review applied to Vietnam’s tra frozen
fillets exported to the US.

The duty rates are
in excess of 100 percent, far exceeding any prior rates in this unfair
dumping case lasting more than eight years, and clearly amounting to a
punitive tariff on Vietnamese fish fillet exports, said the association.

According to VASEP, the calculated dumping rates cannot be supported by the evidence and data submitted for this review.

VASEP expressed its particular concern at DOC’s unjustified change in
the surrogate country used to value raw material inputs, sudden
switching from Bangladesh to the Philippines after consistently
rejecting the Philippines in all prior administrative reviews due to the
poor quality of the pricing data, the lack of publicly available data,
the extremely small size of the Philippine catfish industry, and the
fact that the Philippines has not exported products of this fish
species.

VASEP said it believed the results are
politically motivated, coming after significant recent lobbying efforts
by the Catfish Farmers of America (CFA).

VASEP
and individual fish processors/exporters requested the Vietnamese
Government undertake a comprehensive review of the harmful impacts of
DOC’s determination and urge DOC and the administration of the US
to carefully reassess this decision, not allowing it to have a bad
influence on the well-developing bilateral relations between the two
nations.

At a press briefing in Hanoi on Sept.
17, VASEP Vice President Nguyen Huu Dung said the association and
Vietnam’s tra fish businesses will protect the industry by taking
essential legal action to request DOC to change the results of the sixth
administrative review which are expected to be issued in March 2011 in
accordance with the US law and the WTO agreement.

VASEP and businesses are striving to complete practical data on tra
fish prices and evidence proving Vietnam did not dump its tra fish in
the US market in order to send this information to the US next
month.

Both sides are expected to discuss the issue at a meeting slated for November this year.

VASEP has also sent two of the biggest tra fish exporters – Vinh Hoan
and Hung Vuong – to the US to meet US lawyers for consultation on
this disputed determination.

According to VASEP,
Vietnam’s tra fish export value is estimated at 1 billion
USD in the first nine months of the year and 1.5 billion USD for the
whole year, with the US being the second biggest tra fish consumer,
after the EU./.

Related Articles

• VN to discuss free trade with Russia
• Pact boosts South Korea-ASEAN trade
• Industry group protests US tariff on Vietnam tra fish
• Cashew traders yet to embrace trading center system
• IFC: Vietnam needs to increase PPP to support economy

Drastic measure planned to boost public investment management

Cua Viet Bridge, which was built from the State budget, is one of the key projects for central Quang Tri Province's socio-economic development strategy. The Government is expected to improve its public investment management with drastic measures and mechanisms. — VNA/VNS Photo Ho Cau

HA NOI — The Vietnamese Government is to implement drastic measures and transparent mechanisms to improve its public investment management, international participants at a seminar in Ha Noi yesterday were advised.

The Government would focus on improving its policies and structures on investment management, especially regarding State funded projects, the head of the Planning and Investment Ministry (MPI)'s External Economy Department, Ho Quang Minh told the participants.

The seminar was held to share international experiences in public management and help Viet Nam learn lessons from other countries in the field.

To improve the effectiveness of public investment, said Minh, the government was speeding up the completion of guidelines related to investment management. The policies and mechanics on consulting, supervising and managing of publicly invested projects will be improved to make the processes more transparent, according to Minh.

According to MPI statistics, around VND286 trillion (US$14.6 billion) was spent on public investment during the 2001-05 period, accounting for more than 23 per cent of the total investment in all social fields. Total expenditure is expected to rise to VND739 trillion (nearly $37.9 billion), accounting for more than 24 per cent of total investment, during the 2010-15 period. That means huge investment from the State budget on the public projects and targeted programmes, according to the MPI.

It is vital to have efficient management to make the most effective use of investment. The Government therefore needs to have proper measures and policies to ensure national investment funding is effectively used.

Viet Nam had a high rate of public investment, throughout a wide range of different fields, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the nation's gross domestic production, Martin Rama, head of the World Bank's East Asia Development office, told the seminar.

There were, however, weaknesses in many of the country's investment fields, said Rama, the bank's lead economist, who pointed out the drawbacks in public investment at the meeting. Regional development as a component of the comprehensive investment plan had not received adequate attention and a strategic environment evaluation had not been completed to determine key fields for investment, said Rama.

Decentralisation has resulted in inefficiencies and an overlapping in the public investment management, according to the bank's economist.

Sharing the South Korean experiences in economic renovation, head of the Public and Private Infrastructure Management Centre of the country's Development Institute Kim Jay-hyung said he agreed with the Vietnamese Government's plan which would see investment project assessment at both central and local levels.

The Vietnamese Government would adopt comprehensive measures when assigning responsibilities to relevant authorities and investors based on the grade of the project, said Minh. The works on assessment, supervision and inspection will be improved while ineffective projects and investment funds which did not meet the requirements of the comprehensive plan reviewed, according to Minh. — VNS

Related Articles

• VN-Guangxi cooperation helps boost VN-China ties
• PM lauds police for keeping public order
• Vietnam, Japan boost parliamentary ties
• Naval forces boost global co-operation
• Vietnam, Laos boost judicial ties