The introduction of more regulations on labels can increase costs for businesses, making it difficult for management.
The draft amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 43/2017 / ND-CP on goods labels drafted by the Ministry of Science and Technology and is being consulted has many points opposed by enterprises (DN) for causing extra troublesome, expensive. For example, it is required to include the name of the trader responsible for the goods (usually the importer) on the original label of the product; write information in words of importing country …
Unreasonable and expensive
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nhi, Director of An Dinh Technology Investment and Development Company (specializing in rice export), acknowledged Decree 43/2017-ND / CP on goods labels that did not have many businesses interested and applied. for offering but not required. The shipments of enterprises are mainly exported at the request of customers, ie customers do not require labeling according to Vietnamese regulations, enterprises are not allowed to do. “When exporting enterprises, they will discuss in detail with the importer. How do they require labeling standards, the export enterprises will meet like that, there is no need to make further complications “- Mr. Nhi said.
Regarding the content of labeling in the language of the exporting country, Mr. Nhi said that it is not necessary to have this regulation. In the world, there are some countries that require exporting partners to label in the language of the importing country on the products, but only for specifics. For example, in many rice import markets of An Dinh Technology Investment and Development Company, so far only Saudi Arabia has this requirement.
“Let businesses be flexible to meet the labeling requirements of the partner countries, not hard to regulate at all, both increasing costs and difficult to manage. Myself, or the customs management, import-export … also not sure know which languages to control. If necessary, only English labels should be specified because this is a common language ”- Mr. Nhi added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), expressed concern when the draft proposed to include “exports” in the scope of the Decree. about labels.
Specifically, the exported goods which are not for domestic consumption but must be labeled according to both the laws of Vietnam and the importing country is very unreasonable, costly and does not benefit consumers. It is even impossible when the laws of Vietnam and the exporting country are different. Up to now, exported goods do not have to comply with the regulations on domestic goods labeling, there has been no impact assessment report confirming that the “non-regulation” has affected and caused consequences to trade. , to economics and integration.
According to VASEP, if it is required to carry out labeling in accordance with Vietnamese regulations, it will cause costs for businesses. For example, the seafood industry annually exports millions of tons of finished products or the leather and footwear industry exports more than 1 billion pairs of shoes and slippers of all kinds each year, if you have to change the label, each pair only needs to spend 100 more to make a new label. cost more than 100 billion. If all manufacturing industries had to change their labels, the total damage could reach trillions of dong. “For processed export goods, usually only write the name of the owner (such as Cotsco, Walmart, AquaStar….) According to US and European laws, the draft requires the name of the manufacturer under Vietnamese law. partners do not accept “- VASEP worried.
Vietnamese fruit exported to the US market currently only needs to comply with US labeling regulations. Photo: NGOC ANH
Should not apply immediately
Associate Professor – Dr. Tran Quang Trung, Chairman of the Vietnam Dairy Association (VDA), also agreed with the removal of the phrase “export goods” from the scope of regulation of the draft decree. “If kept, there should be a separate thing about labels for export goods in accordance with international practices and commitments, not to be confused with labels sold domestically. For goods that cannot be exported or returned or circulated in the new domestic market, they must comply with Vietnam’s regulations on goods labeling ”- Mr. Trung proposed.
According to Mr. Trung, most members of VDA believe that the current regulations on the basic labels have met the management of labels in Vietnam, especially the labels of milk and processed products. milk. “If we need to amend and supplement in this period, we find it not necessary because the promulgation of legal documents governing labels on goods has changed too much in a short time (3 times in 4 years), will cause waste of money and effort of enterprises and destabilize the business environment, especially in the difficult economic context due to the impact of the current Covid-19 epidemic ”- VDA representative acknowledged.
According to VASEP and VDA, to combat commercial fraud, in addition to the provisions of the Commercial Law, the Competition Law, the documents regulating the origin of goods … and the provisions of Decree 43/2017-ND / CP already exist. The label must be truthful, clear, accurate, and accurately reflect the nature of the goods.
In addition, regarding the effect of implementation, the draft decree is expected to apply from June 1 to 2021, associations suggest that a 3-5-year roadmap should be left behind when the economy stabilizes before considering application, to create a stable and inexpensive business environment for businesses. Because, businesses often produce product labels in large quantities to save production costs. If the transitional clause only applies to goods that have been printed before the effective date of the Decree, the enterprise must destroy a large amount of already produced labels, causing great losses.
According to Nguyen Thanh Nhi, the Vietnam – Europe Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has come into effect, which means that the rice lines in the list of tax exemption and reduction must also meet the traceability regulations. origin. “Priority should be given to designing clear regulations for export enterprises, not adding” strings “to” tie up “enterprises anymore, which will increase troubles. Meanwhile, even though there are many additional regulations on labeling, the value of Vietnamese goods is unlikely to increase in the eyes of customers, even if they do not believe the content on the label if the product is not really good ”- Mr. Nhi stated his point of view.
Phuong Nhung – Ngoc Anh
Source: Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper
