Fertiliser firms lament new rules

HCM City (VNA) - Local fertiliser producers are facing obstacles from the State’s regulations on procuring production licences, producers said at a recent meeting held in HCM City to discuss the regulations.

The producers said that some regulations in Decree 202/2013/NĐ-CP on management of fertilisers and Circular 41/2014/TT-BNNPTNT regarding implementation of the decree have created numerous difficulties for local fertiliser makers, leading to a temporary halt in production at some factories.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Cultivation Department said at the meeting on March 10 that since the new rules came into effect, the department has received applications for licences from 140 fertiliser producers, but most of these applications did not meet the requirements.

The biggest obstacle faced by most of the enterprises was that they were unable to meet workforce requirements, the department said. Therefore, until now, only 21 producers have been granted licences.

According to the new regulations, to procure a licence, the company must have production managers and technicians with professional skills in the chemical, physical and biological fields. However, not many local fertiliser producers have met these requirements.

Some other enterprises said at the meeting that the new regulations are for enterprises with available facilities but are a challenge for new fertiliser producers.

Since new producers are unsure about receiving a licence they are hesitant about investing capital into machinery, building a factory and developing a laboratory, the enterprises said.

Phan Duy Duc, Director of the Hieu Giang Fertiliser Limited Company, said that they may have to close down their factory due to the numerous changes in regulations.

The company will need another year to adapt to the new regulations, he said.

The State should create favourable conditions for local fertiliser producers to develop during the period of integration into the world economy and compete with rivals from China, Thailand and Laos, Duc said.

Nguyen Nhu Cuong, Deputy Director of the Cultivation Department, said that he would collect all opinions from the local fertiliser producers at the meeting and report to the ministry about solving their difficulties in implementing those regulations.

He also said that local fertiliser producers should contact the department directly to implement procedures for getting production licences.-VNA