Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered ministries and other agencies to ensure farmers are able to sell their rice harvests, exports are efficient, and there is no price volatility in the domestic market.

He assigned the Ministry of Industry and Trade to work with the Domestic Market Management Team, the Government’s rice export management team and the Vietnam Food Association to monitor the global and domestic rice markets to ensure timely intervention to buy rice from farmers and export.

Dung also ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to monitor demand and supply until the next winter-spring crop is harvested so that exporters can sign contracts until the end of the first quarter of next year.

He instructed the Ministry of Finance to work with local authorities to keep prices under check.

City and provincial People’s Committees should instruct food companies to maintain a certain amount of the grain in stock to promptly meet local demand, Dung said, asking them to ensure there are no rice shortages in large cities and urban areas, where price fluctuations are common.

He ordered the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) and its member Companies to publicly announce export prices and schedules to ensure smooth exports.

The VFA should work with city and provincial People’s Committees to draft plans to stabilise rice prices during Tet (Lunar New Year falling in February 2010), Dung said.

He said the Northern Food Corporation should ensuring there are enough stocks for distribution to calm the market during periods of price volatility./.