HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will shortly issue a circular with specific guidance to manage prices of milk products for children under six years old, according to information posted Wednesday on the ministry’s website.

According to this circular, enterprises and cooperatives producing and importing milk products will have the responsibility to register or declare retail prices for milk and supplement products with the MoIT. They will also announce their distribution system to the ministry and the ministry’s authorised offices will supervise to ensure milk products are sold at the informed prices in the local market.

After considering acceptability of prices registered, the MoIT will announce those prices and information about the distribution system of each enterprise and cooperative to local management offices to cooperate with the ministry in supervising prices at the retail stage.

The prices of dairy products being sold at the enterprises and cooperatives’ distribution systems must not be higher than the registered prices and under control of the local industry and trade departments, market watch department, and inspection and taxation offices.

The ministry’s Domestic Market Department said this mode of management will help State offices determine origin of goods and control quality and price of dairy and supplement products in case of problems in quality. They can also withdraw those products from the market.

Regulations under this circular will be applicable for all traders in Việt Nam as well as relevant State offices.

Subjects to the new circular will be domestic producers, importers, distributors and retailers of milk and supplement products containing milk.

According to a November 11, 2016 decree, enacted by the Government to supplement and revise some articles of a previous directive, the management of milk prices for children under six years old will be the responsibility of the MoIT in 2017 instead of the Ministry of Finance (MoF). 

At present, the country has 877 registered formula products for children below six years old. Their registered and maximum prices are published on the portals of the MoF and local financial departments.

Since June 2014, baby formulas have been placed on the list of subsidised products, with a cap on ceiling prices of 600 products, since a range of solutions, including price registration and announcement, did not prove effective. The difference between retail and wholesale prices did not exceed 15 per cent.

The management of the milk prices was based on regulations of the Law on Price, the Government’s Decree 177, issued on November 4, 2014, and Decree 149, issued on November 11, 2016, on specific regulations on managing milk prices for children under six years old.

The MoF also issued Circular 233 on adding and amending some articles of its Circular 56, dated April 28, 2014, on guiding implementation of Decree 177.

Based on Circular 233 and other existing regulations related to management of milk prices, the MoIT will shortly issue a new circular with specific guidance on the management of milk prices for children under six years old. — VNS