Pork imports surge due to high demand as Tet approaches

Illustrative image. (Source: VNA)

The Agency of Foreign Trade reported Vietnam imported over 15,000 tonnes of pork, worth 15.9 million USD, in November, up 164 percent and 113 percent, respectively from the same period last year.

In the first 11 months of last year, the country spent 124 million USD on over 111,000 tonnes of pork imports, year-on-year increases of 97 percent and 108 percent, respectively. Most imported pork is frozen and comes from the US, Germany, France and Poland.

The imported pork products are subject to multiple taxes and fees, including customs duties, 5-percent Value Added Tax (VAT) and cold preservation fee, which add around 33,000 – 35,000 VND (1.43 – 1.51 USD) to the cost of each kg of pork.

Vietnam currently imposes a 10-percent most-favoured-nation (MFN) import tariff on frozen pork while that for fresh and chilled pork is 25 percent. For countries that signed a free trade agreement with Vietnam like Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Russia and Mexico, the rates range from 3 – 21 percent.

According to the agency, the MoIT has inked bilateral agreements on animal quarantine with 19 countries. Over 1,640 foreign firms have been granted permits to export pork products to Vietnam while about 140 domestic companies have been allowed to import pork.

The ministry has been accelerating communication campaigns to raise public awareness of pork prices and supply and to encourage people to shift to alternative products, in order to stablise the market.

It has also worked with relevant ministries to come up with measures to ensure sufficient supply of farming products, particularly pork, ahead of the holiday.

On the first few days of 2020, prices of live pigs dropped by about 1,000 – 2,000 VND per kg in the north where the products were fetched at about 90,000 – 95,000 VND per kg, the highest in the country.