Vietnam set to probe milk price manipulation allegation

March 05, 2014 | 14:10

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The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance has signed a directive to form five teams of inspectors to look into five dairy companies this week that are under public scrutiny for allegedly colluding with each other to increase retail milk prices.

Customers choose Mead Johnson's Enfagrow A+ products at AEON shopping mall in Ho Chi Minh City March 2, 2014.<br /><span>Tuoi Tre</span>

The companies to be inspected include 3A Nutrition Vietnam Co Ltd, Mead Johnson Vietnam, Vinamilk, Nestlé Vietnam, and FrieslandCampina Vietnam, Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Van Hieu told Tuoi Tre on Tuesday.

3A Nutrition is the authorized dealer and distributor of Abbott products in Vietnam, while FrieslandCampina Vietnam markets its milk under the Dutch Lady brand.

The directive came after a joint meeting yesterday of the ministries of finance, justice, foreign affairs, and industry and trade.

The inspectors will start their job immediately within this week and will “strictly punish the dairy producers if any violations are found,” Hieu said.

Hieu added that the finance ministry may not rule out the solution of capping retail milk prices, as suggested by some experts.

“It is considered one of the solutions to stabilize milk prices in order to protect the rights and interests of consumers,” the finance ministry official asserted.

The ministry has also ordered finance departments in cities and provinces across the country to make reports on the milk price situations in their localities to strengthen management.

Vietnamese consumers have had to suffer repeated milk price spikes since the beginning of this year.

The successive increases have left them believing dairy firms had reached an agreement that they would all hike prices to manipulate the market.

During a government meeting in late February, the Prime Minister ordered a probe into the allegation, which the companies involved haveall denied.

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