A worker of the PetroVietnam Ca Mau Fertiliser Company Limited (PVCFC) loads fertiliser products into a warehouse. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hung

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — State offices should take strong action against counterfeit and shoddy fertiliser producers, experts said at a conference on the restructuring of the local fertiliser production in Ha Noi yesterday.

According to Nguyen Hong Phong, general director of Tien Dong Joint Stock Company, said the state has issued a decree on conditions for the fertiliser production industry but in fact, production and quality of products has been inefficient even though the number of producers has increased quickly.

Now, the local market has 1,000 fertiliser producers and traders with 10,000 brand names so it is difficult to distinguish between real products and counterfeit products, or between good and shoddy products.

A complicated situation in the local fertiliser market had led to the development of counterfeit and shoddy products and the State offices had found it difficult to control these products, he said.

Therefore, Phong said the Viet Nam Fertiliser Association and State management offices should have solutions to improve the quality of fertiliser production. Products granted quality certificates should be listed on an official website of the fertiliser industry.

According to existing regulations, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) manages the production of inorganic fertiliser products, while the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development manages organic fertiliser products.

But functions and tasks of the two ministries have overlapped, especially with regard to granting permission for fertiliser production, according to the association.

According to Nguyen Hac Thuy, the association's general secretary, the fertiliser industry is one of the conditional production sectors, but many producers who have not achieved the required standards have been granted licences.

Under the plan of developing the fertiliser industry from 2010 to 2015, Viet Nam has 300 fertiliser enterprises, but in fact, the association said there are 1,000 fertiliser producers and traders, half of whom are located in HCM City.

The local fertiliser industry had not developed following the industry's development plan, so the market had counterfeit and shoddy products, Thuy said.

In addition, many producers still use out-of-date production technology and are unable to produce high quality products.

The State should remove those producers to reduce counterfeit and shoddy products, he said.

The industry should restructure production and business of products and help the local fertiliser market recover, he said. — VNS