The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has officially issued Decision No. 686/QD-BCT to apply safeguard measures on DAP and MAP fertiliser products imported into Viet Nam.

The duration for applying this safeguard duty is two years, starting from March 7 this year. After two years, the ministry will consider the socio-economic impact and decide whether to extend the safeguard measures or not. Accordingly, the imported fertilisers in the list will be subject to tax imposed as per the schedule below.

From March 7, 2018 to March 6, 2019, the safeguard duty is VND1,128,531 (US$50) per tonne. This amount is equal to the difference between the actual selling price and the selling price at the break-even point of the domestic industry, equivalent to only 60 per cent of the tax rate that Viet Nam is entitled to apply in accordance with the provisions of WTO and the laws of the country.

From March 7, 2019 to March 6, 2020, the tax rate dropped to VND1,072,104 per tonne.

The investigation and application of safeguard measures on imported DAP and MAP fertilisers were carried out in accordance with the provisions of the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Safeguards and Ordinance No.42/2002 on safeguards in the import of foreign goods into Viet Nam.

Earlier, on March 31, 2017, some domestic fertiliser producers requested that trade defence measures be applied to a number of imported fertiliser products due to their negative impact on domestic production.

Based on the dossier appraisal results, customs data and provisions of the law on safeguards, MoIT on May 12 last year issued Decision No. 1682A/QD-BCT on initiating a fertiliser dumping investigation and considering the application of safeguard measures on DAP and MAP imported fertiliser products into Viet Nam.

The preliminary investigation concluded that the imported goods seriously harmed domestic production.

Based on this, on August 4, MoIT decided to apply temporary safeguard measures on some DAP and MAP fertiliser products imported into Viet Nam, with the applied temporary safeguard tax being VND1,855,790 per tonne. The decision was effective from August 19, 2017, to March 6, 2018.

In the final investigation stage, MoIT decided to extend the deadline for investigating cases of applying safeguard measures for imported DAP and MAP fertilisers for two more months before issuing the final report.

The final investigation showed that the imported DAP and MAP fertilisers caused price pressures and price hikes on domestic goods during 2013-16 period. — VNS