Tapioca chip exports rose by 35.4 per cent year-on-year in volume to 2.89 million and 30.9 per cent year-on-year in value to US$886 million in the first seven months of this year. — Photo baodatviet

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Ministry of Finance on Monday proposed that the Prime Minister temporarily stop collecting export tariffs levied at five per cent on tapioca chips since the business was facing difficulties.

The ministry said it had received reports from enterprises dealing in these chips that they were saddled with a large inventory because of the export tax imposed on the product on June 20.

Later, the ministry investigated places having large tapioca chip inventories.

Huge stockpile

As a result, the export tax, which went up from zero to five per cent, led to dried tapioca chip inventories bulging to a whopping 500,000 tonnes, the ministry said on its website.

Therefore, the ministry has put forward a proposal to scrap the five per cent tax to help enterprises and farmers deal with a difficult situation and ensure a viable cassava business this year.

The ministry will continue tracking the market to come up with a proposal to reasonably adjust the export tariff on the product, based on production and cassava business statistics and their impact on the domestic market to serve the interest of the state, enterprises and farmers.

In May, the ministry had proposed five per cent export tariff on tapioca chips to ensure enough supply of plants producing ethanol for processing ethanol petrol for the domestic market.

Tapioca chips are a main ingredient for producing ethanol and are one of the important materials for processing bio petrol.

Their export has increased sharply in the recent past.

Tapioca chip exports rose by 35.4 per cent year-on-year in volume to 2.89 million and 30.9 per cent year-on-year in value to US$886 million in the first seven months of this year.

China was the largest export market for Vietnamese tapioca chips, accounting for 89.36 per cent of the total national exports. — VNS