Bien told a recent press conference that the huge imported volumes of salt were not covered by the ministry’s quota. “Only 20,000 out of 75,000 tonnes of salt that have already been imported belongs to the quota,” Bien said.

“The amount accounts for only 17 percent of the total issued quota,” he said, explaining that salt could be imported into the country in two ways: using the ministry’s quota for low tax rates and unlimited quantities at the normal tax rate.

A total of 170,000 tonnes of salt are expected to be imported during this period of this year. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has issued quotas for 146,000 tonnes while another 24,000 tonnes are awaiting allocation.

Meanwhile, thousands of tonnes of salt produced by farmers in the Mekong Delta are piling up with no dealers visiting the farms despite the sharp fall in prices.

The ministry’s Export and Import Department said this year’s quota for the import of salt was 260,000 tonnes, consisting of 180,000 tonnes of industrial salt used to produce chemicals and 80,000 tonnes for consumption.

Local newspapers late February cited experts blaming the quota as the reason for the fall in salt prices.

Mai Thanh Hung, deputy head of a district’s agriculture and rural development department in Bac Lieu province, said the locality was struggling to sell 32,000 tonnes of harvested salt.

VNS