The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) yesterday called on the Prime Minister for the second time to take action against the Vietnam-Italy joint venture’s imports of cheap China-made steel without certificates of origin, Vietnam News said.
VSA said an additional shipment of Chinese steel arrived at Ca Port in Haiphong on March 30.
These containers of steel have cleared customs and were being transported to the company’s warehouses in northern Hung Yen province. Meanwhile, previous requests by domestic steel producers have not been settled according to the directions of the Prime Minister.
The steel imported from China is labeled with the Vietnam-Italy trademark and is indistinguishable from that made in Vietnam, complained a representative from the association.
On each of bundle of some 70 steel plates, there is only a small label in Chinese which is easily removed, he noted.
Although the joint venture said that it would put additional labels on these products, these would also be removable, making it impossible for customers to distinguish Vietnamese-made Vietnam-Italy products from Chinese-made ones, VSA asserted.
The association, in its letter to the Prime Minister, made several proposals, including suspending Vietnam-Italy’s further imports pending a final decision from the government and amending regulations to better protect domestic steel producers.
VSA also asked the government to suspend circulation of the latest shipment received by the joint venture until an official conclusion is made by a responsible agency.
The Vietnam-Italy joint venture reportedly signed a contract with a Chinese company to provide 5,000 tons of steel. Under the agreement, the imported steel would be produced to the joint venture’s specifications and would carry the joint venture’s trademark. (Vietnam & World Economy, VNS)
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