Vietnam sand exporters hit by new laws

Vietnamnet.com 11 Nov 09;

VietNamNet Bridge – Sand exporters have complained to the Prime Minister after falling foul of new regulation.

In early November, sand batches were stuck at seaports after the Government told provinces on September 29 to stop exporting sand, construction gravel and materials for ground leveling. Meanwhile, many provinces had allowed companies to dredge passages for ships to shelter from storms and dredge some waterways and sell the sand as compensation.

These companies said that they had invested hundreds of billions of dong in these projects but were left facing a loss once the sand exporting ban came into practice.

According to Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai’s document dated September 9, provinces and cities has to stop exporting sand, construction gravel and materials for ground leveling to curb rampant sand exploitation and export. The Ministry of Construction was asked to set up inspection groups and suggest solutions for sand export. However, this document doesn’t suggest banning the sale of licensed projects.

On September 30, the General Department of Customs instructed local customs agencies to stop fulfilling sand-exporting formalities leaving many sand batches stuck at ports.

Later, on October 7, the Construction Ministry issued a document, allowing the export of sand gained from passage dredging projects at estuaries and seaports, which were approved by competent agencies. However, they’re still having trouble getting past customs.

“We invested 300 billion dong to dredge the passages of the Dinh and Phan rivers. Now we are suddenly banned from sand export,” said Nguyen Van Dung, director of the Bao Thu Industrial Investment and Industry JS Company in Binh Thuan.

Director of the Tat Dai Thanh Company in the central province of Phu Yen, Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh, said that its 160 billion dong is “stuck” because they cannot export sand.

Le Xuan Ninh of the Cat Bien Trade and Service Company in Quang Binh province, said the company is losing billions of dong because they cannot export sand. It has had to pay warehouse fees and equipment leasing fees each day due to the slow customs clearance formalities.

Sand exploiters in Quang Tri, Phu Yen, Ninh Thuan and Ba Ria – Vung Tau also complained about the halt of sand export. Officials of coastal provinces like Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Thua Thien – Hue, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and Ba Ria – Vung Tau have asked the government to allow business to continue exploiting sand for export.

These provinces said that sand dredged from estuaries has no local market. If this kind of sand is not exported, it will be thrown away to the sea. This will affect the sea ecological system and hinder ship traffic.

An official from the General Department of Customs told VNExpress online newspaper that sand exploitation was recently rampant, harming the environment and causing landslides. Meanwhile, the price for construction sand in the local market had risen and sand shortages were reported. Some countries in the region like Singapore and Cambodia stopped sand export. In Vietnam, the government decided temporarily stopping sand export for these regions. The General Department of Customs asked local bureaus to implement the Government’s decision.

The Construction Ministry permits exploitation and export of salty sand but the government’s decision is temporarily stopping export of sand of all kinds. The Finance Ministry told the General Department of Customs to temporarily halt sand exports.

This matter has been reported to the government and awaits a solution.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Transport, the cost of dredging estuaries and passages at seaports is over 1.2 trillion dong annually, from the state budget.

The policy that allows enterprises to export sand in 2007-2009 has helped reduce the spending while local budgets benefit from export tax, natural resource tax and environmental protection tax.

This sand is not used in construction. It is exported, mainly to Singapore, to serve sea encroachment projects.

VietNamNet/VNE