Vietnam: Tariffs on imported meat increase

According to the decision coded 83/2008/QD-BTC, chicken has been hit the hardest. The new rate for fresh and frozen chicken will be 40% compared to 15%, 20% for chicken legs, wings and liver (5% at present), and 8% for poultry and pig feed (5%).

The new import tariff will be applied to imported goods submitted to customs offices from next week.

According to livestock enterprises and food distributors, the increase in imported tariffs is necessary because Viet Nam had reduced tariffs to lower levels than necessary under a process introduced under World Trade Organisation rules.

The low tax allowed more poultry meat for domestic consumption. This, however, had a negative impact on domestic poultry production, which could not compete with imported products because of the low import-tax rates.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said Viet Nam imported 103,401 tonnes of poultry meat in the first 9 months of this year, which is two-and-a-half times higher than for the whole of last year. In that period, the nation paid US$82.7 mln for imported poultry meat.