Dairy firms break rules with price hike: official

Milk producers have violated pricing regulations as they raised prices without government consent by around 10 percent a few days after the recent dong devaluation, a senior official says.

Nguyen Anh Tuan, deputy head of the Price Management Department under the Ministry of Finance, said even if the companies had a legitimate reason to raise prices, they needed to obtain approval from the authorities.

No action to correct the violations has been announced.

The State Bank of Vietnam on Friday last week devalued the dong by 9.3 percent against the dollar.

Many retailers in Hanoi told Thanh Nien prices of various milk products were increased on Tuesday. Foreign-invested dairy firm Friesland Campina Vietnam and 3A Pharma, the official distributor of Abbott in Vietnam, are among the companies that have hiked their prices or announced plans to do so.

The two companies, together with five other dairy firms, are named in the Ministry of Finance’s list of 150 companies that must register their prices.

The list, announced last October, has been protested by foreign business groups. However, local authorities have said it was legitimate to ask for price registration and the country had not violated any WTO rules. – Thanhnien

Tags: Vietnam Dairy sector, Vietnam milk prices