VietNamNet Bridge – The amount of plastic bags used every year in Vietnam has been increasing rapidly, even though they have been heavily taxed since 2012.
Ngo Nguyen Ngoc Anh, deputy director of the HCM City Environmental Protection Fund, said 9 million non-biodegradable plastic bags, or 50-70 tons, are used every day at traditional markets and supermarkets in the city.
According to Anh, the amount of normal plastic bags used in Vietnam has been increasing steadily, though the Environmental Protection Law, which took effect on January 1, 2012, imposes high taxes on plastic bags.
Under the law, every kilo of plastic bags bears a tax of VND40,000. If a kilo of plastic bags is sold at VND30,000, and the value added tax and environmental protection tax are added, then plastic bags would be priced at over VND70,000 per kilo.
However, merchants at traditional markets still can buy plastic bags at around VND30,000 per kilo, because plastic bag manufacturers can evade the environmental protection tax.
Therefore, they would rather use this kind of plastic bag, which is cheaper, than biodegradable bags. The State encourages the use of the latter, which are more expensive.
Ironically, while non-biodegradable plastic-bag manufacturers can evade tax, and can sell products at low prices, environmentally-friendly bag manufacturers still have to pay tax.
Le Sanh My of Vafaco, a company which makes biodegradable bags, said that after the environmental protection law took effect in early 2012, his company still had to pay tax for one year before it could enjoy a tax exemption.
An official of the HCM City Taxation Agency explained that the law does not point out when enterprises can begin enjoying the tax exemption after they get product certificates.
Nguyen Thi Thanh My, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, said there are 11 environmentally-friendly bag manufacturers in HCM City. However, while the products can be easily sold abroad, they are not welcomed in Vietnam.
My noted that very few consumers have heard about this kind of bag and they cannot tell the difference between normal plastic bags and biodegradable bags due to poor information dissemination.
Le Loc, director of Phuc Le Gia Company, one of the biodegradable bag manufacturers in HCM City, admitted that sales in the domestic market remain modest.
“Our products can be sold to supermarkets only, while they are not popularly used at traditional markets, though the products are only five percent more expensive than non-biodegradable bags. Our factory still cannot run at full capacity,” Loc said.
Alpha Tan Binh, which spent millions of dollars on a modern biodegradable bag factory, has been exporting most of its products, rather than selling domestically.
While Alpha Tan Binh’s bags are sold in the US, Japan and France, they have not been accepted in Vietnam because the prices are 5-10 percent higher than the more commonly used plastic bags.
Thanh Mai
Đăng ký: VietNam News
