Vietnam sugar industry begs to delay import tariff cuts  Many sugar companies in Vietnam have been unable to sell sugar over the past two weeks although prices have reached a record low. According to Pham Quoc Doanh, chairman of the Vietnam Sugar and Sugarcane Association (VSSA), a kilo of sugar is currently priced at VND12,000 (USD54.5 cent), the lowest level so far. However, lower sugar firms have seen slow sales or been unable to sell the product at all as their customers are waiting for lower sugar import tax.   Many sugar companies in Vietnam have been unable to sell sugar over the past two weeks although prices have reached a record low. Under the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement, many duties on goods imported from ASEAN countries have been cut to 0% from 2018, including sugar imports. This is likely to put a lot more pressure on the already suffering domestic sugar sector. At present, the Vietnamese sugar industry is facing a flood of illegally-imported sugar, Doanh said. So, the situation will be more difficult due to the lower import tax. To help ease the difficulties, VSSA has proposed to the prime minister to delay the implementation of the trade agreement with ASEAN to 2020 at the earliest. The association has also recommended the Ministry of Finance to continue slapping a 5% tax on sugar imports from ASEAN countries after 2018 to help make domestically-refined sugar products competitive. The prime minister assigned the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance to consider the VSSA’s proposal and report to the government before October 30. However, the report has not yet been completed due to different opinions on the implementation of the ASEAN goods agreement. VASA reported that currently, Vietnam has 41 sugar plants with a total capacity of 150,000 tonnes per day, up 12.7 times against 1995. If ASEAN goods agreement takes effect from early 2018, small-scale plants with out-dated technology will turn to importing raw sugar for refining and stop buying sugarcane from farmers. The agreed timetable for the implementation of the ASEAN trade agreement may see the domestic sector lose out to Thailand, while sugarcane farmers will be hardest hit. Sugarcane is currently grown across on 300,000 hectares and employs 1.5 million workers. dtinews.vn