Viet Nam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) approved an agreement easing restrictions on rice exporters. Under the previous regulation, the maximum number of rice exporters was capped at 150, who were all required to meet certain standards on storage and factories. Companies holding licenses to export rice were required to have at least one warehouse with a minimum capacity to store 5,000 tons of rice and a rice husking factory with a minimum capacity of 10 tons of paddy per hour. The facilities also had to be in planned areas.
Due to these restrictions, companies developing their own rice were forced to use intermediaries rather than having the ability to export directly. Companies with rice export certificates were required to export at least 10,000 tons of rice per year or 20,000 tons of rice in two years in case the first year quota was not reached. The abolition of the regulations is in line with the government’s plan of removing unsuitable laws as per the Investment Law 2014. The move has been lauded by rice export companies.
