Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Ministry of Finance (MoF)is proposing a sweeping ban on the export of raw minerals, a move that wouldindicate an escalation of the Government’s generally negative stance on apractice that generates little value while causing environmental devastation.

The proposal was revealed in a recent document the financeministry sent to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) that containsnumerous measures to boost State management of mineral resources.

Luu Manh Tuong, Director of the Import and Export TaxationDepartment, General Department of Vietnam Customs (under the MoF), told Tuoitre newspaper that the Party and the State have always supported theexport of highly processed minerals that carry high added value.

Tuong pointed out that tariffs on many minerals cannot beraised to reduce export because materials such as iron, copper and lead aresubject to export taxes as high as 30-40 percent, already reaching the maximumduty level.

“Raising tariffs even more is not appropriate. The remainingviable measure is to implement ‘technical barriers’ but this responsibilityrests with the MoIT, outside the jurisdiction of the finance ministry,” he said.

Nguyen Minh Duc from the legal department of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerceand Industry (VCCI) told Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper the proposedcould be in violation of Vietnam’s commitments to the Comprehensive andProgressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Duc said Vietnam maintains an export tariff on raw mineralsduring negotiations, but once CPTPP comes into effect Vietnam would have toeliminate them.

“Any measure to limit export of minerals must be carefullystudied,” Duc said.

He also said that Vietnam’s tax policies on mineral exportshave seen “rapid swings” in recent years. This uncertainty did not encouragelong-term investment, giving rise to slapdash short-term mining activities.

“Natural resource management must be based on the threepillars of revenue transparency, selling at the best price and developing thedomestic processing industry,” he added.

Other experts on mining said the proposal isn’t new, but theban has not made it into actual policies because there have not been technicalstandards for what constitutes “unprocessed”, “processed” or “highly processed”minerals.

Mineral expert Nguyen Thanh Son said there are differentlevels of processing for raw minerals, and not all of them need to be highlyprocessed. As a result, a uniform policy for all types of minerals is notadvisable – each mineral should be considered independently.

“Take bronze for example, which only needs moderateprocessing to fetch a decent price. On the other hand, the more refinedtitanium is, the higher price we can get,” Son said.

Tran Van Mien, geology head ofthe General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam,favours the raw mineral export ban but agreed there should be processingguidelines for some minerals.

“I think the authorities should issue a document whichdetails optimal processing levels, financially speaking,” Mien said. “Ofcourse, there couldn’t be separate regulations for all types of minerals, butit would be a basic management tool to ensure a balance between mineral exploitation,processing and environmental protection.”

Previously, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has orderedlimiting small-scale and low-tech mining projects of minerals such as gold,copper, nickel and molybdenum, which “causes pollution and losses to thecountry’s natural resources.”

He urged the formation of large-scale mining enterprises thatmake use of advanced technologies – especially new processing and environmentalprotection techniques.

Recently, mineral export has been on the rise. According tolatest reports from the Customs Authority, the country had exported more thantwo million tonnes of ore by July 15, netting 101 million USD in revenues.

75 percent of the exported ore, totaling 1.5 million tonnes,was sent to China.

Vietnam’s mineral export to China has been criticised latelydue to the perception that the selling price is under market value, while theSoutheast Asian country still imports a vast amount of minerals from China.

Most of the minerals exported to China are in their raw,unprocessed form, meaning that the relatively minor trade gains they provideare outweighed by the level of ecological damage caused by mining activities.-VNS/VNA