Speaking with VietNamNet reporters on the sidelines of the National Assembly, regarding the unusual story about the quality and price of breeding cows given to poor households that the press has reported in the past few days, delegate Lo Thi Luyen - Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Dien Bien province acknowledged that there was a situation of skinny cows, sick cows and higher prices than local cows.
According to Ms. Luyen, recently, Dien Bien has implemented the purchase of plant and animal breeds according to the project of diversifying livelihoods, developing poverty reduction models and the project of supporting production development and improving nutrition of the national target program on sustainable poverty reduction.
Must import cows from other provinces to give to people
According to you, what is the cause of the situation of giving thin, sick cows at high prices to poor households as reported by the press?
In my opinion, the cause of this situation is partly due to long-distance transportation. There are units supplying breeds from the lowlands, the nearest is from Lao Cai.
Transporting hundreds of kilometers will inevitably affect the health of the cow. If the driver gets car sick, the cow can get car sick too. In addition, when transporting to another location, the climate and living environment change, so some cows can get runny noses and get sick.
In some cases of thin cows, it is also necessary to review the supplier's breeding records to see if they meet the prescribed conditions and standards.
It is not surprising that the price of supplied cattle is higher than that of local breeds because local cattle are raised on site, grazed naturally, and do not need to be transported.
Breeding animals supplied by suppliers from other places must have conditions and procedures such as: Certification of parent origin, certification as advanced breed, raised according to barn standards, feed standards... in addition, transportation costs make the price of breeding animals increase.
Currently, Dien Bien district (Dien Bien province) is reviewing and has recalled 180 breeding animals. Recalling breeding animals that are not guaranteed during the warranty period to replace them with new cows to ensure quality for the people is also normal.
Besides the objective factors you mentioned, are there any other subjective issues in the implementation process?
As far as I know, Dien Bien district has been very careful in establishing an appraisal council to consider whether the suppliers are qualified or not and assigning investors at the commune level to go to the place to see the cows. When the commune accepts, the suppliers will transport the cows to Dien Bien to supply to the people.
The price of cattle is also assessed by the valuation council, including specialized agencies of the district. The conditions and standards of the breed are assigned to the investor at the commune level for direct assessment.
In addition, according to regulations, these breeds must be warranted for 21 days after being issued to people, but Dien Bien district has required that these breeds be warranted for 1 month.
Thus, I think that the district has been very proactive in implementing this policy. The problem is that in the process of assigning the implementation to the communes, have the units supplying the breeds fulfilled their commitments to the communes? Whether there are any problems or not, we have to let the authorities review and inspect before concluding.
Asking for the department's opinion but still can't remove it
Why don't the province and district consider the problem of providing local breeds to have reasonable prices and avoid the risk of skinny, sick breeds like recently?
Currently, the supply of livestock breeds to people must comply with the conditions and standards according to the Law on Animal Husbandry as I mentioned above, which is to have a certificate of origin of the parents, be certified as an advanced breed, be raised according to barn standards, feed standards...
If these standard conditions are followed, there is currently no supplier in Dien Bien that can meet them. Therefore, Dien Bien must find suppliers in neighboring provinces and these suppliers are all certified according to regulations.
But it must be affirmed that among the suppliers of breeding animals in the areas of Dien Bien province today, there are suppliers of very high quality breeding animals, very beautiful cows and people are very satisfied. There are even many cases where people receive cows that give birth after only a few months.
Therefore, I also hope that the press, when reflecting, will have an objective and comprehensive view to avoid causing conflicting opinions, bad public opinion, and concerns from management agencies, affecting the implementation of a correct and humane policy.
That means, according to you, the locality is currently facing difficulties in policies and mechanisms in providing breeding animals to poor households?
That is correct. Currently, Decree 38/2023 stipulates “priority for the use of plant and animal varieties directly produced by local people in the project implementation area…” but localities have not been able to implement this regulation due to problems with livestock breed standards and market price determination.
Specifically on breeding standards, Dien Bien province issued an official dispatch asking for opinions from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Livestock responded in writing: Localities are requested to purchase breeding animals that meet the standards of the Law on Animal Husbandry and related documents.
Therefore, there are difficulties in implementation because people in disadvantaged communes mainly raise livestock on a small scale, using indigenous breeds, and cannot meet the conditions prescribed by the Law on Livestock as I mentioned above.
Proposal to lower standards to ease difficulties for localities
The National Assembly is currently discussing a draft resolution on a number of specific mechanisms and policies to implement national target programs. Do you have any recommendations to remove obstacles for localities?
People request to buy native breeds, selected based on indigenous knowledge, senses, and breeding experience in terms of height, weight, waist circumference, neck circumference, skin color, fur color... and breeds suitable for the climate conditions to grow and develop well.
Therefore, I propose to add to the draft resolution: In case of purchasing plant and animal varieties directly produced by people in the project implementation area, those plant and animal varieties only need to meet the standards according to the technical and economic norms issued by the provincial level and confirmed by the People's Committee at the commune level.
In addition, there are also problems in pricing plant and animal varieties when purchased directly from people. Clause 2, Article 3 of Circular 55/2023 of the Ministry of Finance stipulates that "The unit price for purchasing goods and services is calculated according to the market price in the area at the same time, confirmed by the People's Committee at the commune level on the receipt of purchase and sale with people". However, in reality, many localities are afraid of legal risks and do not dare to apply this regulation.
The draft resolution stipulates that “The financial authority at the same level, or the People's Committee at the commune level, is responsible for determining the market price of goods in cases of payment at market price”.
I propose to regulate in the direction of assigning the district level to establish a team to appraise and price livestock breeds in the area as a basis for implementation.
There must be specific regulations on breeding standards and price determination so that localities can prioritize the use of local breeds.
Dien Bien District Chairman speaks out about unusual cow provision for poor households
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