Stainless steel enterprises again call for help from the Minister of Science and Technology

"I hope the Ministry of Science and Technology will take pity on stainless steel businesses and workers" - stainless steel businesses wrote in a petition sent to Minister Huynh Thanh Dat.

Business call for help

17 stainless steel manufacturing enterprises once again called for help from the Ministry of Science and Technology when they jointly signed a petition to Minister Huynh Thanh Dat on March 4, 2024. Among them, there are Thanh Cong Plastic Mechanical Co., Ltd., Hoang Vu Co., Ltd., TVL Joint Stock Company, Lam Khang Joint Stock Company, Tien Dat Co., Ltd., Ha Anh Stainless Steel Co., Ltd., Nam Cuong Metal Co., Ltd....

In their petition, the businesses said that over the past year, they have had to stop operations, and that machinery and factories have begun to break down and deteriorate due to lack of regular operation. Tens of thousands of highly skilled workers that businesses have spent years training are unemployed and have had to look for other jobs.

In particular, businesses said that their partners and customers have had to turn to buying imported goods.

“If this situation continues, we will not be able to restore production because the costs of repairing machinery, factories, retraining workers, and re-establishing relationships with customers are too great, and we will not be able to compete with imported goods,” 17 businesses said together.

The consequences do not stop there. Businesses are concerned that Vietnam’s stainless steel market will be completely and permanently lost to foreign manufacturers.

The reason is still from a document that has been suspended twice.

In the petition, the businesses mentioned document No. 4473/BKHCN-TDC draft Circular suspending the implementation of Technical Regulation 20:2019/BKHCN on stainless steel.

This document is implemented under the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang on November 29, 2023. The Ministry of Science and Technology has consulted agencies, associations, and enterprises on this Draft.

Commenting on the Draft, businesses have suggested abolishing or adjusting Standard 20 so that businesses can continue production and business. However, up to now, the Ministry of Science and Technology has not yet issued an official Circular on this matter.

"We hope the Ministry of Science and Technology will take pity on us, the stainless steel industry's businesses and workers, and soon issue a circular to abolish or amend Standard 20," the businesses earnestly wrote in a petition sent to Minister Huynh Thanh Dat.

The group of stainless steel manufacturing and trading enterprises has been pursuing the proposal to change the regulations on the National Technical Regulation on Stainless Steel (QCVN 20:2019/BKHCN) since 2019. This regulation has come back into effect in early 2023, after being suspended twice for research and consideration according to the enterprises' recommendations.

Previously, in mid-2023, VCCI also sent comments to the Ministry of Science and Technology with the view that putting stainless steel in the list of group 2 goods and requiring state inspection according to Standard 20 is not consistent with the Law on Product and Goods Quality.

In addition, VCCI also believes that this standard is currently limiting consumers' freedom of choice and causing disadvantages for domestic goods made from stainless steel compared to imported goods of the same type.

Source