Distributors and retailers recommend not submitting the draft on petroleum business, continue to seek business opinions

Distributors and retailers recommend not submitting the draft on petroleum business, continue to seek business opinions

The group of distributors and retailers petitioned the Prime Minister to request the Minister of Industry and Trade to direct the Drafting Committee of the Decree on Petroleum Business to temporarily suspend the submission of the draft to continue collecting opinions from businesses and experts.

The group of petroleum distributors and retailers said that the draft petroleum business creates many privileges for wholesale traders.

The group of petroleum distributors and retailers has just sent a document to the Prime Minister, the National Assembly's Economic Committee, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Planning and Investment... on issues related to amending the Decree on petroleum business - draft No. 04 is being consulted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

This new Decree will replace the previous Decrees 83; 95 and 80.

"Refutation" of 5 issues

On the one hand, they acknowledged the efforts of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in amending and perfecting the legal system on petroleum trading; however, these traders said they did not agree with the viewpoints and approaches of the Drafting Committee and many contents of the draft Decree.

These traders "refute" 5 issues.

Firstly, the mechanism for managing the petroleum market, the viewpoints and methods for managing petroleum businesses of the Decree Drafting Committee have not been renewed, and are no longer suitable for the economic, social and market situation that has changed after 10 years since Decree 83/2014.

"The old petroleum management mechanism was ineffective, most domestic enterprises found it difficult to survive and develop, smuggling and counterfeit goods were not controlled, which was a cause of the petroleum crisis," the business group pointed out.

Second, many contents of the draft Decree, especially on the authority to issue regulations related to business rights of enterprises, have no legal basis and are contrary to many provisions of relevant laws such as the Investment Law, Enterprise Law, Commercial Law, Competition Law, Foreign Trade Management Law, etc.

Third, discrimination between petroleum businesses, creating business advantages for large enterprises with monopoly positions, creating opportunities for negativity, forming "group interests", limiting the business rights of small and medium enterprises, especially the Petroleum Distribution and Retail Traders Group.

Fourth, distribution and retail businesses maintain the view that the gasoline price management mechanism stated in draft 04, continuing to maintain the method of setting retail prices by administrative orders while import input prices depend on the world, is contrary to business accounting principles and market rules, and the method of calculating gasoline prices does not ensure transparency and competition.

Finally, the process of collecting comments on draft Decrees is still formal and not substantial, lacking comprehensiveness and completeness for the affected subjects, and does not ensure compliance with the requirements of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents.

Proposal not to submit draft, continue to seek business opinions

The group of petroleum distributors and retailers recommends that the National Assembly's Economic Committee monitor and supervise the drafting and promulgation of the Decree on petroleum trading to ensure compliance with current laws.

Faced with a series of unsatisfactory issues, this group of traders recommends that the Prime Minister, relevant Ministries, especially the Minister of Industry and Trade, consider amending the draft Decree with the spirit of innovation in the methods and mechanisms for managing and operating the petroleum market, in the direction of ensuring compliance with the current legal framework.

"We recommend that the Government have solutions to reduce the monopoly or market dominance of large and super-large enterprises, helping small and medium-sized enterprises in distribution and retail not to be acquired in accordance with the spirit and objectives of the Law on Support for Small and Medium Enterprises," the business group stated in the petition.

At the same time, the Drafting Committee is requested to accept and consider the previous comments and recommendations of the Business Group sent to the Prime Minister and Ministries.

In particular, review the existence of the Petroleum Price Stabilization Fund. The reason is that this fund is ineffective and has little practical effect, creating a financial burden for businesses. In fact, many large businesses have abused this fund and tax money for illegal profit.

Request to amend the draft Decree to allow distributors to purchase gasoline from other distributors as in Decree 95/2021.

More urgently, the Group of Distributors and Retailers recommended that the Prime Minister request the Minister of Industry and Trade to direct the Drafting Committee of the Decree on Petroleum Business to temporarily suspend submission for consideration and approval and continue to organize to collect opinions from businesses and experts on Draft 04 and subsequent Drafts of the Decree.

"It is necessary to conduct a Policy Impact Assessment Report, especially to get opinions from the Petroleum Traders Group affected by this Decree, including our businesses," the Traders Group raised the issue.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/thuong-nhan-phan-phoi-va-ban-le-kien-nghi-chua-trinh-du-thao-kinh-doanh-xang-dau-tiep-tuc-lay-y-kien-doanh-nghiep-d226339.html