Recently, representatives of the animal feed business group and the Dong Nai Animal Husbandry Association sent a document to the Government Office, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development regarding problems related to commodity codes of soybean meal used as animal feed.

The document stated that, according to Decree 144/2024/ND-CP dated November 1, 2024, the preferential import tax rate for soybean oil meal with commodity code 23040090 has been reduced from 2% to 1%.

However, since Decree 144 officially took effect (December 16, 2024), businesses have not been able to access the support policy on preferential import tax reduction for soybean meal used as animal feed.

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The price of soybean meal used for animal feed is increasing sharply. Photo: Dabaco

Specifically, from the beginning of December 2024, the customs branches of Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria - Vung Tau will apply the commodity code for this item as 23040029, with a preferential import tax rate of 2%.

Meanwhile, from before December 2024, including the period after Circular 31/2022/TT-BTC takes effect, enterprises always declare imported soybean meal for animal feed under commodity code 23040090 (with preferential import tax rate of 1%) on the VNACC/VCIS system of the General Department of Customs and the specialized inspection registration system of the Plant Protection Department.

This not only increases customs clearance time but also incurs additional costs for businesses.

According to businesses, in just the past half month, the price of soybean meal in the world and domestic markets has suddenly increased by more than 12% due to fluctuations in supply and demand. This has greatly affected production costs, while the selling price cannot increase correspondingly due to weak domestic purchasing power, leading to the risk of unstable and stagnant animal feed production.

There is currently a difference in import tax rates for this item between exporting countries that have free trade agreements with Vietnam (India, ASEAN, etc.) - which enjoy a 0% tax rate - and other countries. Enterprises in our country are therefore limited in the scope of goods origin and have difficulty accessing countries with more stability in soybean meal production and quality (USA, Argentina, Brazil, etc.).

Furthermore, if the preferential import tax rate for soybean meal used for animal feed is applied at 1%, it can contribute to increasing import volume and harmonizing the trade balance with the US.

To resolve the above problems and difficulties, businesses and associations proposed to adjust and reduce the preferential import tax rate for soybean meal used as animal feed with commodity code 23040029 from 2% to 1%, equal to the tax rate of commodity code 23040090.

At the same time, it is proposed that businesses be allowed to retroactively refund import tax on imported soybean meal shipments used as animal feed from December 16, 2024 according to Decree 144.

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