The pork counter at a supermarket in HCMC. Vietnam plans to import 100,000 tons of pork for Tet, the largest and longest national holiday

Speaking at a meeting with the home market monitoring team on December 26, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said that the country could face a shortage of some 200,000 tons of pork for the Tet holiday, which is likely to push up the price of pork.

He noted that Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue had earlier told the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to collaborate with firms to import 100,000 ton of pork from now until the end of the first quarter of 2020.

Deputy PM Hue also asked the Ministry of Finance to lower import tariffs on pork and some alternatives for pork during the weeks around the holiday, Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported, citing Hai.

Due to the severe shortage of pork, Hai proposed the ministries, departments and agencies join with enterprises to develop effective and sustainable measures to deal with the shortage.

It is necessary to increase pork imports and reduce pork prices, Hai said, adding that Vietnam trade offices in foreign countries should actively seek sources for pork and link them to local pork importers.

Deputy head of the Department of Farm Produce Processing and Market Development Pham Van Duy said the total volume of other types of food, including beef, chicken and fish, increased this year by 723,000 tons, which will ease the impact of the shortage of pork.

Tran Thi Phuong Lan, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, said city residents are expected to consume some 22,300 tons of pork during the month of the Tet holiday. With such demand for pork, Hanoi City may provide over 60%, while the remainder will come from purchases from other localities.

As the ministries and departments estimate the shortage of pork, a detailed plan for pork imports should be adopted, Lan said, adding that firms should also proactively buy pork from foreign markets.

Addressing the meeting, Nguyen Huynh Trang, deputy director of the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade, said that HCMC has imported over 13,000 tons of pork to date, up 100% against last year, to meet local demand.

HCMC-based firms are planning to import more pork for the Tet holiday, where over 100,000 tons of pork will be consumed in the city. SGT