Circular No. 05-BNT/TT guiding the implementation of Decision No. 4-HĐBT dated January 8, 1985 of the Council of Ministers on the policy for purchasing pork and beef from cattle.

CIRCULAR OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL TRADE

GUIDING IMPLEMENTATION OF DECISION NO. 4-HĐBT
ISSUED ON JANUARY 8, 1985 BY THE STATE COUNCIL
ON POLICIES FOR PURCHASING MEAT FROM PIGS AND CATTLE

On January 8, 1985, the State Council issued Decision No. 4-HĐBT on policies for purchasing meat from pigs and cattle for state-owned economy, collective economy, and households. The Ministry guides the implementation of the above decision as follows:

I. STRENGTHENING PURCHASE WORK,
CONCENTRATING COMMODITIES IN THE HANDS OF THE STATE

Meat is an important foodstuff. Annual demand for meat consumption continues to increase. Current production only reaches over 9 kilograms of live pig meat per capita annually, which is still a very low level.

The State Council decided to abolish the assignment of obligatory sales of pig meat at the obligatory price and implement uniformly throughout the country the method of purchasing pig meat and beef through stable-price contracts and negotiated prices with the aim of:

- Encouraging the development of pig, cattle, and buffalo breeding in all economic sectors, quickly turning animal husbandry into a major industry, better meeting people's demand for meat and exports, and increasing organic fertilizer sources for intensive farming, thereby boosting crop yields.

- Creating favorable conditions for socialist commerce to control the vast majority of meat commodities, bringing them into organized circulation, ensuring supply standards for workers, officials, and armed forces while expanding business operations to better serve social consumption needs. Implementing the state policy of unified management and trading of pork and beef.

Based on annual plans for pig and cattle breeding, the State Council assigns provinces, cities, and special zones targets for purchasing, distributing, and mobilizing pig meat and beef. Among these, mobilization targets and material supply targets under bilateral contracts (if applicable) are statutory targets.

Provincial People's Committees base their assignments of these targets to each district, urban district, and town on national planning indicators, local production conditions, and consumption needs.

District People's Committees assign targets to communes and wards.

Assigning purchase and mobilization targets must fully reflect and implement the following requirements:

- On the basis of annual slaughter meat output, apart from reasonable self-consumption products retained by breeders, state-owned trade and cooperative trade must organize the purchase of all commodity meat to bring it into organized circulation. Private individuals are not allowed to engage in pig meat and beef trading or hide skin from cattle, buffalo, and pigs.

- Ensuring mobilization targets for provincial, city, and central authorities according to allocated plans. AT In rural areas where other food sources are available, efforts should be made to conserve meat consumption to provide additional supplies for urban and concentrated industrial area demands.

- Apart from ensuring supply for workers, officials, armed forces, and other groups according to current standards and regulations, state-owned trade and cooperative trade must expand meat and meat product trading to better meet people's consumption needs, dominate the market, and stabilize prices.

II. POLICIES AND METHODS OF PURCHASE

1. For products of state-owned economy.

- State-owned economic units assigned tasks and plans for animal husbandry by the state must submit plan targets to the state through state-owned trade at wholesale prices approved by competent authorities as stipulated in Decree No. 33-HĐBT dated February 27, 1984 of the State Council. Excess products beyond the plan will be purchased by state-owned trade at negotiated prices.

- For agricultural farms and state-owned enterprises without state-assigned breeding plans but with land, feed, and labor conditions conducive to developing animal husbandry, such units should be strongly encouraged to organize breeding, adding more products to address local food supply issues. State-owned trade purchases products from these enterprises at negotiated prices.

Annually, based on national planning targets, the National Planning Committee informs the Ministry of Internal Trade of product submission targets for agricultural farms and enterprises managed by central ministries and departments. The Ministry of Internal Trade designates trading organizations to directly sign purchase contracts and accept products from each farm and enterprise.

For agricultural farms and enterprises managed by provincial and municipal authorities, the Provincial and Municipal Planning Committees inform the Trading Departments of product submission targets for each unit. The Trading Departments designate trading organizations to directly sign purchase contracts and accept products from each production unit.

For agricultural farms and enterprises managed by county-level authorities, the County People's Committees assign targets for county trading companies to sign purchase contracts and accept products.

2. For products of collective economy.

For pig meat and beef from collective breeding units, state-owned trade purchases through bilateral contracts based on providing livestock breeds, veterinary services, animal feed, fertilizers, fuel, construction materials...

Agricultural cooperatives and production groups that allocate land for grass and crops to solve their own animal feed needs and promote collective breeding, through bilateral contracts, receive state-provided fertilizers and fuel (for pumping water or processing animal feed in places lacking electricity networks).

Providing fertilizers and fuel aims to enable breeding units to fully exploit land potential, meet feed needs, and develop collective breeding. Provincial and municipal people's committees specify the levels of fertilizer and fuel provision per unit area (for growing animal feed crops), reasonably correlating with other types of crops, thus calculating exchange rates based on tons of product.

Depending on the production conditions and characteristics of each locality, in bilateral contracts, the State may supply part of the demand for breeding stock or provide high-quality male breeding stock and female breeding stock for breeding institutions to breed themselves; sell veterinary drugs or carry out veterinary insurance; sell some construction materials and repair materials for livestock houses. The purchase price for livestock products and the sale prices for fertilizers, gasoline, materials, and breeding stock shall be in accordance with the State's directive prices.

3. For household economic products.

For pork and beef from household economies (of farmers, workers, civil servants, etc.), state trade and cooperative enterprises shall purchase at agreed prices. In cases where the breeder requests and the State has the capacity to supply materials and goods, purchases shall be made according to bilateral contracts.

The National Price Commission together with the Ministry of Domestic Trade shall set a framework price for agreed purchases for each region and period. Provincial People's Committees and city People's Committees shall specify specific prices within the agreed purchase price framework that has been directed.

For cities and concentrated industrial zones, under the unified direction of People's Committees at all levels, state trade must closely coordinate with agricultural and food sectors to organize the production and supply of breeding stock for breeders, the production and supply of animal feed to accelerate the development of livestock in food belts, increase local supply, and reduce long-distance transportation.

Through forms such as contract farming (the State supplies breeding stock, supplies animal feed according to quotas, and recovers the product) or through sales contracts, linking the supply of feed and breeding stock at stable prices to purchase the product of the breeder at a stable price.

For mountainous areas, especially in northern border provinces, certain materials and goods can be used to purchase pork and beef directly through product exchange or linking sales with organized purchases at market fairs or convenient locations.

III. STRENGTHENING THE WORK OF REFORMING TRADERS AND MARKET MANAGEMENT
AND MARKET MANAGEMENT

In Decision No. 111-HĐBT dated August 25, 1984, and Decision No. 4-HĐBT dated January 8, 1985, the Council of Ministers stipulated that the State assigns state trade and cooperative enterprises to purchase all pork and beef, prohibiting private individuals from engaging in this business. Where state trade and cooperative enterprises have not yet taken full responsibility for purchasing pork and beef, provincial and district People's Committees may decide to issue temporary permits to traders.

If breeders reasonably consume and self-slaughter pork or beef, the excess product may be sold to consumers at rural markets without paying commercial trade tax, but they must pay slaughter tax and comply with the State's regulations on food inspection.

Village cooperative purchasing organizations accept mandates to purchase pigs and cattle for state trade while organizing meat sales at the village level. Slaughtering and selling meat at village prices require specific guidance from district People's Committees. Some villages need to sell daily, while others only sell on market days or during holidays, ensuring rural consumption needs without wasting resources.

AT In urban areas, state trade is primarily responsible for meat sales (both supply sales and commercial trade sales). Neighborhood cooperative purchasing organizations assist state trade, possibly acting as agents or operating independently according to specific assignments from the Department of Commerce.

For traders dealing in pigs and cattle as well as wholesale and retail meat sellers, assistance should be provided to transition them to agricultural or handicraft production, or select skilled individuals to enter into production, processing, slaughtering, filtering, retailing, or agency contracts for state trade.

For privately-owned slaughterhouses, county and district authorities shall manage and utilize them based on specific circumstances through joint ventures, purchases, or requisitions. Slaughterhouse owners shall be selected, utilized, and compensated based on their labor results.

For those with meat shops or stores, People's Committees shall consider them specifically; if necessary and feasible, transitional forms (joint ventures, cooperative operations, etc.) may be used to transform and utilize them.

Private individuals are not allowed to engage in pigskin and cattle hide trading, including purchasing, tanning, wholesaling, and retailing hides. Those producing and processing hides shall be transformed according to policies for private industry and small-scale handicrafts. Hide traders shall be handled like meat traders mentioned above.

Those specializing in processing products from pork and beef shall be reformed and managed through contractual agreements, quota systems, or contract processing, selling raw materials and purchasing finished products.

The Department of Commerce needs to strictly guide the procurement work, strengthen the transformation of traders, and market management, piloting bilateral contract procurement in some experienced communes and districts to expand the scope of procurement through bilateral contracts.

Any issues encountered during implementation should be reported and recommendations made for the Ministry to study and resolve.