Circular No. 1/TM-KD guiding the organization of production and supply of iodized salt to meet the entire population's needs.

CIRCULAR

OF THE MINISTRY OF TRADE

Guidelines for organizing production and supplying iodized salt to meet the entire population's needs

Pursuant to Decree No. 95/CP dated December 4, 1993 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Commerce;

Pursuant to Decision No. 481/TTg dated September 8, 1994 of the Prime Minister on organizing and mobilizing the entire population to consume iodized salt and entrusting the Ministry of Trade with organizing the production and supply of iodized salt throughout the country;

The Ministry of Trade guides the production and supply of iodized salt to meet the entire population's needs, specifically as follows:

I. General Principles.

1. The Ministry of Trade is responsible before the Government for organizing the production and supply of iodized salt to ensure the consumption needs of the people nationwide. In the short term, in 1995, efforts will be made to meet 70% of the iodized salt demand for the entire population with quality guaranteed according to current regulations (TCVN/5647-1992), with the iodine dosage ensuring 50 PPM (50 parts per million) or equivalent to 500 micrograms/10 grams of salt.

2. Enterprises producing iodized salt must be subject to unified management by the Ministry of Trade regarding planning, production plans, prices, and be subject to inspection and supervision by the Ministry of Health regarding the quality of iodized salt circulating in the market.

3. The Salt Corporation is responsible for coordinating with Provincial Trading Departments to organize production and circulation of salt within the province; implementing balance between supply and demand of iodized salt nationwide. Assisting non-Salt Corporation affiliated enterprises producing iodized salt to organize production and supply of raw salt (when needed) to ensure quality and stabilize the cost of iodized salt.

4. Enterprises producing iodized salt have the responsibility to continuously improve production technology, packaging, and packaging quantities; diversifying iodized salt products to meet the increasing consumption demands and preferences of the people at reasonable prices.

II. On Organizing Production of Iodized Salt

State-owned enterprises at central and local levels that wish to organize the production of iodized salt must be reviewed and approved by the Ministry of Trade according to the following provisions:

a) Must comply with the iodized salt production network plan announced by the Ministry of Trade. Iodized salt production enterprises must be located in or near salt production areas to minimize the transportation of white salt from production areas to consumption areas. There must be a plan to organize the circulation of produced salt.

The iodized salt production area must be far from harmful environments, convenient for transportation, and have sufficient requirements for electricity and clean water to implement the production process.

b) Must have machine-based iodized salt mixing technology; the production technology and iodized salt mixing equipment must be confirmed by authorized organizations including health and trade sector experts, with the health sector taking the lead. At the same time, there must be the capability to modernize production to improve product quality, moving towards producing brine salt, refined salt, and ground salt mixed with iodine to meet diverse consumer demands.

Warehouses and iodized salt production workshops must meet hygiene requirements, having dedicated warehouses for raw salt storage, packaging materials, and finished product storage.

c) Must have quality control measures, with technical staff trained to conduct quality control checks on each batch of produced goods.

Production workers must be equipped with uniform clothing and hats, free from infectious diseases.

d) Iodized salt packaging must be done using PE bags that are hygienic, odorless, durable, and not prone to tearing during transportation. The packaging must clearly indicate the name of the production facility; date of production, month, year, and shelf life, stamped with quality check approval. Product trademarks must be registered with the competent authority according to current regulations. When transporting and storing, outer packaging (40-50 kg per bag) must be used for protection.

đ) Localities wishing to produce iodized salt must submit a report and application for iodized salt production from the enterprise to the Ministry of Trade (Department of Business Management) for review and approval for the production unit. Products must be confirmed by authorized health agencies appointed by the Ministry of Health before being allowed to circulate in the market.

III. On Organizing the Sale of Iodized Salt

1. Provincial Trading Departments are responsible for directing and circulating iodized salt according to the following principles:

- For regions capable of producing iodized salt (as stipulated in Section II), the production enterprises should organize sales themselves or through state trading units signing contracts to purchase iodized salt from production facilities to establish a sales network in the market.

- For regions unable to produce iodized salt, they should negotiate with the Salt Corporation to secure supplies and sell iodized salt locally.

2. Regarding Prices:

a) For mountainous areas: implement price support policies (transportation costs, packaging, mixing costs) according to current regulations.

b) For other regions: the selling price of salt is based on market prices, considering raw material costs (white salt, packaging...), production costs, and reasonable profit margins.

IV. Organization of Inspection and Implementation

1. The Salt Corporation and localities permitted to produce iodized salt should strive to put iodized salt production enterprises into operation as soon as possible, ensuring adequate supply according to the Prime Minister's directive to organize and motivate the entire population to consume iodized salt.

2. Provincial Trading Departments should regularly inspect the implementation of selling prices, quality, and compliance with state policies on iodized salt supply by units, promptly identifying and addressing violations. Production and supply units of iodized salt (both central and local) have the responsibility to provide necessary data and facilitate inspections and controls over iodized salt quality and pricing.

3. Price regulations of the Salt Corporation must be submitted to the Ministry of Trade and the Government Price Board; local production and trading units of iodized salt must send their regulations to the provincial People's Committee for monitoring and inspection.

Every six months, localities must report to the Ministry of Trade (Department of Business Management) on the results of iodized salt production and consumption in their region.

4. This Circular takes effect from the date of signature. During implementation, if there are difficulties, units and localities should report to the Ministry for research and supplementation to align with actual conditions.

This Circular takes effect from the date of issuance. In the course of implementation, if there are any difficulties, units and localities shall reflect them to the Ministry for study and supplementation to be appropriate to the actual situation.