2020 - Difficulties, challenges and breakthroughs of Vietnam's paper industry

A year full of difficulties and challenges for the Vietnamese economy and the Vietnamese paper industry in the context of the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic. Market volatility, economic management policy in the pandemic context have significantly affected production and business activities of members, but with a sense of responsibility and enthusiasm, the Pulp and Paper Association Vietnam (Association) has really accompanied its members, with the Industry bringing the Paper Industry to have breakthrough development steps in 2020.

Although 2020 is a year full of difficulties and challenges for the Vietnamese economy as well as for businesses in the paper industry due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, Vietnamese paper enterprises still achieve encouraging results in production and business activities. Following 2019, a year of operation with many outstanding and successful events, the Vietnam Pulp and Paper Association in 2020 continues to affirm its prestige and responsibility among Industry Associations, continued Continuity is the bridge between member enterprises with ministries, branches and state management agencies.

The number of members of the Association remains at 85 as in 2020, but there is a change in quality and membership structure. The number of members of paper and packaging production has increased, members of the Association are always actively participating in the general activities of the Association, actively proposing and contributing to the general work of the Association. . Although in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Prime Minister's directives on the fight against epidemics have been justified, but the Association still organizes normal activities, with the aim of supporting production activities. business of member enterprises.

In 2020, due to the impact of the epidemic, the Office cannot organize a number of activities planned at the beginning of the year such as organizing conferences on co-firing boilers in paper factories, economic seminars. circulation in the paper industry; member plenary conference and paper industry technical seminar in 2020. However, in 2020, the Office of the Association still actively coordinates and organizes working sessions and directly works with house management agencies. countries such as: Government Office, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Industry and Trade, General Department of Customs, Ministry of Finance and a number of other State management agencies.

With the aim of supporting and removing difficulties for members, the Association always accompanies its members, promoting activities, proposing and proposing to State management agencies many influential policies. towards production and business activities, promoting sustainable development, green production and towards a circular economic model in the Paper Industry. Promptly monitor and report to ministries and branches on the operation, production and business situation of enterprises in the industry, as well as promptly grasp and update information from state management agencies and disseminate information. disappeared to members.

Although the Office of the Vietnam Pulp and Paper Association is not a specialized agency in communication, it still conducts and maintains regular communication of the Office: acquiring information from foreign countries, customs information and data, organizations collecting information from enterprises, organizing translation, editing, filtering information, compiling and regularly publishing industry economic bulletins, updating update news on the Website, publish the Magazine (online), provide complete and timely information for businesses in the industry and serve state management agencies such as the Government Office, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment ...

The Vietnam Pulp and Paper Association is evaluated by the Government Office as one of the few associations that operate actively and achieve many results in 2020. With a sense of responsibility, always accompanying businesses, For the development of businesses, the Association has always been active in supporting and solving difficulties for businesses and in 2020 achieved some results as follows:

Suggest and propose to the Government Office, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other State management agencies on the inadequacies of Decree 40/2019 / ND-CP and propose some ideas to remove difficulties. towels for businesses due to the impact of COVID epidemic with contents such as: unreasonable and costly in the construction of wastewater incident treatment lakes in pulp and paper factories; the installation of automatic monitoring systems for wastewater and exhaust gas; extension of environmental certification in import of scrap for use as raw production materials, extension and no need to re-do environmental impact assessment reports ... Before those suggestions of the Office of the Association, the Government issued Resolution No. 129 (the Government's August regular resolution) deciding: To allow extension of the time for completion of the installation of the automatic wastewater and emission monitoring system, to the end of December 31. year 2021 (instead of December 31, 2020); Extend until the end of December 31, 2021 for the Certificate of eligibility for environmental protection in import of scrap for use as raw production materials, and at the same time, the approved EIA is not required if the EIA is not replaced. relocation, increase capacity scale according to regulations.

The work of participating in building Vietnamese standards, participating in drafting and proposing ideas for the promulgation of QCVN in accordance with the technological level, economic scale, creates favorable conditions for businesses in the industry. attention, such as attending discussions and giving comments on the promulgation of the List of scrap allowed to be imported as raw materials for production QD 28/2020 / QD-TTg, replacing Decision 73/2014 / QD- TTg, in which the commodity code HS 4707.90.00 (mixed paper) is allowed to be imported by the end of December 31, 2021 (instead of December 31, 2020); Recommendations on applying HS codes for paper materials when imported.

Attend the drafting team of the Regulation and give written opinions to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, including Regulation 33: 2020 / BTNMT (Environmental protection regulations in the import of scrap for use as raw production materials) - In QCVN 33: 2020, the inspecting and implementing agency is an independent inspection organization and the Customs and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment no longer play a role in the state inspection of paper scrap imports. At the same time, it is recommended to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to consider and amend the indicators of AOX, dioxin-fural in wastewater from pulp and paper factories in accordance with QCVN 12-MT: 2015 / BTNMT. As a result, in the Draft QCVN 40: 2021, which replaces QCVN 12-MT: 2015, which is consulted by ministries and state management agencies, paper production enterprises, the draft has removed the Dioxin-fural factor out of paper factories from recovered paper materials, only considering applying this criterion to pulp factories using bleaching stage.

The Vietnam Pulp and Paper Association office is not only interested in supporting and removing difficulties for enterprises in production and business activities, but also actively assists even in product consumption. . Producing and consuming counterfeit and counterfeit paper products is also the main concern of businesses and the Office of the Association. In December 2020, after a long period of discussion and agreement, for the first time, the Association signed the Regulation on coordination with the General Department of Market Control in combating the production and consumption of counterfeit and counterfeit products. paper products in the Vietnamese market, as well as a meeting to discuss with the Trade Defense Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the prevention of trade fraud on origin, considering the anti-dumping administrative investigation. printing and writing paper products on the Vietnamese market.

Cyclic production is a production model that is really suitable and suitable for the paper industry, attending seminars on cyclic economy, transmitting correct information about the paper industry is also very interested in the Office of the Association. , in order to enhance the meaning of the circular economy, develop recycling and reuse of scrap paper. Scrap paper must be a resource, the raw material needed for paper production. Scrap paper is not considered waste and is not managed as waste management, but regarded as a kind of raw material, commodity ...

The year 2020 has passed with many difficulties and challenges, but also the year the Vietnam Paper Industry as well as the member enterprises of the Vietnam Pulp and Paper Association marked remarkable growth in both investment and operation. manufacturing, trading and consuming products. The year 2020 - with the starting point of the COVID-19 epidemic, the market is constantly in turmoil and volatility, input material prices (recovered paper) and transportation costs are high, assessed as unusually high and never before. available in the past 20 years. However, production and business activities of the Industry still have bright spots, many packaging paper manufacturers launch and supplement the market with production reaching approximately 1 million tons (Marubeni, Khoi Nguyen, Global , Phat Dat, Tan Huy Kiet ...). Vietnamese tissue companies have also shifted to invest in high-capacity, modern and environmentally-friendly tissue paper production lines, bringing to the market high quality products equivalent to other imported products, popular in the domestic market and export oriented (Xuong Giang Paper Factory, Xuan Mai Paper Company ...). 2020 is also the year that Vietnamese packaging paper manufacturers reach the largest export ever with a growth rate of nearly 80% compared to 2019 and 1.6 million tons.

Although being significantly affected by the covid-19 epidemic, many activities were interrupted, but with a sense of responsibility the Vietnam Pulp and Paper Association will always accompany enterprises, be a reliable representative and reputation of the business community of Vietnam Paper Industry./.

Source: Paper industry; number 1-2021

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