Delegate Pham Khanh Phong Lan proposed regulating profit margins so that businesses and distributors can avoid the risk of being accused of price gouging.
Commenting on the draft Law on Prices (amended) at the National Assembly on the afternoon of May 23, delegate Pham Khanh Phong Lan (Head of the Food Safety Management Board, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Pharmacy Association) said that some countries stipulate that the allowable profit margin for pharmacies is 20%.
"The drafting agency needs to study and consider learning from other countries' experiences to make specific regulations, avoiding cases where businesses are wronged or do not have the courage to continue supplying medicine, equipment, and medical supplies," said Ms. Lan.
According to the female delegate of Ho Chi Minh City, currently, many medical facilities, businesses, and distributors are afraid that after purchasing, the investigation agency will conclude that "the price is higher than the CIF price" and be accused of "excessive profit" (CIF is the price calculated at the port of the importing country). Meanwhile, the story that needs to be overcome is that buying and selling through many intermediary levels causes the final buyer to pay a very high price, and the revised Law on Prices "does not have any sanctions".
Delegate Pham Khanh Phong Lan (HCMC) spoke on the afternoon of May 23. Photo: National Assembly Media
Delegate Nguyen Cong Long (Standing member of the Judiciary Committee) said that checking price formation factors is very important in State management. This prevents price inflation and profiteering by producers, especially during epidemics or natural disasters.
Citing the Viet A case, Mr. Long said this was a very haunting precedent, when the input materials that the enterprise imported were only 0.95 USD, but the finished products sent to the CDC of the province or city were up to 470 USD. The price-inflating trick, the price-forming factors "were very sophisticatedly fabricated".
According to Article 31 of the draft, the inspection of price formation factors is carried out in two cases. One is when the prices of goods and services in the price stabilization list are declared to have abnormal amplitudes that affect the socio -economy; the other is when it serves management and operation work under the direction of competent authorities.
Medical supplies are not on the list of essential goods, however, in the process of fighting the epidemic, the meaning of this item is no less important than medicine and vaccines. In addition , it is also very difficult for authorities to check the factor of "abnormal fluctuations affecting the economy and society". Many items only appear in the situation of epidemics, incidents, and disasters, and are not yet on the market, "so how can there be a reference price".
Delegate Nguyen Cong Long (standing member of the Judiciary Committee) spoke on the afternoon of May 23. Photo: National Assembly Media
Therefore, delegate Long suggested that the drafting agency take the recent Covid-19 epidemic prevention precedent to determine the price formation factors for all items related to epidemic prevention, which only applies to dangerous infectious diseases of group A.
Son Ha - Viet Tuan
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