The list of essential goods has just been issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to remove difficulties and obstacles in the circulation of goods when implementing social distancing.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has just issued the latest guidance on which goods are considered essential and are allowed to circulate when implementing social distancing according to Directive 16 of the Prime Minister.

Specifically, the list of essential goods allowed to circulate as guided by the Ministry of Industry and Trade includes 4 groups:

The food group includes drinking water, functional foods, meat and meat products, cereals, aquatic products and aquatic products, vegetables and fruits, etc.

The group of raw materials for production such as iron, steel, fertilizers, pesticides, animal feed, etc.

The group of fuels and energy includes gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas, coal, etc.

The group of other goods according to the needs of local production and daily life.

Previously, according to the feedback of businesses, one of the prominent issues that significantly affected production and business activities was the lack of synchronization and consistency in regulations and policies applied by localities on social distancing, control of goods circulation, regulations on essential foods, etc.

For example, milk is classified as an essential commodity in this province but not in the group of essential goods in other provinces, so dairy businesses cannot deliver goods to agents.

In order to consistently resolve this issue, the Ministry of Industry and Trade sent an urgent document to the Prime Minister proposing that the Government issue a list of "prohibited goods" instead of listing the list of "essential goods" allowed to circulate to limit the interpretation of each place, which is causing many difficulties.

If this proposal is approved, businesses and enterprises only need to refer to the list of prohibited goods - which is a list of 19 goods and services prohibited or restricted from circulation according to the provisions of law - issued since May 2014 based on the guidance from Decree No. 59/2006/ND-CP (except for goods permitted by the Prime Minister).

The remaining goods and services not on this list will be granted a "green card" for circulation within the locality, or from one locality to another.