One of the biggest barriers today in exporting (exporting) agricultural products is the issue of food safety, animal and plant quarantine. If the measures in the Agreement on Phytosanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement (SPS Agreement) are applied to goods, then the agricultural product exporters and farmers will meet the requirements of the importing country.
Mr. Le Thanh Hoa – Deputy Director of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development, cum Director of the Notification Office and National Inquiry Point on Sanitation, Epidemiology and Phytosanitary (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development – Agriculture and Rural Development) said so when answering a reporter from TBTCVN.
Reporter: Sir, will the application of the SPS Agreement create more favorable conditions for enterprises in the process of exporting agricultural, forestry and fishery products to the world market, especially difficult markets?
Mr. Le Thanh Hoa: The SPS Agreement applies food hygiene and safety (food safety) and phytosanitary measures, agreed upon by the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Vietnam has joined 17 free trade agreements with many partners, which have covered all of Vietnam’s largest export markets.
Since joining WTO, the Government has established the Notification Office and National Inquiry Point on Sanitation, Epidemiology and Phytosanitary (SPS Vietnam Office) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The SPS Vietnam Office is the focal point to fulfill the transparency obligations required by the SPS Agreement, and acts as the official information channel between Vietnam and WTO members on SPS issues. The office is responsible for informing and answering questions about the contents and regulations on food hygiene and safety, animal and plant quarantine; request WTO member countries to provide information on measures and procedures for risk assessment, inspection, examination and other related issues on food safety and hygiene and animal and plant quarantine.
| Mr. Le Thanh Hoa |
I think, for the field of food safety and animal and plant quarantine, compliance with SPS regulations is the most important key to opening the door to all markets, even the most demanding ones.
In addition, when Vietnam participates in the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products, especially with aquatic products, we have basically completed the system of legal documents related to food hygiene and safety supervision and now all seafood exporting enterprises must apply regulations such as HACCP, ISO 22000, and have procedures to monitor food safety and safety for export and import.
Recently, we have also basically completed all regulations related to the management and supervision of food safety in the country as well as harmonized those regulations with international standards. For example, finalizing the Law on Food Safety; Law on Plant Protection and Quarantine and Law on Veterinary Medicine. The problem is how do we enforce these laws to ensure they are applied in practice.
The fact that Vietnam’s agricultural, forestry and fishery products have appeared in 196 countries and territories around the world is a proof that we have basically met the regulations on food safety as well as the requirements on animal and plant quarantine of markets, including fastidious markets such as Europe, the United States, Australia, New Diland, Japan, and South Korea.
Reporter: Talking about enforcement, there is still a situation where exported agricultural products are returned due to lack of understanding and compliance with regulations on food safety and animal and plant quarantine of the importing country. How to limit this situation, sir?
Mr. Le Thanh Hoa: Since Vietnam’s accession to the WTO, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the SPS Office have coordinated with units to disseminate and update regulations related to food hygiene and safety in management agencies and businesses. Recently, many businesses and farmers have also paid attention to regulations on food safety as well as regulations on animal and plant quarantine.
In the coming time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will continue to carry out propaganda and dissemination activities on information about market regulations (chemical residues in agricultural products; veterinary drugs related to animal husbandry and aquaculture; issues related to the use of chemicals in animal husbandry…) so that producers, localities as well as export enterprises can better understand the market’s regulations, and better grasp the market’s regulations, especially the regulations.
State management agencies must also be more proactive and creative in promoting dissemination and propaganda for people as well as businesses to understand and understand the regulations. Thus, Vietnam’s export agricultural products will continue to stand firm as well as affirm their position in the world market in the coming years.
Currently, in addition to food safety and hygiene requirements, markets have even higher and stricter requirements on other factors such as labor issues (not using child labor and issues related to sustainable development and green production). Therefore, in the coming time, there will be more activities from the market agency of MARD as well as from specialized agencies to disseminate these regulations to the people as well as the production team.
I also recommend to exporters to have a technical department or a legal department to continue monitoring and grasping these regulations because foreign enterprises pay great attention to food safety issues and they have a very thorough consulting and legal department while Vietnamese enterprises are superficial in grasping the regulations or technical requirements of the market.
Therefore, Vietnamese agricultural product exporters need to regularly exchange information with the management agencies, with the SPS Office to understand the regulations from the market; so that it can be handled promptly if there is a violation.
Reporter: Along with supporting businesses, how should the management agency support farmers so that they can meet the regulations on the production process required by the market, sir?
Mr. Le Thanh Hoa: I also recommend that there should be a very close coordination between the local management agencies with the central government and especially the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development – the unit directly in charge of all growing areas, livestock and processing establishments, to update timely information to guide farmers.
We have updated the information on the website, if you have conditions, you can refer to it or the local technical staff can refer to it to know that information and disseminate it to the people. In case you want to know directly or want to ask in detail, you can contact the focal points at the departments under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, or the focal point at the SPS Vietnam Office for more information as well as specific instructions.
Reporter: Thank you Sir!
According to Thoibaotaichinhvietnam.vn
