December 20, 2011

To aid the country's agricultural products exporters to lift export, Vietnam's trade officer and representatives in foreign countries have to work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade (MoIT) Tran Quoc Khanh.

The MARD should work together with trade offices and representatives in foreign countries to boost the signing and implementation of mutual recognition agreements on food safety and hygiene and agreements on technical conditions for agricultural, aquatic and forestry products with Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Middle East, Western Asia, and Africa, Khanh noted.

In recent years, Vietnamese exports have faced a number of technical trade barriers, such as green dragon fruit to the US and Taiwan and seafood to the EU and the US.

Overseas trade offices and representatives have to assist local exporters to understand the handling processes of export markets for these cases, Khanh said.

There is a lack of information exchange between state administrative agencies, businesses, and trade representatives in foreign countries, Thang added. The two ministries will employ measures to support and encourage businesses to increase trade promotion activities at the CIS market.

The MARD gave its departments the task of studying the new US laws and regulations on agricultural issues, namely the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and the country's reviewed policy on Vietnamese exports of shrimp and fish to the market.

Vietnam is the agriculture-based country. The country is among the world producers and exporters of a number of agricultural products, including rice, coffee, pangasius fish, tea, shrimp, pepper and vegetables.

The Southeast Asian country earned US$18.68 billion from exporting farm produce in 2010 and nearly US$21 billion in January-November this year.