The conference sought tocreate a platform for stakeholders in aquaculture to share informationand seek co-operation in strengthening application of VietGap, theVietnamese version of GAP, and boosting sales of VietGap-certifiedproducts.

Pham Anh Tuan, the Fisheries GeneralDepartment's deputy general director, said rapid development of theaquaculture industry in the last few years has led to environmentalpollution and disease outbreaks, threatening the industry's development.

Consumers nowadays not only demand quality products butare also concerned about how they are produced, he told the conference,organised by the General Department of Fisheries and MetroCash&Carry Viet Nam.

"Like other aquaculturecertificates such as GlobalGap and ASC, VietGap certification alsocovers environmental protection, food hygiene and safety, socialresponsibility, and product origin to ensure our aquaculture industrycan produce a lot of fish and shrimp, but do not have an adverse impacton the environment and can easily trace product origins."

It would help Vietnamese aquaculture products gain wider acceptance in both domestic and international markets, he said.

Nhu Van Can, deputy director of the Department of Aquaculture, said thecountry's good agricultural practices focus on inspection of on-farmproduction and inputs to raise awareness of standards among producersand develop brands for Vietnamese aquaculture products.

When farmers adopt VietGap they can easily upgrade to other certificates required by import countries, he pointed out.

Under the Government's policy on VietGap development in aquaculture,the country would foster its application in breeding of key export itemslike tra fish, tiger prawn, and white-leg shrimp, he said.

Government agencies are also working to find more markets that accept VietGap-certified products, he stated.

But he admitted that it is not easy to popularise VietGap among aquaculturists.

Many participants said farmers are reluctant to adopt the safeproduction method because they think it is expensive and makes themuncompetitive.

Tuan said adoption of VietGap standardsmay cause high production costs in the initial stage, but in the longrun it helps reduce costs and improve the quality and competitiveness ofVietnamese goods.

Adopting the standards helps farmerssell their produce more easily and significantly cut costs since fishcontract fewer diseases, he explained.

Philippe Bacac,chairman and managing director of Metro in Vietnam , said hissupermarket has co-operated with the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment to develop the fisheries sector as part of the "PublicPrivate Task Force on Sustainable Agricultural Growth in Vietnam ."

The programme aims to raise productivity and incomes for farmers whilesecuring the sustainability of both the fisheries industry and theenvironment, he said.

Under the programme, since 2011Metro has worked with farmers in the Cuu Long ( Mekong ) Delta to ensurethe supply of best quality products for its outlets.

𒀰 Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Viet Nam Association ofSeafood Exporters and Processors, said: "Most seafood processing firmshave good food safety control systems. We need to focus more on checkingthe pre-processing stage to ensure sustainable development ." .-VNA