HCM City (VNA) - Vietnamese exporters of farm produce must learn more about food-safetyrequirements and maximum residue limits (MRL) of importing countries, expertssaid at a workshop held recently in Ho Chi Minh City.

Farm produce exportshave greatly contributed to total export revenue, with exports reaching anaverage growth rate of 2.4 percent per year in the past five years, accordingto Chu Van Chuong, deputy head of the Department of International Cooperationunder the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

In the first 10 months ofthe year, the country earned 15.62 billion USD from exports of farm produce, ayear-on-year increase of 15.2 percent.

Exports of fruits andvegetables, cashew nuts and rubber increased strongly, but many farm productswere returned since they did not meet MRL requirements set by importingcountries, according to the Plant Protection Department.

Vasant L. Patil of CropLife Asia explained that MRL stood for maximum concentration of pesticideresidue (expressed as mg/kg) likely to occur in food commodities and animalfeed, MRLs are not toxicological threshold values, but they are applied astrade standards and compulsory compliance duties.

When an agriculturalproduct has exceeded the amount of residue, for example, it cannot be acceptedfor trade but can still be safe for human health.

Tran Thanh Tung, GeneralDirector of the Southern Pesticide Control and Testing Centre, said importingcountries had often changed food safety regulations on farm produce.

Since there are many MRLsystems around the world, compliance can be difficult as some exports can meetMRL standards of one importing country but may not be accepted by anothercountry.

Understandingdifferences in MRLs is key to ensuring speed-to-market for food manufacturers,traders and retailers, he said.

There are many factorsleading to pesticide residue in agricultural products, including physical andchemical properties of pesticides (stability in the environment); improper useof pesticides (such as overuse and improper pre-harvest intervals), and problemsin preservation.

To reduce the risk ofpesticide residue in agricultural products, producers and exporters shouldunderstand the MRL requirements of importing countries, be aware of the list ofpesticides used in importing countries, and pay attention to prohibitedpesticides, experts aid.

Vietnam has regulationson MRLs standards, but enforcement has encountered problems.

Meeting such standardsrequires the participation and accountability of all stakeholders involved inthe value chain, including State management agencies, farmers, pesticideproducers, and processing companies, participants at the conference said.

As the MRL standard isnot uniform across countries, they suggested that countries in the regionshould work together to develop a common data package, mutual recognition ofresidue data, and common adoption of MRLs.

Kohei Sakata, Chairmanof Crop Life Vietnam, said the conference’s objective was to give stakeholdersa chance to discuss challenges and solutions to increasing the volume ofagricultural exports.

Organised by Crop Life Vietnamand the Plant Protection Department, the workshop on enhancement of exportcapabilities of Vietnam agri-products included group discussions and solutionson promoting fruits, vegetables, rice, tea and pepper. VNA