Mangos are packaged to prepare for export (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Meeting tougher technical standards inproduction and preservation is the key to helping Vietnam’s agriculturalproducts, including fruits, actively raise their export volume and value, anofficial has said.
Nguyen Quoc Toan, Acting Director of the AgroProcessing and Market Development Authority under the Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development, made the remark at a workshop in Hanoi on June 19 thatfocused on the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s management system of the plantprotection product (PPP) residue list for imported agricultural products.
He said although agricultural products ofVietnam boast huge export potential, only when they meet strict production andpreservation standards can the possibility of being exported directly to suchmarkets as the RoK, Japan, Taiwan (China) and Europe be improved.
Le An Hai, Deputy Director of the Department forAsian – African Markets of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that onJanuary 1, 2017, the RoK applied a new mechanism for managing PPPs in oilcontaining nuts and tropical fruits. If these PPPs haven’t had their maximumresidue limits (MRLs) registered in line with the RoK’s new regulation, theirMRLs will be 0.01 ppm.
Though this measure is applied for allcountries, it will limit the number and types of PPPs that can be used inVietnam and directly affect the export of key products like coffee, peanuts,cashew nuts and tropical fruits to the RoK, he noted.
He added Vietnamese businesses’ pro-activelearning of new information will help reduce technical risks greatly when theyexport fruits to this Northeast Asian market in the future.
Meanwhile, Toan highly valued the cooperationbetween relevant agencies of Vietnam and the RoK in attracting localauthorities and agricultural production and exporting firms’ attention to newregulations and food safety.
At the event, Lee Soon-Ho, a representative ofthe RoK’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, pointed out the fruits on which PPPresidue needs special attention from Vietnam when they are exported to hiscountry.
He also warned local companies about the 370PPPs subject to specialized examination at designated ports in the RoK. Nearly140 of the products haven’t had MRLs in this market.
He urged Vietnamese businesses to swiftly reviewthe PPPs without MRLs used on their export fruits and send MRL registrationdossiers to the RoK ministry.
According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industryand Trade, trade between the two countries have risen sharply over the last 25years to reach 61.5 billion USD in 2017, surging 123 times from 1992 when theyset up diplomatic ties and accounting for 14.4 percent of Vietnam’s total traderevenue.
After the Vietnam-RoK Free Trade Agreement tookeffect in December 2015, bilateral trade, including in agricultural products,has recorded impressive growth.
In 2017, the RoK was the second largest tradepartner of Vietnam, which in turn became the eighth biggest export destinationof the RoK.-VNA
VNA
