Vietnam’s domestic livestock industry encountered lots of difficultieslast year and is to face more challenges when the country signs theTrans-Pacific Partnership in the time to come.
Hoang Thanh Van,head of the Livestock Department under the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development, talked to Viet Nam News about the future of theindustry.
* The domestic livestock industry encountered lots of difficulties in 2013. What is your overall assessment?
In general, the industry did manage to grow by about four percent lastyear. We managed to control some disease outbreaks and believe thatdomestic livestock products are of high quality, whether they are raisedby households or enterprises.
I believe the biggestdifficulty the industry faces has to do with the lack of coordinationbetween producers and the market to make sure that the supply chain isstable. The producers now still have to rely on middlemen who make themsell their products at lower prices. Also, weather conditions in 2013were not very favourable, discouraging livestock farmers from expandingoperations. The possibility of more disease outbreaks has been a matterof concern for many farmers.
* Do we have enough livestock supply for the Tet holiday?
Based on reports from localities nationwide, I believe we have enoughstock for the holiday. We need market watchdogs to control smuggling sothat supply and prices can be stabilised.
In the coming time,as we approach the holiday, there can be a slight increase in meatprices but it will not be a sudden, steep one. We want livestock farmersto benefit, but we also don't want to hurt the consumers.
*You've said that the domestic livestock industry is heading in thedirection of biosafety. How will this be manifest in 2014?
Thelivestock industry is working on two important aspects: pilotingorganic livestock and VietGap standards. In organic livestock farming,the use of antibiotics, growth hormones, drugs, chemicals and pesticideswill be avoided. However, organic livestock farming has only beenmaintained on a pilot basis in Vietnam and we will monitor this to seewhether it's possible to expand it further in the future.
*When Vietnam signs the Trans-Pacific Partnership later this year, whatare the difficulties that our livestock industry will face?
This means we have to sell at prices matching imported meat, and rightnow, some of our products are not competitive enough. This can pose amajor challenge for the industry. We need to do more research, improveour breeds as well as quality of quality of cattle feed.
Inthe coming time, we will definitely have to focus on restructuring theindustry, which means improving breeding practices at both household andlarge-scale farms, improving technical capacity as well as the legalframework under which the industry operates.
We want toencourage businesses and researchers to be more careful in choosingbreeds to farm. They should import quality breeds for cross-breeding, sothat the farms can produce quality products that meet our consumptionneeds.
We also need to improve the local livestock supply chainand facilitate greater co-operation between small farms so that theycan benefit from economies of scale.
When Vietnam signs theTPP, the livestock industry must adapt, otherwise it will lose out. Whentaxes are reduced, Vietnam will need to put up technical barriers sothat the local industry can exploit its advantages including consumers'preference for fresh meat over frozen products.
* So you aresaying that when the TPP is signed, we have to worry about importedproducts taking over the domestic market?
Obviously, importedproducts like beef and milk will flood the market in the wake of Vietnamsigning the TPP. We should be prepared to exploit advantages we haveand increase our competitiveness, focusing on products like chicken,pork and duck. We can also develop our capacity to produce beef. Wehave about 7-8 million heads of cattle raised for purpose right now,but the demand is much higher.-VNA
Hoang Thanh Van,head of the Livestock Department under the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development, talked to Viet Nam News about the future of theindustry.
* The domestic livestock industry encountered lots of difficulties in 2013. What is your overall assessment?
In general, the industry did manage to grow by about four percent lastyear. We managed to control some disease outbreaks and believe thatdomestic livestock products are of high quality, whether they are raisedby households or enterprises.
I believe the biggestdifficulty the industry faces has to do with the lack of coordinationbetween producers and the market to make sure that the supply chain isstable. The producers now still have to rely on middlemen who make themsell their products at lower prices. Also, weather conditions in 2013were not very favourable, discouraging livestock farmers from expandingoperations. The possibility of more disease outbreaks has been a matterof concern for many farmers.
* Do we have enough livestock supply for the Tet holiday?
Based on reports from localities nationwide, I believe we have enoughstock for the holiday. We need market watchdogs to control smuggling sothat supply and prices can be stabilised.
In the coming time,as we approach the holiday, there can be a slight increase in meatprices but it will not be a sudden, steep one. We want livestock farmersto benefit, but we also don't want to hurt the consumers.
*You've said that the domestic livestock industry is heading in thedirection of biosafety. How will this be manifest in 2014?
Thelivestock industry is working on two important aspects: pilotingorganic livestock and VietGap standards. In organic livestock farming,the use of antibiotics, growth hormones, drugs, chemicals and pesticideswill be avoided. However, organic livestock farming has only beenmaintained on a pilot basis in Vietnam and we will monitor this to seewhether it's possible to expand it further in the future.
*When Vietnam signs the Trans-Pacific Partnership later this year, whatare the difficulties that our livestock industry will face?
This means we have to sell at prices matching imported meat, and rightnow, some of our products are not competitive enough. This can pose amajor challenge for the industry. We need to do more research, improveour breeds as well as quality of quality of cattle feed.
Inthe coming time, we will definitely have to focus on restructuring theindustry, which means improving breeding practices at both household andlarge-scale farms, improving technical capacity as well as the legalframework under which the industry operates.
We want toencourage businesses and researchers to be more careful in choosingbreeds to farm. They should import quality breeds for cross-breeding, sothat the farms can produce quality products that meet our consumptionneeds.
We also need to improve the local livestock supply chainand facilitate greater co-operation between small farms so that theycan benefit from economies of scale.
When Vietnam signs theTPP, the livestock industry must adapt, otherwise it will lose out. Whentaxes are reduced, Vietnam will need to put up technical barriers sothat the local industry can exploit its advantages including consumers'preference for fresh meat over frozen products.
* So you aresaying that when the TPP is signed, we have to worry about importedproducts taking over the domestic market?
Obviously, importedproducts like beef and milk will flood the market in the wake of Vietnamsigning the TPP. We should be prepared to exploit advantages we haveand increase our competitiveness, focusing on products like chicken,pork and duck. We can also develop our capacity to produce beef. Wehave about 7-8 million heads of cattle raised for purpose right now,but the demand is much higher.-VNA
