Vietnam – U.S promote agricultural trade

At the working session, the leaders of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development expects the U.S side to facilitate Vietnam aquatic processing businesses in particular and businesses in other fields of cultivation in general to strengthen the trade relations with the U.S.

According to Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam, USDA had a catfish inspection program. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development found in this program some perspectives that were not suitable for both Vietnamese and international standards. Therefore, the Vietnam side expected to continuously discuss with USDA competent units for further clarification.

Vietnam expected USDA to recognize relevant procedures for Vietnamese mango and star apple to be exported to the U.S, while providing technical assistance, as well as other supports for organic agricultural projects, including providing a training course for Vietnamese experts on organic certification.

In the field of plant protection, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam asked the U.S side to transfer the inspection program to the Vietnam side for better understanding of the procedures and further supports for the measurement of pesticide residue levels among products exported to the U.S.

On the subject of the catfish inspection program, Mr. Robert Macke said that the U.S side had paid a lot of efforts to address Vietnam concerned for the past few year: “Once again I would like to reaffirm that we pledge to support Vietnam on this issue. And during the transitional period, we will try to make the transfer take place in the most favorable way”. 

At the working session, the two sides also discussed relevant topics, such as: food safety cooperation in APEC, bilateral trade issues and proposal for the support of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for the Vietnam Government’s approval on the Embassy’s request for new USDA locations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh offices.