U.S. Ready to Assist Vietnam in Dealing with Drought, Salinization: Agro Chief

Washington is ready to assist Hanoi in coping with drought and salinization as well as climate change, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Secretary Tom Vilsack told Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Speaking at a reception in Hanoi on April 25, Mr. Vilsack said the U.S. has rich experience in climate change response and wants to share with Vietnam. Regarding the two nations’ cooperation in agriculture, Vilsack urged the two governments to remove trade barriers to facilitate trading farm produce. At the talks, PM Phuc suggested the U.S. government to help Vietnam enhance its capacity and technology in safe food production and food testing. Phuc highly evaluated the results of the talks between Mr. Vilsack and Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat. He asked the U.S. to soon grant import permission of Vietnamese agricultural products such as fruits, and review its policies to facilitate Vietnamese pangasius export. The Vietnamese government leader said Vietnam’s parliament will approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement soon to facilitate the two countries’ joint projects. Earlier on the same day, Minister Phat and Secretary Vilsack held talks to enhance collaboration in agriculture, forestry and seafood between the two countries. Phat said Vietnam’s farm produce export to the U.S. still faces a number of difficulties and unfair treatment. The procedures to grant an export license for Vietnamese fruit to the market are complicated, costly and time-consuming. So far, only four kinds of Vietnamese fruit, namely dragon fruit, rambutan, longan, and lychee are licensed to enter the U.S., but with high export costs. Vietnam has sent a draft report on the probable risk assessment (PRA) of mango and star apple to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and proposed APHIS hand over the inspection of fruit irradiation to the Vietnamese ministry’s Plant Protection Department. Vietnam has effectively coordinated with the U.S. in this field since 2008, Phat said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are imposing the zero maximum residue limits (MRL) on some unregistered drugs in the U.S. which are allowed to be used in other countries. This has caused difficulties for Vietnamese exporters. On the other hand, Vietnamese farm produce has to follow regulations on food safety from separate U.S. states. Regarding seafood, Vietnamese shrimp and pangasius exported to the U.S. last year received unfair treatment and continuously experienced anti-dumping and anti-subsidy lawsuits, which significantly affected the two countries’ trade ties as well as the jobs and incomes of millions of Vietnamese farmers and businesses. The USDA has ruled the establishment of an inspection program for Siluriformes fish, including Vietnamese pangasius, which came into effect from March 1, 2016. Accordingly, the export countries have a transitional period of 18 months (until August 31, 2017) to adjust their production systems in line with the new regulations of the US. The implementation of the program within 18 months is difficult for Vietnam due to the country’s significant difference in production conditions and level of development from the U.S. This might interrupt trade activities and affect millions of Vietnamese farmers and exporters. Therefore, Vietnam proposed the U.S. extend the time limit for the country to meet the program’s regulations. The MARD hopes to strengthen cooperation with the U.S. in smart agriculture to cope with climate change, Minister Phat said, adding that the U.S. is expected to help the Southeast Asian country enhance capacity in the fields of biological and hi-tech agriculture, food hygiene and safety, and flora and fauna inspection. He asked the U.S. to support Vietnam in evaluating aquatic resources and realizing commitments in the environment program under the TPP to which both nations are members. Currently, the U.S. is the 2nd most important farm produce market of Vietnam, after China, with export revenues of$ 5.69 billion and imports of $1.4 billion in 2015. In the first quarter of 2016, Vietnam earned over $1.3 billion from selling agro-forestry-fisheries products to the U.S., mainly wood and timber products, seafood, cashew nuts, coffee and pepper. Vietnam also imported nearly $298 million worth of goods from the market. Vietnam’s agro-forestry-fisheries exports to the U.S. recorded an annual growth of almost 20% over the past three years, with wood and timber products and seafood being key staples. (Nong Nghiep Vietnam – Vietnam Agriculture Apr 26, Nhan Dan – The Peoples Apr 26)