“This visit to Vietnam of Commissioner of Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski and the EU business delegation is an opportunity for both sides to promote cooperation in agriculture, especially agricultural trade, and in areas where there is still plenty of room after nearly two years after the EVFTA officially took effect,” said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien.

Vietnam prioritizes opening markets for EU agro-products

In the field of agro-products, EU member countries still have 65 applications for market opening waiting for Vietnam to consider at present. There are many applications that have been sent to the Vietnamese side in the 2014 - 2015 period, and Commissioner of Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski also mentioned that since 2018 Vietnam had not issued any market opening permits for EU vegetable products. He proposed that the Vietnamese side considered speeding up the process of evaluating and approving the application for market opening, providing a clear, specific and transparent timeframe or timeline.

Referring to the issue of verifying documents for importing fruit and vegetable products from the EU into Vietnam, Deputy Director of the Plant Protection Department Nguyen Quy Duong said, “During the process of approving the proposal to open the market, particularly on the EU side, the Plant Protection Department always gives priority to quicken the market opening for fruits and vegetables from the EU to Vietnam.

In response to the comments of the EU Commissioner of Agriculture, Mr. Nguyen Quy Duong shared that market opening was also related to technical negotiations between Vietnam and the member countries.

In the situation from now until the end of the year, for countries that have completed the procedures with only the market inspection phase remains, the Vietnamese side can open the market for friend countries’ agro-products. Some prime examples include apples of the Czech Republic, kiwifruits of Greece, and apples of Hungary.

Regarding animal products, Mr. Nguyen Duc Long, Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Health, said that from 2020 alone EU member countries have exported 2,627 animal and animal products.

The Department of Animal Health is receiving dossiers from 22 EU member countries wishing to export 14 types of aminal and animal products to Vietnam. The Department has exchanged very specific documents with the competent authorities of these countries.

“Recently, on May 23, we received a document from the EU Delegation regarding the business registration dossiers, and we have had a specific reply. Instant products processed with heat treatment do not need to be registered and listed. They only need to comply with SPS regulations. The Department of Animal Health has published on the website and has written to the competent authorities of the EU countries about the list of businesses that have been accepted," said Mr. Long.

Strict professional inspection is not "discrimination"

According to the EU Commissioner of Agriculture, Vietnam has made a lot of positive progress in complying with SPS regulations under the EVFTA framework, reflected in actions such as making a list of establishments and enforcing the principle of zoning. Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski highly appreciated Vietnam's recognition of the EU as a unified entity, and through which the two sides can apply uniform and transparent import conditions for all EU member countries.

However, the Commissioner also argued that there were still differences and discrimination among the member countries in terms of Vietnam’s inspection conditions. For example, some import conditions for Italian agricultural products were different from those of France or the Czech Republic. “Therefore, we hope that the two sides will continue to promote negotiations to harmonize certifications for the EU member countries. This will be beneficial in recognizing this unified entity.”

Explaining this matter, Dr. Dao Van Cuong, representative of Vietnam SPS Office, said “Vietnam agrees with the view that the EU is recognized as a unified entity, but reality shows that different geographical locations along with signature environmental and weather characteristics lead to different conditions of pests and diseases. Therefore, specialized agencies of Vietnam need to closely assess the risks of EU members’ agro-products. To give an example, the apples of France do not have disease A, but apples of the Czech Republic carry a potential risk of disease A, so an assessment of Czech apples is necessary. This is not discrimination.”

Translated by Samuel Pham