China intensifies food safety checks of Vietnamese farm production sites
China intensifies food safety checks of Vietnamese farm production sites
China is strengthening checks of cultivation processes and production sites to ensure food safety, according to the Vietnam Sanitary and Phytosanitary Notification Authority and Enquiry Point (SPS Vietnam).
Workers of Tuan Dat Food Agricultural Processing Trading Company select dried mangos. Photo courtesy of Tuan Dat |
It conducts these checks at Vietnamese enterprises three times a week, Le Thanh Hoa, director of SPS Vietnam, said at a recent forum on adapting to China’s new farm and food import regulations.
Nguyen Lan Huong, chairwoman of Hoa Viet International Agriculture Joint Stock Company, said under a new food safety regulation, Vietnamese enterprises should not have dogs at their facilities. But most Vietnamese production plants have dogs for protection, she pointed out.
Vietnamese government agencies should establish centers and working groups to guide enterprises and cooperatives on how to meet China’s new regulations, she said. "We are ready to pay to receive specific guidance on this issue".
Vo Quan Huy, director of An Huy Company, proposed that the agriculture ministry should set up a center to disseminate information about Vietnam’s major markets to assist producers and exporters.
It should also have more specific policies for crops that are exported in big volumes to China through land borders, he said.
Exports in the first 10 months of the year rose by nearly 17 percent year-on-year to over $267.9 billion, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. China was the second largest market with exports worth $44.7 billion.
