The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has just sent an official dispatch to relevant agencies and organisations, seeking opinions on the draft project entitled “Improving the effectiveness of the enforcement of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and SPS commitment within the framework of free trade agreements (FTAs)”. The project aims to improve Vietnam's capacity in implementing its obligations under the WTO SPS Agreement and the new-generation FTAs in international agriculture, forestry, fishery and food trading.
The project is expected to help the agricultural sector achieve VietGAP certification on an area of about 3 million ha for cultivation, 30,000 ha of aquaculture, and about 15,000 livestock establishments by 2025.
Under the project, the proportion of establishments that prepare and process agricultural, forestry and fishery products certified with HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) will increase by 10 percent per year and with ISO 22000 standards or equivalent to increase by 15 percent per year. In addition, the rate of technical regulations on food safety and quality for agricultural, forestry and fishery products, equivalent to international standards, will reach 80% by 2025 and reach 100% by 2030.
After 15 years of joining the WTO, Vietnam has signed and participated in 17 FTAs, including new-generation agreements such as: The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
Commitments on SPS in these agreements are assessed as wide scope and high levels for Vietnam. Especially, when the tariff lines for agricultural, forestry, fishery and food exports from Vietnam are cut to 0% as committed, the technical requirements for SPS will also be higher, requiring the whole management system to be upgraded and perfected synchronously.
However, the percentage of Vietnamese production facilities certified according to international standards for food quality and safety is still low. Specifically, the percentage of aquaculture area certified by VietGAP, GlobalGAP and equivalent agencies (ASC, BAP...) is currently only 8%, while there are very few processing establishments that have set up and operated a quality and food safety management system according to HACCP, ISO9000, ISO22000 and others. This leads to uneven and unstable quality of agricultural, forestry and fishery products, reducing competitiveness in the country and throughout the world.
The fact that a number of shipments of Vietnamese agricultural products exported to the EU have been withdrawn due to residue of harmful substances or the fact that thousands of vehicles carrying farm produce are currently stuck at Lang Son border gates, are clear evidence of Vietnam’s limitations in meeting the requirements of quality, food hygiene and safety as well as animal and plant quarantine.
Therefore, improving the capacity to implement the SPS Agreement is an indispensable and urgent requirement in the current context, in order to meet the strict standards of the world market in terms of quality and safety of agricultural products towards the green growth goal of Vietnamese agriculture.
Source: NDO
Keywords: SPS agreement
