A seminar on monitoring the hygiene of Vietnam ’s agro-fishery exports took place in Tokyo on March 6.

The event was jointly organised by the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan and the ASEAN–Japan Centre.

Addressing the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Doan Xuan Hung said he hopes the two countries’ Governments and businesses will work closely together to increase Vietnam ’s exports to Japan , especially farm produce and seafood.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Dang Khoa said since Vietnam and Japan signed the economic partnership agreement on investment protection, trade and service liberalisation in 2008, 86 percent of Vietnam ’s exports to Japan have enjoyed a preferential tariff.

Vietnam is perfecting the management of food quality, hygiene and safety based on risk analysis and universal supervision to meet stringent global demand, Khoa added.

According to him, Vietnam is among the world’s top agro-fishery exporters. Its products are shipped to 160 countries, generating 27.5 billion USD last year. Of them, shipment to Japan exceeded 2 billion USD, Khoa said.

Participants at the event learnt about Vietnam’s quality management, the hygiene and safety of its agro-fishery products exported to Japan as well as the food hygiene and safety laws issued by the Vietnamese National Assembly that took effect in July, 2011.-VNA