The Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed that the Government should establish a working group to resolve difficulties faced by enterprises in consuming and exporting farming and fishery products.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said the group would have regular meetings with enterprises and associations of the farming and fishery sector to produce timely solutions for difficulties faced by the enterprises as well as for meeting the needs of the market, reported the Nong thon ngay nay (Countrysite Today) newspaper.

The group would ensure efficiency in exporting these products to enable the country to reach its export target for 2015, Anh said.

The trade offices of Vietnam via the group would recognise the difficulties faced by local enterprises in exporting goods to foreign countries and would know exactly what kind of support the enterprises need, he said. The offices would also provide market information to the local enterprises regarding the demand for Vietnamese farming and fishery products.

Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the ministry's Export-Import Department, said the group would make note of export problems to resolve them as quickly as possible, including the problem of fruit trucks being held up at border gates and the problem of goods receiving warnings or being returned or seized by import markets for not meeting quality standards.

Pham Vu Ha, General Secretary of the Vietnam Cassava Association, said farming products have stalled at border gates because the farmers and enterprises had no knowledge about the import markets, and the policies on support for enterprises from the production to consumption stages were vague.

Ha fears the group would be unable to resolve many of the more complicated problems in consuming and exporting farming and fishery products because of the numerous challenges involved in exporting those products.

For instance, trade activities at border gates involve customs officers, border police and local authorities along the border, he said.

Nguyen Hoai Nam, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, said if the ministry and trade offices in foreign countries provided precise information about the export market, the problem of farming products being held back at border gates would be resolved.

Economic expert Pham Tat Thang suggested that the group should cooperate with the relevant sectors in managing farming production to meet the market demand.-VNA