Importers who fail to register the origin of plant commodities with Vietnamese authorities will not be able to import them from July 1, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Diep Kinh Tan said on June 30.

Under Circular No13/2011/TT-BNNPTNT, goods of plant origin imported into Vietnam must be produced by nations that Vietnam recognises as fully meeting requirements for food safety, be packaged appropriately - and labelled in Vietnamese to state they have been certified safe.

Imported goods containing genetically modified or irradiated produce, or produced by new technologies must have certificates of free sale (CFS) from the competent authorities of the exporting country.

Tan said that Vietnam did this in accordance with WTO commitments. He added that Vietnamese export goods also had to comply with many strict regulations imposed by importing countries.

Deputy Director of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Products Quality Management Department Nguyen Nhu Tiep said Vietnam was capable of checking the origin of plant commodities imported from other countries./.