HerbCochran, AmCham Executive Director, called food safety an issue of concern inboth Vietnam and the US.
“Thefirst objective of the MoU is to help Vietnamese companies join global foodsupply chains under the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) InternationalFood Safety Capacity Building Plan,” he said.
TheUS imports 15 percent of its food, 20 percent of vegetables, 50 percent offruit and 80 percent of seafood.
TheUS Congress requires that the “FDA develop an International Food SafetyCapacity Plan to help foreign and food industries that export food to the US.”
TheUS FDA will provide “training of foreign governments and food producers on USrequirements for safe food. To reach our objective, we will arrange delegationvisits to the US and Vietnam, workshop and town hall meetings, websites inEnglish and Vietnamese, Internet-based training programmes targeting companymanagers, technicians, and official representatives from safety regulatoryagencies, special on-site training at Vietnamese companies.”
InMarch, a delegation will visit the US to meet with parties in the US Congress,US government agencies including FDA, USDA, USTR, USAID, State and Commerce, aswell as business associations such as the International Food and BeverageAlliance.
InApril, Dr. Rick Gilmore, founder and CEO of Global Food Safety Forum, willvisit Vietnam on an exploratory mission to establish contacts, hold workshops,plan future events, and gauge the needs of relevant parties in business andgovernment, he said.
“Ourco-operation under the MoU will help both Vietnam and the US Government andbusiness implement TPP and TFA (WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement).Ratification is an important legal step. Equally important is that businessesand government co-operate to understand and meet the food safety requirements.”
Thesigning ceremony was part of a year-end party of the Leading Business Club.-VNA