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News >> Knowledge of testing industry >> REMOVING TECHNICAL BARRIERS FOR VIETNAMESE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

Removing technical barriers for Vietnamese agricultural products

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The signing of free trade agreements has created many opportunities for Vietnam to develop faster and more comprehensively, but also poses very tough challenges that require our efforts to overcome.

The agricultural sector has successfully promoted trade despite difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to expanding export markets and bringing the country to an impressive trade surplus of $3.9 billion in the first 7 months of the year. . However, our main export market share is still China, while the demand from the Korean, US, Japanese and European markets will increase by the end of 2021 after the post-Covid economic recovery, we still have not effective exploitation.

Vietnam has also signed two new-generations of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the EU. European Union (EVFTA). These are important events marking a new milestone in the process of our country's international economic integration, opening a new phase: our country's economy integrates more deeply and comprehensively into the world economy. . The signing of free trade agreements has created many opportunities for Vietnam to develop faster and more comprehensively, but also poses very tough challenges that require our efforts to overcome, in which goods and services must be overcome. Technical and trade barriers related to product quality cause difficulties for many Vietnamese small and medium enterprises, especially those in the field of agricultural products.

Technical barriers to international trade

So what are technical barriers in international trade? Businesses have focused on how to solve the problems of food safety barriers to easily export agricultural products.

In international trade, "technical barriers to trade" are essentially technical standards and regulations that a country applies to imported goods and/or processes. assess the conformity of imported goods with those standards and technical regulations (hereinafter collectively referred to as technical measures - TBT measures). These technical measures are in principle necessary and reasonable to protect important interests such as human health, environment, security,...

In addition, for agricultural products, WTO member countries often use SPS measures with the specific goal of protecting human life and health, livestock, plants, and animals through ensuring the protection of animals and plants. food production and prevent diseases.

Vietnamese agricultural products face many challenges to enter major markets like Europe (Image: PLVN Newspaper)

The WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade distinguishes three types of technical measures as follows:

  • Technical regulations are technical requirements with mandatory application value, which enterprises must comply with. For example, the Technical Regulation of the Vietnamese market is the Vietnam Standards (QCVN) for food products that we often see.
  • Technical standards are technical requirements that are accepted by a recognized organization but have no mandatory application value. The easiest to understand technical standard is Vietnam Standard (TCVN).
  • The process of assessing the conformity of a commodity with technical regulations/standards (conformity assessment procedure). An easy-to-understand example is the conformity assessment process of animal feed products in Vietnam.

Thus, depending on the mechanism, each WTO member country establishes and maintains its own system of technical measures for its own goods and imported goods. However, in practice, technical measures can be potential barriers to international trade because they can be used to protect domestic production, making it difficult to penetrate imports of foreign goods into the market of the importing country. Hence they are also known as “technical barriers to trade”.

Update information on Food Safety

When looking through the European Union's rapid warning system on food safety RASFF, from 2020 to now, Vietnam has more than 15 shipments of agricultural products that have been warned, of which 9 orders have pesticide residues. , 1 order had excess heavy metal residues and 5 orders had unknown additives/foreign objects. And when the frequency of poor quality shipments appears more, the level of customs control for goods from Vietnam becomes more stringent.

Penetrating into difficult markets such as Europe and America by improving product quality, achieving high standards such as Global Gap, organic certification will help businesses improve their reputation in the market, expand the market, and minimize the impact of the main traditional Chinese markets. Enterprises need to update market information, not only on tariff preferences but also on the latest updates related to laws, decrees, and technical regulations related to product quality. 

Update the latest information and standards on food safety

For example, now, when the European Union tightens regulations and strengthens the inspection of ethylene oxide (EO) compounds in imported shipments, there have been 500 reports across the EU in the Rapid warning system for food items - RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) on EO contamination in food in 2020.

The question is how can businesses have the latest information on the market? Large enterprises often have legal departments and market access services to find out information through government and customs channels of countries; Besides, information update channels of large domestic testing units such as Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang bring timely information to Vietnamese enterprises. Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang always meets the needs of exporters with the need for information on target markets and sample testing standards.

Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang - providing leading services, supporting exporters of Agricultural and Food products

Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang is an independent testing laboratory with more than 10 certificates from the BOA and the governmental competent authorities such as the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Natures Resources and Environment.

Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang (formerly known as Sac Ky Hai Dang) with more than 12 years of experience in testing service, we have:

  • High-level experts and technicians
  • State-of-the-art equipment and machinery
  • Focus on research and development
  • Apply information systems exclusively developed for Eurofins - LIMs (Laboratory Information Management Systems) through all stages in the Lab.
  • Service quality is our top priority and is always improved relentlessly under the supervision of European experts.

Moreover, Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang is a member of Eurofins Scientific, a network of more than 900 laboratories in more than 50 countries worldwide. Our experts always update the rules and regulations to advise the suitable analytical methods. We coordinate with the world’s leading contaminant analysis to provide optimal solutions to our customers. We offer to examine a large number of organic contaminants of anthropogenic origin, process contaminants, and migration residues, in a great variety of food and feed matrices with:

  • Accurate and reliable results.
  • Quality is the top concern.
  • Best service with flexible TAT (normal test, quick test, emergency test).
  • Diverse samples matrices.
  • Accurate and reliable results

Visit our service article for more information

Food and Feed Testing Service

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Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang

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