Mr. Ngo Xuan Nam - Deputy Director of Vietnam SPS Office (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) had an interview with reporters of Industry and Trade Newspaper about this issue.
Sir, the EU is currently the third largest market for Vietnamese agricultural and food products. What requirements must agricultural and food products meet to enter this market?
Firstly, agricultural and food products that want to be imported into the EU must comply with EU market regulations such as regulations on business registration, regulations on maximum residue levels (MRL) for products of plant origin, regulations on antibiotic residue levels for products of animal origin, regulations on food additives, food contact materials, regulations on mixed products, regulations on disease-free zones, regulations on ensuring food safety, traceability for processing facilities, IUU regulations, anti-deforestation regulations (EUDR) or other related regulations...
For detailed regulations for each product, exporters should consult the competent authorities or the Vietnam SPS Office for guidance.
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| The EU is currently the third largest market for Vietnamese agricultural products and food. |
Currently, the EU divides imported agricultural and food products into two categories, low-risk and high-risk. Of which, low-risk products, through your assessment, will not require systematic control at the border. On the contrary, high-risk products will require more control measures.
However, the requirement to import certain food and feed products of non-animal origin into the EU, i.e. high-risk products, is subject to official controls under the Union Regulation (EU) 2019/1973, including Vietnam.
Regulation 2019/1973 has 3 annexes. Annex I: Strengthening of official control measures of products at the border, checking of traceability records, random sampling and analysis according to the frequency of shipments (5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 50%); Mandatory prior notification by exporters to the competent authority according to Regulation (EU) 2019/1013.
Annex II: Similar requirements to Annex I with special conditions for controlling imported products such as certificates from the regulatory authority of the exporting country and results of hazard analysis.
Annex IIa: Suspension (halt) of imports into the EU.
On average, each month, the Vietnam SPS Office updates about 100 draft or effective notifications on food safety and animal and plant disease safety (SPS) measures of WTO members, including many EU notifications related to changes in pesticide residue levels, antibiotic residues, standards of additives, and materials in contact with food products;...
Recently, due to the increasing number of notifications of draft SPS measures, the Vietnam SPS Office has proactively screened and promptly updated Vietnamese authorities, localities, and industry associations.
Timely updating of market regulations will help businesses be proactive in production, quality control, timely response to market regulations, avoiding violations leading to warnings or returned goods.
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| Mr. Ngo Xuan Nam - Deputy Director of SPS Vietnam Office |
Within the framework of the 4th SPS Committee Meeting to implement the EVFTA Agreement, the Vietnam SPS Office in coordination with the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission (DG-SANTE) organized a conference to disseminate EU market regulations. The EU side frankly recommended: "To comply with the regulations, exporters and production facilities need to understand the EU regulations correctly to minimize risks for businesses when exporting to the EU."
It is known that Vietnam currently has 5 items subject to control under the European Union (EU) Regulation 2019/1973 of the EU when imported into this market. Can you provide specific information about this?
At this time, according to Regulation (EU) 2024/286 signed on January 16, 2024, amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 on temporarily strengthening official controls and emergency measures governing imports into the EU of certain goods from certain third countries implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/625 and (EC) No. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Vietnam has 5 items subject to EU control when imported into this market.
In Appendix I, the items subject to border inspection frequency include: Chili with a border inspection frequency of 50%; noodles, vermicelli, rice noodles, and dry pho with spices (instant noodles) with a border inspection frequency of 20%; durian with a border inspection frequency of 10%.
With Appendix II, for agricultural and food products, in addition to being subject to border inspection frequency, it is necessary to supplement the certification of sample collection and analysis results according to EU regulations. Vietnam has 2 products: okra and dragon fruit with the corresponding rates of 50% and 20%.
Normally, every 6 months, the EU will meet, review, vote and decide to increase or decrease the frequency or remove it from the control list according to Annex I, Annex II or Annex IIa as I shared above.
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| Instant noodles to be removed from frequency inspection list when exported to EU |
At the online conference to disseminate EU market regulations organized by the Vietnam SPS Office in coordination with DG-SANTE with the participation of more than 300 points nationwide on May 7, the DG-SANTE representative also announced good news for Vietnam. At the recent meeting, based on the review results and good compliance with EU regulations for instant noodle products, the EU side plans to remove this product from the list in Appendix I to be updated next July, meaning that Vietnamese instant noodle products will no longer be subject to a 20% border gate inspection frequency when imported into the EU.
However, the Your side also informed that Vietnamese dragon fruit and okra products are being controlled according to Appendix II with inspection frequencies of 20% and 50% respectively. It is expected that in July, the inspection frequency of these two products will increase compared to the present because recently, the number of dragon fruit shipments exported to the EU is still under warning.
Furthermore, if there is no improvement, meaning that the maximum residue level (MRL) is not well controlled and EU regulations for these products are not complied with, it is possible that in the next review, these two products will be included in Annex IIa, and the EU will apply temporary import suspension measures, although this is a product with very high demand in the European market.
What is the most important step to minimize the risk of increased inspection frequency and even temporary suspension of imports of agricultural products and food imported into this market, sir?
It is difficult to bring an agricultural product to market, but it is even more difficult to maintain the market because the market is always fluctuating, fluctuating in policies, fluctuating in consumer tastes, fluctuating in prices, fluctuating in import regulations...
As shared above, to minimize the risk of increased inspection frequency and even temporary suspension of imports of some agricultural and food products imported into this market, businesses need to update, comply with and correctly understand the regulations on food safety and animal and plant disease safety (SPS) and related regulations of the EU market, especially the strengthening of microbiological control, control of maximum residue levels of pesticides (MRL), control of antibiotics and food additives. Because these are mandatory regulations.
More importantly, it is the reputation of Vietnamese agricultural products in the international market. Because the EU is one of the key export markets for Vietnamese agricultural products. This is also one of the markets with many strict and scientific requirements in terms of technology. If we comply with the requirements of the EU market, it will be an opportunity to bring Vietnamese agricultural products to many potential markets in the world when Vietnam has participated in 19 bilateral and multilateral FTAs with most economies in the world.
Thank you!
Source: https://congthuong.vn/mi-an-lien-se-duoc-loai-bo-khoi-danh-sach-bi-kiem-tra-tan-suat-khi-xuat-khau-sang-eu-319035.html
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