A vegetable field that follows VietGap standards in HCM City (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNA) - Unsafe food isstill widespread in the domestic market, causing concern among consumers,according to experts.
“Vietnamese producers do this very well forexports, but in the domestic market consumers still face risks from unsafefood,” Pham Khanh Phong Lan, head of the Food Safety Management Board of Ho ChiMinh City, said.
In recent years, exports of Vietnamese farmproduce have increased significantly year after year.
According to the Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development, Vietnam earned 36.37 billion USD from farm produceexports last year, a year-on-year increase of 13 percent. Fruits and vegetablesalone fetched 3.5 billion USD.
“To achieve these numbers, Vietnamese farmproduce must satisfy international quality standards, so the country can showthat it has high potential for producing safe food,” Lan said.
Producers still give priority to exportproducts of good quality and distribute lower-quality products in the domesticmarket, she added.
The Government’s regulations and managementpolicies still have loopholes for fraudulent businesses to thrive, she said.
Also, producers have had difficultiesbecause consumers want to have both safe and beautiful products at cheapprices, she said.
Nguyen Thai Binh, director of Trung AnHi-Tech Farming JSC, said to produce safe products, producers should complywith Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGap) standards.
There is a lack of trust among consumersabout safe products, he said. To win back trust, State management agencies mustimprove the control of the market and strictly deal with violations on foodsafety, he said.
Vu Kim Hanh, chairwoman of the High QualityVietnamese Product Business Association, said experiences from many countriesshowed that in addition to businesses and farmers investing in production andtrade and improving product quality, government agencies, business associationsand scientists should offer help to producers so they can acquire food-safetycertificates and promote their products at home and abroad.
This would help businesses and farmers saveon costs and minimise risks when bringing goods to the market, she said.
Lan from the city’s Food Safety ManagementBoard said HCM City had many practical programmes to develop safe food supplychains for domestic and export markets.
Developing co-operative models and supplychains towards ensuring food safety and creating favourable conditions forfarmers and producers has been identified as one of the most importantsolutions, she added.
The co-operation model, with participationof businesses (ensuring outlets for products), cities and provinces (havingland for producing safe food), and the association and the Food SafetyManagement Board of HCM City (for consulting, certifying and connecting farmerswith businesses), will ensure a closed production chain as well as high consumptionof safe food products. - VNA
“Vietnamese producers do this very well forexports, but in the domestic market consumers still face risks from unsafefood,” Pham Khanh Phong Lan, head of the Food Safety Management Board of Ho ChiMinh City, said.
In recent years, exports of Vietnamese farmproduce have increased significantly year after year.
According to the Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development, Vietnam earned 36.37 billion USD from farm produceexports last year, a year-on-year increase of 13 percent. Fruits and vegetablesalone fetched 3.5 billion USD.
“To achieve these numbers, Vietnamese farmproduce must satisfy international quality standards, so the country can showthat it has high potential for producing safe food,” Lan said.
Producers still give priority to exportproducts of good quality and distribute lower-quality products in the domesticmarket, she added.
The Government’s regulations and managementpolicies still have loopholes for fraudulent businesses to thrive, she said.
Also, producers have had difficultiesbecause consumers want to have both safe and beautiful products at cheapprices, she said.
Nguyen Thai Binh, director of Trung AnHi-Tech Farming JSC, said to produce safe products, producers should complywith Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGap) standards.
There is a lack of trust among consumersabout safe products, he said. To win back trust, State management agencies mustimprove the control of the market and strictly deal with violations on foodsafety, he said.
Vu Kim Hanh, chairwoman of the High QualityVietnamese Product Business Association, said experiences from many countriesshowed that in addition to businesses and farmers investing in production andtrade and improving product quality, government agencies, business associationsand scientists should offer help to producers so they can acquire food-safetycertificates and promote their products at home and abroad.
This would help businesses and farmers saveon costs and minimise risks when bringing goods to the market, she said.
Lan from the city’s Food Safety ManagementBoard said HCM City had many practical programmes to develop safe food supplychains for domestic and export markets.
Developing co-operative models and supplychains towards ensuring food safety and creating favourable conditions forfarmers and producers has been identified as one of the most importantsolutions, she added.
The co-operation model, with participationof businesses (ensuring outlets for products), cities and provinces (havingland for producing safe food), and the association and the Food SafetyManagement Board of HCM City (for consulting, certifying and connecting farmerswith businesses), will ensure a closed production chain as well as high consumptionof safe food products. - VNA
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