Japan Helps Vietnam Better Food Hygiene Inspection
Japan has pledged to provide around US $4.5 million in aid for Vietnam to raise the national capacity of inspecting the safety and hygiene of agro-fishery products.
The project “Enhancing capacity and inspection system of agro-fishery food hygiene” was inked on November 8 in Hà Nội by representatives from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Vietnam Sanitary and Phytosaniary Notification Authority and Enquiry Point (Vietnam SPS) and the International Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
The non-refundable aid of ¥ 350 million (around US $4.5 million) for the three-year project will come from the Japanese Government.
93 cases of food poisoning were reported in Vietnam in 2010, taking the lives of 15 people and affecting 4,400 others.
Despite the adoption of effective regulations on food hygiene, the capacity of enacting these regulations needs to be enhanced, said Mr. Taigo Endo, who is a JICA’s expert on SPS.
Vietnam is in need of a scientific and overall mechanism in charge of inspecting food hygiene of all agro-fishery products, Mr. Taigo Endo added.
Via the project, Japan will transfer its technical experience and know-how on checking technology, inspecting system, and manpower training through both domestic and foreign training courses.
Specifically, the project targets to better the inspecting capacity of laboratories of the Department of Agro-Forestry Fisheries Quality Management, the program on quality control of agro-forestry and fishery products, and training of human resources in the field.
Source: VGP
Vietnamese
