Hanoi (VNA) - During an officialvisit to China by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)Tran Thanh Nam, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) expressed interest inopening official channels for Vietnamese pork to enter China’s market, saidNguyen Xuan Duong, Deputy Head of the Department of Livestock Production (DLP)under the MARD on May 26.

“The visit proved fruitful, and theChinese ministry is leaning toward welcoming Vietnamese pork products intotheir domestic market with a set quota,” Duong said.

However, he also made it clear that foodhygiene and product quality must be top concerns for Vietnamese pork farmersand processors. China requested strict control over these criteria, with particularfocus on keeping the pigs free from contaminations such as foot and mouthdisease.

Regarding official export protocols, Chinaasked Vietnamese authorities, especially the MARD’s Department of Animal Health(DAH), to monitor and manage food hygiene so that the Chinese government canclear the previous 2012 ban on Vietnamese live pigs.

These procedures will be discussed laterduring upcoming negotiations before the two sides reach an official bilateraltrade agreement.

Meanwhile, the MARD suggested Vietnam’sgovernment agencies work on meeting China’s standards and produce certificatesof assurance on hygiene and quality.

Chinese animal health agencies promised todo their best to help their Vietnamese counterparts in finishing these officialregulations as soon as possible, starting with a Chinese delegation visiting Vietnamin the foreseeable future to gather information about Vietnam’s currentapproach to disease control. China also recommended that Vietnamese producersfreeze their exported pork products to maximise food safety.

Despite China’s pork price dropping from65,000 VND (2.9 USD) per kilogramme to 45,000 VND (2.01 USD), the currentVietnamese domestic pork price is still a bit lower.

This means Vietnamese producers and farmerswill surely benefit from exporting their pork products to China. Even thoughChinese importers are currently bringing in pork from other countries besides Vietnam,the Chinese demand a large supply of pork. On estimation, China can importroughly one million tonnes of pork from Vietnam annually, according to Duong.

As such, a reconstruction of the livestockindustry is much needed to create a strong link between farms, processors andexporters. Furthermore, there should be a stronger and more practicalimplementation of technological solutions to lower product costs for a strongercompetitive edge within the ASEAN region. -VNA