Vietnam - Denmark promote exchange of livestock products

On August 18, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien worked with Ms. Mette Ekeroth Deputy Head of Mission of the Royal Danish Embassy to Vietnam. The two leaders talked about cooperation of the two countries in the fields of food and agriculture. 

Ms. Mette Ekeroth praised Vietnam and Denmark historic partnership and long-term cooperation in the fields of agriculture and food. The visit of Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien to Denmark last year has contributed to and help promote the cooperation of the two countries in veterinary to a new level. Thanks to that, veterinary agencies of the two countries have worked closely to conduct inspection and review at some Dennish beef and beef bone production facilities.

Besides, the phase 1 and phase 2 of the Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC) on food safety in pork value chain between Vietnam and Denmark has been gping well and achieved some specific outcomes such as supporting Vietnamese Department of Livestock Production in managing animal feeds, fostering Department of Animal Health in drafting a Circular on veterinary herbal medicines and helping The National Agro - Forestry - Fisheries Quality Assurance Department in the Circular on origin traceability. 

“As far as I know, Vietnam wants to continue cooperation with Denmark and there have been bold commitments between MARD and Denmark to implement this program in the next phase. This phase is projected to take place from 2024 to 2026. I expect that MARD would support to implement the phase 3 of this program on schedule”, Ms. Mette Ekeroth said. 

Ms. Ekeroth also mentioned the issue of market access. Vietnam and Denmark have signed a Veterinary Agreement and have a multi-year veterinary certificate for beef and red offal products since 2015. Since then, a number of Danish companies have exported these products to Vietnam.

From 2020, Denmark requests to add T-bone beef products to Vietnam's import list. The Veterinary Departments of the two sides have exchanged opinions on the veterinary certificate for additional beef with bones but have not come to a consensus. The Danish side is looking forward to comments from the Department of Animal Health of Vietnam to promote the export of beef with bone products to Vietnam soon.

In the opposite direction, Denmark also encourages Vietnam to export products to this market and exploit the Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) as it helps create favorable conditions for trade promotion of the two sides.

Responding to proposal on Danish beef products, Mr. Nguyen Van Long, Director of the Department of Animal Health, said that in September 2022, the Department sent a delegation to Denmark to inspect and evaluate the practice. After that, the Department announced the results and basically agreed to the Danish side's proposal to add this product in the inspection certificate.

Denmark has about 80 enterprises exporting animal products to Vietnam, of which about 40 are meat products.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has a thriving livestock sector, many businesses participate in the development of livestock chains, and many products are exported to many markets such as Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong. Mr. Long said that the Vietnamese side wants to export chicken breast meat products to Europe, including the Danish market. He asked the Danish side to facilitate the opening of the market with this Vietnamese product.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said he would assign relevant departments and agencies to coordinate with the Danish side to continue implementing the SSC Program in phase 3 and suggested that the Danish side prepare a specific plan in a short time to sent to the Ministry.

Regarding the two sides' trade turnover, the Deputy Minister recognized that the potential and advantages of the two countries' markets are huge. But two-way trade turnover only reached about 500 million USD. The Deputy Minister assigned representatives of the Department of Animal Health to work to soon allow the import of Danish beef with bone and suggested that the Danish side work with specialized agencies to soon open the way for Vietnamese chicken breast products, from that increases two-way trade commensurate with the potential of the two countries.