UNIDO launches its Standards Compliance Analytics Report for Viet Nam
11 September 2023, Ho Chi Minh City - UNIDO launched its second Standards Compliance Analytics (SCA) Country Report, which uses border rejection data of agricultural exports to identify the key compliance challenges faced by exporting countries.
The results of the detailed analysis on rates and reasons for border rejections for food products coming from Viet Nam was presented during a workshop titled "Increasing standard and quality compliance capacity of Vietnamese tropical fruit value chains to promote exports”. The event was attended by over 200 participants and was hosted by UNIDO, the Viet Nam Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Post-harvest Technology (VIAEP), and the National Quality Assurance, Processing and Market Development (NAFIQPM) and the Plant Protection Department (PPD).
The workshop was organized with the presence and contribution of Mr. Le Thanh Hoa, the Deputy Director of NAFQPM, Mr. Le Van Thiet, the Deputy Director of PPD, Ms. Dinh Thi Tam, the Deputy Director of VIAEP, and Mr. Etienne Jenni, the Programme Manager of Trade Promotion at the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
The report was also introduced and presented at the annual meetings of the Viet Nam’s Food Safety Working Group which was attended by over 100 participants as representatives from different stakeholders including the Office of the Government, Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), international development partners, private sectors, institutions, etc.
While presenting the report, Mr. Nima Bahramalian, UNIDO’s Project Manager of Vietnam Quality and Standards Program (GQSP Vietnam), highlighted that “As for the reasons for rejection, Vietnam has to concentrate its effort on reducing rejections caused by bacterial contamination (22% of the share of rejection), hygienic condition/controls (18%), veterinary drugs residues (14%), labeling (14%), pesticide residues (10%), and additives (7%). These four first causes represent more than two thirds of the reasons for rejection”. The report also introduced how the Standards Compliance Analytics (SCA) tool is used to identify the key challenges faced by exporting countries, compare countries' trade compliance performance across different markets and in relation to specific product groups, and provide recommendations on investment in quality infrastructure, quality policies and quality culture which are focused, interdisciplinary, and effective to improve compliance capacity and meet market requirements.
Based on the analysis of the rejection data and consultation with various stakeholders, recommendations have been elaborated upon and comprised the following three categories: strengthen the Quality Infrastructure System; enhance industry compliance, competitiveness and sustainability; and promote a conducive policy environment and culture for quality.
This report is developed under the Global Quality and Standards Programme (GQSP), funded by Switzerland through SECO. The UNIDO Knowledge Hub contains a lot of information, online trainings, and digital tools about Quality Infrastructure including the SCA tool, which can be accessed here.
Download SCA Report for Viet Nam here and the Vietnamese version of the report here.
For further information contact Nima Bahramalian, N.Bahramalian [at] unido.org
