Hundreds of U.S. firms licensed to export meat to Vietnam

A working team from the ministry led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh and 19 local firms are working in the United States until February 29.

At the first working session with representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in Washington D.C. on February 24, Deputy Minister Doanh noted that Vietnam had granted export licenses to 460 U.S. meat and meat product processors and producers.

The action is expected to ease the shortage of meat, mainly pork, on the Vietnamese market.

Besides this, six American fruits, including cherries, pears, grapes, apples, blueberries and oranges, have been approved for shipment to Vietnam. The country is considering issuing export licenses to other fruits such as grapefruits, nectarines and apricots as well.

Also, Doanh asked the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to allow the Hanoi Irradiation Center and Toan Phat Irradiation Company to join the irradiation program for fresh fruits exported to the United States to help local firms reduce transport costs. They are currently transporting their fruits to the southern region for irradiation.

In addition, Deputy Minister Doanh asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide training courses on catfish inspections and methods for checking microbiological and chemical indicators in the seafood sector.

Doanh also expected the U.S. side to create more favorable conditions for Vietnamese firms to cooperate with U.S. enterprises.

The business trip to the United States is aimed at strengthening the two countries’ cooperation ties, the local media reported.

U.S.-Vietnam trade relations have remained strong over the past few years. The United States exported goods worth US$14.3 billion to Vietnam in 2019, up over 53% against the 2017 figure.