A seminar was held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 11 to help local businesses gain an insight into the Republic of Korea’s (RoK) regulations on plant protection product residues on farm produce exported to this market.
Kim Ki-joon, President of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) for Southeast Asia-Oceania, said after the Vietnam-RoK Free Trade Agreement took effect in December 2015, bilateral trade, including in agricultural products, has enjoyed impressive growth.
However, the RoK also applies high quarantine standards for imported animal, plant, and food products, and many Vietnamese exporters have faced difficulties in meeting its quarantine requirements, he noted.
Nguyen Thanh Huong, an official at the Plant Protection Department (PPD) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the plant protection products which pose high risks to human and animal health and the environment include chemicals warned by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN Environmental Programme, and Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention; products containing pathogenic microorganisms; and those causing genetic mutation or cancer for humans.