Vietnam attends meeting of Food Safety Committee at WTO headquarters

The Vietnamese delegation - led by Dr. Ngo Xuan Nam - Deputy Director of the Vietnam SPS Office - attended the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Committee on Food Safety and Animal and Plant Health Safety.

The Vietnamese delegation attended a bilateral meeting with representatives of the US delegation. (Photo: Anh Hien/VNA)

The 92nd annual meeting of the Food Safety and Animal and Plant Health Security Committee (SPS Committee) took place from June 18 at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Attending the meeting were representatives of 166 WTO members, including the Vietnamese delegation led by Dr. Ngo Xuan Nam - Deputy Director of the Vietnam SPS Office, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment .

At the thematic session, delegates discussed the issue of addressing risks related to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through SPS measures in international trade.

This thematic session follows up on the recommendations in the SPS Agreement review report, thereby enabling the SPS Committee to continue its discussions and reflect on the objectives of the implementation of the SPS Agreement in the context of emerging challenges and opportunities, as well as building on the SPS MC12 Work Programme Statement.

At the formal meeting, delegates discussed the WTO Secretariat’s report on periodic notifications in the goods sector (G/C/W/859), proposing improvements in the quality and timing of notifications. In addition, delegates discussed 59 specific trade concerns, including four new concerns.

On the sidelines of the SPS Committee meeting, the Vietnamese delegation also had bilateral activities with WTO members. Specifically, the Vietnamese delegation directly discussed with representatives of the Chinese Delegation in Geneva and representatives of the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), assessing the CIFER system according to Regulation 248 to ensure that the activities of Vietnamese agricultural and food export enterprises to China are not interrupted and avoid congestion at border gates in the coming time.

Next, the Vietnamese delegation also had a working session with representatives of the Japanese Delegation to request the provision of SPS measures to support businesses producing instant noodles containing beef products exported from Vietnam to Japan.

In addition, the Vietnamese delegation also participated in bilateral meetings with representatives of the US and UK delegations to clarify some contents related to the draft Circular amending and supplementing Clause 1, Part II, Appendix XII of Circular No. 25/2016/TT-BNNPTNT regulating the quarantine of terrestrial animals and animal products./.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/viet-nam-tham-du-phien-hop-cua-uy-ban-ve-an-toan-thuc-pham-tai-tru-so-wto-5050682.html