Eliminating barriers to seafood promotion in the Ukrainian market

In light of the global volatility that has impeded trade relations between Vietnam and Ukraine and the difficulties and challenges that the latter has encountered, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien stated that this was the initial agricultural dialogue between the two nations after to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The Deputy Minister of MARD disclosed that Ukraine intended to export to Vietnam poultry products, dairy, poultry eggs, pork, and by-products. Vietnam, on the contrary, anticipates exporting to Ukraine seafood, processed pork, processed poultry meat, raw and processed poultry eggs, as well as honey. The promotion of agricultural products internationally includes market development as a key objective, and Ukraine continues to be a significant market for Vietnam. 

Vietnam's traditional exports and principal sources of revenue with Ukraine consist of a variety of goods, including textiles, coffee, pepper, fisheries, and cashews. The majority of Ukrainian exports to Vietnam consist of fertilizers, chemicals, maize, and wheat. 

Vietnam-Ukraine trade in agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products comprises just under twenty percent of the overall volume of commerce. The aggregate worth of agricultural product imports and exports in 2021 amounted to 153 million USD, representing approximately 19% of the total value of imports and exports.

In relation to the standpoint of Ukraine, Deputy Minister Markiyan Dmytrasevich articulates an intention to augment agricultural collaboration with Vietnam by facilitating the interchange of agricultural commodities that are of mutual specialization to both nations.

Nguyen Van Long, Director of the Department of Animal Health (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), discloses that Ukraine has put forth a proposal to Vietnam for the exportation of poultry, eggs, milk, poultry flesh, and poultry by-products. The Department issued a request to Ukraine in 2021 for pertinent documentation pertaining to microbiological standards and/or maximum residue limits, in addition to specific food safety criteria that are applicable to poultry meat and poultry products.

Since 2012, deliberations have been underway in the domain of plant protection regarding the preliminary version of the "Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Plant Protection and Quarantine between Ukraine and Vietnam." Ukraine submitted a revised document in August 2023, which included modifications to specific content pertaining to the nomenclature of Ukrainian agencies. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has solicited input from pertinent agencies regarding procedures and is expected to issue a formal statement at the suitable juncture.

In the interim, the Department is concurrently evaluating the application for the export of poultry meat and poultry by-products from Ukraine, subsequent to the conclusion of the risk assessment pertaining to the importation of pork and egg products. Additional information has been requested for the purpose of risk assessment regarding pork and pork products. The Department will review the submitted documentation and provide a written response. In order to assess the risk of importation, the Department has requested additional information from Ukraine regarding egg products but has not yet received a response.

In response to the Department of Animal Health's views, the Director of the Department of International Cooperation, Trade, and Information, Consumer Protection (SSUFSCP), Yulia Kostynska, requests additional data in order to market pork products in Vietnam. Ukraine will continue to prioritize the processing of information pertaining to swine products over that of eggs and by-products.

Requests have been received by the Plant Protection Department to permit the sale of pears and blueberries in July. As required by policy, the department will dispatch technical units to perform Pest Risk Assessments (PRAs) on the specified products.

According to Le Ba Anh, Deputy Director of the Department of Quality, Processing, and Market Development, the competent authority of Ukraine has recently granted authorization to 36 seafood enterprises, ten of which are authorized to export and process tra fish to this market.

Notwithstanding Ukraine's complete membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), certain food safety control measures enforced by its competent authority on imports fail to conform to internationally recognized standards. The aforementioned concerns encompass the improper utilization of the food safety import product index, protocols and methods employed to examine and identify establishments on the list authorized to handle and export seafood that fail to adhere to global standards, as well as directives issued by the CODEX Commission concerning the assessment, verification, and acknowledgment of equivalent food safety control systems across nations.