RETAQ opened a testing laboratory sponsored by Japan

On July 20, the Reference Testing and Agrifood Quality Consultancy Center (RETAQ) held an equipment handover ceremony and open the testing laboratory sponsored by the Japanese government.

The ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam, Nguyen Nhu Tiep - Director of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development, Pham Ngoc Mau - Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Department (MARD), Tran Dang Ninh - Director of RETAQ, Deputy Ambassador Watanabe Shige - Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, Sugano Yuichi - Chief Representative of JICAVietnam Office, along with representatives from relevant agencies, departments and branches.

Monitoring quality, ensuring food safety

Since officially joining the WTO in 2007, Vietnam has had many opportunities to export goods to the world market, but at the same time there are countless challenges of technical barriers to trade (TBT), technical barriers to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreed by WTO members.

In order to remove difficulties in controlling the quality of agricultural, forestry and fishery (AFF) products, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has proposed the Japanese side support the construction of the top-quality testing center in the region with the goal of controlling product quality, ensuring food safety and creating a reputation for Vietnam's AFF products in the world market.

Since 2012, Japan has started to provide non-refundable support with a total budget of more than 1.2 billion yen, investing in equipment and interior for the testing laboratory of RETAQ. Equipped with a system of modern, synchronized, environment-friendly equipment with accurate analysis of many food safety as well as product quality indicators, the birth of the international-level testing laboratory international standards is of significant meaning, contributing to the activity of the management agencies, businesses and individuals in actively monitoring the quality of AFF products, ensuring food safety before circulating to the market specifically the export market.

RETAQ - Proof of the close relationship between Vietnam and Japan

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam highly regarded the support from the Japanese Embassy and JICA in recent years. Japanese experts have actively coordinated with RETAQ to complete equipment and technology transfer to the center's staff. This is a testament to the spirit of quality cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and JICA.

Vietnam is currently one of the world’s leading exporters of AFF products in the context where ensuring food safety is the top concern. Quality testing and verification to meet the requirements of importing countries have become key factors in the field of AFF exports.

“First of all, the center should review the testing and verification procedures to soon begin operation. Secondly, RETAQ must have a specific program and plan to work with localities, firstly Hanoi and neighboring provinces, then expanding the scope of activities to the northern mountainous and midland provinces so that the center can meet the requirements of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The next mission is to work with large corporations, businesses, coordinate the implementation of long-term cooperation programs, and build food safety chains.

“Thirdly, I hope the center will focus on supporting localities on the issue of improving capacity in the quality testing of agriculture, forestry and fishery. Not only does the service of quarantine and verification, the center can be combined with schools, universities and colleges inside and outside the Ministry to cooperate in training and improve the capacity for students, ”Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam said at the event.”

Watanabe Shige, Deputy Ambassador of Japan in Vietnam, said the equipment of the testing laboratory is being applied the latest Japanese technologies, provided by Shimadzu Corporation. “Through the public-private partnership, we hope that RETAQ will play a central role in verifying, testing and supplying safe Vietnamese food to the world. We are also looking forward to receiving support and cooperation to build a closer relationship between Vietnam and Japan in the future.”

At the event, Tran Dang Ninh, Director of RETAQ, said, “We would like to express our gratitude towards the leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Japanese Embassy for your attendance, encouragement and the directives for orientations of the center's development, especially the orientation of effectively putting laboratory equipment to great use. This is also a reminder of the obligations and duties of RETAQ to ensure product quality and food safety for consumers inside and outside the country”.

On the occasion of the event, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam and Sugano Yuichi, Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the approval of "The Project for Enhancing the Capacity of Food Safety Testing, Reference Testing and Consultancy to Contribute to Sustainable Agricultural Development". The project has a total budget of 345 million yen from the non-refundable aid (ODA) of the Japanese government.