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July 15, 2008 |
| U.S., Vietnam Sign Food Pact |
| Aim to improve safety of exports |
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The United States and Vietnam signed a pact in Washington, D.C., on June 24 aimed at heightening the safety of food and feed traded between the two nations. Both countries agreed to cooperate to promote public health and to help ensure that products exported from both countries are safe and meet domestic and global standards. |
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This [the pact] is not necessarily a question of good or bad, depending upon the direction of the trade and how controls are implemented. -Robert A. LaBudde, PhD, Least Cost Formulations, Ltd. |
The pact is the result of discussions between U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Mike Leavitt and senior Vietnamese officials, expanding on the import-safety strategy adopted by the United States in November 2007. The United States has been intercepting unsafe goods primarily using product intervention at the border; the new strategy calls for working with trading partners to help ensure quality in every step of a product's life cycle, according to the HHS.
But Robert A. LaBudde, PhD, president of Least Cost Formulations, Ltd. (Virginia Beach, Va.), raises the question of how the U.S. will be protected from the importation of diseases such as the avian influenza in food trade with Vietnam.
"This [the pact] is not necessarily a question of good or bad, depending upon the direction of the trade and how controls are implemented," says Dr. LaBudde. "[Vietnam] is known as the 'Rice Bowl of Asia' and already is an important exporter of food."
Indeed, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, trade between the two nations has increased considerably since 2001, exceeding $12.5 billion in 2007. |
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