The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will continue assisting Vietnam with major programs on food hygiene and safety by building legal frameworks and promoting healthcare services.
Shashi Sareen, a senior FAO official, made the commitment at a seminar in Hanoi on July 30 to review a FAO-funded project on building capacity for Vietnamese food hygiene and safety inspectors.
Sareen said that her organization has launched many programs in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries to improve the quality of food. The UN organization has also helped the Vietnamese Government implement its national food hygiene and safety strategy for 2011-2020, with a vision to 2030.
She highlighted the significant results of the US$790,500 project, which was carried out from 2009 to July 2012 in relevant ministries and a number of localities in Vietnam, aiming to increase the capacity of food inspectors at both central and local levels.
Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Nguyen Thanh Long thanked FAO for its valuable support of food safety programs in Vietnam.
He called for closer cooperation among the Ministries of Health, Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), and Industry and Trade (MoIT) to provide the best conditions for food producers and processors, and to facilitate stricter control over food quality.