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Danish Ambassador Kim Højlund Christensen and MARD Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien signed the cooperation agreement. Photo provided by the Embassy

Danish Ambassador in Vietnam Kim Højlund Christensen, and MARD Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, on December 3 signed a cooperation agreement on implementation of the second phase of two countries' Strategic Sector Cooperation on Food Safety in the Pork Value Chain.

This signing marks the start of a three-year phase 2 of the Vietnamese - Danish government-to-government cooperation on food safety.

Specifically, Phase 2 of the Strategic Sector Cooperation in the pork value chain will focus on feed management, veterinary drug management, good animal husbandry practices and capacity building related to risk-based food and feed safety management.

On the occasion, the MARD Deputy Minister and Dr. Robert Leo Skov, the Scientific Director of the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a partnership on mitigating antimicrobial use and resistance in livestock and aquaculture.

With the signed MoU between MARD and ICARS, Vietnam will be one of the first countries to engage in a cooperation with ICARS establishing pilot projects on mitigating antimicrobial resistance in the livestock and aquaculture sector.

Speaking at the event, MARD Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that under the newly-signed agreement, the two sides will coordinate in implementing the second phase of the strategic sector cooperation on food safety management in Vietnam’s pork value chain in the 2020-2022 period, which will focus on feed management, veterinary drug management, and good animal husbandry practices.

Meanwhile, the MoU on establishing partnership in reducing antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance in livestock production and aquaculture will serve as a premise for the two sides' agencies to consider and develop cooperation projects to support management agencies of Vietnam in building relevant policies, Tien said.

For his part, Ambassador Kim Højlund Christensen said, "Food safety directly relates to one’s good health and happy living. It also affects prices of products in the market. Denmark has a long history of putting food safety high on the agenda. The two documents we are signing today are very important instruments for Vietnam and Denmark to continue our good cooperation in supporting Vietnam to improve food safety. Accordingly, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration and the International Center for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions will work closely with their Vietnamese counterpart agencies in MARD, exchange and share with them Danish expertise, experiences and knowledge gained after many years of research and practices in this area."