Hanoi (VNA) – Following sustainabledevelopment will help Vie꧂tnamese pepper further enter the EU where more andmore consume♒rs ask for certificates that prove the products’s sustainability, an insider has said.

Chairwomen of Vietnam Pepper Association Hoang Thi Liensaid that under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), taxes for pepperand spices will fall to 0%, bringing about oppotunities for Vietnam to export pepper tothe bloc. Imports to the EU are usually deep-processed and high value-added. Meanwhile, in the first six months of this year, Vietnamexported over 4,300 tonnes of pepper to the EU while the country’s total pepperexports reached 153,000 tonnes worth 486 million USD. To take advantage of the EVFTA and further penetrate theEU market, Vietnamese pepper firms should apply sustainable developmentand better meet the requirements of the EU market, according to experts. The EU also continuously warns about pesticide residuesand increases the frequency of inspection over the maximum residue levels (MRLs) for food in general and Vietnamese spices inparticular. According to the Vietnam Pepper Association, the EU hasissued over 500 criteria on MRLs and tends to have more requirements which are stricter andstricter. So, the association calls on parties in supply chainsincluding farmers, enterprises, associations, and State management agencies tojoin hands in increasing Vietnamese pepper’s competitiveness in the worldmarket. Enterprises are suggested to improve processingfacilities and production processes and diversify products. They also need to update market information includingthose on tax tariffs, quarantine requirements, food safety, technical barrier,rules of origin, and green growth criteria. Lien said that in the whole value chain, risk managementmust be taken into account while origin traceability and product labeling mustensure transparency and accountability./.