Trần Đăng Ninh, Director of the Reference Testing and Agrifood Quality Consultancy (RETAQ) Center, introducing the lab to Sugano Yuichi, Chief Representative of JICA Việt Nam Office. — Photo courtesy of JICA Việt Nam

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Thursday held a ceremony to hand over equipment and officially open a new laboratory at the Reference Testing and Agrifood Quality Consultancy (RETAQ) Centre.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Trần Thành Nam spoke highly of Japan's support to Việt Nam in the expansion of the food inspection system and improvements in testing capacity through the provision of testing equipment and facilities.

RETAQ Centre now has the most advanced equipment in Việt Nam, he said, adding that its improved testing capacity can help businesses producing and exporting agricultural and fisheries products to improve their capacity and product quality.

Japanese Deputy Ambassador to Việt Nam Watanabe Shige said that food safety is not only an important issue to Việt Nam but also a major global one.

He expressed his hope that the laboratory will help Việt Nam improve the quality of its agricultural fisheries products to meet international standards.

In 2019, the Japanese side started to provide 1.2 billion yen (roughly US$10.9 million at the time of the Grant Agreement signing) as grants to Việt Nam to invest in equipment and facilities for RETAQ Centre's laboratory, which offers services in food safety testing, consulting, and certification.

During the 2019-2023 period, through the Grant Aid (GA) Project for “Enhancing Laboratory Capacities of the Reference Testing and Agrifood Quality Consultancy (RETAQ) Centre for Ensuring Safety of Agricultural and Fisheries Foods”, Japan has provided advanced equipment needed to establish an inspection system for RETAQ Center and advised facility management for effective use of these equipment, while RETAQ Center constructed the facility itself.

On this occasion, the two sides signed a Record of Discussion approving a project on strengthening capacity for testing, verifying, and consulting food quality and safety with a total budget of about 345 million yen using Japanese official development assistance (ODA). — VNS