Good Practice in SPSrelated Technical Cooperation

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Good Practice in SPS-related Technical Cooperation

• Fruit Fly Vapour Heat Disinfestation for Vietnam
  fresh fruit an example of technical cooperation
  experiences with JICA (2005-2008)

Dr. Nguyen Huu Dat PEQ II, Plant Protection
Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
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Structure of Presentation

• I. Introduction to project
• II. Process of project implementation
• III. Outcomes of the project
• IV. Lessons learnt

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I. Introduction

• The reason why we selected the project
• Practical demand for assistance
• Project purpose

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The reason why

• Plant quarantine system and technical skills of
  Vietnam quarantine staff were not sufficiently
  developed to meet the challenges of international
  trade requirements.
• Training needed to be able to access export
  markets.

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Practical demand for assistance

• VietNam requested the Government of Japan to
  provide technical assistance in fruit fly
  disinfestation of fresh fruit
• A JICA-funded (Japan International Cooperation
  Agency) project was proposed

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Project purpose

• Vietnamese staff is capable of applying
  disinfestation technique of fruit flies that
  complies with international standard to improve
  Vietnamese dragon fruits access to international
  market.

Vietnamese staff trained to be capable of
applying disinfestation technique of fruit flies
that complies with international standard to
improve access of Vietnamese dragon fruit to
international market.
Leading to
Lift Japanese ban on imports of Vietnamese dragon
fruit
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Duration of Project
II. Process of project implementation

• 3 years March 2005 until end of February 2008

Site of Project

• Post-Entry Quarantine Centre No. II under Plant
  Protection Department (PPD) of Ministry of
  Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)

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Dragon fruit
Identification of target commodity
Hylocereus costaricensis
Hylocereus undatus
Selenicereus megalanthus
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Genus Bactrocera of family Tephritidae
Identification of target pests
B.correcta
B.dorsalis
B.cucurbitae
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Series of experiments implemented

• Improvement of rearing methods for fruit flies
  based on previous project work (CARD)
• Various machine performance tests conducted
• Experiments on how to avoid fruit injury
• Experiments to develop heat disinfestation
  treatment for dragon fruit (e.g. hot water
  dipping tests, susceptibility tests, small and
  large scale mortality tests)
• Data storage system developed and utilized

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III. Outcomes of the Project

• Evaluation team recognized project results as
  excellence.
• Project achieved its objectives expect that the
  import ban on Vietnamese dragon fruit to Japanese
  market will be lifted in December 2008
• Availability of skilled staff
• Vietnamese staff continue to build on project
  success and further develop capacity to meet the
  challenges ahead for market access.

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Submission of technical report

• Visit of Vietnamese officials to Japan in April
  2008.
• Technical report for lifting the ban submitted to
  Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
  Fisheries.

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Import ban expected to be lifted
Official meeting between two countries
(Discussion on plant quarantine
regulations)

• General evaluation by JICA and MAFF
• Import ban on Vietnamese dragon fruit to Japan is
  expected to be lifted in December 2008

Public hearing (Collection of public opinions on
lifting import ban of fruit)
Amendment of regulations
Commencement of Export (Dispatch of
Japanese plant quarantine inspector)
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Investment in commercial facility

• Investment in commercial Vapor Heat Treatment
  (VHT) facility.
• Expected to be fully operational by December 2008.

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IV. Lessons to be learned

• 1. Government priority
• 2. Human resource development
• 3. Provision and management of equipment
• 4. Contribution of Vietnamese Government
• 5. Impact of the US Notification on Irradiation
• 6. Ways in which the impact of technical
  assistance can be maximized on trade performance
• 7. Lessons for other products and countries
• 8. Maintenance capabilities after end of project
• 9. Awareness raising
• 10. Difficulties and advantages

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1. Government priority

• Official meetings between our 2 countries were
  made by both high and mid level officials
• Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of
  Viet Nam requested the Government of Japan to
  provide technical assistance in fruit fly
  disinfestations on fresh fruit

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2. Human resource development

• Japanese experts provided on-site training for
  Vietnamese staff
• 12 persons trained in 2005 and 2006, and 8
  persons trained in 2007-2008

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Overseas training

• 3 Vietnamese lab analysts attended technical
  training in Okinawa, Japan in 2005, 2006 and 2007
  (4 months)

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Study tours

• Two study tours to Japan for 6 Vietnamese
  managers to learn about Plant Quarantine
  Administration (2005 and 2006)

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The importance of their duties

• Commitment and performance of Vietnamese and
  Japanese counterparts.
• Japanese scientists worked diligently and
  actively, and treated very expeditiously all
  potential problems during experiments and
  implementation.
• Vietnamese staff quickly learnt all theories,
  techniques and practices taught by Japanese
  facilitators.

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3. Provision and management of equipment

• Modern machines and equipment provided
• Value of US891,551 (total project budget was
  US2.3 m)

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Transportation many hard works

• Transportation of imported equipments from the
  port to the Quarantine Centre (PEQC II)

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Installation of machinery made by Sanchu Experts
Installation of machinery
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Classification of every equipment
Equipment management
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Studying how to select the correct method
Equipment management
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Clean and maintain after use
Equipment management
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Servicing generators regularly
Equipment management
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4. Contribution of Vietnamese Government

• FY2005 652,638,107 VND (41,228 USD)
• FY2006 286,043,299 VND (17,894 USD)
• FY2007 300,000,000 VND (18,653 USD)

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Laboratory refurbishment

• Equipment for 8 labs
• Operation of equipment
• Upgrade existing electricity and water systems in
  8 labs to accommodate new equipment

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Fruit supply

• Supply of fruit in adequate condition for testing
  
• Technical procedures followed so that fruit
  delivered to labs met requirements for injury and
  mortality tests

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Other logistic arrangements

• Generator establishment and activation
• Recruitment of electricity technician for daily
  in-lab electric surveillance

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5. Impact of the US Notification on Irradiation

• Since July 2007, Vietnamese Plant Protection
  Department working with APHIS-USDA to advance
  pre-clearance programme for irradiated dragon
  fruit to United States market.
• Several dragon fruit production areas approved to
  produce for United States market.
• Traceability system (PUC) established for fruit
  exports to United States. Will also be used for
  Japanese and other markets.

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6. Ways in which the impact of technical
assistance can be maximized on trade performance

• Build on achievements of related technical
  assistance projects, and promote linkages
• The dragon fruit pest list developed under New
  Zealand project used as main reference to draft
  the Pest Risk Assessment (PRA) for APHIS.
• The draft PRA for dragon fruit by APHIS-USDA was
  in turn used to determine the target pests for
  the JICA project research.
• The fruit fly pest determination from the JICA
  project was used to discuss and agree with
  APHIS-USDA to finalize the quarantine fruit fly
  pest list and PRA for Vietnamese dragon fruit
  (2008).

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7. Lessons for other products and countries

• Using the equipment, facilities, knowledge
  developed under the JICA project, Vietnamese
  staff continue research to apply the same VHT
  method to other fruit (mango, milk apple) for
  Japanese market (2009-10).
• The final technical report for VHT of dragon
  fruit submitted not only to Japan (April 2008)
  but also to Chinese Taipei (Sep. 2008) and New
  Zealand (planned in 2009).
• Vietnamese staff provide training for plant
  quarantine inspectors in Cambodia on fruit fly
  rearing and VHT techniques (Oct. 2008) under a
  new JICA project.

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8. Maintenance capabilities after end of project

• Vietnamese staff continue to build on success and
  further develop capacity to meet the challenges
  ahead for market access by ourselves.
• Project sustainability ensured through funding
  from annual governmental budget over 700
  million Vietnamese Dong (USD 45,000) allocated
  for fiscal year 2008 (budget support from JICA
  ended in Feb. 2008).

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9. Awareness raising

• Information exchange and dialogue with
  stakeholders
• Private sector, university researchers, etc.
  participated in annual joint coordinating
  committee meetings held every year during project
  implementation.
• Stakeholders participated in final project
  evaluation by JICA, MAFF, MARD.
• Commercial interest and investment expected to
  be completed at time when the ban is lifted by
  Japan.

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10. Difficulties and advantages

• Difficulties
• Differences in timing of Vietnamese and Japanese
  fiscal years administrative challenges.
• Time to develop annual plans of project
  activities generally coincided with the end of
  Vietnamese fiscal year and the time when Vietnam
  counterparts had to draw up final financial
  balance-sheets.

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Advantages

• Timely decision-making and support from MARD,
  Plant Protection Department and leadership from
  other related organization for solving problems
  when they occurred.
• Planned experiments for each year were
  implemented smoothly as scheduled.

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Thank you for your kind attention and
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and Welcome to VietNam