The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on July 20 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 Tran Thanh Nam spoke highly of Japan's support to Vietnam 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 Vietnam, 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 Vietnam Watanabe Shige said that food safety is not only an important issue to Vietnam but also a major global one.

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

In 2012, the Japanese side started to provide 1.2 billion yen (8.6 million USD) as grants to Vietnam to invest in equipment and facilities for RETAQ Centre's laboratory which offers services in food safety testing, consulting, and certification.

On this occasion, the two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) 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).

VNA